El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-04-19

Of the secret service at Washington.
stating my view Of the matter.
Ny theory was that, in the absence
Of any Of the ordinary clues by which
We We're able to trace counterfeits back
/ to their makers, we would have to
locate all the engraVers in the country
who were able TO do such good work
[ as a been done in this case. The nc
Z ductiOn I made from these two facts
was the counterfeiters were able to
axe a perfect photograph Of a gen
Ulne note transfer il tOa steel
| plate, and then etch and engrave the
l plate successfully.
As soon as possible I hurried to
Washington. On meeting the chief. he
insisted that he a a good clue at
Chicago, n told me to proceed to that
city. Upon investigation, I found this
cue led nowhere, and 1 wired to
Washington and asked for instruc-
tions. I was somewhat surprised to
receive a telegram directing me to re-
port at once to Washington, and
signed, John z. Wilkie, chief"
Thl was the first intimation I had
that q change had been made in the
head Of the service. I Immediately pro-
ceeded to Washington. met chief vii
k1e. and informed him Of my letter to
the former chief. He directed me to
proceed IN the matter according to the
theory I advanced
I Immediately visited the leading
engraving establishments, first at
Philadelphia.
Running Down the Suspects.
After getting hi names OF all the
engravers possible, I visited the plate
in New York, and, meeting
their travelling men, got a list Of the
firms to whom they sold plates that
might possibly take a chance of max
ing a counterfeit note.
L then began my process Of elimina-
ton IN running out the persons under
suspicion, ana finally placed the crime
upon three men-Arthur Taylor, Bald
win S Bredweu, and a third man
I afterWard eliminated.
On further investigation, I found
where Taylor and Bredwen were Op-
Grating an engraving and printing
Their plant, its location. their
method Of doing business, and the pro-
hfbitOry prices they were charging for
their work, convinced M that these
two men fitted my theory perfectly.
The first question was, how 1 pro-
posed TO secure the evidence. Ny idea
was that men who had succeeded in
making a counterfeit note so perfect
government experts declared it
genuine would not entirely cease their
operations simply because of q tenn
pOrary scare; that. sooner or later,
they would return to their work; that
would hold them under constant \
surveillance, and eventually catch
them red-handed.
Watches Suspects.
I knew that this would be a long. /
t~ireless chase; / also knew that these I
men were constantly making tests to
lind out whether or not the govern .
ment was on their trail. So we had
proceed with extreme caution. We !
operatives in rooms near the
residences Of Taylor and BredelI, and
the street from their plant. In
the words Of secret service circles, I'VE (
EN- out Of bed in the morning and Z
put 'em ack at night" This IN
ceasing vigil was kept up from Feb
1888, until April IS. 1899.
Not long after this watch was be-
gun Taylor and Bredell one morning 4
q train to Lancaster. Pennsyl- I
7ania, followed by operative Griffin. 1
There they communicated with ". n.
and " l. Kendig. Jacobs was
operating a large cigar mandatory ]
OF what was supposed to be a
tobacco warehouse.
When chief Wilkie was notified Of 4
connection. he made an fnvestiga-
ion Of the revenue stamps used on
he boxes OF cigars manufactured by
Jacobs, and discovered that counter
stamps were being used.
When the secretary Of the treasury
earned that these men were making
counterfeit revenue stamps, he natur-
lily wanted their immediate arrest. He
at once shown that there was no
evidence to convict Taylor and Bredeu
It Philadelphia and we therefore per-
nitted Jacobs and Kendig to use their
counterfeit stamps until such time as
he evidence could be gathered that
would involve Taylor and Bredeu with
he counterfeit MOnroe-head hundred
OLA silver certificate.
The First Find.
1t was extremely necessary that
ihould obtain surreptitious entrance-toj
he large three-stOry warehouse of
Jacobs and Kendig at Lancaster. I
.Ound out that during the noon hour
jacobs u Kendig went to lunch at
he same time, leaving the place unoc-
and that there were side doors
an alley, the upper half Of glass,
md suffered at night but merely
ocked at nOOntime.
One day, at noon, I watched the men
I was provided with a baseball
a small boy that I'd brought from
Philadelphia. and, after breaking the
out Of the window with the BAN
n a nice, natural manner, I boosted the
through He went around to the
ront and opened the spring door from
he inside.
Then I got in and made a hasty ex-
.m1nat1On- / found q tons Of blue in
erna1 revenue stamp paper on the
ecOnd floor, packed in tobacco boxes.
here I also Ound the improVised
.aper-making machine, while on the
OF floor vas a paFtiti0ned-off corner,
ecurely locked We subsequently
earned that the press for printing
lamps was in this room.
When the prOprietOrs returned. the
was tight locked, and everything }