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COMRIGHT  DEPOSHi 


WE  NEVER  SLEEP. 


The  Grafters  of  America. 

WHO  THEY  ARE  AND 
HOW  THEY  WORK 


BY 

CLIFTON  R.  WOOLDRIDGE, 

Chicago' 's  Famous  Detective. 


Tells  in  a  Graphic  Manner  How  Wildcat  Insurance,  Fake  Mines  and  O: 
Wells,  Turf  Swindles,  Home  Buying  Swindles,  Fake  Bond  and  Invest- 
ment Companies,  Bucket  Shops,   Blind  Pools  in  Grain  and  Stocks 
Pool  Rooms  and  Hand  Books,  Fake  Mail  Order  Houses,  Ordinary 
Gambling  Houses,  Panel  Houses,  Matrimonial  Bureaus,  Fake 
Book  Concerns,  Fake  Underwriting,  Fake  Banks,  Collect- 
ing Agencies,  Fake  Medicine  Companies,  Clairvoyants, 
Fortune  Tellers,  Palmists  and  Other  Criminals  of 
all  Classes  Operate.     Illustrations  Showing 
the  Arrests,  Drawn  by  a  Special  Artist. 

ALSO    CONTAINS 

Detective  Clifton  R.  Wooldridge's  "  Never-Fail  "  System 

The  Only  Sure  Way  to  Beat  the  Get-Rich-Quick 
Grafters  and  Swindlers. 


MONARCH  BOOK  COMPANY, 

PUBLISHERS, 
CHICAGO      N 


50NGRESsl 
Received  | 
'906 


UBRARY  of  CONGRE 
Two  OoDtes 

APR  10 

«.  Copyright  Entry    . 

CLASS    /)      xXc.No. 

COPY    B. 


Copyright,  1906, 

BY 

CLIFTON  R.   WOOLDRIDGE. 


MAYOR'S 

OFHCE 


CARTER  ft  HARRISON, 

MA  YOR. 


Chicago,  III..  June  7,  1901. 

To  Whom  It  May  Concern: 

Officer  Clifton  R.  Wooldridge,  of  the 
Chicago  Police  department ,  has  compiled  a 
book  touching  upon  his  experience  as  an 
officer.   I  desire  to  state  that  I  have 
known  Officer  Wooldridge  for  a  number  of 
years,  and  consider  him  an  able  and  effi- 
cient officer.  I  feel  confident  that  Officer 
Wooldridge' s  experience  as  an  officer 
is  sufficiently  interesting  to  be  published, 
and  will  prove  good  reading. 
Respectfully, 


GL&&-JI* 


Mayor. 


TESTIMONIALS. 


•THE  author  feels  that  he  is  entirely  justified  in  pointing  to 
■  the  endorsements  which  follow  here.  They  are  from  his 
superior  officers  and  others  in  the  legal  and  department  of 
justice,  both  in  the  city  and  state.  He  submits  them  together 
with  his  life  work,  and  feels  they  will  add  interest  to  the  contents 
of  this  book. 


STATE'S  ATTORNEY'S  OFFICE. 
?.%     >• 
Chicago.  III..  March  5,  iqoi. 
To  Whom  It  May  Concern: 

Detective  Clifton  R.  Wooldridge  and  his 
work  have  been  known  to  me  ever  since  I 
have  been  state's  attorney.  He  has  been 
instrumental  in  producing  evidence  in  a  large 
number  of  cases  against  keepers  of  disreputable 
houses  and  proprietors  of  gambling  resorts,  to 
which  work  he  has  been  giving  his  exclusive 
attention  under  the  direction  of  the  police  chief.  It  is  with  pleasure  that 
I  am  able  to  say  that  Detective  Wooldridge  has  conducted  all  his  cases  with 
zeal  and  intelligence,  and  I  know  that  he  is  one  of  the  most  energetic  officers 
on  the  Chicago  police  force. 

Very  respectfully. 


C.  S.   DENIZEN. 


State  Attorney  for  Cook  County,  Illinoi|r 
8 


General  Superintendents  of  Police 
from  1355  to  1901  inclusive. 


