Charlevoix county herald., 1911-02-18

was the home of Hon.
Geo S. Boutwell, President Grants
first secretary OF the treasury, an
educated man of sentiment and
elegance and Puritanical In his
wa5,s. He was possessed OF
faH7 knowledge Of politics ana
finance and was systematic ana
successful I'm the management OF the
treasury department. While in Wash
fngton he mixed little with the poll
ticians. He was shy in his manner
and abstemious in his living His
favorite diet was bread and milk. He
used neither tobacco nor intoxicants.
Like other great men with whom L
came in contact he was unsuspicious
and almost wholly without cunning.
He favored reform rather than pun
1shment for rogues. AS an evidence or
his obliquity Of vision and lack OF
penetration when called upon to face
the sharpers ever lowering about the
national capital, l will relate couple
of incidents
On a day when l was busily en-
gagged in my Office in the treasury de-
partment q messenger hurried In and
Informed me that the secretary want
ed 10 see me at once. Entering a side
room next to Mr.. Boutwells main of
fee. l was by him introduced to two
flashily dressed gentlemen who said
they had come all the way from Phila-
delphia to see the secretary and in
form him of an astounding counterfeit
conspiracy that might shake the ma
tion 10 its foundation. The gentle
men were city detectives and rather
sporty appearing chaps. In their bear
ing there was an air of self-sufficiency
n u a know-all-about-it that was quite
-Afnpressive to the mind of green
one"
Their story in substance was that
while engaged in exploiting the das-
tardly deeds Of criminals they had
made 4 chance discovery that was of
tremendous Importance to the United
States government. For a price they
were anxious TO assist in capturing
the rogues. They were deeply en-
tangled in several mysterious cases at
home, but had torn themselves away
from their duty long enough to slip
slyly over to the nations capital for
the purpose of acquainting the secre-
tary with a dangerous counterfeiting
scheme.
The startling story told by the
sleuths bore the appearance of truth.
The secretary was deeply impressed
and appeared worried and greatly dis
turbed as he handed me the face and
back of a five-dollar treasury note
Sinted on separate pieces of paper
He instructed me TO investigate at
once. Ny eyesight at this time was
remarkably good. ! could easily trace
the fine eccentric lines upon a note
without the use of a magnifying glass
After carefully examining the speci
mems handed me and comparing them
with q good note of the same de-
nomination, l was unable TO discover
the slightest difference, and told the
secretary that | thought they were
genuine. If this was so, in what man
ner could they have been obtained? 1?
IT would require collusion on the part
of a number OF persons in the printing
bureau to secure them, as the face
and back Of these notes were printed
at different times by different per-
sons, and besides the work was being
done under the watchful eyes Of trust
ed officials. II the face and back OF
these notes were counterfeit they
were very dangerous, as they seemed
perfect facsimile of the genuine. The
two detectives carried with them an
air Of great mystery. They professed
to be unable to explain anything, but
they were Of the opinion that the
NSunterfeiters had somehow obtained
duplicates of the government plates
upon which its notes were printed
Mr.. Boutwell, was deeply interested.
To him it was an affair of great mys.
terry To more fully impress the sec.
retary with the Importance of the case
the Philadelphia sleuths came out
boldly and declared that any amount
of that kind Of money could be bought
at fifty cents on the dollar. This was
clincher. ! nov saw that / was up
against a puzzling case / was ST..
alenced, although not fully convinced.
oen regard to the character of the
prints. 1t made little difference to me.
was sure 1t was some kind Of a trick,
but an investigation was necessary.
IT would not do to allow the impress
sions TO be examined by the chief of
the printing bureau, as It was pos
sible there was something crooked
among his employees. 1t was decided
that ! should go to Philadelphia on
the following day. There / was TO be
tmet by the two detectives and intro.
duced 10 broker who was go-be-
tween. was to rig myself out In the
proper dress and play the part of a
cattle man from Texas. chose to 10.
cate myself at Brownsville. Reaching
out from this point was engaged In
buying cattle and was not particular
SHAVE fhey came from They mf4hs