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Show H I a Pipe Dream True Stories of the Secret Service 1 -MIIBa II During and for ovor mora thnn ten j years following our great civil war Micro . I was an or.i of counterfeiting unparalleled . In the history of our country. The coIoh- H ' i sal crimes perpetrated und tho rcckloa9 " j plunglnfi; of criminals In thoeo days of 1 , demoralization iippear quite Impo&slblo at I this time. A Inrtfo I'crcontapc of the bonds I, i and currency Issued and put afloat by tlio In' , v government wore counterfeits. If, j Bogus bills were as common then a.s I they aro rare today. Thousands of por- ' oons heretofore ensagod In honest pur- i ' J aultt; cut loose from tlr moral moorings , j and launched out upon the billows of 1 j crime. Men of bralnn and capital entered I If the field bent on making speedy fortunes I 1 through tho manufucturc of counterfeit I. ! currency. Much of tho vile trash put In I circulation was difficult to detect from tho n ( ; ! genuine, H ' Eion the United States sub-treasury at 1 i j New York accepted nearly a hundred I ' J ' thousand dollars of 7-r.O counterfeit bonds i ,' i ' from Jay Cook & Company that could not I j from their appearance bo distinguished I , , . J from the genuine. After holding tho bonds l "Jj for some time they were discovered to bo II ' t duplicates of others that were In the l ,' treasury. Tho 'honds were turned back to I.J', Jay Cook k Company who were compelled l' ' to suffer the loss. I I The discovery of this spurious Issue of JJ, Ji bondg and many finely executed ooimler- (I j felt groon hacks gave rise to the- rumor f j that tho plates upon which the genuine Is- j1 j sues wore printed had. through tho con- h. nlvance of certain government officials, J 1 been stolen out of the printing bureau at I'l l Washington. f !1 1 The story, heralded throughout tho . Ji country. caiiKed a ripple of excitement 1 If and was made uso of by the counterfeiters i'l , and sawdust swindlers for the purpose of J' . Increasing their Illicit traffic. Many peo- 1 Pit really bellfcved that genulnft platos for 3' I printing government money were In the iWli hands of counterfeiters and sawdust I ' li swindlers. IBM ,1! Tno latter, afterwards known a3 green , ,, goodF men. wore sending out bushels of j,.', 1 circulars through the malls offering cur- ).' '' rency and bonds for 50 cents on tho dollar, u. which they claimed had been worked off r; II on genuine plates. Thousands of theso . ill circulars wero mailed bv the Intended Vfi victims Ic the authorities at Washington. 1 lf jVi Many of these were roferred to me. ml . I ' Through tho medium Of tho newspapers I , h 1 frequently explained that tho fellows I i ,j issuing the circulars wore swindlers, but I ' , ' j that they wore not engaged in handling I ' counterfeit money. Almost every day I . if ' thcro was brought to my attention tho ' I j i nows of some new plot concoctod for tho , i j purpose of robbing the government. One I l of-the many remarkable exposures of pro-II pro-II i i ' dlglous plots for undermining our naif, na-if, 'i t Ion's credit came to the front from Louls-iil Louls-iil A vllle, Ky. It wrm an affair of great im-: im-: .)( portance brought to the attention of j 'Mj President Grant by no less a personage J than General Benjamin II. Brlstow, who i wns. at that time United States attorney for the district of Kentucky, i t General Brlstow was a man with a largo ' head in which there was room for a great i ', i mind: but In tills case, as In many other's. 1 j 1,e seemed to luck penetration and tho ; i) deep reasoning faculty necessary for aolv- lng mysU-rlcs of magnitude. I t General Brlstow had been approached j ' 'In his office at Louisville by a tall, raw-1 raw-1 J bontd Kcntuckian. who Introduced hlm-jJc hlm-jJc self as Colonel Hopston King, cleric of tho V circuit court of Elliott county, Ky. King ' ,, J made the' most astounding revelations k. i i concerning tho. existence of a plot that ' W was expected to ruin the credit of the . A p government and force repudiation and I j general bankruptcy. The design of tho ' , consplraioi-8 was to flood the country i '1' w-lth cduntorfelt greenbacks and national . I hank notes. Colonel King was takon be-,j be-,j fore. Judge Blackburn, to whom