Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1922-02-20
nation Led Herman Heinze TO Make Half
Dollars from Mexican Silper Dollars in
Order TO Finance His Invention of a
Hcopter-Hard Chase by Government
Agents Finally Wound Up In His Capture
in the Ran1ap0 Hills.

working, but the mysterious man was. He
was at work on drop hammer press Of
simple and effective design. He had
erected framework Of logs. Like the run.
ners of an elevator car he had bolted the
stolen rails to either side of the frame
work. On a concrete base at the bottom Of
the structure he had placed a steel plate,
perhaps an inch thick. At the top of the
framework and connected with the rails
by common iron shoes was a 100 pound
weight, suspended by rope that ran over
pulley and fastened to trigger, which.
If pulled, released the rope and weight,
which then descended to the steel base
plate with tremendous thump. Sort Of
guillotine arrangement. Understand? /
We had come as softly and as quietly as
possible The stranger was too absorbed
in his work to notice small noises. At reg.
ular intervals the weight fell-whangl
And each time he'd raise the weight and
pick from the base plate something that
gave him great pleasure. Once he tipped
one Of these things into the air and exc
that the tipped object was a coin.
1t was OF course, Herman Heinze.
never knew man to be SO chagrined by
arrest. He was quite philosophical about
it after we assured him that he might just
as we'll take his medicine like a sport He
felt somewhat relieved when we told him
how he had eluded us and how it was the
farmers boy who did it and not us.
well, If there's any reward" sighed
Herman, II hope they give it to that boy.
He was a nice intelligent kid"
Herman had been stamping out half dol.
lars all day and had nail keg full. He
took us to New York and down into West
Twenty-third street The house was di.
reetly opposite Proctor's old theater. I
have forgotten the address-not that 1t
really matters after all. But in this house
he had got together machine shop for
making dies. He made his dies there and, /
so far as we were able to see, he made
nothing but half dollar dies I believe he
had experimental with dollar dies, but for
certain reasons had decided to stick to the
halves.
Plan Was to Buy Up and
Mint Mexican Dollars
You see, Herman did not go to the assay
offices for his silver. There was too much
OF risk there. No, every SO often he'd
make trip to the Mexican border and
there purchase Mexican dollars for forty.
four cents or so-purchase them from mys,
terious folks who had no right to have
them. He paid bullion rates for the stuff
al oh ba
same amount of silver as the American.
and the same grade, too. So far as bullion
went, the Mexican dollar was quite as good
as ours.
He'd place his Mexican dollars between
steel rolls and these rolls would fatten out,
the coin until Herman had the material for
two half dollars. To get this expanse of
material he had to make it a trifie thin. The
silver discs he obtained were Just about
one-one hundred and twenty-eighth of an
inch less In thickness than our legitimate
half dollar. He might have got away with
that until the well known crack of doom.
however. for old coins loose that much
bulk In circulation in time.
But 1t happens that the Mexicans stamp
their money deep. They have to. Give an
enterprising Mexican who lacks whole
hearted respect for his Government half a
chance and he'll counterfeit anything from
postage stamps to pardons. The Mexican
stamping was so deep that there still were
traces of the lettering after Heinze had
rolled the dollar out. And even his neat
stamp mill or drop hammer press failed
to quite obliterate the Mexican lettering
And 1t was that mere suggestion of the
old Mex lettering that gave the otherwise
pure looking coins their suspicious appear.
ance. It was that queer look that nobody
had been able to ana,-,-a that made us
hurry to the Pacific Il, It was the deep
stamping Of the je - y ,xican Govern.
ment that ruined laH.l Heinzes plans
to give the world his altacmade helicopter.
why did l counte elt?" He repeated
our question. There is no mystery about
that. ] needed money. Without money
there could be no helicopter. I needed
money in hurry and decided to make my
own"
"And where were you turning out the
stuff on the Pacific coast, Helmet"
"On the sublimest ledge on the top Of
Mount Tamalpais In San Francisco Bay.
There ! could work as an artist should
work I could turn and behold the city
and watch 1t groan beneath its burdens.
Turn again and behold the Golden Gate
and the great Pacific beyond One worked
we'll in such setting. Could one helm it?"
Probably not, Herman: probably NOT "