Cyrue  Parker  Bradley,  Appointed  Jane. 

1856 

Austin  J.  Doyle, 

•   Appointed  Nov.   13,  1882 

Jacob  Rehm,       •                   " 

1663 

Frederick  Ebersold, 

"       Oct.    26,  1685 

William  Tut  tie,      •               " 

April, 

1864 

George  VV  Hubbard, 

"       April  17,  1888 

W.  W.  Kennedy.         •           • 

April, 

1871 

Frederick  H.  Marsh 

"       Jan.     1,  1690 

Elmer  Washburn,  •                M 

April, 

1872 

Robert  W  McClaoghry,            "      May    18,  1891 

Jacob  Kehm,        • .    •           " 

Dec, 

1873 

Michael  Brennan, 

"       Sept.  It  1893 

Michael  a  Hickey,                - 

Oct.     7 

1876 

John  J.  Badenoch, 

-       April,      1896 

Valerias  A  Sesvey,     •           *  * 

July   30 

1878 

Jo3eph  Kipley. 

"       April  16, 1897 

Simon  O'Oonnell,                  * 

Dec.    16 

1879 

Joseph  Eipley, 

Re-appointed  April,       1699 

William  J.  McGarigle,          " 

Dto.   IS 

1880 

Francis  O'Neill, 

.    Appointed  April  10, 1901 

Preface. 

IN  presenting  this  work  to  the  public  the  author  has  no  apolo- 
gies to  make  nor  favors  to  ask.  It  is  a  simple  history  of  his 
-connection  with  the  Police  Department  of  Chicago,  compiled 
from  his  own  memoranda,  the  newspapers,  and  the  official  records. 
The  matter  herein  contained  differs  from  those  records  only  in 
details,  as  many  facts  are  given  in  the  book  which  have  never 
been  made  public.  The  author  has  no  disposition  to  malign  any 
one,  and  names  are  used  only  in  cases  in  which  the  facts  are  sup- 
ported by  the  archives  of  the  Police  Department  and  of  the  crim- 
inal court.  '  In  the  conscientious  discharge  of  his  duties  as  an 
officer  of  the  law,  the  author  has  in  all  cases  studied  the  mode  of 
legal  procedure.  His  aim  has  been  solely  to  protect  society  and 
the  taxpayer,  and  to  punish  the  guilty.  The  evidences  of  his 
sincerity  accompany  the  book  in  the  form  of  letters  from  the 
highest  officers  in  the  city  government,  frCm  the  mayor  down 
to  the  precinct  captain,  and  furnish  overwhelming  testimony  as 
to  his  endeavors  to  serve  the  public  faithfully  and  honestly.  No 
effort  has  been  made  to  bestow  self-praise,  and  where  this  occurs, 
it  is  only  a  reproduction,  perhaps  in  different  language,  of  the 
comments  indulged  in  by  the  newspapers  of  Chicago  and  other 
cities,  whose  reporters  are  among  the  brightest  and  most  talented 
young  men  in  all  the  walks  and  professions  of  life.  To  them  the 
officer  acknowledges  his  obligations  in  many  instances.  Often 
he  has  worked  hand-in-hand  with  them.  They  have  traveled 
with  him  in  the  dead  hours  of  the  night,  in  his  efforts  to  suppress 
crime  or  track  a  criminal,  and  have  often  given  him  assistance 
in  the  way  of  suggestions.  #- 

He  now  submits  his  work  and  his  record  to  the  public,  hoping 
it  wilt  give  him  a  kindly  reception. 


