Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1905-11-04
By CAPTAIN PATRICK D. TrRRELL


Ii was one day in the early spring Of
the year 1878 that a young man sign
Ing the application form as George c.
King. No. S73 West Adams street. Chi
cago. H." appeared az the money or
der window OF the Chicago post Office
and asked for two money orders aggre-
eating SIS in amount. payable TO A. J
Williams. OF CanaDdaigua. y Y. with
the application he handed the clerk a
500 note. The clerk made out the or
oers. gave them and SIS to the appu-
cant and the latter disappeared The
same day, in counting the cash re,
ceiyed az the money order window. the
chef clerk encountered the 800 note
and became suspicious OF its genuine
ness. IL purported 10 be a note OF the
issue OF the Revere national bank. Of
Boston.
Being notified that such a note had
been received at the post Office. I i'm
mediately made an examination OF it
and pronounced 30 a counterfeit. then
took possession OF the note and sub
mitted it 90 Fred ~. Blount who was
then cashier in She United States sub
place the government counterfeit"
stamp on &c. This he refused 20 do on
the ground that the note. In his opin-
ion. was genuine. ! pointed out many
discrepancies between the note in hand
and one known 10 be genuine. but
Blount claimed he had frequently no
uced discrepancies as great between
two genuine notes OF the same issue.
On his refusal 70 stamp the note
took Il 20 Thomas p. TaIlman. cashier
or the Traders national bank. whom I
considered the most reliable expert in
such matters in any OF the city banks.
Mr.. Iallman spent two hours making
minute examination OF the note. and
al the end OF that time coucurred Ia nv
original opinion that the note was
counterfeit Having been thoroughly
hAllsned In my own mind from the be-
ginning the note was spurious. I deem
ed 10 important Go trace f. From the
post Office records the name and adj
dress given by the pssser OF the note
were secured. and these were found 10
be correct.
King was not az home when I called
NJ has house. but from his wife learn
ed he had received 500 bin from A.
). Williams. "a friend OF her husbands
In Canandasua. y. Y. The passing OF
the bin had been noted in my daily re-
Port TO Chief Brooks Ia washington
and as soon as learned that the note
had been received from the same man
70 whom the money orders purchased
with IL had been sent. suggested that
the eastern division OF the secret serv-
Ice take up the New York end OF the
chain
The following day arrested King az
the la Sale street offices in which he
was employed and FOUND in his posses
sion letter from his Canandaigua
friend. The letter itself was an inno-
cent, friendly missive. but ia the en-
Nelope was separate note instructinr
hlng TO buy the money orders. keep
80 for himself and 20 keep his own
counsel" In my mind there was no
reasonable doubt that Williams. who
was Jeweler, and King at least had
guilty knowledge that the note In cues
ton was counterfeit.
In glancing back over a long line
OF records for the years 1873 and 1879
i select the foregoing incident as the
hrst thread the secret service picked m
In the skein OF events which afterward
connected east and west in a gigantic
"koniacking" swindle that reached into
the United States treasury building it.
self; and / set It forth here merely on
account Of what il suggested rather
than on account Of its intrinsic impor-
tance.
AT the present day. when the conn
terfeiting Of the nations money is rap
idly passing into the category Of lost
arts. the younger generation Will won
der at the extent Of counterfeiung a
third Of century ago as indicated by
the narratives I have told and the one
/ am about 20 relate. And il there be
any wonder on this score there will be
greater when / say that Nelson briggs,
Ben Boyd. Fred BlebEsh. Pete" Nc
CARNEY and a score Of others already
mentioned were members OF the west
ern contingent only, while in the east
was a corresponding number Just as
skilled and lust as active.
The connections between east and
west crossed and interlaced, until they
formed a fgurative free-masonry OF
counterfeiting reaching from ocean TO
ocean and from Canada 70 the gulf.
For this condition there was a most
obvious explanation. We whose hairs
are gray will remember when the ne
cessities Of government during the war
OF the rebellion compelled the issue OF
hundreds Of millions Of legal tender OF
new and various kinds. These issues
were made hastily. being demanded by
the exigencies OF the Kaleidoscope d
nancial situation. and were imperfect
TO an extent that would now be consid.
cred ridiculous.
Much OF the new currency issued dur
Ing the war and the existence OF the
state banks was not only defective in
the ENGRAVING, but was printed on pa
per which could be easily duplicated by
a clever chemist. Scrip was In use, and
the government product. from the en-
graver's standpoint, was not of a high
-