Cleveland County Enterprise. (Norman, Okla.), Vol. 19, No. 27, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 5, 1911 Page: 3 of 8
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WHITLEY. Former
United
EOROE
sk =£?.IK a.r stliss s
industrious young Ing Information than" giving It.' ~In"the
man. Ingenious course of her conversation she In-
and possessed of a quired as to the disposition of persons
good education he arrested for counterfeiting and the re-
had acquired high suits of confessions, etc. She hinted
excellence in the of a counterfeiting scheme, but she
practise of the en- either did not know or was unwilling
graver's art. to give any definite Information. I
In the winter of 18G9 and 70 he finally drew from her that she might
was employed to do government plate be ahle to find out something that
work by a large bank note engraving would be of service to the government
company In the city of New York. Al- The conclusion I came to was that
though conservative In many things, some of her family were in some way
he was fond of display in dress and connected with counterfeiting and that
the enjoyment of high living He took she was seeking a way to check their
his dinners at a fashionable uptown operations and at the same time save
restaurant. In the course of time he them from punishment 1 questioned
noticed that a seat on the opposite her carefully but was unable to gather
side of the table at which he usually sufficient information to lead to any-
dined was regularly occupied by a i thing tangible. I thought there was
genteel appearing middle-aged man. : something worth looking after, but
One day when there chanced to be did not know just how to get at it
no other persons sitting near, the ! When she left my office she was fol-
utranger remarked that they ought to j lowej by a detective, but the officer
become better acquainted with each was unable to shadow her without
other. He then led the conversation giving himself away, as she repeated-
ln a manner to draw from Sheldon his j ly turned around and looked about as
name and business. When he learned j thougli she suspected she was being
that he was an engraver In the employ followed, and the detective finally lost
of a bank note company, he affected J sight of her.
great surprise. j Some weeks after this I received an
"An engraver? Indeed. Well. 1 am anonymous note couched In somewhat
glad to know It. I want some work ingular terms It was in a fine fe-
clicking and wa
positive that It was a printing press In
operation. For a time I was undeter
mined just wrhat course to pursue. 1
finally concluded to employ a ruse to
get Into the house and learn what was
going on. An excuse that was thought
to le better than no excuse at all was
invented to be offered In case or fail-
ure. It was known that the doors o!
the house were kept securely fastened
and that any person ringing the door
bell would be sighted and refused ad
mittance.
The plan to overcome this difficulty
was simple but effective. It was about
the middle of the day when a light
spring wagon containing a trunk was
backed up to the front door of the
Hhetschlag house. Two men dressed
as laborers took the trunk out of the
wagon and carried It up the steps
close to the door. The bell was rung
Soon there was an eye at the peep-
done in that line, but I was not cer
tain where to apply. I am very par
ticular about it, and would be willing
to pay well for a good job."
"What Is the subject?" Sheldon in
quired.
"This," said the stranger, as he
handed out the photograph of a pretty
female face. "If It was nicely done
what would It cost?"
"That depends on the fineness of
the work. Anywhere from $30 to
$200 "
"The price Is not so much an object
with me as the quality of the work
I will pay liberally for a good job."
One hundred and seventy-five dollars
was the sum finally agreed upon.
When the engraving was completed
and delivered the employer was so
well pleased that he said he under-
stood the price lo b • $200, and Insisted
on paying that amount. Sheldon was
afterwards supplied with a number of
small jobs from the same source aud
was liberally paid for his work.
One day his patron suddenly broke
out with the exclamation: "You are
an excellent workman, and I am
greatly surprised to see a man of your
skill with the graver plodding along
in this way when you could easily
make your fortune In a short time if
you wore so disposed."
"How could It be done?"
"By making plates for bonds and
money. You engrave the plates for
certain persons. They pay you big
money. You have nothing to do with
the use they are put to."
