The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1910-11-11

ShS OShSA fo1loC. LII IhO lhlIIOoioSS
vicinity was a tall, reverential ap-
pearing gentleman, with neat side
whiskers, whose white tie and the
ministerial cut of his coat were in
keeping with the sanctimonious ex-
preston of his face.
When the ferry boat struck the
dock Quincy stepped off, peered eau
tlously and carefully around, scanning
the faces of those who were standing
near. Being satisfied that there were
no suspicious persons about, he drew
a package from under his coat and
stepped toward Bower to deliver it.
AT this instant the ministerial-look.
ing man raised his hand. The fat
man dropped his luggage and the tin.
smith his tools. Both seized Quincy
by the arms and held him while the
tall brother, with. a quick movement.
snapped handouts on his wrists.
Everything vas done so quickly that
Quincy did not have time to catch
his breath before he was securely
ironed.
b prisoner was taken to the secret
service Office. 1 removed my side
whlskers and made some change in
my clothing, then entered the office
and shook hands with the crestfallen
criminal.
During that day and evening the
government officers were engaged in
arresting the showers of the gang,
against whom Butts had secured evil
dence. Two of the ex~-detectives,
guests at Gurney's banquet, had al
ready been arrested for passing coun.
terfe1t money-one at Pittsburg and
the other at Cincinnati. By IL
o'clock that night the officers had ar
rested 20 Of the gang. They were
arranged in a circle at the office, and
the right hand of one was hand
cuffed to the left hand of the next.
Quincy, appropriately, happened to be
the center-piece.
I could not help a feeling Of pity for
the unfortunates, but they had volun-
tarily preyed upon society and trans
crossed the laws of their land, and the
common veal required that they be
punished. They were all tried and
convicted, most of them entering a
plea of guilty.
The boastful Quincy now fully real
lied the trap into which he had
fallen. He had been hoisted by his
w petard, a circumstance that
seemed to humiliate him almost be-
yond measure. With little or no pres
sure he weakened and confessed that
he had received his counterfeit none
from Joshua D. Miner, who was the
capitalist that owned the plates upon
which the National Shoe and Leather
twenties were printed.
Among the secret service officers
Miner was known to be a counter
feiter, but on account of his great
wealth and political standing, he was
considered a difficult man to grapple
with. He was a large city contractor
at this time, and employed about one
hundred men opening up a new road
at the end of Ninth
Quincy was altogether too timid to
make a deal with Miner in order to
give the officers an opportunity to cap
ture him red-handed, but he finally
agreed to go with me to see Miner
who, he believed, would surrender the
$40 counterfeit plates for the purpose
of shortening his sentence.
Leaving a carriage on the boule-
ward. walked with Quincy a short
distance on S%ixty-ninth street toward
Miners house. We met Miner or the
sidewalk and I was introduced by
Quincy, who then explained the
trouble he had gotten himself into.
Miner said he could do nothing for
him and, as a last resort, l requested
Miner to step aside with me, where I
told him that 1 was convinced that he
was the owner of the counterfeit
plates of the National Shoe and
Leather bank. This he firmly denied,
but 1 insisted and threatened to ar
rest him. He finally said that he
would make an effort to secure the
plates. l knew what this meant and,
upon his promise to meet me the fol-
lowing day, I left him.
Miner appeared on time, but was
still doubtful in regard to his ability
Tn make the surrender demanded.
He was a hard nut to crack but, be-
fore we parted, 1 succeeded in con-
yincing him, by the use of language
not less threatening than it was
forcible, that it was for his interest
to surrender the plates. This he now
promised to do and, shortly after an
other interview at his home, l re-
ceived a check for a piece of baggage
at the Grand Central depot. A de.
tective went to the baggage room at
this depot and obtained an old hair
trunk in which were found the plates.
According to promise, Quincy,
through my ~intercession and explana-
ton, was given a sentence Of v
years instead of the maximum sen.
tence of fifteen.
copyright. 1910, by W.. ~G.tChapman.)