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Show he NM?mner Llttle True Stories of the Secret Service 4ilrlr j I jKriRht. !10, by W. G. Chapman.) sKo sympathy f ilic public is .'IKlIy icsiowed upon 1 lie weaker ac. piiph Hen ven knows it is n. mistake gfcupposc (lint the weakness of lui-Hty lui-Hty is confined to womnii alone. Cer- ;5By ,n HJftttcs of lovo ant! sacrifice oftentimes proves herself the Kgcr. and in criminal ways her pow-lljMof pow-lljMof invention have many times HwXhci the acme of porfection. The JSlo devices resorted to by women J'or hMsB"1 ',e W00' Lvor 'n0 -'cs .iBers of tho law are frequently more . -o" en diner and difficult to penetrate " the most scientific roguery planned rhntb several novel expedients resorted - nc Widow Wood, better known "'flfcolice eircles as "The Naucjhty Lit 1 JISMilliner," for throwing dust into n'3evos of the detectives, 13 indeed a ?? iSffvelous exemplification of female in- ' "was alonj: in l lie early seventies Awa it became known that there was sjjgMilatintr about New Orleans a dan-iJBhis dan-iJBhis counterfeit five dollar treasury kLM,,Iikewisc n pretty pood imitation of imr half dollars. A number of these JjtMi fivc dollar bills were received at UlyiRbanks and might have passed along RlUctected had not one of the bankers, W? discerning than tho others, made : lf-m disco ver.v that these notes were ' -Ijpterfeit, though they were well cal- jKted to deceive the averngc trades- jp. Tho bogus half dollars had been !5fcd with steel dies and were exact "Smiles of the genuine in all except !.!, metal they contained. Thcv passed lily among the foreigners, especially H jj it tho Prcnch market. rftl heso gray old buildings, grcasv, di-?T1; di-?T1; dated and time worn, full of meat, t-. vegetables, picture stalls and rk L. venders, were the resort of men women of almost every nation, ring strange garbs and mingling iii fiJ onth gnbblo their many-tongued u" jl ics. The burly German butcher with rc blue-ej-cd frau; the sedate and dark-Jk: dark-Jk: rnjed Audahtsian. puffing his cigar;-m cigar;-m jltalian subservient and scorning .! timent as he would the iiend; dam- Kof every hue from snowy whjte to mtMy black; the quadroon, octaroon and dark-haired and dinglcttcd maid fc famed Lisbon, in kerchiefed neck i.,?.exr budding bosom, darkly, Ihvihilv hoantifiil. Ml u-nn. iimi. flily mixed together, recklessly re-ng re-ng and as recklessly passing these is coins as though they were the line product of the United States It would havo been difficult to nnet any of this motley throng as 'if P."'" be necessary to show that tho ers of these bogus bills or small Ah phad a guilty knowlodge. ij'lfl aerator James Fitzpatrick, who was! jft hat lime in charge of government ll'J el service affairs in New Orleans, J 111 an investigation for the purpose II rrcung out the source of this bad aas After weeks of anxious 38 Jfling it, was learned that a young fjljwho daily visited tho French mar-Afqr mar-Afqr the purpose of buying family iBioiis had, as roeularly as she jjfe, left a .bogus half dollar. She wore .3gttercd dress and there was a sor-'SSflf1 sor-'SSflf1 exP.rssion settled about lier irlK- yo "'tcresting features. It was WWftcentie and dejected expression of Sfcountenauce that first- attracted the 1n ti on of Officer Fitzpatrick. The 3jons and Italian dealers about the 1 ad nevcr made a complaint; 111 ajard to the bad mone.v. as thoy could iTK " Pass ff on one another or at jjWcoffop houses along tho river front, meowing tu Eirl one dav the officer W bd her to u little variety store on i Joseph street, near the corner of I junitoulas street. After a short tvt 'r,ad elapsed the girl came out of (1 Bhop. She was now attired iu some- t' above the common garb. UuoI-rttf&d UuoI-rttf&d D.V her. the officer watched her m fiments until she finally went into M grocery store. When sbc came .OUi She carried a package. It was plain xBL sho liad made a purchase. When IjP'Rirl was well out; of sight the dc-m dc-m - y'L 9jcRPed into Ihe little store and Iii lCLBt?d thc Crc,ole boy in attendance wwnfc him see the money that ho had ed from thc girl that, had iust left, ace. It was a new five-dollar note the boy handed out. Look-in" it areiiilly it was found to be one J bogus kind, officer made a plausible explana-liat explana-liat he thought sufficient to salifv inosity of the bov, and was uow certain thut he was on the track 5 source of the counterfeits and ho occupants of the little variety were the distributors of thc bogus ositc the varietv store across the was the sign "Furnished Eooius nt," and Fitznatriek was forfu-mpugh forfu-mpugh to be able to hire a front where he could sit: at the window alch the suspected place. In the 1 of time he learned that tho occu-werc occu-werc mother and daughter. The r was a widow, ouitc prctl v. about yeans of age. Her daughter was oro than twelve or fourteen. As tho wheels or time rolled on it, was learned further that the husband had died but a short, tiinu before and that the famil.y had come to New Orleans from some place up north. Thc husband's hus-band's body was entombed in New Or-lcau3; Or-lcau3; It was likewise