Newspaper Page Text
MR. DOOLEY
THE LABOR TROUBLES.
By F. P. DUNNE.
Copyright, 1904, by McClure, Phillips & Cos.
"I see th' sthrike has been called
off." said Mr. Henr.essy.
"Which wan?” asked Mr. Dooley. “I
can’t keep thrack iv thim. Someboiy
Is sthrikin’ all th’ time. Wan day th'
horseshoers is out an’ another day th'
steamsters. Th' Brotherhood iv Mo
lasses Candy Pullers sthrikes on’ th'
Amalgymated Union tv Pickle Sorters
quits in sympathy. Th’ carpinter that
has been puttin’ up a chicken coop f’r
Hogan knocked off wurruk whin he
found that Hogan was shavin’ him
silf without a. card fr’m th’ barbers’
union. Hogan fixed It up with th’
walkin’ dillygate iv th’ barbers an’
th' carpinter quit wurruk because he
found Hogan was wearin’ a pair iv
non-union pants. Hogan wint down
town an’ had his pants unionized an’
come home to find that th’ carpinter
had sthruck because Hogan's hens was
layin' eggs without th’ union label.
Hogan injooced th’ hens to jine th'
union. But wan iv them laid an egg
two days in succissyon an’ th’ others
sthruck. th’ rule iv th’ union bein' that
no hen shall lay more eggs than th’
most reluctant hen in th’ bunch.
"It's th' same ivrywhere. I haven’t
had a sandwich f'r a year because ivry
time I've asked f'r wan, ayether th
butchers of th’ bakers has been out on
sfhrike. If I go down in a car in th’
mornin', it's eight to wan I walk back
at night. A man I knowed had his
uncle in th’ house much longer than
ayether iv thim had intinded on ac
count iv a sthrike iv th' Frindly Broth
erhood iv Morchuary Helpers. Afther
they'd got a permit fr’m th’ walkin'
dillygate an’ th' remains was carried
away undher a profusyon iv floral im
blims with a union label on each iv
them, th' coortege was stopped at ivry
corner be a picket who first punched
th’ mourners an’ thin examined their
cridintials. Me friend says to me:
Tnele Bill wud’ve been proud. He
was very fond iv long fun’rals an’ this
was th' longest I iver attinded. It took
eight hours an’ w r as much more rio
chous goin’ out thin cornin' back,’ he
says.
"It was diff'rent whin I tvas a young
man. Hinnissy. In thim days capital
an’ Labor was frindly. or Labor was.
Capital was like a father to Labor,
givin’ it its boord an’ lodgins. Nay
ether intherfered with th’ other. Cap
ital wint on capitalizin' an’ labor wint
on laborin. In thim goolden days a
wurrukin’ man was an honest artisan.
That’s what he was proud to be call
ed. Th' week befure iliction he had
his pitcher in th’ funny pa-apers. He
wore a square paper cap an’ a leather
apron an' he had his ar-rm ar-round
Capital, a rosy, binivolint ol' guy with
b plug hat an' eyeglasses. They was
goin’ to th’ polls together to vote fr
simple ol’ Capital. Capital an’ Labor
walker ar-m in ar-rm instead iv hav
in' both hands free, as at prisint. Cap
ital w'as CQntint to be Capital an’ La
bor was used to bein’ Labor. Capital
come ar-round an’ fekt th’ ar-rm Iv
Labor wanst in awhile an’ ivry year
Mrs. Capital called on Mrs. Labor an’
congratylated her on her score. Th’
pride iv ivry artisan was to wurruk
ns long at his task as th’ boss cud
afford to pay th’ gas bill. In return
fr his fidelity l)e got a turkey ivry
year. At Chris-mas time. Capital
gathered his happy fam’ly around him
in th’ prisince iv th’ ladies iv th’
neighborhood give thim a short ora
tion. ‘Me brave la-ads,‘ says he. ‘we’ve
had a good year. (Cheers.) I have
made a millyon dollars. (Sinsatton.)
I atthribute this to me supeeryour
skill, aided be ye’er earnest efforts at
the’ bench an’ at th’ forge. (Sobs.)