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•   .: 

CLIFTON   R.    WOOLDRIDGE. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


Preface    5 

Testimonials 7 

Biography  of  the  Author   23 

Trapping  the  Wildcats — Insurance  Swindlers   31 

Vengeance  of  a  Stenographer  46 

List  of  Fraudulent  Insurance  Agents,  Report  and  Review  of 

Get-Rich-Quick  Frauds 76 

Way    in    Which    the    Public    is   Robbed   by    the    Grafters    of 

America 81 

Some  of  the  Methods  of  Robbery  by  Chicago  Fake  Concerns. .  83 

Bucket  Shops  Raided  84 

Wrhat  Constitutes  a  Bucket  Shop  87 

Marriage  Bureaus  and  Schemes 96 

Bogus  Drug  Concerns   in 

Blackmailing  Under  Guise  of  Publishing  Financial  Papers  ...115 

Confession  of  a  Get-Rich-Quick  Editor   119 

The  "Guarantee  Company"  Swindle  Exposed   123 

Real  Estate  and  Land  Frauds  128 

Fraudulent  Mining  Companies    131 

The  Duties  of  the  Government   134 

Miscellaneous  Fakes  and  Bunco  Games   139 

Detective    Clifton   R.    Wooldridge's    Never-Fail    System,    the 

Only  Sure  Way  to  Beat  Get-Rich-Quick  Swindlers 146 

What  Approximates  a  Perfect  Police  Department  151 

Fleecing  Invalids  and   Cripples    166 

Roulette  W'heel  and  Cash  Seized  by  Wooldridge   17c 

Aetna  Express  Company;  "Capital,"  $5,000,000;  Assets  $125  ..172 

Soldier,  Who  Twice  Served  as  a  Patriot,  Robbed  177 

Farmer  Finds  Fiancee  is  a  Bartender   s 186 


ii  CONTENTS 

Drives  Out  a  Nuisance   .- 189 

Detective  in  a  Fierce  Fight  201 

Miss  From  Mississippi  Misses  Out  204 

Rachael  Gorman's  "Green  Sisters"  Graft 216 

Confidence  Games  Exposed   228 

Tricks  of  Country  Fair  Fakers  247 

Policy  Shops  and  Their  Haunts  253 

Bung  Loo,  Chinese  Lottery  256 

Why  Gambling  Pays  No  One  But  the  Gambler 259 

The  Pocket  Roulette  Wheel 268 

Lotteries   and   "Gift"   Enterprises    277 

Gamblers'  Devices  to   Avoid   Police  Interference    272 

"Interests  the  Whole  World"  280 

Honesty  Is  Not  Machine  Made 309 

Where  Woman  Outshines  Man   316 

A  Conspiracy  Defeated 344 

The  Fake  Employment  Agent  348 

Would  Have  Blown  the  Safe 356 

Women  Not   Good   Sleuths    359 

"Trimming"  Credulous  Imbeciles  361 

Get-Rich-Quick  Enterprises  Prosecuted  368 

Wire  Tapping   379 

The  Bertillon  System  of  Identification   403 

The   Finger-print   System  of  Identification    413 

Fake  Doctors 423 

"Eye  and  Ear"  Quacks 431 

Professional  Safe-blowers  and  Their  Methods  of  Work 439 

Twice   Stolen   Property   , 462 

Charity   Villainies    ■ 464 

Ingenious  Diamond  Swindles   469 

Humbug  in  Business   476 

Counterfeit  Money  and  Saw-dust  Swindles   .*? 479 

A  Colored  Man  Tells  Judge  and  Jury  a  Thrilling  Story  of 

His  Life   482 

Forgery  as  a  Profession  486 


_ ,  OFFICE  OP 

J.  M.  LONGENECKER, 
"    Attorney  at  Law. 

Chicago.  February  26,  1901. 
Clifton  R.  Wooldridcr,  Chicago.  liL 

Dear  Sir.—\  take  great  pleasure  in  say- 
ing that  I  have  known  you  well,  and  during 
my  term  as  state's  attorney  of  Cook  county, 
there  has  never  come  to  the  courts  a  better 
equipped  police  officer  than  you.  I  know 
t  that  no  man  on  the  police  force  did  his  work 
with  as  much  zeal  and  efficiency  as  you,  and 
that  you  are  a  worthy  man  and  officer  in  every  respect  and  d«serve  the 
commendation  of  all  good  citizens. 

Very  respectfully. 


LONCENECKRR. 