discovered that thc little storo was a resort for persons per-sons who would bear watching. Thc officer noticed that the woman who was the occupant occasionally left this placo of business carrying a basket on her arm and that slic was always looking over her shoulder and peering about, as if she suspected she was being watched. Tracking her one day, she led the way to the St. Louis cemetcrj- on Basin street. Approaching a total), she knelt down before it and bowed her head as if engaged in prayer. The detective might havo been a littlo superstitious; he had no taste for pondering over tombstones and epitaphs. To him there was a solemnity hanging about, these above-ground depositories (hat; caused a creeping sensation, and ho shuddered as he passed along amid the bones and dusty remnants of decayed humanity. A fearful "Memento Mori." lurked in their silent hideousness. Ho was now quite upset bocauso of his surroundings nndHho seeming griot' of tho womnn kneeling beside tho Tomb. His Jrisli heart was almost touched to the abandonment aban-donment of thc case, when the woman apse and scattered tho .flowers she carried car-ried in her basket with tender care up on the tomb of her husband. Leaning against a tomb nearby was a well-dressed well-dressed man apparently waiting for sonic one. As the detective carelessly sauntered along he drew near the stranger, and as ho did so he saw a signal of recognition between the man and the woman. Tho latter, having completed her seeming errand of love, peered cautionsly around for a moment and retired from tho cemetery. Tho detective de-tective thought she might have come there to meet this mnn, but had been foiled in her intentions by the appearance appear-ance of a third person. Tt was Sunday that (he occurrence described took place. On tho same day of the week following tho detective, disguised as a decrepit old man apparently appar-ently almost blind, went 5n(o thc ccmo-tery ccmo-tery early and took a scat beside a tomb not far from the one upon which I lie woman had placed thn flowers the Sunday Sun-day before. It was nearly noon-dav when the suspected woman with her basket upon her arm came in. The basket was filled with flowers as beforn. She was dressed in deep mourning and seemingly bent on a sorrowful errand. This time she did not kneel, but sat down .beside thc tomb and bowed her head as if in contemplation. After a short time the stranger of tho week previous entered thc ccnioteiy and np-pronched np-pronched the sorrowing woman bv a circuitous cir-cuitous route. Neil.hor of these persons seemed to take any notico of tho old man leaning upon the nearly tomb. The stranger and woman met and engaged in conversation. They were partially concealed from the view of (ho old man. who now straightened up and hobbled towards them, upon which the stranger suddenly bolted over an adioining tomb and took (o his heels. The disguised officer rushed up to the widow mid demanded de-manded to see what she carried in her bnsket. Upon an examination it was found to contain a set of dies for coining coin-ing imitation silver half dollars. The woman was arrested. Her liltle store was scached, but nothing of an incriminating nature was founa there. The woman said her name was Wood, and that her husband had died but a short time before. She had since his death regularly visited the comet erv every Sunday for thc purpose of deco-ratinrr deco-ratinrr hie tomb. Rim. hnA n vnn ti it 1 daughter to support and had been sorelv pressed for nionev. The dies which she earned in her basket had been left with her by a man who asked Iter to sell them for him. On second thought she had resolved not to comply with his request re-quest as she feared such an act might be wrong. She had gone to the cemetery ceme-tery that day for the purpose of To-turning To-turning them. I-Icr explanation was not altogether satisfactory to the mind of Fitzpatrick. Tho woman appeared innocent and artless art-less and while her statement bore a possibility pos-sibility of truth, there were altogether too many suspicious circumstances connected con-nected with the affair to warrant thc officer in turning her loose. The Widow Wood, notwithstanding her protestations of innocence, was placed upon trial charged with having counterfeit dies in her possession. There was no question in regard to the possession pos-session of these dies but did she have knowledge of their nature, or was she a victim of a cunningly devised scheme of a person who was seeking to dispose of them. There were at that time existing in New Orleans as in other cities at least two classes of persons subject to sit on iurics. On the one hand there was the fellow with the dark brow, who thought there was no great harm in passing counterfeit money. On thc other, there was tho man who would seoni to commit a crime himself or have a neighborly feeling for any person engaged en-gaged in swindling tho nublie, 'ct whose S3'mpalhy might get the best of him when called upon to sit upon a jury and try a woman for an offense. The "Widow Wood told a lame story in regard to tho counterfeit dies, but the talc of lier struggles to