Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-06-18

>>s~ss $500 {
corning the ''Schafer'' family, and the re-
suits of that investigation may properly be
given at this point. The real family name
was Stadtfeldt. Nicholas was the head of
the family, the other members living In the
Clinton house being Barbara, the wife;
Charles the son, and Mollie a daughter.
who was married to Henry Clinton. Mich
olas Stadtfeldt had been counterfeiter in
States to ply the same trade. HIS wife had
been his able assistant, while his son,
Charles, man of thirty. had been trained
to the trade of his father Charles Stadt-
rious circuses. and in that capacity had had
ample opportunity for working off the out
put of his fathers mill He was an
adept at the printing and Showing" of
Clinton this ''mill had been steadily grind
ing the output during the residence of the
family in Clinton being a batch of S95. 600
OF the counterfeit s. bills of the Traders
National Bank Of Chicago for Pete" Nc
Cartney. By the mortising method. good
counterfeits of the bills of thirteen Illinois
banks had been made from this plate
Nelson briggs had married Gertrude
Stadtfeldt. an Older daughter of Nicholas. in
Dayton, Ohio, in 1874. illustrating the ten
dency of men in this particular line of
criminality where the utmost secrecy is
absolutely necessary. to marry women from
concentrating families. briggs had met
Gertrude when, as a good Looking Young
woman. she was serving a term in the Ohio
penitentfary for passing queer money
she mad become printer of bogus money
Tor her husband. and was an important
member OF the conspiracy.
Inc establishment of the facts relative to
the Stadtfelt family and the clinching OF
the identities of briggs and Boyd had made
the future of the case much clearer Dur
ing the months under which the PRINCIPAL Ia
10 the manufacture of the Traders National
nVes and other important counterfeits were
uhoer surveillance at Clinton and La Clare
was convinced, both from the ,ry and OBJ
servaflon. that neither briggs nor Bo,d
was actively engag ed in the commission OF
any overt counterfeiting act: but was
equally certain that the Stadtfeldts had
been running their mill and grinding out
bogus bills for circulation among the un-
wary. and the subsequent fact was de-
veloped. as previously told that they had
rur on from their press s95.OnO OF the
Traders National ffves for Pete Mccartney.
Aside from any specific information on
the subject, however. I would have been
firmly convinced that neither briggs nor
BOYD was at that time actively cutting
plates or Showing bogus money. for this
reason: 1t had been my observation and
that Of every other secret service man who
had had to do with counterfeting cases
that professionals in the fine art Of MAX
ing and passing counterfeit money never
held any communication with one another
during the time they were actively engaged
in their work. The different processes of
labor through which counterfeit bill
passed between the cutting of the plate
to its actual unloading on the public were
devised purely for purposes of safety-in
order to break the chain by which secret
service operatives might follow them. In
addition to this division of the work the
universal custom prevailed for the men en-
gagged in the issue Of queer" money to
place long distances between each other
after the plan was arranged. They made
rendezvous in one town or city. perfected
the details of the plot. and then scattered
as Duff of wind would scatter the down of
the dandelton, to meet again at place
agreed on three. six or more months after
as the extent of the job dictated.
In the case in hand knew that the prin-
cipals were men versed in all the approved
methods of the "coney man." and that
1t was extremely unlikely that the con-
ferences between briggs and Boyd were for
any purpose other than the arrangement
of the details of some big job to be done
Therefore, in addition to maintaining a
strict surveillance, the principal task be-
fore me was to watch for the puff of wind
that was to scatter the 'koniackers' 10
their respective places for work
While affairs stood thus one of nv as
sistants, during the course of his daily re-
port to me on the movements of briggs
said:
Mr.. Demarest. this is big thing. briggs
has lots of money. and I am satisfied you
could make $4,000 by losing him."
l had been somewhat doubtful of the in
tegrlty or this assistant for some time, but
up to this point had had no tangible reason
for thinking that he would do anything
traitorous toward the secret service.
asked him how he knew the money could
ipa ha ,;r
stances that led him to estimate the proba-
Bile reward of treachery on our part at
$4,000. then said to him:
I am here to get these men and am
going to do 1t. If you make one move that
spells our game shall kill you as 1 would
a dog"
He seemed convinced that meant what
l SAID, Tor there was nothing in his actions
or converse ton after that time to Indicate
that he had not done his full duty.
1t may seem strange that when We knew
sso'ooo of counterfeit money was being made
In the Stadtfeldt house we did not descend
on the establishment, arrest the inmates
and confiscate the plant but it must be re-
memhered that the Stadtfeldts were actors
OF secondary Importance in the drama that
was being played. Boyd as the cutter of
Plates, was the man on whom the opera
tons OF all the others depended, and
Driggs as man of great shrewdness and
large means. was the most dangerous dealer
In the country. Besides striving primarily
Tor the capture of these two I had hoped
to be able to land Pete Mccartney. whose
standing In his chosen profession was so
high that he was known as the King Of
the koniackers.' and who was closely in
League with briggs. Boyd and the Stadt-
feldts. To have raided the Stadfeldt plant,
therefore, would have flushed the big game
and made them the more wary in a future
chase
The capture of the plates In the possession
or Boyd and briggs was of almost as much
Importance as the capture of the men them
selves. and. besides, in order to convict and
tmprison the principals, II was necessary
to catch them in the act they were charged
with committing. These reasons l consid-
cred sufficient to allow the Stadtfeldts 70
leave Clinton unmolested, which they did
on August p. The moving of the Stadt-
feldts l took to be one Of the signs of the
approaching flight of the others and in this
my calculations proved correct for one day
about three weeks later mysterious move
ments were discernible in the briggs resi-
dence.
That evening briggs and his wife came
to the Revere House. Every move made
by him was closely watched and our sur
veillance was rewarded in a few hours for
after most OF the guests had retired briggs