The Springfield herald., 1912-09-13

Well. We wasted q 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 a bit of flirt,
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 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
he had flown the coop
This information might mean much
or little. Investigation showed tha'
this fellow. under another name. ha
been in the company of some OF tn
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 JackT 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 waste oi
time thought. but | could not tell
1t never does to miss any chances In
my business. In about week | got
a picture from New Orleans of Little
Jack and the mulatto girl said it was
tie 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 under
the average size. ! took the picture
to the broker who had seen him, ant
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 the
war. But where were Little Jack
and his partners? A large reward
was offered for the capture OF the
gang, and a description of some of the
bonds which had been bought wa,
sent to all the financial centers of thii
country and Europe. with a descrip
tion 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.
we worked steadily on the cas-,
here for weeks. and found out 10
of information about the gang. W.
were reasonably certain >that f,
Forbes was at the head OF 1t, but di,
not have the positive proof or tn
man. While racking our brains L
clear up the business. cablegran
was received from Scotland Yard L
the effect that man who answere
the description Of Little Jack ha
taken passage on the Cunard steame
Scotia. and was apparently alone. Th
Cunard pier was then in Jersey City
and i was there when the steame
arrived with several other operators
recognized Little Jack in spite o
his full beard and English makeup.
did not recognize any Of the othe
looked the least bit crooked were fo
lowed by an operator to their hote
and left under surveillance until thei
identity was cleared up.
II shadowed Little Jack He ha
charge of some barrels OF wine cor
signed to j. NJ. Kearns, Flatbush
L. /. The gauger, in examining tn
wine. found that there was some fo1
eign body In one Of the barrels. AM
had the barrel opened. with the con
] sent of the collector. found a
| Theoretically sealed box fastened t.
the bottom of the barrel. On openini
1t | discovered a dozen perfect coun
terfeit plates of bank notes. Th
plates were returned to the box an,
the barrel was shipped to Flatbush
went with It, and found that MI
| Kearns lived at the Eureka Club
When delivered the wine, saw Lii,
tie Jack and Ed Forbes In the house
and concluded that the gang had re
turned to this country to begin or
erations again with a new set O
plates.
raided the place In the evenini
and captured Ned Ormsby, Ed Forbes
Little Jack Vaughn. Sam Stetscn an,
Curley Peters. All of them received
long terms in the federal penitentiary