maintain herself and Itccp her head above water was touching: In thc extreme. It brought sympathetic tears to the eyorf of thc w warm-hearted and chivalrous southerners. southern-ers. They could not think of convicting lier. Perhaps there Is no other place In the United States where the appeal of ;i woman In distress would sink deeper Into tho heart and Insure more compassion compas-sion than In New Orleans. Thc widow was honorably acquitted. The detective was silenced, but not convinced, and kept up his espionage because he was more than ever satlslled that the woman was engaged In handling counterfeit money. One evening n few months subsequent subse-quent to the widow's honorable exoneration, exon-eration, a good natured gentleman, a member of the jury that had acquitted her, was on his way to his home from his office on Carrondolette street. He suddenly fell his coat skirt pulled. Turning Turn-ing around ho was not a little surprised to And himself confronted by a piepos-sesslng piepos-sesslng woman whom lie could not remember re-member ever having seen before. "Are you Mr. ChappelaV" she asked ! In a sweet voice. "Vcs, Madam, at your service," re- j sponded thc gentleman gallantly. Without further ccrenionv she Intro- ' dueed herself as Mrs. Wood, the lady who had beon falsely accused by a I'nllcd States detective. She said she had approached him be rail sc she had learned that lie was a benefactor to the worthy poor and that she now stood sail- 1 ly in need of assistance. Her storv was that she and her daughter of tender age had been keeping a smnll variety store 1 and hud become heavily Involved In debt. Through humiliation and want sh had , managed to struggle along and eke out 1 an existence. An attachment had now I been Issued and u keeper put In her lit- I tie store. Tears glistened In her beau- . If., I V... ..... 1.11 hi uiuiiii vr.w-n u sue jiurniieu ner 1 pitiful tale. She had $10,000,000 that would soon come to her from her father's estate and If she could only stave off ( the trouble for a short lime . The good-hearted southerner's svm- . pathy was not confined to words alone. Jle went at once to her littlo store and paid the S300 demanded by the keeper and left her $100 besides to relieve her Immediate wants. It was only a few days following this when Detective Fitzpatrick concluded to enter the Widow Woods's place of business busi-ness and make a thorough search. He had obtained some now evidence in jp-gard jp-gard 10 her dealing with "queer" innne. When bo entered the suspected place ho discovered that It was nearly oinpiy. Everything of value had been removed. A number of cheap artlllclal Howers. bits of worn ribbon and lace and empty bandboxes band-boxes constituted the slock. Jt was all appearance and no value. The little room in the rear of ihc place hud been madam's living quarters; It also was empty except a few tattered garments strewn about. What puzzled the detective most was to aceounl for the removal of the goods without attracting his attention. The movements of the woman had been enro-fully enro-fully watched and the detective bad recognized the Carrondolette. street, broker bro-ker nis he visited the widow's store, and the exit shortly after of a man very much resembling the stranger who had met the Widow Wood in the cemetery on the occasion of her arrest. 11 finally came to light that the broker had been douu out or 5100 by the widow, who had planned the "keeper" scheme with' a confederate. After diligent search about the city the detectives were unable to learn the whereabouts of the widow, who had skipped out for parls unknown. Detective Detec-tive Fitzpatrick was fortunate enough to securo a photograph of hor, and a number of copies of It were made and forwarded to tho branches of the secret service in tho various cities of the country. coun-try. She was first recognized In Cincinnati, where sho had offered a five-dollar counterfeit coun-terfeit bill. When arrested and searched, no other bod money was found upon her person, and she was released for the want of sufficient evidence. A secret service officer carrying the widow's photograph was sure he had met her while on his way from Washington 1 to New York. Tin was not quite certain, I but was suro enough to attempt to follow her for the purpose of learning her loca- R tlon. She probably "tumbled'' to the de- B tectlve wblli! he was eyeing her Intently M She did not affect, to notice hlin. but I i innuugcd, however, to give him thc alip 1 a) -.is l the same. J I Just before thc train arrived at Jersey Jer-sey City, the suspected woman got up from her soat and slopped Into tho ladles la-dles retiring room at tho front end., Tho detective was keeping his cnglc eye on this place when the passengers In front of him arose to leave the car. Ho worked his way as rapidly as possible towards to-wards the front, exit, and rushing to thc ferry landing, ho took a position where he could carefully view the face of even' woman entering tho ferry boat. Not peeing thc suspected woman he was the first to spring ashore on thc New York side where he again scanned tho faces of the women as they passed. lie was disappointed and ready to kick himself when he realized how neatly he had been done for. The little woman, who was sharp as a needle, was no doubt on the alert; she had twigged tho motions of the detective and slipped away from him. Like the weasel, she was ever ready to Jump away at every rustle of the brush. New York City affords one of the best I covers for all classes of criminals. 