The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1903-09-17
toNVICTS AS
CoUNTERfEITERS
|Autat For Making Bogus Coin Found
in Pennsylvania Penitentiary.
ppoBINs OTHER GROSS FRAUDS

philadelphia. Sept. IA. - Following
,ossly upon the exposure OF gross ir-
..n,lsritiss in the cigar department OF
~ Eastern State Penitentiary, came
-. nublic announcement that the II
,aysl coinage OF minor silver pieces
-. bnen carried on by convicts in the
a. i,stitution. No details OF the
sa,,,arfeiting scheme can be learned
,.,r, any Of the officials connected
Tith the prison or from the govern.
mi officers that have been assigned
.. tho rase The fact that such a dar
t,g scheme had been carried on In the
a[,i.auflqry was made public by Geo
y,rv Jr. one of the prison inspectors,
rso summoned newspaper men to his
,,-- end Voluntarily made the discl1-
s.,s uc gave out = bref statement
watch 81, RS follows:
ar- var y. Robinson and George
vsgy r-. VINO are at present the Wis
r,y ..sY. .fu--' on duty at the Eastern
s,a+o p7#rnt,ary make the state
mont that there has come TO their Off
td knowledge rhat within a short
,-,e an attempt has been made by Ger
st- y...,ts now confined in the poni.
,sr-ar. il manufacture counterfeit sill
,sr ro.us But a few pieces We're
~aap and 2 number Of these have
con,e into the possession OF the in
s,ertors. together with the metals and
lbemicals used, the attempt thus be-
i,q nipped in the bud. The evidence
IN the case is not yet complete, but all
that has been secured has been sub
rrtei 20 the u, S authorities"
Mr.. Vauy refused absolutely to give
snv more details than contained in his
statement From other sources, how.
ever &c was learned that dimes, quar-
ters and haf-dollars were the coins
manufactured. The discovery was
made several days ago, and United
States secret service officers were i'm
m.tiately called in. Their investiga-
ton. it is learned, is still in progress,
their principal object being to learn
whether there was collusion between
the convicts and the employees of the
Institution.
Later further details OF the counter
,sting scheme leaked out These
we're to the effect that five men were
engaged in the work, the head of the
counterfeiters being Philadelphia
now completing his second term for
this offense. The others were profes-
sionaI criminals, who secured through
the plumbing department of the prison,
TIE necessary metal, made OF solder,
tin and ground glass. The moulds. it
is believed, were made of plaster of
paris, scraped from the walls of the
cells Some Of the coins got into cir
culation. but IN what manner has not
ret been fully determined. There is 4
belief that certain employees who did
favors for the prisoners, such as mail
ing letters IN violation of the rules Of
The Institution, were given the bogus
money rs tips. and that they innocent
" passed it into circulation.
The cOunterfeiting was discovered
about the middle OF July and stopped.
but for some reason it was not made
known TO the prison inspectors until
some time in August.
II IS believed the discovery Of coun-
'erteiters in the prison was the result
Of the general investigation now being
carried on IN the place as a result of
the irregularities in the cigar depart.
ment These irregularities became
public last week. and pending an in
Vesugation Warden Daniel W. Bus
singer and the overseer Of the cigar
department. were temporarily relieved
ron duty, and the penitentiary placed
IN charge Of the Rev. Joseph Welch.
ne CHAPLAIN. II is alleged that thou
sands OF cigars made by convicts are
anaccounted for. that thousands of
~sn did not contain the internal reve.
aas stamps, and that in many in
stances the law requiring prison.made
cigars 10 DO stamped convict made"
~~ ignored. How long this has been
Ssried on 10 yet to be learned. The
government Of the penitentiary ia
vested In q board Of Ave inspectors
Aepointed by the governor. who serve
~'tAout salary. This board 10 now
AAAins An Inspection OF each branch
" he institution. and has employed
~ expert accountant 10 M nysr tho