Ye have done so well that we won’t
need so manny iv us as we did. (Long
an’ continyous cheerin’.) Those iv us
who can do two men’s wurruk will
remain an’ If possible do four. Our
other faithful sarvants,’ he says, ’can
come back in th’ spring,’ he says, ‘if
alive,’ he says. An’ th’ bold artysans
tossed their paper caps in th’ air an’
give three cheers fr Capital. They
wurruked till ol’ age crept on thim an’
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THE GENUINE HAS OUR PRIVATE STAMP OVER THE NECK OF THE BOTTLE
thin retired on th’ wish bones an’ kind
wurruds they had accumylated.
“Nowadays “tis far diff’rent. Th’
unions has desthroyed all individjool
Mtort. Year be year th’ hours iv th’
misguided wurrukin’ man has been cut
down till now it takes a split sicond
watch to time him as he goes through
th’ day’s wurruk. I have a gintleman
plasthrer frind who tells me he hasn't
put in a full day in a year. He goes
to his desk Ivry mornin’ at tin an’
sthrikes punchooly at iliven. ‘Th’
wrongs Iv th’ wurrukin’ men mus’ be
redhressed,” says he. ‘Ar-re ye in
thrested in thim?’ says I. ‘Ye niver
looked betther in ye’er life,’ says I.
‘I niver felt betther.’ he says. ‘lt’s th’
out-iv-dure life,’ he says. ’I haven't
missed a baseball game this summer,’
he says. ‘But,* he says, ‘I need exer
cise. I wish labor day wud come
around. Th' boys has choose me to
carry a life-size model iv th’ Masonic
Temple In th’ parade,’ he says.
“If I w'as a wurrukin’ man I’d sigh
fr th’ good ol’ days whin labor and
capital was frinds. Those who lived
through thim did. In thim times th’
arrystoeracy iv labor was th* la-ads
who r-run th’ railroad injines. They
were a proud race. It was ’a. boast
to have wan Iv thim in a fam’ly. They
niver sthruck. ’Twas again their
rules. They conferred with capital.
Capital used to weep over thim. Ivry
wanst in a w'hile, a rilrdad prisidint
wud grow' red in th’ face an’ burst
into song about thim. They were a
body that th’ nation might well he
proud iv. If he had a son who asked
f’r no betther fate, he wud ask f’r
no betther fate fr him thin to be a
Brotherhood iv Locymotive Ingineers.
Ivrybody looked up to thim an’ they
looked down on ivrybody, but mostly
on th’ brickfayers. Th’ bricklayers
were niver th’ bulwarks iv th’ con
stlchoochion. They niver conferred
with capital. Th’’ polis always ar
rived jus’ as th’ conference was be
ginnin’. Their motto was a long life
an’ a merry wan; a brick in th’ hand
is worth two on th’ wall. They sthruck
ivry time they thought iv it. They'
sthruck on th’ slightest provocation an’
whin they weren’t provoked at all. If
a band wint by, they climbed down th’
laddhers an’ followed it, carryin’ ban
ners with th’ wurruds: ‘Give us bread
or we starve,’ an’ walked till they
were almost hungry. Ivry Saturdah
night, they held a dance to protist
again their wrongs. In th’ summer
STOCK MARKET SCRAPED THE
BOTTOM; NOW BUMPING THE TOP
End of Business Depression in Sight and Signs
of a Business Revival.
By W. G. NICHOLAS.
New York, Sept. 10.—It looked two
weeks ago as if the top of the stock
market had been reached. The rather
sharp advance caused many to predict
that prices were "bumping the top.”
These same persons during the long
decline would predict at each new low
level that prices were ’’scraping the
bottom.” Just as the market at that
time went through the bottom to a
new bottom, so after the break of
Tuesday, a week ago, it proceeded to
climb and bumped through the top to
anew high level.
The last Tuesday in August saw a
sharp decline, while on the first Tues
day In September there was an ad
vance equally ‘as sharp. Prices closed
at the highest of the year. The aver
age prices of twenty active railroads
was ten points higher than the price
for the same roads on the correspond
ing date of 1903.
Down and Then I p.
The swing in the market then was
downward, while the swing now is up
SSVVANNAH MORNING NEWS: SUNDAY. SEPTEMBER IT. 1904.
time, th’ wails iv th’ oppressed brick
layers wint up fr’m countless picnics.
