The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1902-12-30
bonds it is the same as Win notes OF

bonds it is the same as with notes or
coin
'One of the most remarkable cases
occurred with the counterfeiting of the
old United States 7-30S by the notorious
Brockway-Smith gang. One of the
members of thatag gang get his freedom
2y offering to 60 to Washington and
pick out the spurious from the good
bonds, for the government experts them
selves could not do it at first He was
Charles Ulrich. who is straight now, one
OF the few Of whom that can be said.
He said that at some point or other
conscience was sure to prevent him from
making a perfect job at crooked work.
The only error in those bond plates was
in the lathe work border. Up in one cor
ner this border in the counterfeit was
not uniform in its line.
Thomas Johnson. now dead, who
made the counterfeit Window 81 notes
had curious experience with his plates.
He made five plates, each one wrong IN
some minor particular. In one plate the
error was in the right eye, which was SO
drawn that it gave the portrait the APP
Dearance on close examination of being
cross eyed
He said that when he was making
that part of that plate he was fright
ened by some noise, a thing that would
not have bothered him in the least if
he was at honest work. as he was an
expert engraver. Had it not been fol-
this error the plate would have been
finer one than the government plate,
In another of his plates he got the
letters in two reversed, so that they
read 'owt and yet the bills printed from
that plate got into circulation.
johnson was even a better engraver
than ulrich. and in each of the four
plates he made after the first one to
counterfeit this bill he endeavOred to
correct an error. Yet in each one he
made another error He simply could
not help it, he said, so long as he was
at the crooked work
His last error. that is the one on
the last of the five plates, was in the
treasury numbers. In that, the 81 was
not uniform with the rest of the num-
erals So throughout the series of plates
he would correct one error only - make
another, and no effort would save him
from making one.
"A person would scarcely believe that
a SIS bill with the word owing spelled
owing could get into circulation, hut
this happened with a bank note cnun-
forfeited after one of a Tamadua tPa.)
bank. In another instance the word
thousand came out on the counterfeit
Thousand
who pays attention to a cent --espec-
tally in New York? but one gang circu-
lated bogus cents. They had a good
plate, but the copper they bought was
not of uniform quality and the Indians
head came out clumsily.
These people operated largely in
Boston and got little girls to ,,ut the
-
nese laundrieS, which use a let Of cents.
The girls would go to the laundties with
bundles of LOO cents, of which perhaps
80 Der cent would be good coins. and
they would get change from the China
men. These counterfeiters were caught
finally
1.-The counterfeit half dollars and
quarters which were circulated SO large
ly here not long ago through The street
car lines of Manhattan and Broo1xlNn
had only slight defects and these were
such that any one would say THAI there
was no excuse for them in the work Of
expert criminals. But they went through
the banks OF both companies and were
detected at the sub-treasury.
These coins were made of silver 945
fine or 80 points Amer than the United
States coin silver. Rut in the SO cent
piece the word half was spelled hale
and in the quarters the 81 was dropDed
below the line in one plate. while in an
other the - was above the line.
This reminds me of a counterfeit so
kroner of the Swedish bank the only
defect of which was in the water mark
in which the % leaned toward the s.
The maker of that note we caught here
He had his plant in brooklyn. He shot
himself in West street.
7 remember one bogus note in which
the counterfeiter failed to make the lit
tie drops of water that in the good note
trickle from IN oar. That may have
been mere oversight.
I'm another instance a counterfeit
plate was perfect except for the lack