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About The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 1915)
THE 3EMI-WEEKLY TRIBUNE. NORTH PLATTE. NEBRASKA. E I Some Little Detail Overlooked Inevitably Leads to De tection of Criminal. EACH IsSSUE IS DISTINCTIVE No Individual Engraver Completes Plate for Any Series nf Notes Interesting Cnscs Which Prove Impossibility of Success In Counterfeiting. New York. The government Is nn organization. It has organized forma and means for making currency. These forms and means arc fashioned on the scientific plan that there aro no exact duplicates possible In naturo or in tho manufacturing of a product. No two battleships arc exactly alike, any more than are two roses that grow in tho samo garden. As an example In the making of our money, let me say that an engraver In tho government service can inako one plate, and only one plate, from which a given scries of hills aro print ed, says tho chief of tho secret service In tho New York Telegraph. That en graver may nearly dupllcuto It, but nover will ho ablo to reproduce) It exactly, or evon approach tho origi nal work by reproduction to such a degreo that thero will not bo a dif ference that Is detectable. So with tho dies for stamping tho government copper, sliver and gold coins. Then, too, It Is not so remarkable that duplicates aro Impossible, when one considers that thero are thou sands, in somo Instances tens of thou sands, of delicate strokes by a very lino tool necessary in tho making of n singlo plate for, tho manufacture of a Borlcs of notes. Perhaps a scratch Is too heavy, or maybe too lightly mado. Such an error would bo fatal. Con sider, too, that only ono plate Is used by tho government In printing a given series of notes, and only ono die Is used in making a given Ibsuo of coins. Plato Work of Many. It may bo Interesting for tho reader to keep In mind that no Individual en graver completes a plato for any se ries of notes. One mun engraves the vignctto; another docs tho script work; a third man tho square letter ing, and yet another takes caro of tho mechanical latho work, etc. In tho light of common reason thero Is only ono conclusion possible gov ernment money cannot bo Imitated successfully for any sustained period unless tho secret service agents coaso their tireless vigilance. And yet, In tho face of all theso organized obsta cles, Individuals and small groups of men have risked their froedom, and no doubt will coutinuu to do so, In an effort to cheat Undo Sam by foisting BpurlouB coIiib and notos on tho public. There Is tho caso of tho Gorman ar tist who noticed an oil painting, a rep resentation of a ten-dollar bill, paint ed In tho panel on the wall of a res taurant whero ho hud beon accus tomed to dine. Ho tried, at first, "just to imltato tho painting." His Imita tion was In pen and Ink, and so well dono that ho felt a curiosity to know whether ho could dccclvo any perron with tho product. Ho tried and suc ceeded In tho docelt. Then for 14 years ho devoted him self mostly to sketching on bond pa per of tho proper size a number of bills, Including ton, twenty, fifty and oven hundred-dollar notes, In Imita tion of tho United States currency. It would rcqulro his continuous efforts for two weeks at a tlmo to complete a hundred-dollar note. And yet again ho would take vacations for six months at a tlmo from his counterfeit ing labors, In tho moantlmo devoting himself to legitimate art. Goes Once Too Often. His method of "shoving" or dispos ing of tho notes was to get rid . of thorn In liquor stores near tho New Jersey ferries on tho Now York sldn. Ho would chooso a rush-hour crowd In which to upproach tho I III r. nnlnr ti quart of whisky, and a drink which he would swallow at tho bar while ime,n Ing tho bartender in conversation. He would at tho sumo tlmo lay down hU counterfeit bill, get It exchanged bur rledly and huston to Now .ii.mnv whero ho had built himself ami family a nouse. For tho most part tho hurtomii... ,11,1 not notice tho counterfeit note, not even when counting up. and it went to a bank or finally to tho Hiibtreasui before It was dotocted. All I rum nf tho distributor of tho bill was. of course, lost by this tlmo. However, tho Ditcher wont m . well onco too ofton. Ono 'evening nooui nvo o'clock our German artist went Into a liquor Btoro on Courtlandt street, not far from tho ferries. Hi bought a quart of whisky us usua nnd a separate drink, and laid i twenty-dollar bill on tho i.r it u, happendd that tho bar wnn niolot ...Id whisky sullied from glass. When tho bartender picked up tho bill from the moistened bar, tho Ink on tho note, damponed by tho al cohol, soiled his fingers and ho gave tho alarm. Had tho artist used what Is termed waterproof Ink. ho would not have beeji detected In that Instance. COUNTERFEITER TO BEA