Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-16
STORIES OF THE
SECRET SERVICE
THE BOSCOBEL KONIACKERS

BY CAPTAIN PATRICK d. TYRRELL.

a good quality of 'coney' was II cents on
the dollar.
in TIE spring of 1878. therefore, I went 70
Boscobel. Registering at the hotel under
false name and from a small town in Mis-
souri,, kept pretty much TO myself and out
al sight. In order 10 keep the landlord from
becoming inquisirivc, as the landlords OF
hotels IN small towns are prone TO do. l
asked him number of questions concern
ing The opportunity for successfully loaning
money on farms in the vicinity.
In the engraving department of the
United States government there is an elab-
crate system of screens, refiectors and
shades by which is obtained the peculiar
soft light necessary TO the engraving of
plates from which currency is to be print
ed BY counterfeiters this system must be
initiated as closely as limited facilities will
permit. and / believe TO this day l could
pick oat any house in which counterfeitinS
was being carried on In any town OF such
size as would allow inspection of all
the houses.
BosccJeI was not so large but that it was
easy to locate the rendezvous of the coun-
terfeiters. AS usual il was the out
skirts of the town, and the nearest neigh
bor was 100 yards away. There was but
one house beyond it on the street. The
house was two-story frame structure.
The peculiar arrangement of the curtains
any other information.
Malcolm Robinson and his wife occupied
the house by themselves according TO he
belief of the toWnSpeople. The facts were,
however as revealed by investigation, that
Robinson and his wife occupied the lower
story and kale Ellis and Franklin j. Brown
the upper story. The three men We're coun-
torfeiters. Robinson was the 'manufac-
turer' of the Boscobel crowd, Brown being
the printer under Robnsons direction. ELS
was the engraver, as l have previously
told, but at that particular time lie was
also aiding in the work of running off The
issue for the use of Nap Latta
y
! took some time to satisfy myself as to
the exact conditions prevailing in and
around the Robinson residence l had not
forgotten Kale Ellis little pleasantly In re-
gard to the probable fate of any secret
service men who attempted to capture him.
! and l did not intend to take any more
chances than necessary when 1t came to
planning for the event. But the time soon
came when it seemed certain no mistake
could be made In rading the Robinson
house.
Frank w. Oakley. United States marshal
at Madison told of my plan, and his
services and those of two OF his most COM
petent deputies were secured Warrants
were taken out secretly at Madison. Mar
shall Oakley said he had frequently heard
of kale Ellis, and that from all ne hat
, heard he was a dangerous man to handle.
I also sent to Chicago for John Mcdonald
and C. ID. Townsend, the latter a secret
service operative. The FIVE men were m
struetcd to come to Boseobel on the same
day, and 10 register at the hotel without
letting II be known that they knew me or
knew one another.
1t was about IL o'clock at night when
smugSled them into my room. where ! out
lined my plan to them, l planned to take
One of the others was to be stationed about
sixteen feet from each corner of the house
III such way that each could command a
view OF two sides of the building | calcu-
lated that Ellis and Brown might leap from
| the second-story windows in front when
they heard me ascending the stairs. TO the
men stationed in front | said:
'One of these men who may jump from