Los Angeles herald., 1910-01-30

rchs pals 1 knew that Urich would get into COM
municaton with this man soon as he reached New
York He stared a little but kept his and was
about to try a bluff when took him by the arm.
IT'S a of pinch, Ulrch, said.
"'Oh! Binch, eh? he stammered. "Well, all right.
We took him off to quiet corner and l put the
situation straight to him. 'Ulrch said, you can take
your choice of helping and going over to Jersey to-
morrow to face that indictment that's been hanging
over you for years If you play square with us
wen do what to make it easy for you. If You
don't you know we get you and put you away
a long term. Now which is it?
He said he'd help us. didn't like it, but as
sized Urich up he willing to throw his associates
for the sake of leniency. At my insstence Ulrich
was permtmd at large and given free hand to take
part in the big counterfeiting conspiracy which was
then afoot.
ut was a gathering of the lights of the profession
and 1 knew that would need some one like Ulrich
to pin convictions the shrewd criminals who were
at work. He sent his telegram took up his assigned
part in the scheme and the inside When
everything ready descended on the prim lit
tie house in Ann street, Hoboken, which being
used as the headquarters of the counterfeters.
Booty Unearthed.
eve found 100000 worth of United States gold
certificates of $780, and 100000 in Canadian bank
notes of $1O0, $50 and $2O all counterfeits. They
well made and the paper especially good.
Among those arrested Big Bill Brockway,
Mrs. Libbie Smith, William e. Wagner, and, later,
the notorious DIR. 0. E. Bradford. Brockway, who
very slippery and intelligent old man, had given
the government officials trouble and served various
prison terms since the '70s. When it to trial
had nothing him at first except the testimony of
Ulrich, who gave States evidence had the only bit
of corroborative evidence.
when searched the Ann street house came
upon bit of olcloth that had been used as a
printers apron The others had thrown it aside.
but saved it. When I ransacked Brockway's room
in avenue found the roll of oilcloth that the apron
had been cut from. The piece fitted into the space
perfectly, and that the thing that convicted old
Brockway
"Another of the band who got away before the
thing broke was Jim Courtney His speciality was
filing in the perforations of drafts reperforatng
and raising them 1 couldn't land him anything
else so dug up warrant for him in Detroit thirty
years before, brought two witnesses who identi-
fed him and sent him West. de tried and
convicted the old count"
During Clevelands second term, when John q.
Carlisle Secretary of the Treasury, Mr.. Burns
handled a remarkable little case. 1t came to the
of the Treasury Department that the State of
Mississippi issuing debt warrants, notes that
had been made to resemble legal currency and
passing such. The detectives were sent to inves
tigate and began by rounding up number of per-
sons ready to that they really had been i'm
posed upon by the resemblance. This, technically,
was counterfeiting, and Mr.. Burns went TO the Uni
ted States District Attorney
81 want warrants for the arrest of the Governor,
the State Treasurer and the Auditor he said.
The District Attorney offered to call an ambulance
and have Burns examined to his sanity. Burns
thanked him and withdrew. Within a few hours the
District Attorney received very curt telegram from
Washington ordering him to obey the Secret Service
agent. Mr.. Burns got his warrants and the Grand
Jury was the verge of finding indictments when the
firm that had made the plates pleaded guilty, returned
the plates and the dropped.
When Secretary Hitchcock of the Department of
the Interior first received ntmation of the of
land frauds 1908 he sent for Chief Wke and asked
for aid. Wilke replied that he would detail him the
best man he had. That meant nothing to the Sec.
retary.
"Can he get proof, that's what want to know?"
''If he can't can, Mr.. Secretary" answered
Wnkie and Mr. Burns was given the mission
After he had been at work the difficult problem
for a few weeks Mr.. Burns called into Secretary
Hitchcocks office.
Have you made any progress?" asked Mr..
Hitchcock
Yes" said the other. "rve gone far enough to
know that - is taking graft and has been chiefly
instrumental in protecting the frauds" He named a
high in the department in whom the Secretary
had believed implicitly Explanation demanded.
"Wel," began Mr.. Burns, according to my the
ory"-
'Sop right there" interrupted Mr.. Hitchcock. "You
can't a like that of such a crime
theory"
Mr.. Burns bowed himself out and returned in a
short time with the man to whom he had referred.
They sat down with the Secretary. Nov, Mr.. ---,"
said the Secret Service agent ust tell the Secretary
the story you told me-" A full confession
the result and the first real step in the investigation
had been taken 1t was solely through the work done
by Mr.. Burns that Senator Mitchell, of oregon; F. A.
Hyde and others finally convicted in the land
fraud cases that attracted much attention
In 1906 Mr.. Burns gave up his position with the
government and went to San Francisco to help Prose
cuor Heney in his fight against the corrupt municipal
ring He obtained the confessions from members of
the Board of Supervisors and all the important evi
dence that brought about the conviction of Mayor
Schmitz, BOSS Abe' Ruef and others. He 1t was,
also, who discovered that the defence had managed
to get former convict, Morris Haas, the jury at
the Ruef trial
Haas stole into the court room day." said Mr.
Burns, in relating his recent adventures "and
got behind Heney and myself. policeman
grabbed him before he could make move and put
him out. He got back few days later and shot
Heney through the head Before Haas committed
suicide in Jail he confessed that he had meant to
kill both of us. But that detail. 1t touch