Q^r^uc^^^UM^ 


OFFICES  OF 

KERN  &  BOTTUM, 
Attorneys.      "* 

Chicago.  December  28, 1897. 
To  Whom  It  May  Concern: 

This  is  to  certify  that  1  have  known 
Clifton  R.  Wooldridge  for  seven  years  past. 
He  has  been  a  police  officer  in  the  Chicago 
department  for  a  number  of  years,  and  during 
my  term  as  state's  attorney  of  Cook  county  I 
I  have  found  him  to  be  one  of  the  most  effi- 
cient officers  in  the  department.  He  has 
thorough  knowledge  of  evidence  and  13  an  expert  in  preparing  a  criminal 
case  for  trial. 

1  have  the  honor  to  remain. 

^  VeryTespectfulTy 


JACOB   |.  KERN. 


CITY  OP  CHICAGO. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  POLICE. 

Office  of  Genekal  Superintendent. 

Chicago,  111,  May  9,  1901. 
To  Whom  It  May  Concern: 

Having  known  Detective  Officer  Clifton 
R.  Woold ridge  officially  since  1893,  I  take 
pleasure  in  testifying  to  his  fidelity  and  effi- 
ciency in  the  performance  of  his  duty. 

Such  qualities  has  he  displayed  that  he  is 
'  usually  detailed  on  police  work  requiring  intel- 
ligence,  persistence,  and    integrity.      He  is 
working  out  of  my  office. 
Officer  Wooldridge  is  the  special  aversion  of  the  criminal  element,  and 
when  he  is  assigned  to  any  particular  line  of  police  work,  I  am  satisfied  that 
the  very  best  possible  felults  will  be  accomplished. 


FRANCIS  O'NEILL, (, 


'&U6b4 


General  Superintendent  of  Police. 


CITY  OF  CHICAGO, 

DEPARTMENT  OF  POLICE. 

Office  of  General  Superintendent. 


Chicago,  III.,  October  5,  1900. 
To  Whom  It  May  Concern: 

This  is  to  certify  that  I  have  known  Clif- 
ton R.  Wooldndge,  detective  officer  of  this 
department,  for  many  years.  I  have  always 
found  that  Officer  Wooldridge  could  be  abso- 
lutely relied  upon  to  perform  any  duty 
JOSEPH  Iupley.  assigned  to  him  in  an  intelligent  and  fearless 

manner.  He  has  an  exceedingly  good  record 
in  this  department,  and  I  feel  that  I  am  making  no  mistake  in  commending 
him  to  the  public,  Besp~eaking  for  him  your  kind  consideration  and  assuring 
you  all  my  appreciation  for  any  courtesy  extended,  I  am, 

Most  respectfully. 


CU*f  of  Polict. . 


RODERT  W.  M  CLAUCHREY. 


OFFICE  OF  WARDEN 
ILLINOIS  STATE  PENITENTIARY 

Joliet,  February  3,  1898. 
Mr.  Clifton  R.  Wooldiudge,  Chicago,  111. 

Dear  Sir : — Replying  to  your  inquiry  as  to 
my  recollection  of  your  record  as  a  police 
officer  ia  Chicago  during  the  period  that  I 
served  as  general  superintendent  of  the  Chi- 
cago Police  Department,  I  beg  to  say  that  it 
was  first-class  in  every  respect.  I  recollect 
the  fact  that  you  were  detailed  specially  to 
work  in  the  levee  district  where  street  walk- 
ing panel  houses,  and  the  worst  character  of  crime  prevailed,  and  where  you 
were  not  only  subject  to  bribes,  but  also  frequently  targets  of  perjurers  and 
scoundrels  of  every  degree.  You  came  out  from  every  ordeal  unscathed,  and 
maintained  a  character  for  integrity  and  fearlessness  in  the  discharge  of  your 
duties  that  warranted  the  highest  commendation.  If  my  endorsement  of. 
your  services  and  character  is  worth  anything  to  you,  it  gives  me  pleasure  to. 
make  this  statement.  ' 

Respectfully  yours, 

Ex-Warden,  Illino's  State  Penitentiary,  Ex  General  Superintendent  of 
Chicago  Police,  antl  present  Warden  of  United  States  Prison  at  Leaven- 
worth, Kansas. 

