The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1909-03-18
DRAMATIC
EPISODES
Daughter of One Prisoner
Threatens to Cut Her
Throat if Relatives
Are Jailed

one OF the most striking counterfeit
ing raids ever accomplished was made
by United States government men last
night in Lake county.
Following the arrest of Ford Predom
and his 25-year-old son. James FREEDOM,
REter their unsuccessful attempt yes
terday to pass a counterfeit half-dollar
on Miss o'Brien. ticket seller at the
Thirty fifth street station of the South
side Elevated railroa, Chicago, Sc
cret-service operatives working under
khe direction OF Captain Tohmas 1
Porter descended upon the home of the
Freedoms at Hosford Park hidden in
desolate spot of woods seven miles
from Gary, uncovered a complete coun-
terfeitters' den, seized the tools and
returned to Chicago at a. m. today,
convinced that they had nipped in the
bud one of the cleverest schemes hatch
ed in the history of Chicago to flood
the city with thousands of dollars of
almost perfect limitations of genuine
silver coins
AdjOfns Home of "Xyizard."
A second and more startling discov-
cry made by the secret service opera
tives was to find the FREEDOM plant ad-
joining the home of Adam Racke,
known to the governments agents as
the wizard of counterfeiters"
Woman Breaks Down and Weeps.
The descent on the FREEDOM home was
accompanied by dramatic incidetns
Mrs. FREEDOM, Woodworking French
woman. who attends to general store
and her housework day in and day out,
broke down completely and wept hy-
sterically when she learned that her
husband and son hae oeen captured in
Chicago with counterfeit money in
their possession. She vowed by all
that was near and dear to her she knew
nothing of their operations and ex-
pressed the belief that the son had led
the father astray
Louise FREEDOM. her daughter, had
made preparations to celebrate her
thirteenth birthday today by giving a
party to her schoolmates. She is an
honor pupil" of the Lake county school
at Ross. Ind. mile from the FREEDOM
store. She Is a child possessing all the
proud spirit and honor of the French
race
Girl Says she'll Cut Her Throat.
I'll cut my throat if my father and
brother go to JAIL she moared and
her mother fearing that her daughter
would carry out her impulsive threat,
Immediately hid all the knives in the
house
Clarence Richey and Peter G. Drautz-
burg. the secret-service men who
made the raid. found an electro-pIating
outfit. metal used in the molding Of
coins. a blower. pots. finely adjust
ed lathe by means of which the milling
on the edges of the coins could be fn-
ished, files and tools of every descrip- |
ton There were bottles of acids and
strange liquids which will require
chemical analysis. The entire outfit, |
Weighing nearly 800 pounds. was cart
ed cross country and by electric cars |
brought to Chicago and locked in Cap |
tain Porter's vault
Lathe Bought In Chicago.
The lathe. it was learned. had been |
bought by young FREEDOM from Orr & |
Ioetett. II Randolph street. Feb IL. |
The Freedoms formerly lived in Chicago.
Their home was al 210S State street for
several years and Nov. 25. 1905. they
moved to Hosford park, a lonely spot /
lying half way between Glenn Park
and Ross. Ind.
Young FREEDOM was formerly employ
ed in State street department store
as an elevator man. according to the
information furnished by his mother,
who with tear-flled eyes declared she
had never taught her son anything ex-
cept ito be honest"
The parents We're running a general
store in a small cottage a quarter Of
mile from the Nickel Plate railroads
right-of-way. The store 500 feet
from sparsely travelled road and hid
den in the woods forms an ideal spot
for counterfeiters plant Mrs. Pre-
dom told the secret-service men that
business had not been good and. to
make both ends meet. her husband lad
been in Chicago for some time working
as carpenter whenever he could get a
job.
Wife Does the Drudxery.
Il stayed at home to attend to the
1