The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-08-04

Three Swiss Captured by Police and
Detectives-Money and Moulds Found
| by Detective DonneIiy-about 500
| Worth of Bad Cotn-one OF the GaHS
| tsa Waiter.
Al II o'clock yesterday forenoon an
| iceman named Henry Niles, employed
| by the New Haven Ice company, hur-
| ried into the central police station and
! told CAPTAIN Brewer, who was at the
| desk, that he had discovered a gang OF
| counterfeiters at work at the house in
| the rear Of No, Il Ashmun street, near
| the corner of Lock street. Captain
| Brewer at once ordered out the patrol
| wagon and in it sent Patrolman John
| Allen and Bicycle Policeman Watrous
to the house indicated. The wagon was
hustled up to Ashmun street with the
! policemen Allen and Watrous hurried
into the little story and half house in
the rear of No Il and there found but
one man, Louis Bretina. They placed
him under arrest and started to examine
the place.
Soon after the two policemen left the
station Detectives Donnelly and DAILY
entered the station and were sent to the
Ashmun street house by Captain Brew
er, They arrived there while Allen and
Watrous We're searching the place. 1t
had been ascertained that one man had
been seen to leave the place, carrying
a satchel just before the police appear
ed. This man, Angelo Cemper, soon re-
turned and was placed under arrest. De-
tective Donnelly questioned him as to
where he had been.
Cemper said that he had been down
to No. la Franklin street to take back
a satchel in which some clean clothes
had been brought to him. Neighbore
who had seen him go out, however, said
that the satchel which he was carrying
appeared to be heavy. Donnelly went
to No. ia Franklin street and there
found Louis Gerry, whom he asked
about The satchel which had been left
there. Gerry denied all knowledge of 1t,
but finally his wife showed the detective
where it was in front room. Donnelly
secured the eatchel and placed Gerry
under arrest. He asked to be allowed
to go to the closet before being taken
to the station house, and was permitted
to do so. Donnelly noticed that Gerry
took something from his pocket as he
started for the closet and following him
saw him throw a handful Of money
down the closet. Gerry was then taken
to the police station and locked up on
the charge of receiving counterfeit
money The satchel was opened and
found to contain q number of moulds for
counterfeit money, and also POI counter
felt quarters, 60 counterfeit half dollars,
felt ten cent pieces.
Nearly all the quarters We're freshly
made and pieces of the metal which |
chung to them when they were moulded |
had not been cut from their edges, nor
had they yet been milled. Some of the |
pieces had, however, been finished off, |
and they are unusually good counter |
feits, being difficult to detect from the |
genuine The quarters were all of the |
date of 1897 and the dollars of the date !
of 1885. Some of the dollars finished up |
had been rubbed and worked down so |
as to look like old coins worn by being |
carried about in pockets for ten or fif-
teen years. The moulds We're all of |
plaster of Paris, and thre of them had |
just been made and contained the good |
coins around which the plaster of Paris /
had been moulded to get the impression
Tn I1jnpr thn hnIICo Az, |
street, Patrolmen Allen, Watrous, Law
Tor, Detective DAILY and Detective Nc
Grath found the rest of the counterfeit
ers' paraphernalia They found a piece
of sheet tin on which molten metal had
been poured, pieces of molds with i'm
pressione of coins upon them acids used
in finishing up the spurious coins, metal
used to run them, milling files, small
melting furnace and other articles used
in the manufacture.
Bretina was waiter at Heubleins
cafe last winter and had been more re-
Gently employed at the Hotel Daven-
port as waiter. All three of the men
are Swiss, but say that they were born
n Italy. Whether or not they have
passed any of the coin the local police
10 not know yet They will be arraign-
a before United States Commissioner
Wright day
The ice man who discovered the coun-
.erfeiters at work had gone to deliver
some ice and had opened the kitchen
loor to take the ice in. As he opened
he door he cav Bretina and Cemper
pouring metal and saw a pile of freshly
nodded coins lying on table. The ice
nan at once bolted out of the door and
hurried to the police station.
The two cOunterfeiters We're greatly
alarmed at the interruption and after
Niles left they bundled the money which
hey had made and the moulds into a
atchel and it was this which Cemper 1
ook to No. ia Franklin street. When |
earched at police headquarters both
temper and Bretina had considerable !
mount of good money with them de-
pite the fact that both have been out
# work for some time. From this it is
bought that they have worked off some
f the money which they have manufac- /
ured