This man who was adroitly tempting
youug Sheldon was the procurer, or
to be more explicit, the capitalist of
one of the most dangerous gangs of
oountorfeiters ever organized In this
country. To Sheldon he was llr. De-
voe, but this was only one of the
many names by which he was known
to the different persons employed by
him. He was the autocrat of all the
counterfeiters and forgers of bis day,
and one of the few criminals that es-
caped physical punishment for their
many mi-deeds. He was discovered
by the officers in the latter days of his
life and It was a close race between
them and the devil. The latter won.
Devoe was a gifted manipulator of
men, and he was successful in crazing
young Sheldon's mind with visions of
great riches. Sheldon quit the em-
ploy or the bank note company, and
following Devoe's advice took lodgings
at a house where the people were not
Inquisitive in regard to Ills business.
In the summer of 1871 a counterfeit
$10 treasury note made its appearance
in most of the great cities of the coun-
try. To the untrained eye the note
was ti good facsimile of the genuine
The lettering, the seal, the vignette
and everything about It, except the ec-
centric lathe work, were quite perfect
but it was not difficult to discover by
the use of a magnifying glass that tho
fine lattice lines were irregular. In
the genuine these lines are made by
machinery so perfect that it is luipos
eible to imitate them by hand A
counterfeit note even to the practised
eye may appear all right at a casual
glance, but its base nature can be
readily discovered by a careful exam-
ination of Its eccentric lathe work
The note of which I speak was an
excellent imitation, but it was early
discovered and its circulation checked.
At this time tho branch office of the
government secret service of New
York was being almost daily visited by
persons offering information in regard
te the various crimes against tlie gov
ernment. There were many secrets,
suspicions and surmises offered for
sale at prices ranging from one hun-
dred to a million dollars. The greater
part of the Informers were anxious to
conceal their Identity.
On one particular occasion my office
■was visited by a genteel appearing
young woman. She came Into the main
office and requested a private Inter-
view with the chief. She was care-
fully veiled and cautious In her man-
ale hand and read as follows:
To the Chief of the Govt. Secret
Service, 56 Bleeker St.
Believing that confidential communl-
•atlons may be addressed to you with-
out fear of exposure. I have deter-
ler any further assistance We wers
l out to give up In despair and leave
he house when one of the detectives,
■ore suspicious and hopeful than any
>r the others, remark d: "There Is
■ nly one place left. Let us try that
tanging lamp"
Taking it down, we unscrewed th*
op Here to our great relief we
ound several thousand dollars In
counterfeit "$10 bills. They were newly
t inted. The old man now broke down
>nd the woman began to cry. She snid
he had been working under orders
rom her father, but knew little of
a hat was going on. She was sure that
ounterfelt money was being made
here, but she did not know what was
lone with It. She was also aware that
ler lover was mixed up In the scheme,
^he was between the devil and the
Jeep Bea ,aiid was at a loss what
ourse to take, but had finally con-
luded to become an Informer.
I was satisfied I had obtained the
ottom facts so far as the woman was
oncerned and that Sheldon, who was
xpected there that evening, would
!" ing the back of the counterfeit. The
atli'T and brother had been doing the
printing. If the old man now told me
he truth, they had never been en-
E;ts<"d In selling or pnssing the bogus
stuff- They were not trusted with
both of the counterfeit $10 plates at
Ihe same time When the face of the
note was finished the plate for print-
ing the back was brought and the face
Plate taken away. Sheldon was the
man that brought the plates and took
away the counterfeits. The young
woman had assisted in these opera-
tions to a certain extent, but she had
NOT A PENNY TO PAY
MUNYON'S
EMINENT DOCTORS AT YOUR SERVICE FREE
withil! °!W(7 1".a-V 1111 'loc,°?8 charges. We put the best medical talent
lie ails i 'P i Y reac|u ^ 0 encourage everyone who ails or think*
ht ails to find out exactly what his state of health is. You can get our
remedies here at your drug store, or not at all, as yon prefer • there is
positively no charge for examination. Professor Munvon hau prepared
epecifics for nearly every disease, which aro gent prepaid on rLipt of
price, and sold by all druggists. receipt ox
to iSh 0f,0ur examination blank and Guide
to Health, which we will mail you promptly, and if you will answer all
the questions returning blank to us, our doctors will carefully diagnose
your case and advise you fully, without a penny charge
Streets, l^LdelE'1-aboratoric8> 53d & Jefferson
hole The person thinking that the ex
pressman had made a mistake in the I been doing this under pressure. She
house threw open the door to explain. had now Informed the officers and
The trunk was quickly thrust across ' chanced the result.
