Year: 1865

| During the year Of lS47 the West was
flooded with counterfeit coin 1t was so


well manufactured that it passed readily
The evil at last became so great that the
United States authorities requested that a
skillful detective might be sent to ferret
out the nest of coiners. | was fixed upon
| to perform that duty.


had nothing to guide me. The fact
however, that Chicago was the city where
! the counterfeit coin was most abundant, led
me to suspect that the mandatory was
somewhere within it's limits TWAS, there
fore, to the capital Of the West that | pro-
ceeded | spent five weeks in the city
without gaining the slightest clue to the
counterfeiters.


! ! began to grow discouraged, and really
thought | should be obliged to return home
without having achieved any result One
| day | received a letter from my wife re-
| questing me to send some money, as she
was out Of funds | went to the bank and
| asked for draft, at the same time handing
| a sum of money to pay for it, in which there
were several half dollars. The clerk pushed
three of them back to me, saying, "Coun-
terfeit"


What - said |, "you don't mean to
tell me those half dollars are counterfeit p
al do"


Are you certain 2"


Perfectly certain. They are remark
ably executed, but are deficient in weight
See for yourself"


And he placed one Of them in the bal
ance against a genuine half dollar, and the
latter brought up the former


This is the best counter rfeit coin | ever
GOV IN ,n1
them closely. as all the counterfeit mon
2y in circulation here Of the same chala
ter as this ?"


40 dear, no." the clerk replied, it is not
nearly 50 well done These are the work
OF the famous New York counterfeiter Ned
WIllett | know them well for | have
handled great many in my time. Here is
some of the money that is circulating here"
he added, taking half dollars from a drawer
" You see that the milling is not 50 well
done as Ned Wiletts, although this is
pretty good too"


| compared the two and found that he
was right. | supplied the place of the
three couuterteits with good coin and re-
turned the former to my pocket.


few days after this | received informa-
ton which caused me to take a Journey to
a small village about thirty miles from
Chicago. | arrived there at night and took
up my quarters at the only tavern in the
place. 1t was a wretched dwelling, and
kept by an old man and woman, the suri-
est couple, | think, it has ever been my lot
to meet. In answer as to whether | could
have lodging there that night | noticed
the host gave particular look at his wife,
and after some whispering, | was informed
IN the most ungraclOus manner possible
that | could have bed


have frequently in the course of my life
been obliged to put up with wretched ac-
commodatons, so | did not allow my euua-
nimity Of temper to be destroyed by the
miserable sleeping apartments into which
| was ushered after had finished my re-
past.


The chamber was Of small size, and GER
tainly we'll ventilated, for | could see the
stars through the roof. The bed was sim
ply a bag of straw thrown into one corner
of the room without sheet or covering of
any kind. This last fact, however, was
not Of much consequence, as it was sum-
mer and oppressively hot.


| stood for more than an hour gazing out
Of the opening which served for window
Before me was an immense prairie, the
limits of which | could not see The tav-
ern in which | had taken up my abode APP
peared to be isolated from all other dwell
ings, and save the croak of the tree-toad
and the hum of the locust, not sound
reached my ear. 1t was beautiful moon
light night, so bright that | could see to
read the smallest print.


At last | began to grow weary, and
throwing myself on my pallet l was soon
plunged in deep slumber. How long | slept
know not, but | was awakened by Il dull
sound, which resembled some one hammer
ing in the distance | suppose it was the
pcculiarity of the sound which awOke me,
for it was by no means loud, but conveyed
to me the idea of some one striking iron
with muf1led hammer | rose from my
bed and went to the window The moon
was now III the western horizon, by which
fact | knew that it must be near morning
The sound had before referred to reached
me more distinctly than when in the back
part of the chamber 1t appeared to come
from sOI1c outhouses winch were situated
a hundred yards from the house


Now am naturally of an inquiring mind,
and this sound, occurring as it did in the
middle of the night, piqued my my.curiosity,
and felt an irrrpressble to 90 out and dis
cover the cause Of This desire. as the
sound continued, grew upon me with such
intensity, that | resolved to crafty it at
any price


put on my boots, the only article of at
tire l had discarded, and cautiously opened
the door of my chamber and noiselessly de-
scended the ricketty staircase \ few
steps brought me into the lower apartment,
which | found entirely deserted | crcpt
quietly to the window, and unfastening it
without making the slightest noise, was
soon in the moonlight.


Not soul was visible, but the sound
have mentioned grew much more distinct
as | approached the place from whence it
proceeded. At last found myself before
long, low building, through the crevice
of which l could perceive lurid glare is
suing. | stopped down and peeped through
the key-hole. and to my extreme surprise
saw half dozen men, with their coats off
and sleeves up, performing variety of
strange occupations. Some were working
at forge, others were experimenting the
casting Of moulds, and some were engaged
in the process of mining coin. In a mo-