lie mado an affidavit setting forth In detail the J5 particulate of the plot and giving the ' , i names of some of the leaders. Among 1 i them was the name of Frank P. Blair, a ,, i noted politician. Having subscribed In , a lawful munner to the astounding state-I state-I ij mcnt made. King was permitted to go at l largo, but was tinder the surveillance of . Colonel Alexander Hoagland, then a spc-1 spc-1 J clal agent of the revenue bureau and afturwarda known as "Tho Newsboys' Friend." General Brlstow forwarded to the president documents setting forth In full all tnu circumstances attending and MirroundJng the Inception of the plot and the progress It had made up to that time fta related 16 him by Colonel King. Theso documents were turned over to me and I was instructed to road everything set forth carefully. Tho conclusion that I came to and so roporlod was that tho man who gave this Information was seeking seek-ing notoriety or making an effort to Induce In-duce tho government to pay him a. sum of money. It was quite Impossible for me to give crcdonco to the unreasonable confession made by Colonel King. I did not. therefore grasp tho case as one affording af-fording me an opportunity for making a reputation. While somewhat anxious about th affair, tho president and secretary secre-tary of the treasury wore, after vocolv-Ing vocolv-Ing my report, qulto willing to await further fur-ther dnveiopments. Somo months later, when Mr. Boutwell had resigned tho secretaryship sec-retaryship and William A. Richardson had been appointed to tako his place, I one day rocMved a telegram from the solicitor of the treasury requesting mo to meet him at the Fifth Avenue hotel. Now York City. In obedience to his roquest I mot 'the solicitor at the appointed tlmo and place. I was now Informed that Colonel Houston Hous-ton King, accompanied by Alexander Hoagland and a lawyer named L. J. FI1I-ston FI1I-ston of Greenupbarg, Ky., had recently arrived in Washington and visited the secretary of tho treasury for the purpose pur-pose of calling his attention to the revelation revel-ation previously reported by General Brlstow, Brls-tow, The trio were fresh from Kentucky Ken-tucky and apparently quite anxious to save the treasury from the impending calamity that might bofall It in consequent conse-quent of tho carrying out of tho great conspiracy which was to make untold millions for the conspirators. King's at-I at-I torney. an undersized "know-lt-all" sort of a fellow, carried with him an air of considerable importance. He seemed to think there was a great responsibility upon his shoulders. While Secretary Richardson woa not very much upset by King's story, he thought It was a oaHu that ought to be Investigated. Consequently Conse-quently Mr. Banfleld, the solicitor of tho treasury, was called Into tho conference and it was determined to take the trio of Kentucklans to New York City, whoro the work necessary for the unravollng of tho plot was expected to tako place. This city was then, as now, tho headquarters for frenrJcd finance. King, his lawyer and Colonel Hoagland, for the purpose of better maintaining secrecy, separated from the company of tho Bolioitor and quartered themselves at the Metropolitan hotel. The solicitor expressed the opinion opin-ion that It might bo a scheme on tho part of King and the lawyer to somehow obtain money from the government. Notwithstanding Not-withstanding this suspicion, he thought it necessary to make an effort to unearth the plot. I was now pretty well convinced con-vinced thai I wa up against a case that had already aBsumod unusual Importance Import-ance as tho authorities at Washington were Interested In its " outcome. Honco I felt It my duty as chief of the government govern-ment detectives to bear a careful hand in the affair. The solicitor told mc that tho president and secretary had expressed ex-pressed a dCRire for a prompt investigation, investiga-tion, It had been previously arranged that King should como to mnet mc at the Fifth Avenue hotel. At the appointed time he sent up his card, upon which wa3 written "Col. Houston King. Elliot county, Ky." I put the card in my pocket and told the porter to show the centloman up. As the Kcntuckian strode Into the room with a soldierly step and bearing he faced about and