They sthruck in sympathy with anny
body. Th’ union wint out as wan man
because they was a rumor that th’
superintindent iv th’ rollin’ mills was
not nice to his wife. Wanst they
sthruck because Pofand was not free.
"What was th’ raysult? Their un
raisoning demands fin’lly enraged cap
ital. To-day ye can go into a brick
layer’s house an’ niver see a capitalist
but th’ bricklayer himsilf. Forty years
ago a bricklayer was certain iv twilve
hours wurruk a day, or two hours
more thin a convicted burglar. To-day
he has practically nawthin’ to do an’
won’t do that. They ar-re out iv wur
ruk nearly all th’ time an’ at th’ sea
shore. Jus’ as often as ye read ’New
port colony fillin’ up,’ ye read. ’Brick
layers sthrike again.’ Ye very sildotn
see a bricklayer nowadays in th’ city.
They live mostly in th’ eounthry an’
on’y come into town to be bribed to
go to wurruk. It wud pay anny man
who is buildin’ a house to sind thim
what money he has be mail an’ go live
in a tent.
“An’ all this time, how about th’
arrystoeracy iv labor, th’ knights iv
th’ throttle? Have they been deprived
iv anny hours iv labor? On th’ con
thry, they have steadily increased on
til to-day there is not a knight iv th’
throttle who hasn’t more houis iv wur
ruk in a day thin he can use in a
week. In th’ arly mornin’ whin he
takes his ir’n horse out iv th’ stall, he
meets th’ onforchnit, misguided hrick
layer cornin’ home in a cab fr’m a
sthrike meet in’. Hardly a year passes
that he can’t say to his wife: ’Mother,
I’ve had an increase.’ ’ln wages?’ ’No,
in hours ’ It’s th’ ol’ story iv th’ ant
an’ th’ grasshopper—th’ ant that ye
can step on an’ th’ grasshopper ye
can’t catch.
“Well, it’s too bad that th’ goolden
days lias passed, Hinnissy. Capital
still pats Labor on th’ back but on’y
with an ax. Labor rayfuses to be
threated as a frind. It wants to be
threated as an itiimy. It thinks it gets
more that way. They ar-re still a hap
py fam’ly but it’s more like an Kr.g-
Ush fam’ly. They don’t speak. What
do I think iv it all? Ah. sure, I don’t
know. I belong to th’ onferchnit mid
dle class. I wurruk hard an’ I have
no money. They come in here undher
me hospital roof an’ I furnish thim
with cards, checks, refrishmints an’
money. ’Let’s play without a limit,’
s;ays Labor. ‘lt’s Dooley’s money.’ ’Go
as far as ye like with Dooley’s money,’
says Capital. ’What have ye got?’
’l’ve got a sthraight to Roosevelt,’ says
Labor. ’l’ve got ye beat,’ says Capi
tal. ’l've got a Supreme Coort full on
injunctions.’ Manetime I’ve pawmed
me watch to pay fr th’ game an' I
have to go to th’ joolry store on th'
corner to buy a pound lv beef or a scut
tle iv coal. No wan Iver sthrikes In
sympathy with me.”
“They ought to get together,” said
Mr. Hennessy.
"How cud they get anny closer to
gether thin their prisint clinch?’’ asked
Mr. Dooley. "They're so close togeth
er now that those that ar-re between
thim ar-re crushed to death.”
w'ard. A year ago, every one thought
prices were too high, to-day a ma
jority still thinks so, but conditions
have changed. Then the business de
pression showed no signs of ending,
while to-day the end is in sight and in
fact the close observers of conditions
find on every hand general signs of
business revival. These men are dis
counting this revival in the stock mar
ket, as they discounted the depression.
They believe that the country is on
the highroad to greater prosperity, and
consequently are buying stocks expect
ing to sell them, not at prices a dollar
or two higher a share, but $lO and S2O
per share more.
Market Bare of Stock..
These big men have been buying for
some time with (he result that the
stock market is almost bare of stocks
around the present prices. Purchasers
are forced to bid Above the market to
get stocks. The layman asks: "How
do these men get their advance In
formation of conditiohs?” The answer
Is simple. They send out special agents
to study conditions. Bankers learn
through their correspondents, seatter-
ed throughout the country; railroad
men through their agents; manufac
turers through their salesmen. The
banker has the use. not only of the
Information of his correspondents, but
of that gathered by the railroad presi
dent and the manufacturer.
