The Jasper news., 1912-09-26


and letter.
"The fact that the bogus money had
appeared in different parts Of the
country at about the same time show.
ed that there had been concerted ac-
ton in getting rid OF them in large
patches by the gang, but this alone
did not give any clew to tho opera.
tors 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
worl, in these cities with the intention
Of working back from the time the
money was put out.
I'm every city where the thieves did
/ business they bought bonds and So
curitles which could be disposed Of
anywhere, from bankers and brokers
who wero experts in detecting bogus
money. In each city We got a good
description Of the man who bought
the bonds, and 1t showed that It was
a 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.
/ Wei, We wasted a lot Of timo 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 l 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 a bit of q fiirt,
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 q 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 ac-
count Of his dismissal, thought over
the matter for a day before reporting
the story. When the secret service
operators went to look for Little Jack,
| ne ndu uONn the coop.
This information might mean much
or little. Investigation showed that
this fellow, under another name, had
been in the company Of some Of tho
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
/ yt-h yt4. To- nIy
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 If he could get me his
! picture. 1t might be only waste Of
time I thought, but / could not tell.
It never does to miss any chances in
my business. In about n week ! got
! a picture from New Orleans OF Little
Jack and the muiatto 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-
ph!a referred to him rs being under
the average size. I took the picture
to the broker who had seen him, and
no said Little Jack was the man.
| without doubt Then We learned
from the south the names Of some OF
the gang that Little Jack trained
with, and that he had been in tho
counterfeiting business during tho
war. But where were Little jack
and his partners? \ large reward
was offered for the capture of the
sang. and a description Of some Of the
bonds which had been bought was
sent 20 all the financial centers OF this
country and Europe with a descrip-
ton OF Little Jack We got word
from London that a man answering
his description had disposed OF lot
Of bonds in that city, and We COM
municated with Scotland Yard
We worked steadily on the caso
here for weeks, and found out a lot
of information about the gang We
were reasonably certain that I'd
! Forbes was at tho head Of it, but did
rot have the positive proof or tho
man. While racling our brains to
clear up the business, a cableETam
was received from Scotland Yard to
the eject that man who answered
the description of Little Jack had
taken passage on the Cunard steamer
Scotia, and was apparently alone. Tho
Cunard pier was then in Jersey City,
and I was there when the steamer
arrived with several other operators.
I recognized Little Jack in spite of
his full beard and English makeup. |
did not recognize any Of the other
passengers as crooks, but those who
looked the least BIT crooked were fo!.
lowed by an operator to their hotel,
and left under surveillance until their
J Identity was cleared up.
Il shadowed Little Jack He had
charge Of some barrels of wine con.
signed TO ]. NJ. Kearns, Flatbush,
l.. I. The gGuger, in examining the
wine, found that there was some for
Qipn body in ono OP tho hgrra1e and