Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1901-01-06
IMPORTANT ARRESTS
Of COMMENTATORS
MADE BY SECRET SERVICE Or
FICERS IN NEW YORK YESTEH-
DAY MORNING.
COUNTERFEIT SILVER COINS
HAVE BEEN IN CIRCULATION FOR
MONTHS,
But the Identity of the Makers Bafh-
cd the Offcials-HOw the Criminals
Were Tracked and Finally Round
ed Up-Machinery, Appliances
Sheet silver, and Other Essentials
Captured With the Prisoners.

WASHINGTON. January 5.-The Of
fcials of the secret service OF the
Treasury Department, under the direc-
ton of Chief Wilkie, made number
of highly important arrests in New
York last night and this morning.
For at least two months the secret
service people have been at work to
discover the makers of large number
of all silver counterfeit coins, mostly
quarters and halves, which were be
ing freely circulated in New York ~-Iy.
The result has been that Pho Paris
and seven companions, all Italians,
were arrested and are now in jail
awaiting the action of the United States
commissioners, which probably will be
taken today. The fact that large
numbers of these all silver counterfeits
were being freely circulated in New
York during the last two years, has
given Chief Wilkie a great deal OF
trouble. The coins being of almost
pure silver, 900 fine, and fairly well
made, they readily passed wherever
presented and rendered extremely diff
ficult the task of locating the makers
and passers. The arrests came about
in this way:
Some time ago two Italians called
on Messrs. Platt & Co, of Gold street,
New York, large dealers in sheet sill
yer and gold, and purchased thous-
and ounces of sheet silver. One OF the
men was observed at the time of the
purchase to compare one of the sheets
with a coin which he took from his
pocket, probably with a view OF de-
termining whether the sheet was of
the same thickness as the coin he had
in his possession. This circumstance
was made known to the secret service
officials by Messrs. Platt & Co. and a
force was Immediately set to work
upon this new lead. From the fact
that the men took away with them only
a small part of the purchase, it was
assumed that they would shortly re-
turn for the rest. After a time the
two men again appeared and took
away another small quantity to Ill
Mangin street, on the East Side of New
York. From there they were shadow
ed to 50 Watt street, on the West Side.
A force was put to work to observe
every move made by people who fire.
quented these houses, with the result
hat their lodging places were discov-
cred and the fact established beyond
doubt that at both of these numbers
work was being actively carried on.
Yesterday morning one of the room
ers in the Mangin street house became
suspicious that the men on the floor
below were doing some sort Of crooked
work and he at once notified a police
mnn on that beat of his suspicious,
which fact came near rendering inef-
fective all of the work that had been
DONE
The policeman not knowing that the
authorities were watching the house,
went to the door and pounded for ad-
mittance. He was not answered, how
ever, and soon went away. One of
the gang who had been watching from
the next street corner at once went
to the house, notified the gang of the
suspicious circumstances and all pre-
cipitately fed to the Watt street place,
carrying with them many of their dies,
coins and blanks.
The secret service officials, realizing
the danger of further delay, Immediate
ly forced an entrance into both houses,
where Ley found several of the men,
eight in all, at work. The Mangin
street house, as well as the house on
Watt street, was fully equipped with
modern machinery for rolling silver
punching blanks, etc. In one of the
places a screw press, weighing five
tons, was in operation About a hun
dred ounces of silver and quite a large
5asketful of steel dies were secured.
Many of the dies, however, had been so
mutilated as to be beyond use. 1t
seemed that as soon as the policeman
mad given the alarm, the counterfeit
ers began to file away the faces OF
their dies to prevent them from being
used as evidence. Two of the men
lived at 112 Mulberry street, New York,
and Others were scattered about the
neighborhood.
Chief Wilkie said to-day that this
gang probably was responsible for at
least eighty per cent. Of all the silver
counterfeits which have been put in
circulation in New York during the