Bisbee daily review., 1912-11-24

1t has been noted by criminolo-
gists that any period OF good times
| has been marked by a decrease in
/ the activities of criminals because in
such periods there is less to tempt
the lawlessly inclined man than there
/ is in years when honest employment
/ is hard to obtain.
According TO the records Of the Sc
I cret service, there were 324 counter
feiters arrested during the past year
while the record in 1911 was 40. Or
these ga were Americans and S. Ital-
ians New York headed the list Of
states with forty counterfeiting cases.
/ Illinois and Pennsylvania tied for sec
ond place with thirty-three cases each,
while Ohio had twenty-three cases.
Guarding the integrity Of Uncle
Sans negotiable securities. which is
primarialy the function Of the United
States secret service. is no sine cure.
Counterfeiting is only one OF the o.,
lenses which can be committed
against the United States in this
respect, and although it is the prin.
cipal offense, there are many others
Of great importance CounterfeiteTs
are the aristocrats Of crime"
So says Chief Wilkie. and the rec
ords of his department seem TO bear
him out. In the first place il takes
an etcher OF genius to make plates
from which bills can be struck OF
degree OF perfection1 necessary 20
make them pass as currency.
In the second place. so stringent
are the laws and penalties for this
crime that a man who commits il
knows full well that be would ne
more lightly dealt with if he blew a
saie in the dead Of night. and made
of with a million good dollars, than
il he were caught counterfeiting so
much as one penny's worth
interesting Stories Found
The annals of the secret service
hold some queer tales. Bound in mus
~ tape up in the treasury department
lie dormant the records of crimes
which would make Diamond Dick in
his palmiest days look like a pix
err The tale OF the downfall o.
LupO, the wolf and his gang in New
York city. of the hand-to-hand con
flicts between the smart breakers
Of the law and the strong arms of the
secret service: the tales OF subse-
quent attempts TO rescue the leader
o. the wolf pack from his durance
vile in the federal prison in Atlanta;
all form one Of the most interesting
chapters Of counteTfeiting in history
But there is one man than whom
the wolf even is not greater I'm the
estimation OF the veterans of the Sc
Cret service He is MiugeT or al
men who used pen and ink 70 make
spurious bills, this Minger was the
king He was an honest small town
farmer over in New Jersey a score Of
years ago. He came 10 town every
week and went TO the same salo1n
way down on Park row. where above
the bar hung a painted picture Of a
$40 bill IL was a faithful repro
duction and while standing and tax
ing his drink, Minger became i'm
pressed with the ease with which &
skillful penman could duplicate the
artists suggestion TO advantage.
Therefore. without the knowledge
Of his wife-for he told he. he was
working over an invention-Minger
labored long and secretly, drawing in
with pen and ink upon paper from
which bona fide dollar bills had been
bleached, counterfeit twenties, fifties
and hundred dollar bills. Two Of
the bills were accepted by the New
York sub-treasUry. Others were she
cessfully passed in New York and de-
lection came only through an acct
dent
Minger went into the same little
saloon on Park row one day and ten
deued a $50 bill in payment for
quart Of whiskey. The ba.tenders
hands we're damp, and after Minger
left he noticed that some of the ink
had run on the bill. Minger was ar
rested. did his bit" but now, re-
formed. is leading an honest life
II was chiefly because Of the Min
ger incident that the law prohibiting
the exhibition of any pictures Of mon /
ey or stamps or any other negotiable Z
security OF the United States was I
passed The annals of the service /
are full of cases where barrooms and /
business houses have been prohibited I
from displaying pictures OF money !
or stamps. The secret service does I
not wish others 10 be tempted and /
fall as did Minger.
The man arrested in Chicago |
scarcely more than a month ago was /
not the artist Minger was. for his I
bills were found to be spurious as
soon as an expert examined them.