the threshold and the two expressmen
sprang Into the hall. Two other detec-
tives that had been hovering near
were also admitted. Almost at the first
glance I discovered that the young
woman tending the door was the one
that had called at the secret service
office and vaguely hinted of a great
counterfeiting scheme. I think the
The door bell was rung promptly at
nine o clock and Sheldon was admit-
ted. When he was confronted with
the situation, he wilted and staggered
to a seat. His every faculty seemed
paralysed with blank despair. The
woman threw her arms about him and
pleaded with him to tell the truth He
now became greatly excited and do
$100.00 for an Idea
Swift & Company issue every year a calendar illustrated in colors.
Swift s Premium Calendar for 1911
reproductions of
and Minnehaha,"
In coin or M.mn., or one
may wlut „ warned, then .end in yoCr ide. for the1912,he W"
t20.00rS,r^7'5Ho'o.'4,h? laord5U^.^alrtli'(io,"71h,"rM VVnn-,25fW""h-
lde.3 must be in by Fe'bn,.^ isfh to be colde^ ^ ^ ^ <* •
Send lor Sw.lt'. Premium Calend.r tor 1911 t<wi„. You will h.r. ,o h.ve i, fet ,he ldM.
ASv' '' * Company <,«, p.cWAv..Chic„o
slight ly in a half welcoming way as
she placed her hand upon the stair
mined to give you Information that I rail/An elderly man 7 this moment
m
(; \ MW SO/p/UYf/,
rOi/ hWf a/6 vo,'
Or /i LOC/tVr,
1 vtremb,ln8 volce ;hat >•
would make a clean breast of the
whole affair and take what was corning
to him. I listened to the recital of his
story. It was the counterpart of the
others. He hoped for wealth and a
Hie of ease. It was an unhealthy long-
ing, but the opportunity was so plaus-
ibly presented to him by the oily-
tongued Devoe that he sacrificed Ills
manhood and yielded to the tempter
Once within the hypnotic influence of
this great procurer he was compelled
to do his bidding. Now that he knew
the worst he felt relic
'ved. With a curl
of his lip and a sudden elevation of his paMK came along and beheld
head his eyes met mine as he gave me W!,S°" full of tinware.
GOT HIS SOBRIQUET EARLY
"Honest John" Kelly Proved Hl« Right
to the Title Long Before
Manhood.
There have been many stories about
the manner In which "Honest John"
to a new York letter, holds that It
came to him naturally, for even as a
entail boy the purity of his soul shone
through his face. "I think the first
time I was ever called 'Honest John'
was when I was quite u youngster,"
ambulatory salesman of tinware ob-
served the Ingenuous countenance I
presented to the world and hailed me.
"You look honest, boy,1 said he. 'What
might your name be?' 'John.' said I
quite Simply. 'John'—Just like that'
the saloon and get a drink,' said he.
And so I held his horse while he went
in the saloon and got a drink. But
this was on lower Ninth avenue, In a
<1a> when the avenue's honors went
to the man who could clean the most
cops In a given time. Ily and by the
that
The peddler
his promise to surrender the count r- detained within hv a sore' thirst
f t plates and to aid the government j took the tinware. And th^n
by every means within his power, j they c™e back and took the cush-
All classes of confederated criminals 'ons 'he wagon. Eventually, he-
j fear the squealer more than they do conilnS daring, they unhitched the
in fact, it would be \ and took It away. True to my
Splendid Crops
In Saskatchewan (Western Canada)
800 Bushels from 20 acres
wheat will the thrrthcr'a
return from • Lloyd-
mii iter farm In the
•eason of 1910. M.ny
neldt in that a« well aa
other diatricta yield-
ed from 23 to S3 bu-
shels of wheat to the
acre. Other grains in
proportion.
