The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1911-01-05

OF the others, remarkeo' mere Is
only one place left. Let us try that
hanging lamp
Taking 1t down, we unscrewed the
top Here to our great relief we
found several thousand dollars Ia
counterfeit $40 bills. They were newly
printed The old man now broke down
and the woman began to cry. She said
she had been working under orders
from her father, but knew little of
what was going on. she was sure that
counterfeit money was being made
there, but she did not know what was
done with It, She was also aware that
her lover was mixed up in the scheme.
She was between the devil and the
deep sea and was at a loss what
course to take, but had finally con-
cluded to become an informer.
was satisfied l had obtained the
bottom facts so far as the woman was
concerned and that Sheldon, who was
expected there that evening, would
bring the back of the counterfeit. The
father and brother had been doing the
printing. If the old man now told me
the truth, they had never been en-
gagged In selling or passing the bogus
stuff. They were not trusted with
both of the counterfeit $40 plates at
the same time. When the face of the
note was finished the plate for print
Ing the back was brought and the face
plate taken away. Sheldon was the
man that brought the plates and took
away the counterfeits. The young
woman had assisted in these opera
tions to certain extent, but she had
been doing this under pressure. She
had now Informed the officers and
CHANGED the result.
The door bell was rung promptly at
nine o'clock and Sheldon was admit
ted. When he was confronted with
the situation, he wilted and staggered
to a seat His every faculty seemed
paralyzed with blank despair. The
woman threw her arms about him and
pleaded with him to tell the truth. He
now became greatly excited and de-
clared in trembling voice that he
would make clean breast of the
whole affair and take what was coming
! to him. listened to the recital of his
story. 1t was the counterpart of the
others. He hoped for wealth and a
life Of ease. 1t was an unhealthy long
IDLY presented to him by the oily
/ tongUed Devoe that he sacrificed his
manhood and yielded to the tempter.
Once within the hypnotic influence of
this great procurer he was compelled
to do his bidding. Now that he knew
the worst he felt relieved With a curl
of his lip and a sudden elevation of his
head his eyes met mine as he gave me
his promise to surrender the counter.
felt plates and to aid the government
by every means within his power.
| All classes of confederated criminals
fear the squealer more than they do
| the detectives. In fact, it would be
quite impossible to destroy a well-or-
using one man against the other. For
this reason | never hesitated while
chief of the government secret service
to act upon my own Judgment. We ar
! rested the counterfeiters without proc
| ess of law, and used them to the best
possible advantage to the government.
| The records of the secret service Of
the treasury department, will, if eX-
amined, show that the system of using
one counterfeiter against another was
successful. When a confederate who
has for years been associated with
! others in crime, is made to confess
and assist the government, he is more
dreaded by his associates than any
other force that can be employed.
Counterfeiting combines the worst
features of fraud interviewer with the
most cunningly devised modes Of es-
cape. The confederate is better
booked and more fully equipped to un-
dertake the unearthing of a gang of
counterfeiters than the best trained
detective.
l mention these facts that the read.
er may better understand the object
l had in view in this case as in most
others. Young Rhetschlag plead
guilty and was sentenced to the peni-
tentiary. His father was old and fee.
BILE. Upon his promise that he would
never again engage in counterfeiting,
paroled him. The young woman had
rendered good service and l did not
attempt to hold her or to use her as
witness. Sheldon made important
disclosures that enabled me to arrest
several dangerous counterfeiters. He
was weak and easily persuaded, but
after using him on the witness stand
against his confederates l did not
think him dangerous to go at large.
The bank note company was only too
glad to employ him Notwithstanding
the fact he had been engaged in coun.
terfeiting. Besides, Miss Rhetschlag
who had been so prominent in assist.
ing in bringing young Sheldon upon
the stool of repentance, and putting
him in a way to redeem himself, was
anxious to marry him. The consumma.
tiou of this | made as one of the con,
ditions of his release. 1t might have
been little out of order, but 1t turned
out all right A wedding soon fol-
lowed.
! some time afterward received from
Mr.. Boutwell,, the secretary of the
treasury, letter saying that he had
been informed that certain engra
wing company doing government work
had in its employ dangerous coun
terfeiter named Sheldon, and sug
gested that l attend to this matter al
once. In reply to the secretary's let
ter gave him a detailed account Of
the capture and release Of Sheldon
together with my reasons for the
same. My course met the secretary's