An example in point: A rich man
Looking to the Future.
has purchased, during the last two
months, 50,000 shares of Steel common
and 30,000 shares of Steel preferred.
Upon being asked why he had done so.
he replied: "I sent a specialist to
every steel plant of the corporation.
Another visited the big consumers; an
other made a trip through the Cotton
Belt; another through the wheat and
corn sections, and others made studies
of different railroads' needs. Their
combined reports proved to me that I
could double my money by purchasing
these stocks. The condition of the steel
trade is better than reported; the crops
will be good: sentiment everywhere is
better. I know this from my own
agents, and I feel satisfied of what the
future will bring.” This man Is but
one of the many moneyed men of Wall
st reet.
From every source comes news of
improvement. The condition of the cot
ton crop is above the average for
eleven years. The condition of the corn
crop is satisfactory and wheat Is bet
ter than reported. The farmer and
the planter are tn excellent shape with
money to invest.
Railroad learnings Well ftp.
Railroad returns for July show that
business is smaller than in the previous
July, but both gross and net earnings
have held up wonderfully, and as a
rule the dividends of the big companies
are more than earned, even when the
decrease Is largest. Of course the rail
roads in the Southern states have had
a good time, having been helped by
the high prices of cotton. Many of
these roads need new rails and new
rolling stock, which they will be able
now to purchase.
All lines are now busy talking about
car shortage and engine shortage. This
is a yearly phenomenon, and will prob
ably he more marked than ever in a
ye’ar. when business is actually short.
The busis of the present talk is a
fairly good one. It consists of the fact
that In many sections shippers have
increased their orders for cars on short
notice, causing equipment managers on
some divisions to sit up late at night
devising methods to meet the calls in
a hurry. The change arises naturally
from the hesitation of a few weeks ago.
when shippers at large were inclined
to underestimate their prospective needs
in the line of equipment. In a period
of crop uncertainty this phenomenon
always oecurs. Taking the systems as
a whole, there Is not a railroad In the
West that has not all the cars and en
gines it needs for Its present business
and several of each left over.
The Western Tragic.
The best features of the Western
traffic situation are the heavier move
ment of merchandise and coal. The
grain tonnage is slightly better than
It was a week or so ago. >and is likely
to inc-rease from now on until It reaches
Us climax late in the autumn. The
prospects are that in the aggregate it
will be very heavy over the season.
The fruit tonnage from Missouri and
the South has been satisfactory to date.
The heaviest and most profitable of it
does not move, however, until a week
or two later, when the apple trains
from the Ozark country are a Very im
portant factor on the local divisions
southwest of St. Louis. The crop was
a failure last year, and will this year
make a fair showing.
Harrlman Rack From Enropa.
Mr. E. H. Ilarriman, who has re
turned from Europe, is among those
who are bullish on the general outlook.
He denied that there is any trouble be
tween his lines and the Gould roads
and refused to say whether he was
after the Chicago and Alton. With
regard to the political situation he con
tented himself with the statement that
the country is a foregone conclusion for
President Roosevelt, and that he him
self has no candidate for the governor
ship of New York state.
The copper situation Is also clearing
up. Europe is taking enormous quan
tities of the metal and the majority of
copper metal sellers believe that iake
copper will sell at 13 cents per pound
within two weeks.
Big Copper Exports.
Exports continue on a very large
scale, and many predict thaj. exports
for September will reach 20,000 tons.
During the first eight months of the
present year we have shipped abroad
upwards of 330,000,000 pounds of refined
copper. If the American production Is
750,000,000 pounds or a figure higher
than has ever before been publleally
printed—and I believe the American
production is now temporarily up to
this rate—and If we add to that 150,000,-
000 pounds, which would seem to many
absurdly high, sis the tncomtnr of cop
per from the Greene and other Mexican
mines, and the imports of copper and
ores from British Columbia, Canada
and elsewhere, we would have only
500,000,000 pounds per annum, or only
600,000,000 pounds for eight months upon
which to draw for an American export
of 330,000,000 pounds. Such shipments
with the better demand In the local
markets for copper explains the ad
vance in the copper shares dealt In on
the New 'York Stock Exchange.