UNCLE I Tho most dangerous coin counter feiter with which tho government hns had to deal was an Italian jeweler In Now York city. Ho mado a ten-dollar gold plcco of GOO fluonoss in tho body of tho nrtlclc. (Tho government stnndard Is 900 fine.) Yet tho Imita tion was vory accurato, and In order to havo tho weight correct ho mado tho coin n whit larger than tho gov ernment mcasuro required. Thon, too, ho made a rim, commonly called tho reeding, for tho coin. This rim was of tho exact fineness of tho govern ment ten-dollar gold pieces. Tho Jowclor'B object In making tho rim, which he soldered on to tho body of tho coin, was, of course, to throw tho secret service men off the trail when they mado an assay of tho rim of tho counterfeit coin and found tho gold thereon to be of tho standard fineness. Tho Jeweler's coin had a rounded rim, and not ono that roso at right angles from tho surface of tho body of tho coin, as in the genuine article Ho sent his little daughter out to pass tho coins In different shops in tho Kast sldo of Now York. When sho was apprehended the nows filtered around to tho Jeweler In time for him to destroy ovldonco which, had wo obtained, would havo resulted In' his conviction. A fedornl Jury decided that we had failed to present suffi cient evldenco upon which to convict him of making tho counterfeit money, and tho Jeweler was discharged. Tho rounded reeding or rim was tho most pronounced dofect In his work. Tho Jowolor laughed a hearty Italian laugh us he left tho courtroom. Ills kins men nnd frlcndB wero thero In goodly numbors and Joined in tho laugh. That was all In tho day's work. Still, the future events that brought the joweler and mo Into contact again In the samo courtroom serve us an answer to tho ofton-ropeated question, Can you distinguish certain coins or notos as tho particular work of certain Individuals? Turns to Silver Caught. About a year after tho acquittal of tho Jowolor tho secrot sorvlco men wero supplied with Information that a great quantity of counterfeit half-dol lar pieces woro In circulation In nnd around Now York city, Long Island and .Torsoy city. A peculiar feature of tho enso waB that tho coins were such an accurato duplicate of tho gov ernment article that subtreasury of ficials could not detect tho defect In them; they wore of tho samo fineness, woight anU slzo as tho government coin; In a number of other ways thoy answered tho roqulromonts of tho gov ernment jUandard. xot tho Inevltablo detail was thero to provo tho Imitation. When tho bo crot servico men examined tho coins It was found that tho rims woro round ed, exactly in tho Bamo fashion as tho tun-dollar gold piece of tho Italian Jewoler. Wo called on tho latter in tlmo to find him busily engaged In tho manufacture of coins. When wo en tered the rear of his Jowelry storo wo found a number of tho spurious fifty- cent pieces and tho matorlal and tools for tho making of many thousands of them. Then thero was tho well-known Phil adelphia-Lancaster caso, In which the Bchemo was to print $10,000,000 and unload It simultaneously through ex change at tho dlfforent subtrcasurlcs throughout tho country. Thero wero Imperfect choekboncs on President Monroo on tho $100 notos of this particular entorprlso. Tho deficiency gave an entirely different expression to the face of the counterfeit as com pared with tho gonulno bill. Anothor detail, and an Important one, that the principals of this enterprise over looked was to properly manage tho engravers employed by them. Tho men backing tho schomo wero not suf ficiently lavish with their funds. Con sequently two of tho engravers took $10,000 In tho counterfeit notes and wont to tho races with tho money to make n "killing." Thoy laid tho spu rious notes at tho track. This was prior to tho date sot for the grand coup. Tho notos at tho track, how- ovqr, woro sufilclont to set tho secret servico at work In tlmo to frustrate tho conspiracy. And so many other cases there are SAILS FOR EUROPE Miss Lillian Ulrnoy, who last win ter wub one of the season's prominent dubutantes, has just sailed for Europo. Miss Ulrnoy bus been spending the Bummor with her sisters, Mrs. Harold Walker and Mlsa Cathorlno Ulrnoy, at their cottago at Southampton, L. 1. to lllustrato tho point. But tho ono which particularly appculs to mo Is that of John Davis, who rccontly pleaded guilty In Now Haven, Conn., to making plates for counterfeit five dollar notes. Davis is nn old offender, and tho Illustrative case which I havo In mind was ono In which ho was tho central figuro years back, it was known ns tho Hank of England plot. Davis had manufactured In London nnd had planned there to Inyidown counterfeit Banlc of England notes representing a value In pxccsb of $500,000. Ills scheme was to havo his confederates In each of tho great money centers London, Paris, Der