saluted me in a military fashion. He scaled himself him-self with an air of dignified Importance and looked as though ho thoughL himself him-self lr fVln n.aflnnro wt ft ny a m rf ifhitn qnence. As he unfolded his wonderful tale ho went ballooning way'up Into the murky sky of finance. There was nothing noth-ing small about his talk. "Ho spoke of millions as' though they were hut trifles and of a colossal schemo (hat was a stunner in a financial way. I now learned that tho Kontucklan was a warm advocate of the theories of George H Pendleton, leader of the greenback union. A close study of this strango doctrlno compounded with tho lltci-aturc of green goods clrculara, hud suggested a scheme of greater magnitude than anything of the kind heforo concocted. If King was - iu ,v uuiiuvcu, me scneme was yet in us embryonic state, as only twenty millions of dollars In thc spurious greenbacks had been placed Into the hands of the pub-11c. pub-11c. King said he had disposed of about 51000 In his home locality. Tho government govern-ment finances might have been knocked Into Irredeemable chaos had not King concluded to make a confession and assist as-sist tho government officers in arresting arrest-ing the conspirators and destroying the plot.. King said he would have to get out of the country bacausc his confederates would kill him as soon as they learned he had poached on them. He thought thc government ought to do thc fair thing and pay him for the part ho was taking in the affair. "What amount do you expect the government gov-ernment to pay you?" I inquired. He Bald he did not want to he unreasonable and thc payment of a million dollars would bo satisfactory to him. Now came my turn to assume an air of importance. With a voice and faco that betokened sincerity, I assured him that the amount asked was less than I had expected and quite little enough for the risk ho was taking, and that T, would have no hesitation hesi-tation in recommending tho payment of the sum demanded. I suppose he thought my promised recommendation equivalent to a million in his hands, as he expressed himself as being woll satisfied. It was agreed that he should again come to the solicitor's room at the Fifth Avenue hotel ho-tel at 9 o'clock on the following morning morn-ing and that he was to go out into thc city and make arrangements with certain cer-tain of his fellow cpnsplrators for a purchase pur-chase of $10,000 of the spurious greenbacks green-backs which were 10 be paid for In gold coin furnished by tho government. Tho persons appearing to deliver the bogus Btuff wero to be arrested and finally the conspirators were all to fall into the hands of the government detectives. After Aft-er this arrangement was mado and King had taken his departure jfrom tho hotel, the solicitor, who had silently been listening list-ening to tho conversation between the colonel and myself, said he thought that with a little training I would make quite as good a plotter as Colonel King. I had no faith whatever In the genuineness of the case. King boro no likeness to the "sual run of confidence men. but the improbability im-probability of his story was quite apparent appar-ent to a reasoning mind. It might have deceived some men m the higher walks of Ife who, Ilko turkoys, go about with their heads well up In tho air. but when brought to tho detective mill, where seeming truth is many times ground Into fiction. It appeared almost too thin to attract attention. The next morning at the appointed hour King put in an ap-pearance. ap-pearance. I suggested in a friendly way that ho might as well take a carriage when ho went out to meet the consplra- i tors. This seemed to please him. I called a porter and instructed him to secure a carriage for the- colonel. King left with a promise to return and meet me at 4 O clock in rhn nftofnnnn - k- h.i..! room. I had previously arranged the carriage car-riage business and King entered a hack and was driven away by a trustr government govern-ment detective. After the drive King came to meet me as agreed and was now laboring undnr considerable excitement, lie declared that ho feared the consplra-lors consplra-lors had somehow discovered that ho hud sold out to the government. Ho thought ho was taking a great risk, but said he was not going to