Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1906-01-11
Copyright 1905. by Marion c. scheitlin.l
By CAPTAIN PATRICK D. TYRRELL
PART I.-Continued.

PART I.-Continued.
Before leaving Clinton, briggs had
packed and left for shipment by
freight three large boxes and three
trunks in the freighthouse at Clinton.
After his departure, and late at night,
entrance to the freighthouse was
gained, the briggs packages searched,
and complete outfit of presses for
printing counterfeit money, inks, pa
pers and minor materials was found.
The things were all carefully re-
packed and the boxes closed, as they
had been originally. No attempt was
made to stop the shipment of the in
eliminating money and materials, for
any delay in its arrival at Centralia
would have been certain to cause in
uuiry and perhaps alarm on the part
of briggs.
While these events were transpiring
Boyd had been preparing to vacate
his old stone residence on the bank of
the Mississippi and to take his flight
30 some point unknown to me, where
he undoubtedly intended to settle
down to a task of plate-cutting in Sc
clusion and far from his partners.
In short, there was every indication
that the next few months were to be
a period of great activity on the part
of the gang, if not molested by Uncle
Sam.
1t was on September 90 that Boyd
shipped his household effects to Full
ton, ILL.,, and, with his wife, went
there to live till the work he had on
hand was done. Both briggs in Cen
tralia and Boyd in Fulton soon had
neighbors of whom they knew moth
ing but who watched their every
move with more interest than even
prying neighbOrs are wont to mani
fest
During the eight months that the
hide-and-seek game had been going
On between the secret service men and
this precious lot of criminals daily
reports had been forwarded to Wash
ington, as is customary in the depart
ment. In these reports the various
actors in the play were given fic-
titious names and, had the reports
fallen into the hands of confederates
of the counterfeiters, they would have
learned little from them With briggs
settled with the Stadtfeldts in Cen
tralia and Boyd hard at his nefarious
work in Fulton | believed the time
at hand to close this scene of the
play.
My report of the situation brought
on from Washington Chief Washburn,
Assistant Chief Brooks, f. G. Rath-
bone John Mcdonald and an opera
tive named Hurr, all of the secret
service division of the United States
treasury department. | had arranged
for a conference at Lyons, Ia, where,
with Chief Washburn | went over the
details of the situation and outlined
my plans for the capture. This meet
ing at Lyons was secret and we were
extremely careful not to be seen
talking together or even acknOwedg-
ing any acquaintance. In a secluded
spot on the river bank we talked the
matter over and decided to make the
arrests on the morning of October q
at nine o'clock.
Chief Washburn had lived in Cen
trala and knew the city well, so it
was decided that he should lead the
raid on the briggs nest had care
fully reconnoitered the Boyd resi-
dence, which he had rented under the
name of B. f. Wilson. 1t was a large,
two-story frame structure in Prairie
street standing under the brow of a
bluff and easy of surveillance from the
high ground above it. The hour Of
nine was chosen because from my
knowledge of Boyds habits, | knew
he would have had his breakfast and
been at work by that time, provided
the day was bright Had it been
cloudy the raid would have been post
poned, because on a dark day Boyd
would not have been engaged in cut
ting plates on account of poor light
Even with the best machinery this
class of work requires a peculiar.
bright light, which is obtained by re-
Election from white screens and 1t was
.-easonably certain that Boyd, with