Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-10-18
SOUVENIRS OF MANY CROOKS.
The Big Collection Possessed by
Chief Wfll<ie of the Secret Ser

The Big Collection Possessed by
Chief Wflkie of the Secret Ser
vice.
The boy detective, the youth who
gloats over a hair-raising tale Of mick
Carter" would find unspeakable JOY In
an afternoon with the big Chief" out
at his Morgan avenue residence. Pts
tolls, knives and counterfeit money,
steel dies, engraving tools and other
interesting articles captured by secret
service men during the past half CEN
tury are to be found there. Mr.. Wilkie
has fitted up the large, airy room on
the second floor of the front Of his
house for his office. The long-distance
telephone and the ominous-looking tel
egraph instrument occupy prominent
positions in his roll-top desk.
Probably the most unique, and there
fore most interesting, phase of Mr.. Will
kie's home-office is his collection Of
pistols and knives, every one Of which
was taken from counterfeiter. His
collection Of pistols shows almost COM
pletely the evolution Of this particular
style Of firearm. An unusual and inter-
esting fact regarding the collection Is
that, although the weapons were seized
by secret service agents from different
characters, none was effectively used
against the detectives. None inflicted
wound, although several were taken
in hard and fierce physical combats.
The oldest pistol is good illustration
of the first firearm Of this character. 1t
Fhas long barrel and long, but slight
ly curved handle with a knob at the
end It is the kind of pistol used by
desperadoes half a century ago. Pic
lures of Capt. Kidd always represent
that fierce character with one OF them
thrust through his sash. The pistols
bore Is about .45-calibre, and the inside
of the barrel is not rifled. The date on
the firearm is 1S49.
The next pistol-in point Of modern
ness-is a reproduction Of the old pi-
rates pistol on small scale. The cali
bre is less and the inside of the barrel
is rifed. The stock bears date in
the SOS, the exact year being illegible.
The old arm Is fitted with flint lock,
but the smaller one Is discharged by
use of cap.
After the smaller pirate pistol comes
the Derringer. The arm Of this char
acter in Mr.. Wilkes possession bears
date of the early Cos. The bore is
about .3S-calibre, and the barrel Is RI
fled. 1t is small weapon, fired by the
use of a cap and. like it's two predeces-
sors, is single-shot pistol, loaded from
the muzzle.
Next to the Derringer is the pepper
box" This came into use during the
Civil war. Mr.. Wilkie has two styles
Of pepper boxes, which derive their
names from the fact that they have
four barrels. The bore Is about .32-cal-
ibre, rifled. This is the first style of
pistol which used a cartridge exploded
by direct contact with the hammer of
the weapon. Mr.. Wilkes oldest pepper
box is single action affair, which must
be cooked for each barrel. His other
pepper box is of a type made few
years later, being a self-cocker.
An exceedingly interesting weapon In
Mr.. Wilkes collection Is the old style
Colts revolver, .44-calibre, with long
barrel and cylinder. This came into
use during the late years Of the Civil
war; and was the pistol used by the
forces of both the north and south at
that time It is a five-shot single ac-
tion revolver. After the old Colts is
the English bulldog" This was the
first suggestion of the modern, short,
self-action revolver in common use to-
day. It was patterned after the Colts,
but is shorter and of smaller calibre.
This weapon came into use in the late
7Os, but is a single-action weapon.
From the English bulldog to the mod
ern six-shooting, self-action, hammer
less, self-extracting Smith & Wesson
was but a step. Mr.. Wilkes modern
gun, which he keeps in his collection,
has rather an interesting history. The
secret service has a great many pistols
Of this character, which have been seiz-
ed from time to time, but the particu-
lar gun in question was placed with
the collection because Of the part it
played in counterfeiting tragedy in
New York.
A few years ago the secret service
operatives in the metropolis got after
ring of counterfeiters. After months
of work and study they ran down the
principals, and surprised them in their
den in New York city. Most of the
gang submitted to arrest without a
fight, but one fellow put up hard
fight. He was finally overpowered and
forced onto his back on a bed. He
showed one arm under a pillow, pulled
out the revolver in question, and open
ed fire on the detectives. Driving them
back he ran to window and jumped
to the ground, two stories below. Both
legs were broken so that he failed to
get away, and was taken with the gun
in his possession.
THAT old pirate pistol" said Mr..
Wilkie, picking up the weapon first
mentioned, was loaded to the brim
when it's owner was captured. He was
counterfeiter in New York, and was
surprised at his bench, making paper
| money. The pistol was lying beside