The enterprise. [volume] (Harlem, Mont.) 1899-1926, 1912-09-12


ind letter.
1.-THE fact that the bogus money had
appeared in different parts of the
country at about the same time show
ID that there had been concerted &C
lion in getting rid Of them in large
patches by the gang, but this alone
lid not give any clew to the opera
,ors or their headquarters. So far as
We knew they might have been locat'
ed in any one Of five large cities. Sc
cret service operators were put to
work in these cities with the intention
Of working back from the time the
money was put out.
"In every city where the thieves did
business they bought bonds and Sc
curities which could be disposed OF
from bankers and brokers
who were experts in detecting bogus
In each city we got good
description of the man who bought
the bonds, and it showed that 1t was
q. different man in each place. The
descriptions were good so far as they
went. Naturally the government print
ing bureau came under suspicion be-
cause of the quality Of the work, and
every man at work in that department
was examined with searchlight.
Well, We wasted lot of time proving
the innocence of government employees,
but the work turned out to be of some
value, after all.
"While l was working in Washing
ton came across Richard Osgood,
an ex-secret service operator, and he
told me a yarn which came from his
mulatto servant girl. The girl, who
was good looking and bit of f1irt,
had formed the acquaintance Of a
white man whom she knew only by
the name Of Little jack He had be-
come confidential with her and had
dropped a hint that he would soon
own part of the government printing
office. The girl the next day reported
to Osgood what she had heard.
"Osgood, not being very friendly
with the secret service people on &C.
count of his dismissal, thought over
the matter for day before reporting
the story. When the secret service
operators went to look for Little Jack,
he had flown the COOP
"This information might mean much
or little. Investigation showed that
this fellow, under another name, had
government engravers. While they
admitted this they said that they did
not know him, and that he had made
no dishonest proposals to them. But
who was Little Jack? This query
kept going through my mind day and
night for several days, and then the
name of Little Jack Vaughn, the New
| Orleans card sharp, flashed upon my
memory. He had been mixed up with
several swindles in the south, and
sent to the chief of police in New Or
leans to see ii he could get me his
picture. 1T might be only a waste OF
time, I thought, but I could not tell
1t never does to miss any chances In
my business. In about a week l got
a picture from New Orleans of Little
jack and the mulatto girl said it was
the same fellow she had seen.
"The next step was more important
The description of the man who had
passed the bogus money in Philadel
phia referred to him as being undel
the average size. 1 took the picture
to the broker who had seen him, anc
he said Little Jack was the man
without doubt. Then We learned
from the south the names OF some O.
the gang that Little jack trained
with, and that he had been in the
counterfeiting business during thu
war. But where We're Little Jack
and his partners? A large reward
was offered for the capture of thu
gang, and description Of some of thu
bonds which had been bought wa'
sent to all the financial centers of thi
country and Europe, with a descrip
ton of Little jack We got wore
from London that a man answering
his description had disposed Of 10
of bonds in that city, and we com
municated with Scotland Yard.
1--WE worked steadily on the cas-
here for weeks, and found out 10
of information about the. gang. w
were reasonably certain that E'
Forbes was at the head of it, but di
not have the positive proof or tn
man. While racking our brains t
clear up the business, a cablegrar
was received from Scotland Yard t
the effect that a man who answers
the description of Little Jack ha
j. taken passage on the Cunard steame
Scotia and was apparently alone. TIL
Cunard pier was then in Jersey City
and 1 was there when the steame
arrived with several other operators
I recognized Little Jack in spite G
| his full beard and English makeup.
| did not recognize any of the othe
passengers as crooks, but those VIII
looked the least bit crooked were TO
lowed by an operator to their hote
, and left under surveillance until thel
} identity was cleared up.
, II Swallowed Little Jack He ha
charge of someA barrels of wine col