!■ •
The Steel Block Market.
In speaking of the price of steel
shares an expert says: “Steel stocks
are up to above 13 for the common
and above 62 for the preferred and
even the steel men are asking why?
"This, is because the steel men and
other trade people have narrow views.
What is under the market for steel and
steel shares at the present time as
susUiinlng factor is exactly what was
at the top of the market when steel
shares were going down, gnd that Is
the bond market.
"The railroads consume 40 per cent,
of the steel used In this country, when,
as last year, the railroads have reach
ed the limit of their borrowing ca
pacity or rather the Investor has
reached the limit of his buying capac
ity, the railroads had to shut down
In their purchase of steel, but they
continued to use up steel to a greater
extent than ever before in the history
of this country.
Bankers’ Bond Shelves Cleared.
"Now the Investment markets have
recovered their equilibrium, the bank
ers’ bond shelves are cleared and In
a few weeks, If nothing additional
adverse happens to the crops, the
country will be making the maximum
demand upon railroad facilities and
the bankers will be pursuing the rail
road treasurers offering money In ex
change for bonds. Then a few weeks,
say after the election, the steel men
of the country will he awakened by
a sharp call from the railroads for
Steel which does not now exist.
The two-days’ holiday last week
caused a hiatus In the business world,
so that on the whole the news of the
week was not up to the usual vol
ume.
—Frau Coslma Wagner has devoted
her widowhood to the praise of Wag
ner. fthe has been reared on music,
for she Is the daughter of *. great
pianist, has been the wife of two
composers and tbs mother of a third.
Her father was Liszt (who was a
Hungarian). Bfee was first married
to Hans Von Bulow and swondly
lo Wagner. Her son. Rlegfrled Wag
ner, was born In 16*4 ftbe lives al
Bayreuth In ih* Villa Wahnfried ui4
takes the keenest inters** in the fes
tival.
H 1
©Q,®
®@®tJ
"Ah! ’The Home Doctor. 11l be my
own phyisician aftov this. I’ll cheat
those quack doctors out of a few pen
nies.”
"Let me see. The remedy for the
heart is Aeon, 1. x. I’ll take a dose
right away."
I T
“Wifey, send for A doctor, quick! I
am dying."
NINGER, THE PENMAN ,
KING OF COUNTERFEITERS
Baffled Secret Service Officers Fifteen Years and
Finally Caught by Accident.
By M. W. PRICE.
Washington, Sept. 10.—Chief Wilkie
looked around the walls of his den In
the Secret Service Bureau in the Treas
ury Department and pointed to the
photograph of Emanuel Nlnger. *'He
waa tha most expert penman I ever
knew, or that the Secret Service offi
cials ever came in contact with,” said
Chief Wilkie, and then he declined to
talk further for quotation, because it
is the policy bf the Secret Service nev
er to do anything to display to the
world the criminal record of a man who
is apparently trying to live down the
black pages of his life.
Chief Wilkie was right. Emanuel
Ninger was the "Jim the Penman” of
real life, and in a way the most re
markable criminal of the age. He had
no extensive plants for engraving and
printing counterfeit notes, and his only
stock consisted of paper, ordinary writ
ing pens, pencils, red, green, and black
Inks. With these he baffled the Se
cret Service officers of the government
for fifteen years, and was finally de
tected by mere accident. The wet fin
ger* of a New York saloon keeper came
In contact with the Ink upon one of
the freshly made bills of "Jim the Pen
man,” and the ink blurred. The fact
added to the auspicious of the saloon
keeper and led to the immediate arrest
of Ninger, who has served his sentence
and is a free man somewhere, no longer
engaged In counterfeiting the currency
of Tlncle Sam, but always under sus
picion by the organization over which
Chief Wilkie presides.
Finally fame to Grief.
It was in New York city in March,
1896, that “Jim the Penman” of the
counterfeiting profession came to
grief. He started from his little home
in Fl'aglown, N. J., Saturday morning,
March 28, 1896. and had in his posses
sion six S2O notes and one SSO note,
which together were the product of
fifteen week's work. His wife and
four children did not ask him any
questions when he left home that
morning. He had been a mystery to
them for many years. He forbadj
them entrance to the room in his homo
in which he worked, and he said noth
ing to anybody 'about his business. He
had no confederates, and even his
wife did not have any idea what he
was doing.