CITY  OF  CHICAGO. 
DEPARTMENT  OF  POLICE. 

December  30,  1897. 
Mr.  Clifton  R.  Wooldridge,  Chicago,  111. 

Dear  Sir: — I  take  much  pleasure  in  add- 
ing my  name  to  the  very  many  others  who  are 
justly  commending  you  for  your  vigilance  and 
marked  success  in  the  apprehension  and  con- 
viction of  criminals,  during  your  connection 
with  the  Police  Department.  While  at  the 
head  of  the  department,  I  found  that  you  were 
efficient  and  energetic,  and  so  far  as  I  have 
learned  from  observation  and  reports,  you  have  always  discharged  your 
duties  in  a  manner  highly  praiseworthy. 

Yours  very  respectfully. 


MICHAEL   BRENNAN. 


Jl 


Retired  Superintendent  of  Police. 


CITY  OP  CHICAGO. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  POLICE. 

Officeof  General  Superintendent. 

April  10.  1897 
Mr.  Clifton  R.  Wooldridge.  Chicago.  111. 

Dear  Sir: — Before  I  retire  from  the  com- 
mand of  the  Police  Department.  I  desire  to 
thank  you  for  your  bravery  and  loyal  service 
as  a  police  officer  during  my  administration. 
The  work  assigned  to  you  while  1  have  been 
at  the  head  of  the  department,  which  was 
that  of  exterminating  the  panel  houses  which 
infested  the  levee  district  and  of  suppressing  street  walking  and  gambling, 
has  been  well  done.  The  character  of  this  work  being  such  that  bribes 
were  frequently  offered  by  the  criminal  classes,  it  became  necessary  to 
select  men  of  perfect  integrity  for  the  service,  and  I  feel  it  due  to  you 
to  say  that  I  am  entirely  pleased  with  the  way  in  which  you  have  carried  out 
the  instructions  of  this  department,  and  I  now  know  that  I  made  no  mistake 
in  selecting  you  for  this  trying  duty.  Recent  investigations  satisfy  me  that 
you  have  succeeded  well,  and  therefore  it  affords  me  great  pleasure  to  com- 
mend you  for  your  bravery  and  fidelity  to  your  duties. 
Yours  respectfully. 


JOHN  J.  BADENOCH. 


Ex-General  Superintendent  of  Police.  / 


CITY  OF  CHICAGO. 
DEPARTMENT  OF  POLICE.' 

October  29.  1897. 
Mr.  Clifton  R.  Wooldridge,  Chicago. 

Dear  Sir: — It  affords  me  great  pleasure 
to  testify  to  your  splendid  qualities  as  a  police 
officer.  I  knew  you  at  the  time  I  was  Super- 
intendent of  Police,  but  I  knew  you  better  at 
the  time  I  was  Inspector,  and  then  learned 
your  real  worth.  I  can  truthfully  state  that 
you  were  a  brave  and  efficient  officer,  devoted 
to  your  duties,  knew  no  fear,  never  faltered  in 
your  work,  at  all  limes  and  under  all  circumstances,  honest  and  temperate, 
and  a  gentleman  in  all  that  the  word  conveys.    I  am, 

Very  truly  yours. 


■FREDRICK  H.  MARSH. 


Ex-General  Superintendent  of  Police. 


12 


CITY  OP  CHICAGO, 
DEPARTMENT  OF  POLICE. 

January  26,  1898. 
Mr.  Clifton  R.  Wooldridge,  City. 

Dear  Sir: — It  affords  me  great  pleasure 
to  add  my  testimony  to  that  of  many  other 
commanding  officers  of  this  department  as  to 
the  valuable  service  you  have  rendered  the 
City  of  Chicago  as  a  police  officer  in  ferreting 
out  crime  and  arresting  and  successfully  prose- 
cuting criminals.  Such  services  as  you  have 
rendered  this  city,  should  and  will  be  recognized  in  the  future. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 


FREDERICK  EBERSOLD. 


Retired  Superintendent  of  Police. 


