The Washington herald., 1913-01-12
By JAMES B. MORROW.

new man, and big man IN his d.
mansions, in his energy and in stirring
achievements along his line, is hereafter
to guard the President and to "appre-
hend," making use of a professional and
favorite verb of his own, such Grim
inals as may counterfeit the bonds and
currency Of the United States.
In the meanwhile, up to March 4. he
will protect Woodrow Wilson against
the schemes and attacks OF lunatics, an
archists. and other assassins. William j.
Flynn is his name. Going further, he
is one of the greatest of living de-
tectives. Better still. borrowing a phrase
and a testimonial from John F. Wilkie,
whom he succeeds as chief Of the Secret
Service, he is an absolutely honest
man"
A real detective does not look like a
detective. Nor does Flynn. He is six
feet in stature and must weight 800
pounds His hair is black. though ne
is forty-five years old. and his eyes,
large and uncommonly intelligent. are
yer-y brown. Unnecessary words, in his
opinion, are as wasteful and unwise as
are unnecessary motions. He has been
in "a battle of WITS" as he calls II, with
counterfeiters for fifteen years. MOST
of the time he was stationed IN New
York. the busiest center for the coming
Of spurious silver in the United states
also the greatest market for bogus pank
notes and the meeting place Tor the out
laws engaged OF about to be engaged IN
hat neriIous and most improbable bust
ness. a.,
Counterfeiting has never paid All
counterfeiters, il they live into old age
die beggars. At least half OF their GAYS
moreover, are spent in prison. sun
many men turn to counterfeltlng IN the
teeth of all experience. So Fiynn mas
had no leisure in which to cultivate the
pleasant art of conversation. ne Is "
HUNT and matter-of-fact as J. r Morgan
one would guess, looking at him specu-
,atiyely. that he owned elevators, FARMS
and factories out West or was higgins
tunnels and building skyscrapers some
where in the East
Hangs on Like Bulldog.
Large, mountainous almost. up anu
down 4, well as crcumferent'allS'
Flynn is lively of head and orisk OF Ioot
Pounding has been at the bottom OF a"
his success-persstent pounding or the
man or the gang he has set out to oreak'
He never forgets, nor does he ever give
nm After seven years of steady work
h. nrit the FORTY members of the Euppo-
MoreIla band OF blackhanders ana couH-
terCeitcrs in the penitentiary he
..pirked them up as he told me, one at
a time always getting nearer ana near
or 10 the hidden leaders. Lnppo anu
Morclla were finally "apprehended
every one in the Secret Service knew
they would be, with Flynn. tenacious ana
tireless, on their track Luppo was sen.
to the Federal prison in Atlanta LOT
twenty-five years Morella's sentence
was even longer.
II would describe deSecuNe, MY.
FLYNN replied in answer to question:
..hv saving that he ought to have some
natural ability. though that is secondary
and whole lot OF common sense.
Thus. also, spoke William ]. Burns
who once was Mr.. Flynn's associate In
the Secret Service. and who earned
SaONn a0 last year chiefly by hunting
crafters There is nothing else to II,
Rurns said TO me in Chicago.
Common sense" Mr.. Flynn observed
in celebrating his answer. means more
than one gives ii by loose definition.
1T not only governs mans VISION ms
mental process ses. and his labor. but also
his personal demeanor. 1 don't intend.
however. to wander away into the field
of morals Common sense. nevertheless,
keeps men straight and so has a bearing
on the detective business. 1t prevents
crooked thinking and enables one de-
tectives or anybody else. to perceive the
human nature in motives and events
Follows Them to the Grave.
Again. a detective should he patient
and industrious. False whiskers and
rubber boots belong to melodrama-best
seats in house only twenty cents. Like |
wise to literature. Steady hammering-l
that's my doctrine and advice. 1t won't
40 to drop a case in the pressure of later !
matters. Reserve a place for 1t in
corner of the head. Remember it, think |
of il and keep hammering away, here
a little and there a little, until the men
one is after are either apprehended or
dead"
That's what you did with respect to
Luppo and Morella?" l said.
Yes. IL you want to drag me into the !
discussion of a principle that 1 meant |
TO be general and not personal. Yet the !
case of the men you have mentioned |
proves the truth Of what I have said. |
I,uppo and Morella are Italians. We
picked up the minor members of the |
bunch man by man. The two leaders, |
however were hard to get. staying In
the background. making plans and let
ting their conferderates circulate the
money. Some Of the bills \
were printed in Italy. |
The gang had meeting and working |
places in Poughkeepsie, Brooklyn, New
York City, and Highland, a village sew
eral miles back I'm the country from the |
banks of the Hudson. The counterfeits |
were made from Photographic plates |
and were fair limitations of s. and IS
bills Italians in all parts of the United /
States bought the notes at an average |
price of 81 cents on the 81. We learn |
cd some of the facts Immediately after |
Luppo and Morella got into operation. |
A man now and then would he arrested |
and sent to the penitentiary. One day |
We found $500 of counterfeit American
and Canadian money under a bed in an
Italian tenement.
How Counterfeiters Are Caught.
Il shall not explain our methods. That
would be foolish. 1t can be said, how
ever. that spurious notes get into banks
among the deposits of grocers and small
merchants An expert receiving teller
knows them at a glance. He Immediately
sends word to us. We take the counter
felt bill to the merchant who deposited II
with the bank in the hope that he will re-
member the physical characteristics of
The man from whom It was received ORR
1inarily he can give US no help. The same
counterfeit slips into other banks So we
keep on going to tradesmen tobacconists
and saloonkeepers unit We find some
Dne who can fully or partly describe the
person We are hunting. After that, things
move more easily for us. We eliminate
suspected criminals whom the description
1oes not fit. By and by We catch the
nan We are after. 1t is a long, tedious
ask, but II is interesting to the detective