The labor argus. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1906-1915, 1908-05-28
ROMANCE OF A
COUNTERFEIT BILL.

| tOriginal.l
| Providence has wisely concealed
| from US the Importance OF tritling
| events that are destined to influence
our future. If this were not SO. per-
| haps at times we might defeat fate.
For instance. suppose in walking out I
hesitate which of two streets to take.
| Ii I take the left hand one it doesn't
matter; it l take the other will meet
q person who will influence my life
for evil. Knowing this. take the
left hand street and defeat fate Queer.
isn't 1t?
I married the woman destined to be
my wife. am the father OF my chill
dren and pass through daily scenes all
predestined by hunt for the original
shower Of counterfeit bill. TO find
this shower l 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.
markab!e in itself
When ] was o very young man
went into the government secret serv.
burg detected q counterfeit ten dollar
Bill! in the deposit o: retail merchant
| who was considered above suspicion.
I was sent there to learn from whom
1T 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 bill.
he had such bad luck with it in this
| respect that he had put it in his de-
| post with checks in order to get rid
| of it. 1t had been paid him as re-
turned borrowed money. The borrow
er had received 1t from n greengrocer,
who got 1t from a paperhanger. to
whom 1t was paid by a wholesale pa
per house.
At the paper house the bin was iden- !
| titled by the cashier. who had suspect
| ed it of being spurious. 1t had been
| paid by man from Chicago for paper
| sent to him there. l went to Chicago
and found my man. He was a bad
one and had bought the paper to put
on the walls of a dive. l 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
|
| me over to Il leather man, who exam
! ined the bill and admitted he had pass
| ed IL TO the man | suspected. The
| leather man sent me to Detroit on a
wild goose chase after a shoemaker.
| who in turn sent me back to Pittsburc.
Getting back to PittSburg looked as
| If l was close on the trail, because
PittsburS was the place where the bin
| was first discovered. The Pittsburg
supposed counterfeiter was Il dentist
was young then and prided myself
on going to work on a case the right
| way, so instead of asking the dentist
where he got the bill vent into his
Office professionally. He found sew
eral cavities in my teeth TO be plugged
anu was enabled to pass two hours
In ms dental chair. OF course talked
that Is, whenever he took his rubber
dam out of my mouth; thought the
two words of the name should be
transposcd-and as a man who pumps
usually interprets the information he
gets to suit himself was sure the
dentist was the culprit
When he finished the lob and went
out young lady entered the operating
room She smiled at the doctor dis
playing such beautiful set of teeth
that wondered what use he could be
I to her
4 spent good deal of time working
/ up n case on the dentist but couldn't
q De certain and finally decided to fright
= en- MIN INTO admitting his guilt went
Ito his Office after he had finished his
4 work. produced the bill and accused
him of having made it He didn't
friGhten at all. He took the bill in his
4 hands. put maGnifying glass on it.
handed it back to me and said:
nat bill was banded me by James
Il Sterling. merchant OF this city, for
piece of bridge work suspected it.
looked at it with 4 glass. as have lust
done. and noticed certain features in it
that have just seen again was I'M
certain about 1t hut ,di.i r,o+ I.n..e 20