Gilpin observer., 1908-08-13
Many Thousands of
Dollars Worth of
Spurious Bills Are
"Killed'' by Clever
Detectfpe- Culprft
Had Every Track
Covered by One Ruse
or Another.

John E. wilkie, chief of the secret
service division of the United States gov
ernment, has not only upheld the high
traditions of that very responsible post,
but has won special laurels by his per-
sonal success in several big cases. He
was born in Elgin, ILL.,, AZ years ago and
before accepting the headship of the
secret service had made an enviable rep
uation a working journalist. While
connected with the Chicago newspapers
he made a specially of criminal investi-
CATION which probably accounts in part
for his unusual success as a detective.
During the Spanish american war he or
ganized a special emergency force of men
to checkmate Spanish spies in this coun-
try. AS consequence he succeeded IN
arresting their best spies and driving
most of the others off the soil of the
United States.)
~ NE Monday morning. not many
years ago, smartly dressed
man strolled down lower Broad
way and entered one of the
Trust company buildings in the
heart of the financial district of
New York. He was what is known
to the patrons of the turf as a
bookmaker, and he had called at the
bank for the purpose of securing roll
of bank notes that he had left there
on the previous Saturday night for
safe-keeping. 1t was promp'y handed
to him, a roll as big as both of his
fists. He counted it over rapidly to
see that the amount was correct, and
when he eot, laeaS the end unfe ihaey0y
at 500 gold certificate that lay there
conspicuously among the bills of
smaller denominations. He continued
his study of tho yellow back" for a
considerable period. and finally thrust
ing the balance of the bills in his
pantAloons pocket, walked over to the
cashier and handed him the bill.
What's the matter with this note?"
he asked.
The bank official looked at it cas-.
ually and handed it back with a smile.
Nothing" he answered, "except
that it's counterfeit"
The bookmaker gasped with astonish-
ment He went over his roll and
found three or four more notes of
the same kind. That morning he noti-
fled his fellow bookmakers, and before
"a hours had passed 80 or 40 of the
counterfeit notes had been located in
New York city. Samples were imme-
diately secured by the authorities and
forwarded to John w. Wilkie, the
chief of the secret service division of
the United States treasury depart
ment.
The chief dropped the business in
hand and Immediately turned his at.
tention to the new developments in
the hundred-dollar counterfeits Tele.
grams were sent to the agents of the
secret service instructing them to visit
the race tracks in their vicinity and
look out for bogus bills. These in.
structions applied particularly to Gin
cinnati. Louisville, Memphis, New Or
leans and st. Louis.
At st. Louis Capt. John Murphy, the
secret service agent in charge of that
district, went to the Delaware race
track and posted the bookmakers to
look out for any 800 bills that might
be offered them. Agents of the serv.
ice were posted in various parts of the
track. and 1t was agreed that If any
of these certificates were offered by
any of the patrons the bookmakers
should at once give the secret sery-
ice n pre-arranged signal. In less than
two hours one of the agents received
signal and hurried to the booth occu.
pied by the bookmaker. He made a
careful examination of the bill that
had been given to the "bookie" and
found that 1t was one of the counter
feits. The agents were then posted at
spots where they could see the patrons
Of the track in the act of "cashing in"
their winnings. The man who had
put up the 800 bill bet on the favor
lite, and he came out winner.
The man "cashed in" and as he did
so was taken into custody.
He was marched over to the club
house and searched. A white en-.
velope was found in his pocket, con-
tanning 2S of tie 500 counterfeit bills.
He said his name was Marcus era.
han. the proprietor OF an extensive
establishment at
Providence. Il. I. He was perfectly
candid in his explanations. He said
that he had been visiting the fair and
was n guest at the Southern hotel, and
that he would DO very glad TO refer