lln, Vienna. St. Petersburg and Now lork, slmultnneouBly exchango tho notes at foreign money exchango lro kers' ofilces. N Tho workmanship of tho product was almost perfect. Tho notes were tho closest Imitation to tho Bank of England notes that have over been discovered. Soon everything was in readiness for the grund unloading oxcept one thing. Tho coiiBplrators had not tried out tho monoy to learn how readily It might bo accepted. Accordingly two of tho men assigned to tho New York end of tho plot went over to the Stato bank on Grand street and offered counterfeit notes representing a valuo of $780. Tho conspirators erred In presenting so much foreign money for exchange at ono tlmo to a bank In that neighborhood. Tho officials of tho In stitution compnred the offered notes with gonulno notos of tho Dank ot England, but could find no difference. Still tho ofllclals wero suspicious, bado tho conspirators wait a few minutes and called up tho secret servico ofilco, which hurried men to tho hank. Inevitable Detail Overlooked. A close examination of tho offered notes by tho government agents showed tho color of tho printing to bo true; tho color, ply und slzo of the paper to measuro accurately with tho Bank of England requirements, and tho strong main features of tho etch ing represented In tho print woro true to a shading. Yet, as always, tho detail was there to provo tho counterfeit work. The watermark of tho spurious notes was more pronounced than tho genuine. Further, and to mo more wonderful still, a tiny guard, carefully placed on tho gonulno note, was lacking In tho counterfeit. It was a little thorn shaped protuberance extending from a certain letter In the word denominat ing tho value of tho note. The tiny little sentinel could bo observed only with tho aid of a lino magnifying glass. It would bo found only acci dentally oxcept by ono knowing ex actly whero to look for It. The Now York members of tho con spiracy were arrested, but released when thoy stood on tho ifsBertlon that they had found the notes In the street. However, that was not allfor tho conspirators. Later, Davis was arrest ed in London. Ho turned klng'B evi dence, received a suspended sentence and a reward, and camo to this coun try to try his hand. His confession resulted in 15 of tho conspirators go ing to prison. "WILD MAN" IN POOR FARM After Traveling for Years as Circus Freak He Now Becomes County Charge. Evansvlllo, Ind. After traveling all over tho United States as tho "wild man" In several circuses and carni val companies, Joseph Reddlg, ago seventy-two, has boon admitted to tho Vandcrburg county Infirmary. lie Is broken In health and penni less, although ho has mado good money In his day. Heddlg told tho township trustee Sum U'urm. that while ho was acting tho part of a "wild man" with a circus for sovoral years, tho manager, in tho presence of tho crowds, would feed him great quanti ties of raw meat. "I cun cut moro raw meat," said he. "than tho biggest lion that ever lived." MAKES PRISON LIFE EASY Sheriff Provides Gymnasium and Wife Puts Canaries in Jail to Divert Minds of Inmates. llellefontalnc, O. A gymnasium has been provided in the Logan county jutl for tho pleasuro of the prisoners. Sheriff Uoorgo Smith, feeling that tho men needed somo other form of recrea tion than reading, has put in the equipment at Ills own expense. Mrs. Smith, tho sheriff's wife, has placed two canary birds in tho Jail to help divert the minds of tho prison ers. A man who has been a prisoner hi the jail for several months has been permitted to havo his graplio phone with him all of tho time, and dally concorts havo boon provided, continuous programs being tho rule. WIFE GONE; CALLS HIM SLOW Husband of Departed Bride Says Sho Declared He "Hugged the House Too Much." Patorson, N. J. William Whlto of Van Houtcti street tostlllcd that ho was deserted by his wlfo because lis was "too slow." Ho was on tho stand in his suit for dlvorco. "Wo woro married In 101S," said Whlto. "Four months later my brldo told mo I 'hugged tho houso too much. Sho wanted ilfo. dances, pic nics, parties and tho like. The next night I returned homo to find the house ompty. noth my wlfo and tho furni ture wero gone to parts unknown. I haven't seen or heard anything of eith er since." POULTRY FEEDING TABLE FOR POULTRY Platform Arranged on Which Food and Hoppers are Placed Nests Are Placed Underneath. I use In my henhouse a table or plat form on which the drinking vessels and the food und other hoppers are placed, says a writer in Farm and Homo. This tablo is in the middle ot tho houso und is two and one-half root high. Doth sides of it are fitted with nest boxes that can bo pulled out and closed. Tho boxes arc a foot Feed Table for Poultry. square and ton Inches deep. The back part of the box is boarded up three Inches, which