Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 May 1886 — SOME DETECTIVE STORIES. [ARTICLE]

SOME DETECTIVE STORIES.

Tricks in Detecting Criminals The Importance of Trivial Clues. The writer spent several hours in a country inn with several detectives, and the foladventures are given just as nar“Luck has much to do with sucres*, toour profession,” said a short, thick-set man with iron-gray hair, as he tilted back against the wall. “Indeed, if you are following a blind trail you must depend upon luck to help you out A few years ago I was summoned by telegram to a small town in Ohio to take hold of a murder case. An old lady living alone on the outskirts of the town had been found murdered, but the crime had occurred at least two days before discovery. That robbery was the motive was proved by the fact that the house had been thoroughly ransacked. She w.as known to have had several hundred dollars in money and some valuable heirlooms, and everything had been taken. The search had been so thorough that it was likely the murderer had spent several hours to the house after his horrible deed. He had even taken the old woman's spectacles, snuff box, thimble, and other trifles of the sort; but he had come and departed without leaving a trace. “Well, the first inference was that he had oome and gone in the night. The next inference got me into trouble at once. The sheriff and constables and all the townspeople had made up their minds that the murderer was a young man named John Winthrop, the old woman’s nephew, who hung out around Cincinnati. It was known that he often appealed to her for money when hard up, and that only two or three weeks before the murder she had refused to advance him another dollar, and that he had gone away cursing her. *lt was a fair clue to work on, and I went to Cincinnati to work up John Winthrop. He could not be found, but I found friends of his who strengthened the case against him. The day previous to the murder he was hard up, and trying to borrow money. The day after the- murder he had plenty of money, and offered to lend some. He was a gambler, a rake, and all that was bad, and no one would be surprised to hear that he had committed murder. To still further strengthen the case, I discovered that he had been seen on the train running from Cincinnati to Blankville on the-after-noon of the murder. He was also known to have returned to Cincinnati on the morning after. Better clues could not be asked for, but, hunt as I would, I could not turn him up. He seemed to have dropped right out or the world. Bor six . weeks ! went up and down the country, seeking everywhere, but all in-vain.

“There was one thing in* the case which puzzled me. Why had the murderer packed up and carried away the trifling articles I have mentioned? A tramp wouldn't have done it; and what the nephew could want of them was more than I could understand. I had never met with anything like it in all my experience, and my mind was made up on the very start that the crime was the work of a lunatic. After iixor seven weeks of faithful work the case was practically abandoned. One day I was at the Air Line junction, a couple of miles north of Toledo, and among other people there, waiting for the train, was a lone woman about fifty years of age. As she sat reading her spectacles fell off, and one glass rolled out of the frame. It was my fortune to sit near her and to pick up the glasses. As I did so she said; “ ‘There they go again! I never saw such a pair of glasses in my life!' “ ‘The optician did not give vou a good fit,’l observed. “ ‘Oh, I didn't get ’em of an optician; I bought ’em of a stranger while I was traveling, but I was never bo cheated in my life.’

“ ‘Was it very long ago?’ “ ‘About three weeks.' “‘Here?* “ Oh, no. It was while I Was waiting at Monroeville. I had lost my glasses and was fretting about it, when the man asked me to try these. They seemed to tit nicely and I gave him a half a dollar for them.’ “I was breathing hard about that time, and it required a strong effort to control my voice as! said: ** ‘I think he was a cousin of mine. Can you remember his description?* “‘Certainly. He was a smallish man, having black hair and eyes, and he walked lame. On the back of hie right hand was an initial in India ink.* ' “ 'He’s the one, madam, and I’m sorry he eheated you. Let me give you thia two-dollar bill in exchange for the glasses.’ “Oh, thanks! thanks!’ “Well, I got away by myself to think. I had seen that man somewhere. Where was it? I began and followed my work all Over in my mind, but I could not locale him. It was midnight, and I was fifty miles away when I suddenly placed him. He was one of the jurors at the Coroner's inquest! Next day I was back in the vil-