CITY  OF  CHICAGO. 
DEPARTMENT  OF  POLICE. 

February  16,  1901. 
Clifton  R.  Wooldridce,  City. 

Dear  Sir: —  I  take  pleasure  in  saying  that 
during  your  long  service  in  the  Police  Depart- 
ment I  have  had  ample  opportunity  to  observe 
your  work  in  the  various  positions  I  have  held 
in  this  department,  namely:  Lieutenant,  Cap- 
tain, Inspector,  and  Assistant  General  Super- 
intendent of  Police.  I  have  been  intimately 
associated  with  you  and  know  that  in  the 
performance  of  your  duties  you  have  no  peer.  The  particular  class  of  police 
work  which  has  fallen  to  your  share  is  the  most  odious  and  difficult  required 
of  an  officer,  and  the  fact  that  you  have  met  with  such  phenomenal  success, 
bears  testimony  of  your  ability  and  worth.  It  gives  me  pleasure  to  speak  of 
you  in  this  way.  You  have  a  record  in  the  Chicago  Police  Department  which 
stands  unequaled. 

Very  respectfully, 


LYMAN   LEWIS. 


Assistant  General  Superintendent  of  Police. 
13 


GEORGE  W.    MUnDARD. 


CITY  OF  CHICAGO. 
DEPARTMENT  OF  POLICE. 

December  25,  r897. 
Mr.  Clifton  R.  Wooi.dridge,  City. 

Dear  Sir.— It  is  with  the  greatest  satis- 
faction that  I  notice  from  time  to  time  the 
mony  arrests  credited  to  you,  and  the  success 
ful  prosecution  of  noted  and  dangerous  crimi- 
nals. I  know  well  the  many  evil  and  unscrup- 
ulous influences  that  confront  an  honest  officer 
in  the  discharge  of  his  duty.  In  maintaining 
your  integrity  you  have  displayed  intelligence, 
impartiality,  and  incorruptibility.  The  time  is  now  close  at  hand  when  such 
men  as  you  cannot  be  kept  down.  You  must  and  will  come  to  the  front.  1 
feel  it  an  honor  to  be  able  to  say  that  I  was  General  Superintendent  of  Police 
when  you  first  became  a  member  of  the  Police  Department.  Your  keen, 
honest  face,  prompt,  intelligent  speech,  quick  and  independent  manner  of 
action  were  enough  to  convince  any  one  that  you  were  qualified  for  any 
duty  to  which  you  might  be  assigned.  I  have  often  wished  that  I  had  a 
dozen  more  men  upon  whom  I  could  rely  as  implicitly  as  upon  you.  I  write 
this  letter  not  to  flatter  you,  but  to  encourage  you,  and  hope  that  some  day 
you  may  be  rewarded  according  to  your  merits. 

Yours  respectfully, 


Retired  Assistant  General  Superintendent  of  Police. 


CITY  OF.  CHICAGO, 
DEPARTMENT  OF  POLICE. 


/ 


January  28,  1901. 
■  1  have  known  Detective  Officer  Clifton  R. 

Illl    Wooldridge  for  about  ten  years  and  during  part 
jfljfwff    of  the  time  he  worked  under  my  command    He 
||s     is  temperate  in  his  habits  and  fearless  in  the 
Spf      discharge  of  his  duties,  and  may  be  relied  upon 
p  to  perform   any  work  assigned   to  him    with 

good  judgment  and  ability.  As  an  officer  of 
this  department  he  bears  a  reputation  second 
to  none,  for  he  has  more  than  once  distin- 
guished himself  in  arresting  desperate  and  notorious  criminals  at  the  risk  of 
his  life.     It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  commend  him  to  the  public.  '' 

Very  respectfully,  \ 

J.  E.  PTACEK. 
Assistant  Superintendent  of  Police. 
14 


METROPOLITAN  DETECTIVE  AGENCY." 

