The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1920-08-30
SECRET SERVICE
JOBS IN DEMAND
More Than 1000 Applications
for Every Vacancy.
WORK APPEALS TO,AMATEURS

Eager to Show Their Skill-Service
Is Recruited From City Detective
Forces and None 10 Accepted Until
He Has by Years Of Work Proved
His Ability as Crime Investigator.
A place on the United States secret
service force is the most sought for DO
sition In the United States. More
than 1000 applications are received
Tor every vacancy and every mail
brings new requests. Most of these
are from "sleuths" who have complet.
ed the course Of some mail order de.
tective school. No sooner does the
average graduate" get his diploma
and star than he sits down and writes
to Washington that he Is qualified to
do all kinds Of detective work" and
asks for a government position.
In all such cases the applicant is out
2-cent stamp, for the detectives in
the government services are recruited
from the city detective forces and
none is accepted until he has proved
by years Of work his ability as crime
investigator.
The secret service was created in
1854 to trace and arrest counterfeiters
OF United States currency, principally
the old "greenbacks," and detection of
makers and circulators of spurious
money has always been its chief func-
ton. Consequently it has attained a
high degree of efficiency in that line,
and it has become automatic That mo
counterfeiter can get away with it."
cIeverness Against cIeverness.
But high wages for skilled and un-
skilled labor do not seem to have ap-
pealed to a number of clever men who
during the last few months have at
tempted to beat the high cost of living
by making their own money. In con-
sequence the secret service has been
unusually active, and five gangs of
cOunterfeiters operating in widely diff
ferent parts of the country have been
rounded up and their plants confiscat-
ed the government agents.
The war laid an extra heavy burden
on this branch of the governments ma
chinery, and hardly had the amount of
work begun to lessen, when counter
felt bills began to appear in unusual
quantities, and the work of the crimi-
nails made their detection difficult
In one instance group of three
men, who had made some very fine
plates, were caught before they had
put single piece Of faulty paper into
circulation, their apprehension being
the result of lucky accident and some
clever detective work.
AS has been related already in the
daily press, bather in Lake Michigan
at Chicago few weeks ago struck his
foot against something sharp, and on
investigating found it was a copper
plate engraving Of $40 federal re-
serve note. He turned it over to the
federal authorities, who saw that it
was an imperfect plate, but in the
light of long experience they guessed
that where that plate came from there
were others in process Of manufacture.
With no other clew to work on. they
began an investigation and soon ar
rested three men, who admitted that
they had been experimenting with
counterfeit plates for several months
Twelve such plates were found in
their possession, some of them so we'll
made that bills printed from them
would have been very hard of detec-
ton.
Forge Pay Checks.
More than 100 convictions have re-
suited from the work of the secret SER
vice agents in running down persons
who obtained fraudulent possession
of government pay checks during the
war and cashed them after forging an
Endorsement Hundreds of checks also
were passed in cases where the blank
forms were stolen from the offices of
officers and filled out false
ly. Many Of these checks were stolen
from mail boxes, where they had been
left by the postmen for disabled SOL
diers or dependents of soldiers, bu.
this form Of thievery has all but
ceased.
Because of the billions of dollars
disbursed from Washington and Of the |
Of many disbursing Off
GERS who did not safeguard their rec
ords properly, the national capital be-
came rich field for crooks and the
secret service found plenty to do right
at it's doorstep. The latest piece of
to engage the attention Of
the bureau there has developed in the
bureau of war risk insurance, where
q number of disabled soldiers were in
duced to part with part of their
money due from the government on
the ground that by such a method they
could get more than the government
would otherwise pay them.
Investigation has shown that the SOL
Tiers were the only losers, as the en-
ployees of the bureau have no power
% increase the amount the disabled
men are paid. Only minor employees
# the bureau have been involved.
Tho largo issues of Liberty bonds