The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-01-05
POLITE MAKES HIS CONFESSION.

Nicholas Politz was now called to the
stand.
Politz is Il Greek-thick, heavy set and
powerfully built He has firm. brutal
| jaw and mouth and small. cunning eyes.
He talks rapidly and i'll broken English,
pronomcing himself at once Il foreigner.
But he told his story straight along, and
no amount of crosS-questiOning would
make him vary materially from it. He
acknowledged that he was convict,
having been sent UP last May for six
years for counterfeiting. Before that
time he was engaged in business i'll VIII
mlngtOn.
The witness began his story of the
counterfeiting by telling of his acquaint-
ance with the Greek, COstobelus. who
was the head of the gang. Costobeius.
he said. first came to his place of business
| in May. 1897. claiming to be u sailor.
He wanted to buy some silver. Politz
didn't have it. but he tried to get it for
him at jewelers.. In this he failed, but
he cot the address OF firm in Baltimore
or Philadelphia and ordered it. Then
| Costobelus wanted stove This was
ordered from New York. The stove
came but in the meantime the Greek had
disappeared and the stove remained III
the express office. Sometime after that
Costobelus re-appearcd again and sald
that he had been in Norfolk, and had
there gotten into trouble.
when | first saw him. he and Mr..
Marshall were standing on the street
talking. The Greek said they were talk
ing about his Norfolk trouble; that
Marshall was going to help him out of 1t.
Mr. Marshall told me the man was Il
plumber by trade, and asked me If L
didn't have a room | could let him have.
let him have the room upstairs next
TO mine Then he (Marshall) asked me
if | didn't have stove | could lot hun
have to melt metal | didn't have one.
so he tried to get one at plumbers
but failed.
"One was finally ordered. but when it
came it had no rubber on it. Theodore
Darkley was sent for that He took 1t up
stairs He staid so long that l went
up after him. He told me what he had
seen-Marshall and COstobeus making
counterfeit money. / then saw Marshall
and CostobeluS make money. CoStob9-
lus filled the moulds and Marshall put
his foot OH them and pressed them down.
Mr. Marshall said Costobelus was u
smart man; that he could make money.
But he said he didn't have the right
kind to make it good; that he would or
der some that was better"
Did he do 500"
Yes. And they stayed there at work
some twenty or twenty-five days. Then
Costobeus and | had trouble and l put
him out He wanted to leave. his things
in nv place. but | wouldn't allow 1t till
Mr. Marshall came and persuaded me to
do so. And if / hadn't been arrested,
those things might have stayed there a
life time and | wouldn't have known 1t
was wrong.
when Costobelus left, Mr.. Marshall
said he had "a better place six or seven
miles down the river, and he wanted me-
TO 90 down there and help make some
money"
Did you send for Mr.. Marshall when
you were arrested
YES. sent for him first. He
wouldn't come to the commissioner
office. but he came to the Jail and told
me- TO keep quiet also had Belamy n
Rellamy employed and few days before
the trial Mr.. Marshall employed Mr.. Nc
Clammy to defend me"
w ere YOU " pay hSOithiihS
NO. Marshall employed him and paid
him. and said that as long as [ kept
quiet he'd pay the expense of defending
me- He visited me in Jail once every day
and begged me to keep quiet and he'd
| see that / was not convicted. A few
| days before the trial he gave me instruc-
| tons not to speak to anybody-to Perry,
the detective, or anybody else
| Of
Il don't know where he went
You say that when Marshall brought
him to your store he told YOU he'd been
in trouble in Norfolk. Did you ever
make any investigation in regard to
that?''
Yes. went to Baltimore and on
my way | stopped over in Norfolk and
made inquiries about CostobeIus' trouble.
| Nobody there had ever heard of him.
do you know anything about GER