ounterfeiter and the the
facts get into the newspapers. The bureau is managed by John E.
Wilkie, chief. He has held the position since 1898, when he succeeded
Chief Hazen. Mr. Wilkie is a newspaper man having held responsible
positions on many large papers. He began his career as a reporter and
worked his way up to city editor of one of the big Chicago papers. He
has a great "nose" for criminal investigation, and his work is
regarded as brilliant.

All the United States notes are printed in sheets of four notes of one
denomination on each sheet. Each note is lettered in its respective
order, in the upper and lower corners diagonally opposite, A, B, C,
and D, and this is the system for numbering notes: All numbers, on
being divided by 4 and leaving 1 for a remainder, have the check
letter A; 2 remainder, B; 3 remainder, C; even numbers, or with no
remainder, D. Any United States note the number upon which can be
divided by 4 without showing the above result is a counterfeit, and
while this rule is not infallible in all instances it will be found of
service in the detection of counterfeits.

Compared with a dozen or so years ago, there is nothing like the
counterfeiting going on in this country. Shortly after the war the
country was practically flooded with it, but so perfect is the
machinery of the secret service and so successful have its officers
been in recent years in unearthing the big plants and their operators,
and placing the latter behind the bars, that counterfeiting has almost
ceased.

The receipts of subsidiary counterfeit coins at the subtreasury at New
York have been in recent times inconsequential. Some time ago an
Italian silversmith, who was an expert coin counterfeiter, was
captured, and the destruction of his plant and his subsequent
conviction had a wholesome effect upon his fellow countrymen, some of
whom have come over to the United States for the express purpose of
counterfeiting its silver coins. Only five counterfeit issues of notes
made their appearance during the year in question, and of these three
were new and two were reissues of old counterfeits.

This shows how well the counterfeit situation, as it were, is kept in
check and under control by the government. By some it is supposed that
most of our counterfeiters come from abroad, but this is not strictly
accurate, though many of those who attempt to imitate our silver
dollar and the subsidiary coin issues hail from Italy and Russia.