Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1900-12-05
COUNTERFEITERS' PAY,
Ten Times More Could Be Made by
Them In Honest DoSfnca-

Them In Honest DoSines-
! Nobody has ever been able to ex-
plain the mysterious fascination Of
counterfeitIng," said an old federal
official at the custom house. There is
without doubt. something about the
work. aside from its possible profits,
that draws men into 1t and keeps them
there at the sacrifice OF almost every
: thing that would appear To make life
worth living. Once a countcrfeiter al
ways a counterfciter' is an axiom in
the secret service. and it Is borne out
by facts
Yet eOunterfeiting would seem. ON
the surface. 40 be- one Of the least at
: tractive branches of crime II involves
al immcnar amount OF hard work. ac-
. cOmpanied as rule. by exposure aud
privation. and there is not one single
case OF recoi3 In which a maker or
shower of tie queer retired i'm peace
with anytime like "A cOmpotencc in
deed. there are very few known in
stances in which a counterfoiter ever
made rs much rs 5000 out OF the
operation. Tlcy are almost Invariably
caught or driven 10 cover before they
succeed IN hGating enough of their
wares 10 pay them ordinary day wages
for the time fhey have put in
The engraving Of a BOGUS t~faSury
note is long and tedious Operation.
Even in the government iut au at
Washington. where ever, luodcln
labor saving s-.aucc Is ~ hand and
the work L. ,ibutoc among % drzou
81 a.
gnette. another th- lrttcriu.. anothrr
the scr Us "-d - yu- II takes .,ov.3al
months t. finish .1atr Ou,. man.
doirc the whole thin- and wo:linc
under cover iu continual dread &C dis
coy'.y. wo' .d 'rsily hc ,e>ur..d TWO
or three yes. "a tEo .aulr task And
you must h,"~ in nsinu thatian g., gray
er competent tn turu c,it q danr.trus
replica col ld .asiiy De- t.:.ruls- froui -
go SD day M hont ~ pmuiovrrnt
In other words. he puts an the way
from $500 q S1O.OOu worth OF work
. into III" undertaking. and when the
plate il =, .ist ready for the press he
has no assurance whatever that a
dozen OF the bills will ever actually
be passed. The chunces are about two
TO one that the Job will land him I'm
prison.
But i'm spite of all this" continued the
officer. "soUc OF the best engra avers in
the country have turned out counter
feiters and persisted in it 10 the bitter
end. Ii Is very strange. The same rlile
applies TO all grades OF bogus money
making. None OF IL ever pays AZ
business proposition. Some time ago
nn Italian was arrested here in New
Orleans for manufacturing spurious
quarters. He turned out n very clever
ly made white metal coin. but had
showed less ihan SO worth when he
was caught and given a term behind
the bars. The fake quarters were
first cast in a mold and afterward
touched up or 'Sharpened' as II Is
called technically. by hand. The reed
ing around the edge was also hand
work and very tedious. I calculated
that he could finish not over eight coins
day. working hard for AT least ten
hours. Just think Of it! Only s.
day for highly skilled labor. and even
then he didn't reap that amount as
net profit. The coins had TO be passed
the object. being Of course 10 secure
good money in change. That uecessi-
tated making some little purchase with
every piece. 80 at best not more than
20 cents was actually realized on the
transaction. In short. the Italian was
obliged to put in one day countcrreit-
ing and the hest part of another 'Shov-
ing. all for a beggarly $I.60, and mean
while ne was constantly jeopardlzing
his liberty. He was 4 man OF consid-
erable artistic ability and ought 10
have been able TO have earned So or 81
a day as pattern maker or designer.
almost every one of the famous
bank note cOunterfeiter> has had on
portunitieS 10 Iuit crooked work With
tull assurance OF no future mOipsta-
tion on The part % the authorities You
see, the government iS generally only
TOO willing To make J,lms with su.n
dangerous fellows. But il Is no uSe.
Not one CT them mas ever .staid
straight six months after alleged
reformation. They can't resist th2
fatal fascination. - NewOrlean- Times
Democrat