Chicago,  April  4,  189&. 
Greeting: 

It  affords  me  great  pleasure  to  say  to 
whomever  may  be  concerned,  that  I  have 
known  Officer  Clifton  R.  Wooldridge  for  the 
past  six  years,  a  large  part  of  which  time  he 
was  under  my  supervision  while  I  was  Inspec- 
tor and  Assistant  Chief  of  Police  of  the  Chicago 
Police  Department,  and  his  very  thorough 
manner  of  performing  police  work  is  com- 
mendable to  all  lovers  of  proper  and  rigid 
enforcement  of  the  city  ordinances  and  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Illinois. 

For  several  years  past  Officer  Wooldridge  has  been  detailed  on  the  most 
repulsive  of  all  work  connected  with  the  Police  Department,  that  of  breaking 
up  the  female  houses  of  robbery  and  of  keeping  the  inmates  of  such  places 
off  the  streets.  His  success  on  this  detail  is  well  known  and  will  ever  be 
appreciated  by  his  commanding  officers. 

Determined  persistency  and  never-ending  effort  on  the  part  of  Officer 
Wooldridge,  together  with  the  ability  he  invariably  displays  in  landing  per- 
petrators of  any  and  all. sorts  of  crimes,  has  placed  terror  in  the  bosoms  of  all 
wrong-doers  with  whom  he  has  come  in  contact,  and  his  labors  as  a  police 
officer  deserve  the  praise  of  all  upright  citizens.    Very  sincerely. 


ALEX.    S.    ROSS. 


*--<£«£/' 


Ex- Assistant  General  Superintendent  of  Police. 


CITY  OF  CHICAGO, 
DEPARTMENT  OF  POLICE. 

December  9.  1S97. 
To  Whom  It  May  Concern:. 

I,  the  undersigned,  hereby  certify  that  I 
have  known  Detective  Clifton  R.  Wooldridge 
personally  for  the  past  ten  years,  and  know 
him  to  be  an  efficient,  trustworthy  and  pains- 
taking officer,  and  one  in  whom  the  utmost 
confidence  can  be  safely  placed.  His  public 
record  in  this  department  is  convincing  proof 
of  the  truth  of  my  assertions.  I  can  and  do 
cheerfully  recommend  him  for  favorable  consideration. 
Very  respectfully  yours, 


JOHN   I).    SHEA. 


CITY  OP  CHICAGO, 
DEPARTMENT  OF  POLICE. 

December  23.  1897. 
To  Whom  It  May  Concern: 

Clifton  R.  Wooldridge  was  under  my  conv 
mand  for  two  years  while  I  was  Captain  of 
Police  at  the  Harrison  Street  Station,  and  I 
have  always  found  him  to  be  an  efficient  offi- 
cer, absolutely  honest,  sober,  fearless  and 
trustworthy.  He  has  never  been  known  to 
shirk  any  duty  assigned  to  him  and  is  always 
willing.and  ready.  He  is  the  hardest  working 
police  officer  I  ever  knew,  and. I  cheerfully  recommend  him  to  the  favorable 
consideration  of  the  public. 

Very  respectfully  youir 


John  j.  hartnett. 


Inspector  First  Division. 


CITY  OF  CHICAGO, 
DEPARTMENT  OF  POLICE. 


April  4,  1898. 
To  Whom  It  May  Concern: 

I  have  known  Detective  Clifton  R.  Wool- 
dridge for  a  number  of  years,  the  greater  part 
of  which  time  he  served  under  me  while  I  was 
Chief  Inspector  of  the  Chicago  Police  Depart- 
ment, and- take  great  pleasure  in  stating  that 
he  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  hardest  working 
and  most  painstaking  men  I  have  ever  seen  in 
the  police  station.  I  have  always  found  him 
willing  and  eager  to  take  up  any  phase  of  criminal  prosecution,  and  his  invari- 
able success  at  running  to  earth  evil-doers  of  all  classes  has  brought  to  him  a 
most  enviable  reputation.  In  criminal  cases  with  which  he  was  connected,  he 
succeeded  and  tabulated  his  evidence  so  concisely  that  the  different  police 
justices  strongly  commend  his  manner  of  handling  criminals.  I  am  confident 
that  if  all  police  officers  would  follow  his  example  in  this  particular,  there 
would  be  a  notable  decrease  of  crime. 

