The Harrison times., 1912-08-31
STATEMENT OF ANDY BLISS.

/
to me,
STATEMENT OF ANDY BLISS.
No man Of sense, said Andy,
would ever become a thief If he
would stop for a moment and think,
| will admit that there Is a fascIna'
ton in thlevery, which grows upon
what It feeds, until it Is oyerpowerIng,
and stealing then becomes q habit,
the same as tobacco smoking and
drinking rum, and 1t Is very hard to
break off,
But the practical lesson Of my life
Is very clear. | have been q thief for
forty years, spent twenty years in
Jail, made over $2,00OO0O in forgeries,
counterfetng schemes and bank rob.
berries, and today have not dollar
to my name, It's the old story over
again-easy come, easy 60,
will tell you about the counterfeit.
ing scheme which gave me a reputa-
tion among crooks and honest men as
well, Of being n star performer In my
! line, It all grew out Of little trip
which I made to Washington 10 meet
Tom Cannon, an old friend Of mine,
who had planted n place near tho
White House which promised a re-
ward Of about 100000 | would have
gono anywhere for q lump Of money
half that sI2o in those days, We'll, ]
looked over the scheme ard saw that
II was very dangerous, but Cannon
would not give up the idea, | did not
want To- be looked upon as n fellow
without nerve, 50 ! consented to go
into tho job, which was to rob the safe
Of paymastor
Tho pNymaster-I think his name
was Northumberland pretty mrd, and
slept near the safe, but the plan was
to attack the strong box ThIlo the pay.
master was In drunken stupor,
We got to tho safe without much
trouble, The box was an old.fOsh.
Ioned affair, and we got to the bITls
by simply knocking out tho spindle in
the handle.
| nailed tho money when the door
few open, and started away Cannon
was behind me, Tho paymNster was
aroused, and instantly fred shot
from his revolver The ball went
through Cannon's neck and struck mo
in tho shoulder, Cannon was killed,
but tho ball did not stop me, ran
and got away with the Doodle,
| know that II would bo unsafe for
mo TO try and get oat Of Washington
then, for the alarm was promptly Civ.
on, and every street and outlet was
guarded by Uncle Sans mon, M well
~ the local police went directly 20
tho homo Of Big Jim Farrell He was
m old.tImo thief, and then was rum
ming o faro bank TO win tho soldier
money with crooked dlalg told Jim
was hunted and ho put mo away In
the care Of Louise Jordan, who after
ward shot Farrell In Chicago, through
Jealousy | kept under cover In the
Jordan house for about two weeks,
and then Darby Jones and his gang,
consisting Of Billy Wallace Frenchy
Kline, George Koono and Wary Me.
loo turnod up, They had como TO
Washington 70 do bualnoas with me,
| left Washington with tho gang dis
guiaed M n negro, There was a fes
ward OF $4,000 for my scalp, but |
won out easily
left the train IN Newark and drove
10 New York In n cab kept under
cover for n few days In New York,
and then moved over 10 ono Of the old
houses In Rayenswood, l., l., which
had been practically deserted for sew
era years, Tho house was near tho
water and we stuck out tho align Of n
fishing club on tho mansion and hired
"a aloop 70 give eolGr TO tho fake,
I Then the eounterfeitlhg scheme was
Iput In motion. Ffenchy Kline and
Hnllly Wallace were tho experts, and
inlly had expected 10 have die for
yether u go or go gold piece delly-
cred 20 him In Washington Failing
10 get this, he decided 70 make the
$40 and tg0 dies himself and put ub
The coin for the tools and to take care
Of the gang,
Making n dlo Ia very slow process
md we had n dandy time sailing and
nshing while Billy was doing the
work, lle was the most Balnaahhg
workman ever knew but Hs he had
worked In tho treasury department he
knew The kind Of game he was NJ
against and did not want 10 make any
mistakes, lie made two dies and
threw them away, because they did