LARGE PROFITS
ore thus derived
> M E S T KA 11' "LANIJ S
„7 Canada.
This excellent showing canses
prh eai to ml vit nee. Utnd va
•mould double In two ycurV t
'."K-1"I > *'•' fami-
ng, rail|<i ntl.filK ,|ulrj-
liilf all |inifi7alil<i. Kr'o
...'"i"l'". a'i«'.f I IK) arrcuri.
i, . . ''ad In th,. ,.ry l„.Bt
illMrtrts ! (to II,n. ]>r«-i>iii|i-
Miitift at wa.oo p,,r n, „ h Ith-
III HT atu arm*, h, h,„,l. ,tI„|
,7 it'll, "v"r>'
iiienUf,,,,'.,'U,'B m"u" '
i. !.°r.Ji"t\"lrn# location,
' .V"",.,'"1 nloa *n<4
'i. ? t. 1 !,14,'"d pamphlet,
i s. Mrsi \\ , M ul)(j ut|,pr )n.
inallon. write to Sup't of liuuit-
jfrution. 6ttU a. Cana-ln. or u>
Canadian CiovornmeDt AgeuU
emm oovfriwwt agfnt
to. U5 W. taalU Strut lUuws flty. Ma
(I se iLdtlrosh nearubt you.) 8V
a v w
£ < •
the detective
quite impossible to destroy a well-or-
Sj.^5 j ganlzed gang of counterfeiters without
using one man against (he other For I
this reason 1 never hesitated while I
chief of the government secret service !
to act upon my own judgment. We ar-1
I rested the counterfeiters without proc- j
j ess of law, and used them to the best |
! osslble advantage to the government !
The records of the secret service of j
the treasury department, will, if ex-
trust, I stood there, holding the horse.
And by and by the peddler came out
of the saloon and sized up the situa-
tion 'Well,' said he warmly, 'you're
Honest John, all right. You saved the
horse.'"
They Both Knew.
The fool said one day In the king's
presence. "I am the king!" And the
king laughed, lor he knew that his fool
^as wrong
SPM/zo/iVG Foahnpa/
Of/ZF£> ///rt Tfy f
T/wo/tr
am sure will be valuable. This brief
note may form an Important leaf in
the history of a life begun In the love-
light of a rond home and endearing as-
sociations to end in a felon's cell, pos.
sibly in a felon's grave. To demon-
strate the truth of what I say, go to
St., and examine for
yourself."
It was a house that had long been
considered undesirable, and located
upon a fashionable street, that was
thus brought to my attehtion. It was
only a weak suspicion, but yet I
thought It sufficiently pointed to war-
rant an investigation. It was soon
learned that this house was occupied
by an elderly gentleman nnnarently a
Russian or German, a tall young man
of twenty-flve or thereabouts, and a
rathor comely appearing young wom-
an. In their coming and going they
appeared much like other people. This
particular house, however, had long
been pointed out and stared at because
of a great crime that had once been
committed within Its walls.
The Rhetschlags, as they were
known, were a very secluded family
No one seemed to know where they j
came from or by what means th;>y
earned their livelihood It was rare
that any person had been seen to en-
ter their door during the day time.
While the detectives were on watch
a young man of prepossessing appear-
ance called at the house on two occa-
sions In the evening, remaining a
short time. When he left he carried
a small bundle. It was also learned
from the people on the other side of
tho wall that strange noises had been
heard late at night. There was a
clicking and Jarring sound as of
some one pounding upon the floor with
a heavy Instrument. The neighbors
thought there might be something
wrong, and that was all the thought
they gave to the matter. Each night
a bright light was seen gleaming from
an upper window, and the shadows of
persons moving to and fro were cast
upon the closely-drawn window shade.