lage where the murder bocurred. The spectacles Were identified by several of the neighbors, and when I came to make some cautious inquiries about the man I found him to be a worthless sort of fellow living a mile or so out of town, and making a poor living for himself and family by digging wells and doing odd jobs. It wag true‘that he was a juror on the inquest, and it was also true that he had been at Monroeville at the time named. r “I went alone to arrest him. I called at his house in the evening under pretense of engaging his services, and as he sat by his fireside, surrounded by his wife and children, I told him who I was, and charged him with the crime. He wilted like a weed in the sun as he comprehended what my words meant, but his wife was made of different stuff. An ax stood in a corner of the room, and she seised it and tried to Split my head open. I had just all I could do to put the handcuffs on her, and then 'she turned on her shivering busband, and reviled him until he stopped his ears to shut out her voice. He turned out to be a weak-minded fellow, and if' was plainly shown that she not only put up the job, but went with him to execute it. While he was searching for the money she packed up the other articles, even taking hair brushes, combe and towels. !She had braced him up to appear at the inquest, and he had come through it all unsuspected. While it was a clear case for the hangman. some quibble of law saved their necks, and both are now serving long sentences in prison." “And how about the nephew?" I asked, as he seemed to have finished, “Well, on the day of the murder he took the train, aa I have told you, but got off at a town below Blankville. There he fell in with some local sports and won about S4OO at poker that night. Upon his return to Cincinnati his life was threatened by a woman of the town for some grievance, and to be rid of her he made a clean jump to Nashville and was arrested there for gambling and sent to jail for three months under an assumed name.” “Yes, luck sometimes plays into a man’s hands in a strange way,” said another of the group as he elevated his feet a notch higher on the stove. “Two or three years ago one of the big distillers at Peoria, Illinois, was robbed of a goodly sum by his confidential clerk. I was sent down from Chicago to work up the case. The name of the clerk was Charles Allbright, and he was described to me as a dapper little fellow without beard, and a voice as soft as a woman's. His photographs showed him to be a pretty good looking fellow. The money had been drawn to make a purchase of grain. It was to have been paid out on that day, but was not called for, and the clerk gobbled it some time between 6 o’clock in the evening and 8 o’clock next morning. “The first move, as you will agree, was to ascertain what trains had left Peoria during this time and seek to find whidh one Allbright had taken. The place is quite a railroad center, but in one day I ascertained the thief had not left the town either on a freight or passenger train. Had he gone by the highway? I visited every livery stable, but got no trace of him. As a matter of fact, I was up a tree. He had gone, but how?

“After two whole days spent in fruitless search I grew desperate, took a train At a venture, and brought up in Decatur. On the train was a young lady whose home was at Decatur. As she bad several parcels with her 1 volunteered to help her off the car. As her feet touched the platform she tripped and fell, and the result was a broken arm. As none of her friends were there to meet her, it seemed to devolve upon me to call a carriage, summon a surgeon, and accompany her home. I found her to be the daughter of a wealthy widow having one or two other children, and their gratitude was such that I could not well avoid accepting an invitation to make the bouse my home for a few days. I had given out, you see, that I was a Boston lawyer looking up the titles to some real estate in Decatur.

“At breakfast we were waited upon by such a trim, tidy second girl that my atten'tion was attracted to her. The widow must have remarked it, for she exclaimed: * ‘lt is a new girl who has been with me but two days. She is very awkward, but seems willing to learn.’ “The girl was indeed awkward, as I afterward noticed, but the idea that she knew anything connected with the Peoria robbery never entered my head until the third day. I had been at the depot to make sotoe inquries about trains, and was leaving when I saw her enter the waiting room. She was closely veiled, but I knew her figure, and I reasoned she had given the widow very short notice. It was not imrissible that this new girl was a thief, and determined to speak to her and ascertain her reasons for leaving. As I started toward her she sprang np and rushed out doors. That was a sign of guilt which I could not disregard, and I gave chase. She led me a sham run for half a mile, and when I collared her she struck out from, the shoulder, and gave me a beautiful black eye. In return I put the handcuffs on her wrists, and they had scarcely snapped together when she said: -. “ ‘Well, old chap, I suppose the Jig is up. What kind of a second girl do I'make, anyhow?*

“ ‘You’ll come back to the house and be searched,’ not yet tumbling to it. _ “ ‘The house be d—d! I’ve got the money on me, of course, and of cbiirte I’ll. have to go back to Peoria. You don’t take me for a spoon thief, I hope?’ - - “It was Allbright, and no mistake. He had left Peoria in the evening disguised as a female, and his make-up and appearance were so deceiving that he had made two or three mashes before reaching Decatur. He knew that no effort would be spared to hunt him down, and he had the cheek to take employment as second girl, hoping to have a secure retreat until the hunt had grown eold. My -coming to the house was what had sent him away. He didn't believe I knew him, but he saw me watching him, and he argued that I would soon drop on his disguise." “Il wouldn’t be strange if luck had also helped me out occasionally, for I have been in this business over years, ” said the third man, as he combed his long goatee with his fingers. “One of the most striking instances occurred last fall. A rich old fellow named Sumner, living near Louisville, was found dead in his bed one morning. He had been married twice, and had two sets of you can readily understand what happened. It was known for a fact that he had made a wiU. It was a stranger fact that the will could not be found. The heirs taunted each other with having stolen the will, and pretty soon the law and the lawyers were called in

and there was a big fight over the estate, valued. I believe, at over $200,000. , One of the heirs by the first wife engaged my services in the case, He was sure that one of the heirs by the second wife, who was known to have visited the old man the day before bis death, had stolen and destroyed the will. As he could that the will left the bulk of the estate to the first set of children, his charge was a reasonable one, and J went to work to see what I could do. The alleged offender was a pretty hard case, and all the information I could acquire went to show that he was none too good to do a stroke of that sort. “I spent a month on the case without getting anything definite and then dropped it. The estate then went into court, each side retaining enough lawyers to eat up