leaves an opening for the hen to enter tho nest from be neath the tablo. Over each nest a door is cut through tho top of tho tablo and hinged in place, thus making it convenient to gather the eggs without pulling out the box. The advantages of such an arrangement are: The eggs can be gathered without stooping, tho nests are dark, no floor spuco is utilized, the food and drinking water arokopt clean, the nests can be taken out and cleaned with little trouble. CARE FOR INCUBATOR HATCH Some Judgment Should Be Exercised In Testing Eggs Remove Infer tile Eggs When Found. In caring, for a hatch with an incu bator some judgment should be exer cised when testing the eggs. Somo people do not even try to test the eggs, Tearing they will throw out somo that ire fertile. Now this is all nonsense, for if tho eggs do not keep together In appearance you may be sure that some of them are no good. The ma lority ot the eggs will show a dally advance. Some who are expert at tho business commence testing the eggs on the sixth day, but one who is un accustomed to the business cannot toll with certainty which are fertile and which aro not until tho ninth or tenth Jay. Now and then a chick will die when a. week or ten days along, and will get offensive to the olfactory nerves if allowed to remain in the incubator, in fact an egg becomes so foul as to Interfere with the hatch. All such eggs should bo removed, as soon as discovered. Clear eggs should bo taken out just as soon as you discover them to be Infertile, and these can be cooked and Siven to the young chicks to eat. The romoval of theso will keep the eggs lowr to the ones containing the live chicks and will make the work of car Ing for them less and give you a bet ter chance to study tho remaining ?ggs. LATEST MAKE OF INCUBATOR Series of Trayo Supported One Over the Other Around Central Ver tical Metal Tube. The Scientific American in describ Ing an improvement on an incubator, tho Invention of C. II. Osborn of St. Joseph, Mo., says: In carrying out this Improvement tho invention supports a series of trays or pans ono over tho other SSL. 3 Improved Incubator. around a central vertical metal tube which serves as an elongatod tiilmnoy for a lamp employed as a heating medium. The egg trays arc supported upon flanges secured to the inner wall of the body or casing of the Incubator, and may lie rotated thereon to facilitate- the introduction of eggs through a door provided for this casing oi body. Winter Feed for Hens. Plan to bury or otherwise store as much cabbage and as many turnips, beets, rutabagas, pumpkins, etc., aa possible, for wiutor feed for tho hejis. Proporly burled, a little later In the season, any of theso will keep per fectly all wintor. A plentiful supply of such things will aid materially In keeping tho hens in good laying condition-vigorous, alert, full ot pep nnd on tho job all the time. Bad Place for Eggs. Nover kenp eggs In a damp place. Old Fort De Russy May Be Partially Restored WASHINGTON.-Restoration of Fort Do Russy in Hock Creek park suffi cient to preserve tho outlines of tho parapet, ditch, bastions and other features as it stood during the Civil war may be an outcome of tho G. A. R. encampment here. Lieut. George Carr serving the fort. In addition to othor things, Lieutenant Round proposed that the present roadway up the fort hill be extended to encircle the entire fort outside tho ditch and that sufficient brush bo cleared awuy to show tho landscape to passing visitors In car riages and automobiles. He suggested that an old-tlmo "crow's nest" or signal station bo built in ono of the tallest trees near tho fort nnd bo pre served us a feature of the jubilee encampment of th$ G. A. R. Lieutennnt Round had signal stations in operation during the encamp ment at Soldlei'3' Homo, Fort Stevens, Georgetown Heights, Fort Richardson and Fairfax Seminary south of tho Potomac. Concerning the appropriateness of permanently preserving Fort De Russy, he stated: "I respectfully submit that Fort Do Russy is ono of the most interesting objects in the park and could easily be mado a particularly picturesque feature. It must bo about tho highest point In the park. It was the most prominent fort In the lino of fortifications which confronted General Early's Confederate army which attacked Washington in 18G4, much stronger in natural position and range than Fort Reno on its loft and Fort StovenB on its right. Rut for Fort Do Russy, Early's veterans in gray would no doubt have entered Washington by tho Rock Croek valley." Uncle Sam Promotes the Out-of-Door Movement REALIZATION that the members of to live more In tho open air seems for he has done more, perhaps, in the encourage the out-of-doors movement than In any other equal period of time. First camo the bid for a greater recre ational use of tho national forests, and