Ninger experienced no difficulty in
passing five of the S2O notes. The sixth
one came near to getting him into
trouble. He went to John Weyman's
grocery store, on Third avenue, New
York city, called for a bottle of whis
ky, and gave the S2O note remaining
In payment. Shortly after his departure
the cashier, In counting up her cash,
noticed the hlurred condition of the
number upon the note when It passt-d
under her moistened thumb, and,
quickly realizing that something was
wrong, had an investigation made. By
that time Ninger had gotten out of
sight. He walked rapidly down town
to a saloon at $7 Courtland street.
There he got a glass of Rhine wine
and a cigar and asked the bartender
to change the S6O note for him, stat
ing, by way of explanation, that he
Wanted to pay off hta farm hands. He
was accommodated, hastily gathered
up his change and hurried out. He
seemed to be gome what exrttcd. and
the bartender became suspicions • and
took the bill from the money drawer
for closer examination.
Blara-eg by Barkeeper's Wet Flatters
In doing so his wet finger paaeed
over the serial number and the result
aas the blur Pulling on bla hat he
alerted In pursuit of Ninger and found
blot In Ike New Jersey Central Rail
road ferry bowse eeuotlag over the
change he had Just received. Ninger
displayed no surprise when approach
ed by the bar tender and Informed by
that Individual that he was going to
have him arrested. Ninger told the
man he would return the SSO and of
fered at the same time to make the
bar tender a present of $5 more. The
offer was refused and Ninger was
turned over to the Church street po
lice station, whore he gave his name
as Joseph Gilbert, and stated that he
lived in Wilkesbarre, Pa., and that he
was not married. He claimed that he
had received the counterfeit bill from
a man in the corridor of the Union
Trust Bank building, to whom he had
sold two United States SIOO bonds.
Secret service officers in New York
were notified and when they saw Nin
ger and the notes which he had been
passing they were convinced that he
was the man who had caused them so
many sleepless nights. The fact of
his arrest, however, did not solve the
whole question by any means. That he
could be convicted of passing the
counterfeit notes there was no doubt,
but who was the maker of the notes.
Proof of the fact must be secured at
all hazards.
Deceived Bank Men.
I
These notes had deceived bankers
and business men all over the country
for many years, and to be unable to
discover the real counterfeiter was los
ing more than half the game. Ninger
was put through a sweating process
which was so successful that he ad
mitted his true name and said that he
alone was responsible for the exis
tence of the pen and ink notes. This
(was oroven when the police went
to Ninger’s home In Flagtown and
secured his outfit, which, besides pens
and pencils and three kinds of ink. In
cluded some blocks of water colors.
Nlnger's arrest and the unique fea
tures of the case attracted wide at
tention throughout the country and
expeeialy among the handwriting ex
perta. Nearly all of them were In
credulous, and .refused to accept the
explanations of the secret service men
as to how they were made. One of
them even went so far as to offer a
SIOO bill for a $lO note that would de
ceive a newsboy. One of the prominent
New York newspapers accepted the bet
and the result was that the expert
"crawfished," and went into a long
explanation of how he had been de
ceived.
First Detected by Treasury K Xpert.
Nlnger's first work turned up at the
Treasury Department in the redemp
tion division In 1879 In a batch of notes
from one of the sub-treasuries, and was
a S2O counterfeit. The expert counter
detected tha spuriousness of the note,
and at once began an Investigation. A
careful scrutiny under a magnifying
glass revealed the fact that the note
was a free hand drawing with pen and
Ink, and tha perfect likeness of the
note was so wonderful as to practical
ly defy detection at the hands of any
but an expert.
Secret Service officers were at onee
notified, but they were unable to do
anything because the tellers of the
eub-treasury. from which the note was
received, were unable to tell how the
note came Into their poeeeeelon. For
more than fifteen yeare afterward these
marvelou* works of art turned up et
more or less frequent intervals, usually
arriving nt the treasury In remittances
from bsnks. where they had escaped
detection. They c*m from nil over
the country, every section contributing
Its share to these now famous notea.
