Page:Memoirs of the United States Secret Service.djvu/81

 frequently at heavy pecuniary cost) obtained release from the toils of the authorities.

The portrait of Fred Biebusch will be found among our illustrations. He is over fifty years of age, of German parentage, born in Prussia, came to America in 1844, and is a broad-shouldered, powerful man, of hard physique, but not bad looking. In the course of his counterfeiting trade, his sales were enormous at first hands. He personally dealt only at wholesale, and his cautious custom was to negotiate his transfers in heavy sums. He individually received the good money, in these transactions, and the coney passed through the hands of women, "kids" or the established go-betweens in his trade, of whom he was continually watchful, for he never reposed over-much confidence in these people.

The extent of his operations and the profits Biebusch accumulated, enabled him, in a few years, to control a very large sum of ready money, and whenever the exigency arose, he was ready to "draw his wallet," and pay roundly, to escape arraignment before the Courts. He disliked the atmosphere or contiguity of all legal tribunals; and, like the owl, he preferred night to day, whenever he had occasion to be professionally abroad.

In the old days, when State banks were in existence, Biebusch flourished wonderfully. It was his habit, in those times, to "job out" most of the counterfeit stock printed upon various State banks throughout the country by Driggs, Piper, Lew Sleight and others, who sent forth hundreds of thousands of dollars through Biebusch's agency—he accumulating large commissions for standing between them and the smaller dealers, at that earlier period. After a while, he became the pal and right hand man of Pete McCartney (whose history we have already given) and received from