now the general land oHlce has completed a sale, without precedent, of sites especially for villas on tho banks of tho beautiful Flathead lake in Montana. To attract larger numbers of vn cfitlonlsts to the vast forests owned by the government, tho forest service se cured legislation that permits the leas ing ot sites for summer homes for as many as 30 years lor merely nominal rentals. This arrangement, which went into effect last Bpring, makes worth while the erection of substantial improvements, and has already greatly In creased tho number of persons sojourning in the forests in tho summer season. In many of the forests applications to leaso five-acre tracts are pour ing in, nnd dwellings from simple log cabins to pretentious homes are springing up in mountain glens and by river banks and lake shoro. In order to determine Just what the forests present in tho way of at tractive sites for summer homes and facilities for boating, bathing, fishing, mountain climbing and other outing activities, the forest sorvlce ia now making a recreational survey of the domains over which It has control and will list and publish tho data as rapidly as possible. Now, it is realized, most of tho applicants for cottago sites are persons who happen to bo fa miliar with tho forests. When tho data now being collected are available, however, city-bound souls who long for the woods but have neither tho means nor the, time to make long senrches for satisfactory sites will be able to choose just about what thoy wish without stirring from their doors. Feast on Ham Cooked in Ink to Settle Dispute FOR four years two prominent Washington men havo quarreled over the question whethor a ham cooked In Ink is better than one cooked in champagne. The liiampion ot tho lrik-cooked ham is Frank Conger, former postmaster hero. Tho champagne side "Of course," said Mr. Conger, "I do not maintain that tho ink adds to the delectable flavor of tho ham. But neither does the champagne. I would not advise epicures to drink the ink in which tho ham is cooked. Hut I will eat tho ham cooked In the Ink to provo that no part of the Ink substance is ab sorbed by the ham In cooking, and that the man who has been Jollying him self with tho idea that ho obtulns a champagne flavor from ham cooked In champagne is moiely working his imagination overtlmo and ought to be a war correspondent and not a chef or bon vlvant." At Hvo o'clock tho hams wero cut and about seventy-five persons present partook of tho moat, nobody knowing which ho ate. The advocate ot tho liiampagne-cookciS ham "was asked to pass judgment. He insisted ho could tasto a bare Haver of champagne, but admitted that ho had not tasted Ink. So ho decided fo himself, and Professor Noack handed Mr. Conger a bill for eight quarts ot champagne under the terms of tho wager. Newton, in Spotless Attire, Runs Steam Shovel 1'HE modern way of "breaking ground" for the construction of a govern ment building vms shown at Eighteenth and F streets when Byron R. Newton, assistant secretary of tho treasury, officiated at tho beginning of the excavation fo." tho new home of the interior depurtment. Tho nsslstant secretary didn't pick up n shovel and turn a bit ot earth in the old-lashloned way. Instead Mr. Newton, who was dad In a Palm Beach suit and a spotWss pair of canvas shoes, climbed alnoid tho high plat form of a hugn and greasy steam shovel and pull d a wire which lroppetl Kverul hundred pounds of ilrt Into waUlns wagon. He "van phuogiaplied In tho midst ot this liazaidous task ami when ho clambered down it was ascertalnel ho had moved about tho greasy Interior of the big steam shovel without get ting so much as a speck on Ins suit or shoos. The iniilding. when completo, will cost approximately $2,000,000, which is more than a half-million Inutor tho limit sot h congress. It will house all ranchr is of iUa interior department and will bo a magnificent eight-story tru. turn Roird of Mnnassas, Vs., who was doHiijnated to arrange for tho, reopen' Ing o tho wnr-tlmo signal stations during the oncampraent, wroto to the board of control of Rock Creek park requesting permission to open a sta tion at Fort Do Russy. Certain im provements were necessary before this site could bo utilized nnd Lieu tenant Round proposed that thoy be made with a view to permanently pre his big family should bo encouraged to have como suddenly to Uncle Sam, past twelve months to stimulate and of the gastronomic argument was taken by "Tony" Richardson, a local real estate man. Tho other day an experiment took place at "Shoemakers," retreat 'ot statesmen, artists, publicists, and lit erary lights. Prof. "Gus" Noack, ana lytical chemist, was called in as ex pert. Eight quarts of each liquid were used. Mr. Noack arranged the gap stove and made sure that the ink man had ndt substituted grape juice