Secret Hervles detectives worked night
and day but they could obtain no claw.
The general appaarance of the notes
was so good tha< no shop keeper hesi
tated about accepting them, and whan
they reached the banks the chancks
were even that they would again a*ape
"Heart dlsdase! Why, I’ve got every
one of those symptoms. It’s lucky I
bought this book.”
sn uV ") 1
WHAT ift Twe r
I
- . ■ ■ I. . ..I ’a.
"My! That gives me an awful
pain In the stomach.”
"Your husband swallowed enough
aconite to kill a town. Lucky I got
there In time.”
detection, so that the officers were
blocked at even.' stage in endeavoring
to trace them from hand to hand.
Gave the Sleuth* a Merry Chase.
The chief of the Secret Service Bu
reau and his assistants advanced every
theory. One of them was that the
maker of the notes was a person of
leisure, gifted with the faculty of imi
tation, who developed this strange fad
as an amusement, and that it pleased
him to lead the Secret Service sleuths a
merry chase In pursuit. Until Novem
ber, 1893. all the notes received at the
Treasury Department were s2o's and
sso's. Then anew specimen of "Jim
the Penman’s" handiwork turned up.
It was a SIOO legal tender, Issue of 1880,
bearing the portrait of Lincoln, and,
like the first, received in a. remittance
from a sub-treasury. Warnings of this
counterfeit, as of the others, was given
the widest publicity. Numerous points
were given wherein they differed from
the genuine, and how to detect them.
One of the suggestions was that by
pussing a moistened finger over the se
rial number the Ink would blur, whOe
in the genuine notes <hts was not so.
It was in the accidental application of
this test that finally caused Nlnger's
downfall.
Kept His Own Secrets .
The Secret Service officers attribut
ed Nlnger's long immunity from ar
rest to the fact that he worked alone,
having no confederates, and thait he
did not attempt to put many bills on
the market at the same time. The
first thing Ninger did was to secure
bond paper of about the same quality
as that upon which the genuine notes
are printed, with the exception, of
course, that this paper was without
the silk threads to be found In the
genuine. Cutting the paper the exact
size of the regular notes, Ninger Im
mersed It In a week solution of coffee.
This Imparted to the paper the ap
pearance of age, and as having pass
ed through several hands. While the
paper was still wet It was placed over
the face of a genuine note, the edges
being exactly together. The two were
then placed upon a flat glass, and
every figure and letter, portrait and
vignette, together with the signatures
and seals, were brought out in bold
relief, and could be plainly seen
through the transparent bond paper.
The pane of glass was then placed
against the window frame at an angle
of about 45 degrees. The light shin
ing through rendered the tracing of the
genuine engraving quite distinct. In
this position 'the counterfeiter com
menced work, first with an extremely
sharp and hard pointed pencil. With
It he carefully traced all outlines on
the original note.
Marvelous Skill With Fen.
After the note was thoroughly dry
the same ground was gone over with
pen and Ink. It was here that tha
marvelous touch and skill of the pen
man was displayed, testing the ac
curacy of his eye and the steadiness
of his nerve. The colors on the note
were applied with a camel's hairbrush,
and these colors so closely resembled
the colors on the genuine note as to
contribute materially to the appear
ance of the counterfeit. Red and blua
Ink marks were made to take the
place of the silk threads which are
worked Into the pulp of the govern
ment paper. The treasury seal which
Is placed on all paper currency Is al
most Invariably placed over a portion
of the main design of the note, thus
adding difficulty to the tracing of the
different lines, 'but Ninger kept, at It
with wonderful skill snd fidelity. The
same care and attention were not de
voted to the back of the note. It waa
usually executed with a brush. In do
ing this the artist relied mainly upon
the coloring to add to the deception.
There have been many famous coun
terfeiters since Nlnger's time, but he
holds ih record sa a penman, and it
lit quite likely that the fiecret Service
officers will never have to deal again
with a man who can be put In hlg
elaaa.
(Copyright, the Washington Frees As
sociation >
—"I aln'i got no objection* at all to
d* man what assumes to be superior,”
said Un<l* Kbrn. "psrvldert he inaksa
an hones' effort to live up In his owns
repersrntations.'*—Washington dtar.
5