Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1907-07-21

STRENUOUS LIFE OF
THE COUNTERFEITER
20


He lacked at first the courage to
make an arrest but after ponderlng
upon the affair for n time and con.
sulting a deputy sheriff. who chanccd
10 DO there, 1T was decided to arres,
Elder Billings and abide the conse
quences. II was a bold push, seem
inSly, and required great deal OF
nerve on the part OF the officers Ia
step mp and arr0st the elder, who had
taken seat near the speakers plat
form aud was engaged In Il private
conversation with one OF the minis
tcrs
The detective, who was now some
what flushed with excitement. pushed
his way abruptly up To the elder and
informed him that he was Il pr .ioncr
The excitement mt once became gen
eral; particularly among. the women
some OF whom were furious I'm thcil
dcnunclations OF the detective ant
deputy sheriff In order To quiet tn,
excitement II was necessary for III,
deputy sheriff to step up on the plat
form and explain the cause OF the ar
rest, and that II WAS made by Gov
eminent officer, whose unthoht [,
could not le questioned Everything
and everybody was upset. IIillingi
appeared the least disturbed OF all
and declared that II WAS Il case o
mistaken identity.
When, however the elder was takel
to his lodgings, 1t was discovered tina
he had nearly two thousand dollars o
counterfeit money concealed among
religious tracts In one OF his trunks
Ills wife. who had come to the villag,
with him, II appeared, had Deen deaf
ing out spurious bills to a number o
counterfeit showers who had me
there by appointment,
This discovery created great con
sternation among the people. and the.
were so completely shocked Mt tn,
denouemcnt, when awakened to tn
fact that they had been tricked by tn
seemingly pious brother. that the.
were almost ready to lynch him. rhei
brotherly love was changed to bitter
ness. Many of them found bogu
money In their pocketbooks, Not
withstnndnig the threats and excite
mont. the two officers managed t
protect their prisoner from the hand
OF the furious. by snmmOning poss
of citizens and taking up their quar-
ters in an upper room of the u tile he
tel In the town. The prisoner wa
mono other than John Peter Mozart
ney.
Soon after the officers loaded Nc
CARNEY and his wife into II sprlnl
wagon and started with them for Sey
more. The wife had taken the pre-
caution to provide nice lunch IN,
other refreshments. The night WA
dark. and tho wind was chilly. Tn
ride In the brauNng air gave all n goo,
appetite. and the officers were pre-
fuse In their expressions of gratitud
for II liberal suppl yof whskcy iron
tho bottle brought along by Mrs No
CARNEY.
The early pnrt of the ride was quit
pleasant. Muc told interesting ste
rios. and assured the officers that h
respected them for doing their duty
He wore handcuffs and leg IRONS. am
the officers evidently felt that the
had him perfectly safe, more especial
~ MS he appeared to be so humble
and contrlte.
There IL II certain part of this stor.
about which am unable TO relate tn
particulars. The readers imaeinu
tion, however, can easily supply tn
deficiency, The officers Went I,
sleep, and nwoke the next mornln!
to find themselves in an orchard nea
the road chained 10 an apple tree
in Il manner to prevent them from
moving off without taking the ire,
along with them. There they lay
stretched out upon tho ground, III
comfortable and almost broken heart
ed. Tho predicamont was indeed
sad one. Stripped of everything eN
cept their clothing and good intcn
tIons they realized their utter help
lessness more fully than over before
during their lives. The sun was wei
up when they were enabled to n;
tract the attention of n pnsserby. who
after hearing their pitirul story. wen
to n farm house and procured the ne
cessary tools TO release them Nc
Cartncy and his wife had disappear
ed. not forgetting to take the sherlff's
team as compensation for the loss
of their counterfeit money.
An Unparalleled CRIMINAL
appreciate the situation and under
stand the magnitude of the catch
will tell them That Peter Mccartney
allts Joe Woods. was one of the mosi
noted criminals of his day. For more
than thirty years his name was her
aided throughout the West and South.
west as tho king of Countcrfeiters.'
His successes and many thrilling ad-
ventures can rarely be paralleled In
criminal history He was known
among the detectives as dangerous
man to encounter There were rev
among the officers willing to under
take his arrest single handed. Had
he put his wonderful energy and skin
to proper use. he might have made
his mark high up on the walls of
fame. But he chose to follow the
dark and dangerous paths of crime