The Washington times., 1907-01-11
Miss Mccormick Wants
to Meet Graham at
Altar-PreSident
Helps.
Slick Providence Coun-
terfeiter Aided by
Loyal Woman.
Gets Sentence Reduced
Six Years After Tire
less Effort.

Through the unfaltering love and con-
hdence OF a good woman. the nfteen-
year sentence Of Marcus Graham. clever
eounterfeiter. was yesterday commuted
by the President 20 six years in the
penitentiary.
The woman IN question vas ida Nc
Ccrmick. or Providence. IL L.. ana the
hanCee OF Graham For several weeks
Miss Mccormick has been tirelessly
working 10 have her sweetheart hber-
ated. or at least 10 have thr sentence re-
duced- Today she was made happy by
the Information that Crahan's sentence
had been reduced 20 six years,
He has already served two years. and
with nineteen months on Cor good be
havioT, Graham viii be free in a little
over two years 70 slam the psnitentiaFy
doors behind him and lead his faithful
sweetheart 10 the altar.
Pleads for Lover.
The petiJioa for Crahan's liberation
has been before the pardon attorney
or the Department OF Justice for some
time. ana il was supplemented by mum
hers Of letters from prominent people
in Providence. who knew the inside
story OF the case and were anxious TO
see Miss Mccormick win out in her
EFFORT 10 have her lover freed or his
sentence reduced Miss Mccormick.
herself, wrote the Department OF Justice
d despairiug letter. ia which she begged
a pardon for Graham, and stated, that
IN its event hey would be married.
and she sure. that If given q
chance. her -nvict-lover would prove
himself D. and a law-abiding citizen.
Touched Hearts Of Clerks.
Her letter. 10 its pathos and trustful-
ness, touched even the stony hearts OF
the pardon clerks at the Department Of
Justice, who are in receipt of similar
letters each day, and a thorough inves-
tlgation of the merits OF this particular
case. was made and the matter referred
10 the Attorney General.
But Miss Mccormick could not bear
the suspense and last week arrived In
Washington. and appeared before the
chief clerk OF the Pardon Board OF the
Department OF Justice and also made a
strong plea 10 Chief Wilkie OF the Sc
cret Service for the liberation of her
iucarcerated lover. She proved herself
an able lawyer, with Cupid as her star
witness As result the original hf-
teen-year sentence was yesterday COM
muted 10 six years.
Story Of Downfall.
The story of Graham and his downfall
Is a rather unusual one. Four years ago
Marcus Graham was an expert engraver
at Providence. X. J.. the possessor Of an
excellent position and good salary. He
fell IN love with Miss Mccormick a
woman about thirty years OF age
blonde, ana pretty. and who returned
his passion, They became engaged and
started 10 save up money TO build a
home before they We're married. II was
then that he became a counterfeiter
Graham was intensely interested In
colOr-engraving and became an enthus-
--i vn su- subject one day, some one
said TO him. in a spirit of braVado. thai
hr would NOT br able 10 engraVe and
color an exact duplicate of "A ten-douar
hiN known as the Buffalo note" Cra-
han. nothing lOaJh. commenced work
upon the engraving, and much 10 his
own surprise produced "a note which
could only be detected By an expert as
a counterfeit.
Wonderful Counterfeiter.
Then he turned his attention TO a one
huudred-dollar note. known as the Ben
ton head, and again produced a coun-
terfeit. SO amazingly good, as TO almost
defy detection. And with that note
came his downfall and destruction.
With the idea OF more quickly paying
for the home ne ana his hancee were
working for. and a more speedy mar
riage. Graham, one unlucky day. at
tempted TO pass one of the sl0O bills.
and the ease with which he succeeded
proved an incentive 10 repeat the trick
Finally, he began 70 operate at the
race tracks and according 70 the way
ne had dOurd Ill ouE h. sirnniv -oul7 NOT
lose His method was TO each time plav
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