The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1916-05-16
B||'A|D.D|ME FLOOD
MANDATES TILLS
OF BUSINESSMEN
---- 4 I'll
Rapid Transit Conductors First
Victims Hit Hard BY Coast
Counterfeiters
--- III r ST.. UFl
MARSHAL SMIDDY SAYS . ~
HE IS WORKING ON CASE
! NJ ,f
Bogus Hall Dollars Also Beinu
Passed On Local Concerns
BY the Crooks Va En-

Considering that Honolulu Is an
easy mark" crook, or a band az
crooks, is at work here passing bad
dimes and bad half dollars. The spur.
Gus coins first appeared in the daily
turn in of the conductors for the
Rapid Transit System, In their daily
checking up, about month ago and
although United States Marshal Smid-
dy is at work on the case, not the
slightest trace of the counterfeiters
has been discovered. ~ EEfE
Smiddy said yesterday that in hia
opinion band of 'phoney money mem
are operating in Honolulu, having come
here from the Coast, believing that in
Honolulu they would find an easy harry
est for the bad coins, 81, GaE n te
Il know of no local crooks who
would be likely. to attempt such
trick, said the Marshal. M
Coins Are Dated 1915
All of the dimes gathered In no far
by the marshal, and by "A. III. Day.
cashier for the Rapid Transit company.
the first to discover the counterfeit.
are of the same date and apparently
struck off by the same plant. They are
Of about the same thickness as the
genuine dime, but are minus the ring.
having been made of sheet lead and
stamped with a die. The date, Is 1915.
Another means of Identifying the
bogus coins is their greasy feel. In de.
scribing them Marshal Smiddy said
that they are $50 greasy that they al.
most slip out of ones fingers.',
But few Of the counterfeit half dol
L..
thorities, and officials are not at all
sure that they are the work 5of The
same gang that is making and passing
the phoney dimes. Marshal Smiddy Il
inclined to believe that they are. but
admits that he has nothing save a
fhuneh" to 60 upon. 5.s Hj
May Re Made On Coast * ss
II is not known whether the conn.
terfeit dimes and half dollars are be,
ing made, il Honolulu or upon the
Coast. IL is more than probable said
Smiddy yesterday that they are being
manufactured on the Coast and sent
down here for distribution. II n he.
lieVed that large number has been
brought over and most of Il has Al.
ready been distributed. q. =, o., bgg..r4s. sl}
Alfred II. Day, cashier Of the Rapid
Transit company, was the first man to
tumble to the presence of the spurious
coins in circulation in Honolulu. This
was little more than month ago. The
conductors began turning, In nc the end
Of their days run large numbers Of
the bad coins, which were turned back
to them under the ruling of the com.
Pany, which makes the men themselves
responsible for all bad coins they take
on the car.
Marshal Has Fifty -. sfFatt
How many the conductors have in
their hands Mr.. Day could not say,
but he admitted that about one dozen
had been turned in to him.. before he
found out that they were counterfeit.
Marshal Smiddy confessed to having
about fifty of the bad coins In his pos
session. ~ n
Evidently large number OF these
coins have been turned lose on the
.ublic. I" said Mr.. Smiddy. ct believe
that they were unloaded here by men
from the coast, thinking this nm easy
place for such work--as il lis. In 4
number of cases have succeeded in
tracing the persons who had passed the
coins on the conductors of the ears. but
IN every instance ran against a blank
wall, the passer proved to have been a
Hawaiian or an unsuspecting person
who had been tricked Themselves in
taking the coin. There is no trace OF
a elew as yet, but we are still work.
ing on the Job. - EA,.,:. Il