The detective had slipped up to the
stepped Into the hall from a side room
'le had probably been taking a nap
from which he was suddenlv roused
I caught a glimpse of a piece of paper
as he swiftly put It In his mouth
Springing forward 1 seized him by the
throat. The young woman came to my
assistance. She put her hand to the
old man's lips and said: "Spei es au3.
vater! Spei e8 aus, vater!"
He yielded and she handed me a bit
of rlo^ely folded paper. On it was
written: "I will brtng the back at
nine this evening—Sheldon."
The old man was placed in charge
of one of the officers. The young wom-
an now accompanied us upstairs and
led us to a door that was locked.
The key was turned from the Inside.
An entrance was demanded, but there
was no response. Deliberating a few
moments, the officers rushed against
the dooi and burst It open. We found
a young man in the room. There was
a printing press, a quantity of print
er's ink, a long table, a couple of
chairs and a stove. Rut there was not
a scrap of paper in sight, nor anything
to show that counterfeiting was being
carried on. There was plenty of sus-
picion, but wo were unable to find evi-
dence to warrant a conviction. One
of the detectives chanced to put his
hand on the stove. It was hot. On
looking inside we discovered that a
considerable amount of paper had been
recently burned. A systematic search
of the premises was now began. Every
nook tind corner of the house was ex-
amlned. We tore up the carpet and
pried up the weak places in the floor.
Every piece of lurniture and every rag
of clothes was searched. The detec-
tives crawled under the roof and on
top of it. They looked down the chim-
neys. Nothing of an incriminating na-
ture was found.
The old man wouldn't talk. Me shut
his n.outh tightly and shook his head
to every question aslted. and the
young man was dumb as an oyster
While the woman did not appear to be
anxious to conceal anything from us,
she said she was quite unable to ren-
amlned, show thai the system or uslnc 'a , ,
one counterfeiter against another was „ , K was angry, he-
successful. When a confederate who fT" °t i"" he lln'' commltted>
has for years been associated Tuh ' rnn, T'". T a f',ol!" An" th«
others In crime. Is made to confess ^ 8 <T ; for he "new ,hat hla
and assist the government, he la more WM r'K"'"^ S""'rt
dreaded by his associates than any | Tt,
other force that can be employed | K-n,,v , ' .
Counterfeiting combines the worst ' ah^pplng eaHy ° d<> ^
features of fraud interwoven with the lioeker-I know It; my wife has al
most cunningly devised modes of es- ready concealed a 49-cent t e in it
cape The confederate is better top bureau drawer. ^
looked and more fully equipped to tin-
dertake the unearthing of a gang of The more solitary the more friend
detective ° ^ ^ Ul" -sustained I am. the
I wore I will respect and rely upon my
I mention these facts that the read- self.—Charlotte Hronte
er may better understand the oblect ! —
I had In view in this case as in most j
others Young Ithetschlag plead
guilty and was sentenced to the peni-
tentiary, His father was old and fee- !
GOT IT.
Got Something Else, Too.
, , i, ^ lilted my coffee strong and I
b e. I iion his promise that he would drank It strong," says a Pennsylvania
? en«a,se ln counterfeiting, woman, telling a good story, "and al
I paroled hiim The young woman had though I had headaches nearly everv
rendered good service and I did not day I Just would not believe the[e
attempt to hold her or to use her as was any connection between the two
a «itness. Sheldon made Important I had weak and heavy spells and pah
disc.osures that enabled me to arrest pltation of the heart, too and al
several dangerous counterfeiters. He though husband told me he'thought It
was wtak and easily persuaded, but was the coffee that made me so poor-
after using him on the witness stand ly, and did not drink It himself for he
against his confederates I did not Bald it did not agree with him yet I
think him dangerous to go at large loved my cofTee and thought 'i lust Because
I he bfldk note company was only too couldn't do without it their rutea r« low
glad to employ him notwithstanding "One day a friend called at my Because
the fact he had been engaged in coun- home—that was a year t the>'
SNOWDRIFT
H9GLESS MRD
is universally decltra) ihe superior
rol all lards, lard euhstitutes or com-
pounds lor shorlening. it is U. S.
inspected and passed, and U sold un-
der our own addilional guarantee ol un-
equalled merit. 1 -3 less expense. 1-3
more worth. Ask I or Snowdrilt Hog-
| lew Lard until you get it. MaJe by
| THE SOUTHERN COTTON OIL CO.
