Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-05-11
COULD NOT SEE WHY

The bookmakers at Jamaica were made
very sad at heart last week by the re.
ceipt. for two days running. Of many hun
dreds OF very superior $40 counterfeit
notes. The money drifted their way in the
ordinary course of business, and 1t was
not until toward the close of the SECOND
day OF the inundation of the queer cur
rency that the layers who had been bitter
Were apprised Of how neatly they had beer
done. The secret service men turned up a
the track on the second day. but. coinci
dentally with their appearance. the mys
terious passers of the bad twenties .disap
peared It is virtually Certainty thai
the secret service people will eventually
run down the manipulators Of this new
note, but In the meantime the bookmaker.
az the New York tracks will be feeling
with very great care the new money tna'
comes their way.
Some big jobs OF counterfeit money SHOW
Ing have been pulled OF at race tracks, blu,
New Orleans. where winter racing il car
rled on, has been in previous years the
sort A gang of passers got into the New
orleans bookmakers for tens of thousands
during the winter meeting ten years ago
They used a $40 gold certificate that had
been fooling bank clerks all over the south
for weeks, and q piece of money that even
the most expert secret service men had to
look at twice to detect its queerness.
me secret service men swooped upon
bad twenty put in it's appearance-not
however, before every one of the book
makers had been sorely damaged by taking
in the bad stuff. Among the bookmakers
whose tin money boxes were raided by the
secret service men in the search for the
bad money was eccentric character OF
German layer, who was found to have
nearly $500 worth of the phony twenties
IN y yn 49, l. rf1,xl he
look and the feel of the new money that
he had hung on to all Of it that came his
way, instructing his cashier to do the pay
ing of in the gum1my currency. When
and counted out his big batch Of bad
twenties the German wept scalding tears
of chagrin.
well, they seem to've sort of broke it
service man. as he counted out the big
stack of the bogus twenties in the Ger
mans box. They have set you back just
2.460,' and the secret service man started
to stun the pile Of bad twenties into his
wallet. The man. wild, grabbed the secret
service man by the lapel.
dot ain'd no sgvare teal" he beloved
at the secret service man. You maig me
shtand to loose unit to nottings gain. You
gif dot phony to me pack. unload it on
some odder fellers today. Den you from
dem taig 1t away. Wy would I loose all dot
unit no shance have to sgvare get. You
must dink L a sugger am"
The secret service man couldn't help but
laugh at the nerve OF the eccentric layers
proposition. But the bookmaker was dead
in earnest, and insisted that the secret
service man hand him back the big wad of
bogus twenties.
But" said the. secret service man. pa
tiently. don't you know that il you were
to pay out any Of this counterfeit money.
knowing it to be counterfeit as you now
do, you'd have to stand for a pinch as a
queer shower yourself. and probably get
about ten or fifteen years over the road
for it?'
The bookmaker looked thoughtful over
that, but after a moments reflection he
had an idea. $3.50,
"Vait-come NIT me vile,'' he whispered
to the amused secret service man, and
dragged him over to a corner Of the bet
ting ring.
Then he offered the secret service man
$500 II he'd let him have the pile of bogus
twenties back, SO that he, the layer. could
work of the stuff on the bettors that after
noon. The secret service man, of course.
could have instantly arrested the eccentric
bookmaker for that. but he didn't. He
made allowance for the colossal Ignorance
of the man. And the layer of odds went
around for the remainder Of the afternoon
paving the ground like bull moose al
horn shedding time.