The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-01
.I#$ R CAUGHT PASSING FAKE BILL Claims Bill Was Recently Passed
 on Him ~ TEN RAISED TO TWENTY Stranger In City Is Given Hearing and Is Bound Over to the Grand
 Jury In $500
 Bond.
TEN RAISED TO TWENTY

yesterday afternoon by United States Commissioner R. B. Watts on the charge of attempting to pass a raised bill and was bound over~to the grand jury under bond for $500 =H
 McAllster was arrested Friday night by Policeman R. F. Shoot in the Bank saloon at First avenue and Twentieth street, where one of the walters from Chris's restaurant had taken the bill to get it changed. The bill was of $10 de- nomination and was issued by the Ma tionar Bank of Charlotte, N. c. The number 20 had been pasted across the number 10,. but no attempt had been made to change the word ten"
 B. M. Allen plead the case for the defendant and Assistant United States District Attorney Joseph H. Montgomery presented the states side of the case. This was Mir Montgomery's first case after taking up the duties of his new position.
 McAlister went into Lhris's place Fri day night about o'clock and ate supper His check was for 20 cents and he ten dered the cashier a $20 bill The cashier, Chris Kontas, a Greek, said he did not have the change and called across to John Brocato an Italian, who presided behind the oyster counter, and asked if he had it. Brocato said no, but vol unteered to go out and get 1t. Accom- panied by MeAllister they went to the Bank saloon where Brocato asked the bartender to change the bill. It was then discovered that the bill had been raised. Brocato told the bartender to keep the bill while he went for a policeman. Me Allister then gave him another 20 Dill and asked for the return of the raised one. Brocato and the bartender refused to do so and Brocato took the good bill, went outside to a fruit stand, had IL changed and also got Policeman Shoot. He then gave McAllister his change, amounting to s19.75, while Officer Shoot took McAllister and the raised bill in hand.
 McAllister plead not guilty and stated flat while he would not deny that the raised b..l was the one he had gwen Kontas, he did not know whether 1t was the one or not, and that if 1t was the one he didn't know it had been raised Judge Allen succeeded in making Kontas anl Brocato contradict themselves several times. and claimed that more suspicion rested unon them than upon his client.
 1.o,+.. he had walked froro he m CTS desk over to inc ovst -s01er given Brocato the bul wh sstified that Kon- tas had hind the cashiers desk an come out rom pe- hind th iayer, walked over to the cash, re the bill was given to him. Bro. said he discovered the bill was not good one while the bartender had it and later stated that he did not discover it until the bar tender had given it back to him..
 Policeman Shoot testified that he had questioned McAllister as to where he had secured the bill and how long he had been here. McAllister, he said, told him he had secured 1t fin Tuscaloosa last week and that he had been In Birming- l ham a week.
 McAllister denied that he had told Shoot ! he had been in Tuscaloosa last week. but said he thought he had secured the bill there some time ago. He arrived in Bir- mingham last Sunday night accompanied by his wife and has been registered at the New Morris. He came here from At lanta where he had spent about "A hours, going to Atlanta from Petersburg, Va. He only stayed In Petersburg for few hours, coming there from Richmond, where he had been for about six weeks. Prior to that time he had been at the Jamestown exposition for two or three months He also said he might have se- cured the bill at Petersburg, where man came rushing up to him and asked him to change s20 so he could pay a cabman.
 McAllister claimeDeLeon, Tex. as his home, and says he was in the livery busi- ness at Tishmingo, I. T., which is right across the state line from DeLeon. He claims to have been in business there under the firm name of McAllister & McClain, and that he sold out his in terest to McClain some three months ago. During this three months he and his wife have been travelling about He spent day in Tuscaloosa just after sell ing out.
 Judge Allen argued long and hard for his client. claiming more suspicion rested upon the foreigners than McAllister but Commissioner Watts decided the case against him was sufficient to let the grand jury pass upon 1t and fixed his bond at $3O0