The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1907-07-13
A Detectives RuSe


| ~~~o~~N>Se~~~S
During the year 1848 the West was
flooded with counterfeit coin. 1t was
50 we'll manufactured that it passed
readily. The evil at last became so
great that the United States authori-
ties requested that a skilful detective
| might be sent to ferret out the nest Of
| coiners l was fixed upon to perform
the duty.
had nothing to guide me. The fact,
however, that Chicago was the city
where the counterfeit coin was most
abundant, led me to suspect that the
mandatory might be somewhere with
in its limits. 1t was, therefore, to the
| capital of the West that I first pro-
ceeded 1 spent five weeks in that
beautiful city, but without the slightest
clue Of the counterfeiters.
l began to grow discouraged, and
really thought 1 should be obliged to re
turn home without having achieved any
result. One day I received letter
from my wife requesting that 1 would
|
out Of funds. 1 went into bank and
asked for a draft, at the same time
handing a sum of money to pay for it,
In which there were several half dol
lars. The clerk pushed three Of the
half dollars back to me.
| Counterfeit" said he.
| WHAT" said 1, do you mean to
tell me those half dollars are counter
feitT
| Il do"
Are you certain?"
! Perfectly certain. They are re-
markably we'll executed, but they are
deficient in weight. See for yourself"
And he placed one of them in the
! scale against a genuine half dollar on
the other side. The latter weighed
down the former.
| THAT is the best-executed counterfeit
coin 1 ever saw in my life," exclaim-
ed, examining them very closely. us
all the counterfeit money in circula-
ton here of the same character as
this?"
"Oh, dear, no." replied the clerk, ut
is not nearly 80 well done. These are
the work Of Ned Willet, the famous
New York counterfeiter. I know them
we'll, for have handled many Of them
In my time. Here Is some of the money
that Is in circulation here" he added,
taking several half dollars from q
drawer. you see that the milling is
not near as perfect as Ned Willet's,
although it is pretty we'll done, too"
! compared the two and found that
he was right. 1 supplied the place of
the three counterfeit half dollars with
good coin, and returned the former to
my pocket again.
| A few days after this received In
formation which caused me to take a
Journey to a village situated about
thirty miles from Chicago. 1 arrived
there at night and took up my quarters
at the only tavern in the place. It was
wretched dwelling, and kept by an
old man and woman, the surliest cou-
pie think 1t has ever been my lot to
meet. In answer to my inquiry as to
whether 1 could have lodging there for
the night, I noticed that the host gave
peculiar look at his wife, and after
some whispering was informed In the
most ungracious manner possible that
could have a bed.
l have frequently In the course Of
my life been obliged to put up with
wretched accommodation, so I did not
allow my eQuanimity Of temper to be
destroyed by the miserable fare set
before me, and the still more miserable
sleeping apartment into which was
ushered after had concluded nv re-
past.
| The chamber was small In size. and
was certainly well ventilated, for I
could see the stars peeping through the
roof. The bed was simply a bag Of
straw thrown into one corner Of the
room, without sheets or covering Of
any kind. This last fact, however. was
not Of much consequence, as 1t was
summer time, and oppressively hot.
! I stood for more than an hour gazing
out of the opening which served for a
window. Before me was spread an
immense prairie, the limits of which 1
could not see. The tavern in which 1
had taken up my abode appeared to be
isolated from all other dwellings, and
save the croak of the tree-frog and the
hum of the locust, not sound reached
my ears. It was beautiful moonlight
night, and so bright that could see
to read the smallest print.
| At last began to grow weary, and
throwing myself on my pallet was
soon plunged into deep slumber. How
long I slept I know not but was
awakened by a dull sound which re-
sembled some one hammering In The