Evening journal., 1907-11-18
ROMANCE OF A
COUNTERFEIT BILL.
eooOSsOsesseoseseoeooesss :
IOrlglnall

from US the Importance OF UiuhuB 4
events that are destined to influence
our future. II this were not so, per-
haps at times we might defeat fate.
For instance. suppose in walking out
hesitate which Of two streets to take.
If I take the left hand one it doesn't
matter; If take the other I will meet
person who will influence my life
for evil knowing this. take the
left hand street and defeat fate. Queer,
isn't it?
/ married the woman destined to be
my wife, am the father Of my chill
dren and pass through daily scenes all
predestined by n hunt for the original
shower Of a counterfeit bill. To find
this shower / was obliged to trace the
bill from one person to another till
got back to my starting point. never
could understand why fate could not
have been satisfied with connecting
the life live today with the bill with
out bringing in circumstance re-
markable in Itself
When was a very young man I
went into the government secret serv-
ice One day a bank teller in Pitts
burg detected a counterfeit ten dollar
bill in the deposit of a retail merchant
who was considered above suspicion.
was sent there to learn from whom
It had emanated. The merchant told
me that he remembered the bill very
well, for he had needed change and
had nothing in his pocket but the bin.
He had such bad luck with It in this
respect that he had put it in his de-
posit with checks in order to get rid
Of it, It had been paid him as re-
turned borrowed money. The borrow
er had received it from a greengrocer.
who got it from a paperhanger, to
whom it was paid by a wholesale pa
per house.
At the paper house the bin was iden-
tilted by the cashier, who had suspect
ed it Of being spurious It had been
paid by a man from Chicago for paper
sent to him there. l went to Chicago
aud found my man. He was a bad
one and had bought the paper to put
on the walls Of dive. I was sure he
was the original shower, but he proved
to me that he was making lots Of mon
ey in his dive and had no knowledge
Of counterfciting. Besides, he turned
me over TO a leather man. who exam
ined the bill and admitted he had pass
ed It TO the man / suspected. The
leather man sent me 10 Detroit on q
wild goose chase after a shoemaker
who in turn sent me back to Pittsburg
Getting back tn Pittsburg looked as
if was close on the trail, because
Plttsburg was the place where the bill
was first discovered. The Pittsburi
supposed counterfeiter was a dentist
was young then and prided mysel
ON going to work ON a case the righ
way, so instead Of asking the dentis
where he got the biz went into hi
Office professionally. He found sew
eral cavities in my teeth TO be plugged
and was enabled to pass two hour
in his dental chair. OF course I talked
that is, whenever he took his rubbe
dam out OF my mouth; l thought tn,
two words OF the name should b.
transposed-a as a man who pump
usually interprets the information h
gets to suit himself l was sure tn
dentist was the culprit.
} When he finished the job and I wen
out a young lady entered the operatin
ROOM She smiled at the doctor, dis
playing such a beautiful set Of teetl
that wondered what use he could b
TO her
spent good deal of time worlSln
= up a case on the dentist. but l couldn'
be certain and finally decided to fright
. en- him into admitting his guilt. wen
E TO his Office after he had finished hi
. work. produced the bill and accuse
, him of having made It, He didn'
e frighten at ALL He took the bill in hi
= hands. put magnifying glass on 4
: handed it back TO me and said:
"That bill was handed me by Jane
B. Sterling. a merchant of this city. 70
Z piece of bridge work suspected i
r looked at it with a glass as I have jus
done. and noticed certain features i'm
, that l have just seen again. was III
5 certain about It, but did not care {
S turn it back on Mr.. Sterling. Soon af
: er I visited Detroit, took the bill wit
. me and gave It out for a pair Of shoes.
. I sat listening to him till he ha
2 finished. then got up and left his oflic
+ in a hurry. James b. Sterling was th
e merchant who had originally deposite
] the bill.
{ I can't explain why felt sure this
1 Sterling was the guilty man. but ] di,
l went to his store. and as soon as
saw the outside Of it not only kne'
s that he was the man l had been aftC
: so long. but that he had departed. Th
o store was shut up. and half a doze
S ITO Rent notices of different real e
+ tate agents were tackled on the doc
p The man was no merchant at all. II
n had filed small store with a stock {
j. cheap goods and had run it as
( blind for passing the queer stun of
gang of counterfeitcrs Of which he w;
r a member. The remarkable feature
n that a bill he had showed should hay
S gone all over the country and final
back to him. TO be deposited by hi
r possibly without his having recognize
l. II as his counterfeit