Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 June 1884 — Detective Ham Best. [ARTICLE]

Detective Ham Best.

“By the way, while I’m at it I might as well tell you an old story that illustrates the detective powers of Ham Best. Years ago it created quite a stir in St. Louis. One of the banks had occasion to send a lot of gold to a bank in Hartford. This was before the war. The route East was then by way of Chicago. Well, when the gold arrived at the place of destination the Hartford bank discovered that the box had been opened and some hundreds of gold had been scraped from the top. Complaint was made to the express company and Best was called in. His first move was to get the names of the men on the run between St. Louis and Hartford, and to learn as much as possible about their past business, what they had been engaged at, etc. In less than no time he exonerated every agent between Chicago and the East. “The robbery was committed west of Chicago, and I think I have the man,’ said Ham. He got leave to travel on the express car with the suspected man, having the opened box in his possession. All went along amicably till the agent produced a small hammer, which he remarked was quite handy at times. Best at once brought forth the box and asked Mr. Agent if he would not be kind enough to fit that hammer to a dent in the side of the box. The fellow stammered and turned pale, but complied. It fitted like the paper on the wall. He had found his man. This small dent in the box was the only tning to indicate that the box had been opened. No one but an expert could have done it. In running over the former occupations of the various agents Best had found that the man in question was the only one of the number who had previously been a carpenter, and hence the only one likely to know that you can pry open a wooden box with a wooden wedge, and leave no marks. The unfortunate slip of his hammer furnished the connecting link. —St. Louis Post-Dispatch.