1-Iore thc thief mixes with the throng and passes along unnoticed. It was a year or more after tho occurence or the incident inci-dent Just related, when tho same detective detec-tive while rambling about thc city chanced to meet a well dressed woman who bore a marked resemblance to thc little milliner. She turned her head and gave him a side glance as he passed. ITc kept along nt a considerable distance and turned Just In lime to catch sight or her as she stepped Into Johnson's millinery establishment. Taking up a position at a point dlngonally across the street, and sheltering himself a little In a doorway, he was enabled 10 distinguish distin-guish persoiu? as they passed In and out of thc shop. While he stood watching, n. bright looking boy came along with a bundle of newspapers under his arm. The detective called hJm up and har-galncd har-galncd with him to do a little "piping" for him. When the suspected woman came out of the millinery store she was pointed out to the boy, who was told to follow her and. If possible, trace her to her home. The boy was promised $5 for the job if his information proved to be correct, and ho -was to meet thc officer later and report.. When the boy came back to thc officer ho had followod the woman to a little shop on Ninth avenue. ave-nue. He said she went in and look off her bonnet as though she belonged there. The detective reported meeting tho woman who had so nicely escaped him and had located hor in a small storo on Ninth avenue where there hung over the door a sign that rend. "Fine Millinery Work Done Here." It -vas quite reasonable reason-able to believe that I he woman was none other than the naughty little milliner from New Orleans and that she was then doing business In New York. Officer Fitzpatriek of New Orleans was the only detective on the force thai could positively posi-tively Identify her, but It wouldn't do to bring him for thai purpose as she would bo sure to see him ilrst. and having been put upon her guard she might flv away. It was the supposition that she was connected with New York counterfeiters and that she was now engaged actively In thc business- The Idea was to plan a ruse Tor the purpose pur-pose of capturing her with evidence to convict. For this purpose it was necessary neces-sary to bring a new man inio the tleld, and I chose an elderly gentleman who wns then employed. He was a countryman horn, and did not have to act the part ns It was perfectly natural to him. Jle appeared simple In his ways, bul was in reality remarkably shrewd. The little milliner might havo been surprised ono morning to receive a visit from a country dressed old gentleman, gen-tleman, and she blinked ijor large brown eyes as he entered her littlo shop. But her Hps assumed a business smile as she said, "Be seated, sir." The room was neatly furnished, and there was a display of ready made bonnets, bon-nets, flowers, etc. Thc door of her little trimming room in thc roar stood open, and It was plainly seen that the floor was littered wtih bits of ribbon, clippings of velvet and small remnants of silk, and lace. The old gentleman smiled pleasantly; pleas-antly; the woman gracefully sank into her chair. She folded her hands In her lap and inclined her head coquettishly to ono side and looked like a polite Interrogation Inter-rogation point. The old gentleman explained ex-plained that his daughter who lived over In Jersey had asked him to purchase a nice bonnet for her, and as he passed along tho sidewalk be had read her sign and Just stepped In. He told her that the novelty of a bonnet making concern had always attracted his attention and that ho would like to talk with her about her kind of business. "Of course I will tell you all about it." she said good humorcdly. "I guess vou win get tiren oi listening before 1 get through." Sho was a good talker and appeared to bo a woman of refinement and education educa-tion as aho prattled along. She said she once had been rich but had been unfortunate: unfor-tunate: her husband had died from disease dis-ease and a young and only daughter had been killed In a railroad accident. As she jnlkerl glibly she was all the while exhibiting ex-hibiting her stock In trade. , "Hero," aald she, "is a lovely bonnet that I trimmed for a rich ladv. but It has not been called for. A flnc looking lady came In hero ono day and tried on my bonnets; she wanted a nice one but 1 could not fit her. She said she lived somewhere in thc suburbs and she was In a great hurry. Sho finally picked out one and said It would do well enough for size, but she wanted It trimmed dlfrcr-ently. dlfrcr-ently. I have made thc alterations as she described, but have not seen her since. I havo mnde bonnets for a number num-ber of wealthy people. Some of my