weaken. He said he had met five of the men ho wanted to see and had planned a deal for 310,000 of the bogus stuff. Matters began to look a little serious at this time, as it was ner-esEary ner-esEary for me. In order to ca'rry out the arrangements with King, to furnish $5000 In gold coin on the following morning In fder ihl Sla denl might como oft as P armed by King. I told him I would furnish fur-nish tho $5000. but that on account .of the short notice I would be compelled to borrow it temporarily from tho sub-troas-ury. Tho bag of coin, I told him, would D0 ln(icr thc government seal and It would ho unnecessary to break it open, especially as we expoctod to capturo It pack at tho moment when we arrested 511.?cou5,terfoilers brInR'P t"olr i,ogus stuff. When I saw the detective who had boon King's hack driver, r learned that as he started away from tho hotel King stuck his head out and told him to drive up to High Bridge. From this point ho was driven to many other public places. His only nurposo seemed to be to get a look at the sightl- places about tho city. Du,n5 t"c trip King had only got out out of tho carriage once, and only for tho purpose of taking a drink. Ho had spoken, spo-ken, to no one; of this the detective waa I surd. Tho case wds now moro of a posor than over. What on earth was the Kentucky colonel up to? Was ho trying to do the government out of the $5000 in sold, a feat that would appear impossible impos-sible to a man of sense? Or was ho try-to try-to play a Joke on thc detectives? The affair had now narrowed down to a pretty closo margin, but tho denouement denoue-ment was not yet. Just how it was to end was a mystery. On the next morning morn-ing while I was waiting in thc solicitor's room at thc Fifth Avonuo hotel for King to show up according to promise, who should bolt Into the room but L. J. Fill-ston, Fill-ston, King's lawyer. He was quite out of breath and much excited. "There's hell to pay. They are trv-Ing trv-Ing to kill King! Here," said ho. "look at thcsel He handed mo a handful of cards with death's heads and cross bones, words of warning and threats of death to u. traitor marked upon them. "These." said tho lawyer, "wore thru'sl under King's door during tho night and ho Is pritty nearly scared to death. I still had tho card In my pocket sent up by King on the occasion of his first visit to the solicitor's room. I pulled It out and compared tho wilting with that upon tho threatening cards. It was plain that all had Ixien written by tho samo hand. "I will give King government protection pro-tection at once." I Informed iho lawyer. law-yer. Calling a couple of officers that I had stationed near. I started with them and the lawyer to the Molropolltan hotel. Upon ascending to the third story nnd reaching Colonel King's door, wo found it locked. Aftor somo hesitation and parleying King openod it and sprang back and took his seat on the side of tho bed, whoro ho sat bolt upright with his hands clinched around the back of his neck and his eyes rolled up and staring at the celling an though It were froscoed with bloody daggers. Great drops of perspiration woro standing upon his forehead. fore-head. "I am gono up," ho mutterod. "Tho devils aro after me." His hair, dampened a little with perspiration, per-spiration, had been brushed back sufficient suffi-cient to disclose a ecar Just nbovo his forehead, "What's this scar upon your head, colonel?" I Inquired. "Oh. that's where a Yankeo bullet raked me " ho said, as ho stroked tho spot tenderly. "Look hero. King, don't you know you aro crazy?" I asked. "Certainly I am, and rtnTTP gti i lty men alive," ho rcXrt "I must tako you t0pl'fltl-Colonel t0pl'fltl-Colonel King, so como am,?,. Bl -; We took him before U&cS mlssloner Shields, where h?Bbujm fidavlt against himself fo? ft&B of securing his entry lnin t .'5s nBF Jail for safo keeping! WSB' A. Hammond, then a note mmK. diseases of the mind. IlSvS? tho colonel and pronouncediatf1 It was a lamentable affair vllKi less a huge joko upon fJWti and tho lawyor. who hftrt 2? fiJfcS tlmo gallivanting a crazv'J0 'V? country. Colonel Uoagiandf amW In the affair for the 8SWegB dcrlng service to tho oSjWi1 Lawyer Flllston w5 unfto pectlng a large share of thl "NR. lars promised to King mfljjp.' HneW WCCk' "Th auty vMf |