Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1911-01-11

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All &a take to suppose
W that the weakness
of humanity is con-
\ nv fined to woman
Hl alone. Certainly In
/ ND matters of love and
3 - ~ 5 sacrifice she often
M N times proves her
:, 81 self the stronger,
and IN criminal ways her powers OF
inYention have many times reached
the acme Of perfection: The subtle
devices resorted to byFwomen for pull
/ ing the wool over the eyes OF the OFF,
GERS of the Law are frequently more
misleading and difficult to penetrate
{ thsan the most scientific roguery plan
med By men.
The several novel expedients resort
: ed Ito by the Widow Wood, better
: known In police circles as "The
Naughty Little Milliner," for throw
ding dust into the eyes of the detec-
ttves, is indeed marvellous exempli-
/ fication Of female ingenuity.
1t was along in the early seventies
{ when 1t became known that there was
circulating about New Orleans dan
igerous counterfeit five dollar treasury
note, likewise a pretty good imitation
OF silver half dollars. A number or
\ these bad five dollar bills were re-
sceived at the banks and might have
passed along undetected had not one
tof the bankers, more discerning than
{ the others, made the discovery that
these notes were counterfeit, though
they were well calculated to deceive
the average tradesman. The bogus
half dollars had been ccined with steel
diessand were exact facsimiles Of the
genuine in all except The metal they
contained They passed readily among
Sthe foreigners especially about the
Trench market.
- Operator: James Fitzpatrick, who
was at that time in charge of gdyern-
ment secret service affairs In New Or
leans. began an investigation for the
purpose Of ferreting out the source of
this bad mohey. After weeks OF anx.
Hons watching 1t was learned that a
young girl who daily visited the
French market for the purpose OF
I. buying family provisions had, as regu-
ISlatly5 as she came. left a bogus half
dollar. She wore q tattered dress and
! there wassa sorrowfnl expression set
He'd about her pallid yet interesting
features. 1t was the gentle and de-;
3ected expression Of her counteYance
sItat hrsf attracted the attentt ID Of;
oficer Fitzpatrick The GascoI and
ffs1sa6s esssrs;7 the FsTget f6d1
meyer made "a Col biaint IN regard to
The bad money, as they could readily
pass 1t off on one another or at the
coffee houses along the river front.
Following the girl one day the Of
::ficer traced her to a little variety
store on St. Joseph street, near the
corner Of Tchoupitoulas street. After
a short time had elapsed the girl
caIae out of the shop. She was now
attsrsd in somewhat above the COM
mon, garb. Unobseryed by her, the
of6cer watched her movements until
She finally went into small grocery
store. When she came out she car
Tie1 a package. 1t was plain that she
had made purchase. When the girl
was well out Of sight the detective
stepped into the little store and re-
quested the Creole boy in attendance
to let him see the money that he had
received from the girl that had just
left the place. It was new FIVE
dollar note that the boy handed out.
Looking 1t over carefully 1t was found
to be one OF the bogus kind.
The officer made plausible ex-
PLANTATION that he thought sufficient to
satisfy the curiosity Of the boy, and
was now quite certain that he was on
the track OF the source Of the counter
sfeits and that the occupants Of the lit
tie variety store were the distributors |
of the bogus stuff.
Opposite the variety store across
the street was the sign Furnished
Rooms to Rent" and Fitzpatrick was !
fortunate enough to be able to hire a
front room where he could sit at the
window 4 and watch the suspected |
place. In the course of time he learned
that the occupants were mother and
daughter. The mother was widow,
quite pretty, about thirty years Of
age Her daughter was not more than
twelve or fourteen. AS the wheels sof
time rolled on 1T was learned further
that the husband had died but short |
tune before and that the family had |
entombed in New Orleans. 1t was
likewise discovered that the little |
store was a resort for persons who
would bear watching. The officer no
dced that the woman who was the oc.
cupant occasionally left this place of
business carrying a basket on her
arm and that she was always looking |
over her shoulder and peering about |
as IL she suspected she was being |
watched, Tracking her one day, she
He'd the way to the .St,Louis cemetery
on Basin street. Approaching a
tomb, she knelt down before 1t and |
bowed her head as II engaged in
3prayer. Leaning against tomb near
1 by was a well-dressed man apparently
lwaiting for some one. As the detec-
Tive carelessly sauntered along he
2dreW near the stranger, and as he did