I every dollar, and I took up the chaeo of a horse thief. He had stolen several horse* in Ohio and run them into Kentucky. Hit I headquarters were at Elisabethtown, and 1 . had been there for. a couple of weeks seek- 1 ing for the right clue to bring him up standing, when one afternoon I had to visit a farmer living several miles north of the town. This man had purchased one of the stolen horses and had it taken away from him, and was ready to give me all aid and information. After a talk at the house we went to the barn to look over his stock, and in the yard I noticed a tin-peddler's wagon with a wheel missing. “ ’I can't imagine what has become of the owner of that rig,’ explained the fanner. ’He broke down but here all of two months ago, and I let him draw his wagon in here and stare his hales of rags in the bam. He was to return in a day pr two, but he hasn’t shown up since.’ “As we went into the bam we passed six or eight sacks of paper rags piled up In a loose manner. There were a score or more of loose papers on the pile, and I picked up one, which proved to be a Confederate bond. I pocketed it as a relic, and picked up what I thought was another, but as I opened it out I read: ‘Last will and testafiient of James Yancy Sumner." It was the wiH'of the old man who had died near Louisville, and its production not only put an end to all further litigation, but brought me a reward of $3,000. 1 found the owner of the peddler’s outfit at Lebanon, which place was his home, and where he had been very ill of fever for many weeks. He had bought rags of the old man, and through some carelessness the will got mixed in.” There was still another detective in the group, and after a bit he began: “About two years ago I was at Stockton, Cal., to which place I had pursued an express robber from Madison, Wis. It was an old trail I had been following, and when I lost it entirely at Stockton I didn’t feel so badly put out as I should if there had been a fair show for me to overhaul the chap. I had a photograph of the man, and was posted as to certain points in his description. He had one front tooth which had been filled with gold; he stammered a little in his speech when confused; he was near-sighted. He had been gone from Stockton a full month when I reached there, and as there was no trace of the direction taken I gave up the hunt in disgust. When I got back to Omaha I had to take a man down to Topeka, Kansas, to see after an embezzlement, and on the night of my arrival I entered a bar-room in search of a Tom and Jerry. The barkeeper was leaning on the bar and reading a paper. The first thing I noticed was that he held the sheet close to his face. The first name of the robbej I had been chasing was George. As I advanced to the bar I said:

“ ‘Come, George, a Tom and Jerry.’ “I don’t know why I said it, but the speech was spontaneous, and was uttered before 1 really knew that I was speaking. “W-hat! W-w-hafs th-that?” he stammered, as he let the paper fall, and turned as white as chalk. “At the same instant I caught the gleam of gold in his teeth, and I put my hand on his shoulder and said: “George Johnson, you are my prisoner.’ ‘H-how d-did you f-ind me?” he queried, holding on to - prevent himself from falling. “Well, sir, he owned up like a little man, and held out his hands for the darbies. Out of the SB,OOO he stole I received all but SI,OOO. He went to Stockton, as I had trailed him, and after a day or two he disguised himself as a machinist and returned to the East, and brought up in Topeka. He had not purchased the saloon, not daring to use his money yet, but had got employment for a few days as a matter of&harity. In making the run back from California he had stopped off five different times and adopted new disguises, and he had no more idea of being arrested in Topeka than in Alaska. Of course, I didn’t admit that I had blundered in on him, and to this day he believes I trailed him step by step all those hundreds of miles. Yes, a detective to be lucky must count more or less on luck, and there goes midnight and it’s time we were in bed." —N. Y. Sun. -

If We Want to Work We Must Sleep. The restoration of energy, which sleep alone can afford, is necessary for the maintenance of nervous vigor, and whereas the muscular system, if overtaxed, at last refuses to cumstances too frequently refuses to rest The sufferer, instead of trying to remove or lessen the cause of his sleeplessness, comforts himself with the hope that it will soon disappear, or else has recourse to alcohol, morphia, the bromides, chloral, etc. Valuable and necessary as these remedies often are (I refer especially to the drugs), there can be no question as to the mischief which attends their frequent use, and there is much reason to fear that their employment in the absence of any medical authority is largely on the increase. Many of the “proprietary articles” sold by druggists, and in great demand at the present day, owe their efficacy to one or more of .these powerful drugs. Not a few deaths have been caused by their use. and in a still larger number of cases they have helped to produce the fatal result. Sleeplessness is almost always accompanied by indigestion in some one or other Of its protean forms, and the two conditions react upon and aggravate each other. If rest cannot be obtained, and if the vital machine cannot be supplied with a due amount of fuel, and, moreover, fails to utilize that which is supplied, mental and bodily collapse cannot be far distant. The details of the downward process vary, but the result is much the same in all cases. Sleeplessness ’and loss of appetite are followed by loss of flesh and strength, nervous irritability alternating with depression, palpitation and other derangements of the heart, especially at night, and many of those symptoms grouped together under the old term “hypochondriasis." When this stage has been reached “the borderlands of insanity" are within measurable distance, even if they have not already been reached. — Fortnightly llevieic.