H A-8 & wYork ,N>wllrlriB* < hl.-.j-o S >,nM k
Ship Your COTTON to
H. KEMPNER
of Galveston, Texas
cause
ttiey ure e*clu lvely cotton factors.
Because
th 'y bundle more cotton on couNlrmaam
tuun uy fuel or ln ih« United
Because
their wurehouM facilities are unezeelled.
terfeitlng. Besides. Miss Ithetschlag. about how" weH i"ha Ta/looklng^and" n
who had been so prominent In assist- *he said: Because
money on cotton
they ciin with ponfldem-e refer to any one
who hu« ever nhipped to thaui lu ttaa
ing In bringing young Sheldon upon I " 'Yes, and I feel well too It's be
the stool of repentance, and putting cause I am drinking Postum In place Becnuse
him in a way to redeem himself, was of ordinary coffee.' thrir tu.,g i„ h.n-uing citon.
anxious to marry him. Ihe consumma- ( "I said, 'What is Postum"' 1 tbelr '"'r "J tt"ir * <--eii«ni <-on-
HtMon0f th,l3J ma,de" T °!the con- , "Then she to,d how it wa,.
dltions of his release. It might have food-drink and how much better «h« obtain the T,ry hlgh. t price, on otto,
been a little out of order, but it turned j felt since using It In place of coffee or R "" '° "°m
out all right. A wedding soon fol- tea, so I sent to the store and bought ,-,nu "u®
and held ought to sell at very
price*.
lowed a Package and when It was made ac-
I some time afterward received from | cording to directions It was so good
In froltiff tip J\nd every bale shipped
ouch higher
Mr. Poutv.'. ll, the secretary ot the I have never bought a pound of coffee - ■
treasury, a letter saying that he had j s'nce. I began to improve immediate- OL 1 IV *
been informed that a certain ent-ra j ly. UKlaPOma Directory
ving company doing government work. ' "I cannot begin to tell you how
had in Its employ a dangerous coun- i1"0'1 better I feel since using Postum
terfelter named She:don, and sug- ( «n,l leaving coffee alone. My health
gested that 1 attend to this matter at j '8 better than It has been for years
once In reply to the secretary's let | and I cannot say enough ln praise of
ter I gavo him a detailed account o(
the capture and release of Sheldon,
together with my reasons for the
same. My course met the secretary's
approval. In lact I was commended fot
It. So far as I know Sheldon haf
slnca led an honest life. If he nas
ever violated the pledge he gave me.
I have uot heard of it.
'fiuivrletn by w u Chuomaiw
this delicious food drink.
lake away the destroyer and put
a rebullder to work and Nature will
do the rest. That's what you do when
Postum takes coffee's place In your
diet. "There's a Reason."
Read the little book, "The Road to
Wellvllle," In pkgs
Ever rrnit fhr above tpftrrT A urw
nnpenr. from tlmr to tlm . Th«-r
nr. com,In., nnd full of huuiu
Oklahoma City
Lee Huckin's Hotel
European Kates f:.oo per day.
Popular price Cafe in connection.
KERFOOT-MILLER & CO.
(incorporated)
Manufacturers of
BRONCHO BRAND
OVERALLS AMD WORK CLOTHING
Wholesale Dry Goods
OKLAHOMA CMY OKLAHOMA
feMUtl US
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Fox, J. O. Cleveland County Enterprise. (Norman, Okla.), Vol. 19, No. 27, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 5, 1911, newspaper, January 5, 1911; Norman, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc108277/m1/3/: accessed April 19, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.