customers cus-tomers ride in their carriages within a block 01 my store and walk the rest of the way. as it would not do for them to 00 seen In a little store like this. They nave recognized thc fact that I make thc swellest bonnets and sell them at about half the price asked In the large millinery parlors." "Well. I declare," said the old gentleman; gentle-man; "that Is about the kind of a bonnet bon-net I want." "I thought you would fall in love with it," Bald the little milliner, "as it Is beautiful. Tho woman hasn't called for It, yet even If I thought she would I will sell it Inasmuch as It Is going out of town and I can make her another Just like It." After haggling about the price for n time the old gentleman concluded to huv it. "I will take it along with me." said he, ns he laid down a twenty dollar bill of the National Shoe & Leather bank to pay for It. The milliner picked up the note and looking it over for a moment, her face lit up with a smile or pleasant sarcasm, as she said, "Look here, old fellow, this bill won't do." The curious expression upon her faco was certainly amusing, and the countryman country-man thought ho noticed a lurking smilo upon her countenance that betokened sympathy and Indicated that she was posted on that kind of money. "Look here, I know that stuff as well as you do, so you Just keep It and give me something else." They stood and lookod each other In thc face. There was a mutual sympathy two souls with but a single thought. "My name is David Kirkbride," naming nam-ing a well known counterfeiter. "Good gracious." exclaimed the woman, wom-an, "why didn't you say so? 1 have never met you before, but I have often heard my friend, Kva Cole, talk about you. WSiat wero you thinking about when you camo in here?" "Oh, just about what I told you; besides, be-sides, I thought It was a good chance to shove a twenty." "Why." said she. "I buy these bonnets at Johnson's and keep them for a stall. If you really want this one, you are welcome wel-come to It" f As she became more confidential, alio said, putting on a peculiar smilo: "Sup-L'?,!?0..., "Sup-L'?,!?0..., ',ad BIvcn you your chango in a bill like this one," as she produced a Ave-dollar Ave-dollar bill, "Well, well," said the old follow, "It would have been all right with me. But t am keeping pretty shady at this time. I carry my stuff concealed In inv tobacco pouch and only keep a little on hand at "Oh." said she. "you men think vou are smart at doing things, but you're slow. I was arrested In Cincinnati by the cltv detective because 1 offered a counterfeit bill in payment for a pair of gloves, but they searched me at thc police' station and couldn't find any of thc 'queer about me. I put up a nice spiel and was very Indignant, and Jim Ruffin, the chief of police, got scared nnd turned me "What do you think! I had more than a thousand dollars of those five-dollar bills with me at the lime, but thev couldn't begin to find them. Just look IH here," she said, and reaching her hand into an opening in her dress she pulled a string and drew her bustle to the Tills, on being opened at the end, con-tained con-tained a ppeket. The widow, by pulling the string, could move- tho bustle around her waist at will. "What Ik this contrivance for?" Kirk-bride Kirk-bride inquired. "You can put your hand into it and, see " Tie pulled out a handful of clean five-dollar five-dollar counterfeit notes. As he did an he expressed great amazement at the in-genulty in-genulty of her plan. "I havo carried 'phoney' with me for years," sho said, "but no one has over discovered or even suspected it." At this moment the Jersev farmer reached out and grabbed the widow's hustle. Unbuckling the' bell that held It. he pulled It from her person. She was greatly surprised when she reali2od that she was at last fairly caught red-handed. This charming littlo widow was now escorted to my branch offlco on Bleccker 8 tree t. After a long and tedious qucs- tionlng and convincing argument on mv part, she so far yielded as to turn "squealer" and assist the government. Her services could be made valuable: besides. It was a pity to send a woman so brilliant and beautiful to thc pcnlten- This little woman with the sparkling brown eyes was a fair sample of exqul-site exqul-site female shrewdness. The little dodge she played upon the detective who in par-lance par-lance was "gunning" her in thc car. was this: She stepped Into the "retiring" room, let down her hair and braided il. Throwing her bonnet out of tho window. HBfl she put a small worsted cap on hor head. JBl Turning her dress (that had been spe- cially mode for tho purpose and arllstl- HBa cully airnngcu &o as to mako it long or HBa short) Inside out. she bore the appear- HJ a 11 co of a pcliool girl. Assuming a Ioo'c HBa of innocent rh'idhnod. she could meet IHa the gaze of the ofilccr and pass along HBl without discovery. HBa She was now the rntering wedge to the arrest of a number of persons con- HBa ncoted with thc Miner gnng of counter- HBfl fciterp and tho government was amply Ba compensated for the money expended iu Hb runniiig her down through the Informa- Hjh tlon she gave. HBb |
