El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-10-12

II was mace many years ago by an
army officer who entered the cabin
and found the wall covered with Gin
/ pings from illustrated newspa pers
ana magazines, and among them COM
I pound interest United States notes 10
the amount OF $4,000. The notes had
Z probably been taken from the person
OF some white prisoner. and the red
man had valued them for the pictures
{ alone The officer looked m the
owner OF the cabin and gave him other
/ pictures for those he took from the
wall Il is said that he made an ef-
tort 10 find out TO whom they belonged
| but failed. and thereupon sent the
notes in for redemption.
Many years ago a Texas widow llv-
lls IN reduced circumstances in
7 Washington found among her hus-
Dand's old papers government securi-
ties TO the face value Of $4,000. She
took them TO the president OF the
Riggs National bank thinking thew
I were receipts for taxes. The president
I OF the bank turned them into the Unit
ed States treasury and received for
in interest.
Greatest Care Taken.
The government takes the greatest
care in protecting the holders OF the
Liberty bonds. I have already de-
scribed the safeguards against any
one making or stealing the paper, and
told how each sheet is counted again
and again as It goes through the bu-
reau OF engraving and printing. Every
bond and every coupon is numbered.
and the engraving is done by the
most expert artists. The scroll work
on the bonds is cut by the same geo
metric lathes which make the scrolls
on the bank notes. and every bond
bears the signature Of the secretary
and register Of the United States
An $4,000 Forgery.
From this it viii be seen that il is
almost impossible to counterfeit such
securities. Many attempts OF that kind
have been made. but the only one
really successful was that OF $4,000
worth Of the coupon bonds known as
the seven-thirties. These counterfeits
were sold to Jay Cooke & company.
impression taken by an emplOye from
one OF the plates in the bureau OF
engraving and printing. Il was only
when the bonds were sent in for re-
demption to the treasury department
that they were pronounced coun-
terfeiL 1t is remarkable that Jay
Cooke should have been deceived. He
was the greatest bond merchant of
our history. He negotiated most OF
the loans OF the civil war and sold
the bonds Of such loans to the amount
OF more than $4,000, 100000.
The most extensive attempt at
wholesale counterfeiting Of govern
ment bonds occurred in 1880 when a
band OF expert rascals headed by Wiz
. liam T. Brockway made a large num-
I Der Of coupon bonds Of $1,000 each.
! treasury department got on the track
Of this sob before It was completed.
/ They allowed the counterfeiters TO
perfect their plans, and IL was only
when one Of them. James B. Doyle,
had aliEhted in Chicago from New
York that any arrest was made. Doyle
+ carried In his satchel counterfeit
bonds 10 the amount Of 1904. 900. At
the same time Brockway was ar
rested. and he turned states evidence
confessing to making the bonds and
guiding the officers TO a spot IN the
woods where % steel and copper
plates for the making Of bank notes
and bonds were buried.
Ny Investigations OF the bookkeep-
[ ing OF the Liberty loan were made in
company with Charles y. McGroarty.
who Is now in charge OF this branch
Of the work and who has been connect
I ed with the treasury for many years
I Together we went from room to room
watching the clerks handling the Sc
curlues with as little apparent con-
Germ as though they were so much
waste paper. In one place there were
I Is girls cutting off coupons. I was
| told that their wages were about 800
a month. and I observed that none
wore a dress that cost more than $50
Still they were handling fortunes and
clipping off bits OF paper each worth
] 7 venture several times its weight in
diamonds
Sending ont Their Checks.
7 stopped in one room where they
: were sending out the checks for Lib
I erty loan interest This is done by
machinery. through what Is known as
| addressographs. The addressograph
makes a stencil containing the name
and address Of each owner OF a bond.
| The stencil can then be used to print
I his name on his interest checks. 20
register his account on the index card,
and to pay the principal when II be-
comes due. It IS used for leaves. proof
I sheets and all sorts Of records con-
| nected with the bond The addressO-
| graph machines are 40 IN number. and
each can turn out thousands OF ad-
| dresses a day. The saving accom-
! plished by such methods is enormous.
I On the 18th Of last June the treasury
] department sent out the interest
I checks for the registered bonds OF the
/ first two loans. They numbered $4,000
! and the third Liberty loan has so In
! creased this number that the checks
( OF each interest period win be more
. than 100000. According TO the old
/ system OF issuing checks the cost
was about nine cents per check for