Very  respectfully  yours. 


FITZPATKICK. 


ajZLtcs^ 


Ejf-Inspector  of  Police. 


1G 


CITY  OF  CHICAGO.     . 
DEPARTMENT  OF  POLIC& 

January  ti,  1901. 
To  Whom  It  May  Concern: 

This  is  to  certify  that  I  have  known 
Detective  Clifton  R.  Wooldridge  for  a  number 
of  years.  During  his  long  service  in  the  Police 
Department  he  has  had  many  difficult  assign- 
ments, and  through  all  of  them  has  performed 
his  duties  in  a  remarkably  efficient  manner. 
Mr.  Wooldridge  is  an  officer  on  whom  can  be 
placed  any  responsibility  with  the  knowledge 
beforehand  that  he  can  be  relied  upon  to  do  his  full  duty.  It  gives  me  pleas- 
ure to  express  myselfas  to  the  worthiness  of  Mr.  Wooldridge,  and  I  bespeak 
for  him  every  consideration  and  courtesy. 

,^  '■  Very  respectfully  yours, 


LUKE  KALAS. 


Inspector  Commanding  Fourth  Division.* 


CITY  OF  CHICAGO, 
DEPARTMENT  OF  POLICE. 

January  17,  1901. 
To  Whom  It  May  Concern: 

I  have  known  Clifton  R.  Wooldridge  for 
the  last  ten  years.  As  a  police  officer  Mr. 
Wooldridge  is  par-excellence,  absolutely  with- 
out fear,  courteous  in  his  treatment  to  both 
superiors  and  inferiors,  prompt  to  obey,  and 
with  a  detective  ability  so  strongly  developed, 
it  almost  appealed  to  me  as  an  extra  "sense." 
In  fact,  he  has  what  is  known  in  police  circles 
as  "intuition,"  and  lhat  in  a  very  marked  degree.  If  I  wanted  to  secure  the 
arrest  of  a  desperate  man,  I  would  put  Mr.  Wooldridge  in  charge  of  the  case 
in  preference  to  any  one  I  know,  as  with  his  bravery  he  has  discretion.  Mr. 
Wooldridge  is  a  man  of  education,  refinement  and  consummate  ability.  He 
is  a  natural  born  organizer  and  a  leader  of  men.  •  All  the  qualities  that  go  to 
make  up  and  constitute  a  successful  and  efficient  commanding  officer  are 
possessed  by  Mr.  Wooldridge. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 


NICHOLAS   HUNT. 


Inspector  Commanding  Second  Division. 
17 


'city  OPCHICAGO. 
DEPARTMENT  OP  POLICE 

January  at,  tgoi. 
To  Whom  It  May  Concern: 

It  affords  me  great  pleasure  to  testify  to 
the  integrity,  honesty  and  general  efficiency  of 
Detective  Clifton  R.  Wooldridge.     I  can  state 
with  a  knowledge  of  the  facts  that  Mr.  Wool- 
dridge has  a  record    in  the  Chicago    Police 
Department  of  which  any  officer  might  justly 
be  proud.     He  has  been  connected  with  the 
department  for  a  number  of  years,  and  during 
my  acquaintance  with  hira  I  have  found  him  to  be  one  of  the  most  efficient 
officers  in  the  service.    If  we  had  more  men  of  his  caliber  in  the  department, 
crime  in  the  City  of  Chicago  would  soon  be  reduced  to  the  minimum. . 
v  Very  respectfully  yours, 


MAX  HEIDELMEIER. 


aV-  ^w~ 


Inspector  Commanding  Fifth  Division. 


CITY  OF  CHICAGO. 
DEPARTMENT  OF  POLICE. 

Chicago,  June  5,  1901. 
Regarding  the  book  that  Officer  Wool- 
dridge has  compiled  I  must  confess  that  I  take 
great  pleasure  in  certifying  that  the  duty  per- 
formed by  Officer  Wooldridge  has  at  all  times 
been  most  commendable  and  meritorious. 

His  untiring  zeal,  efficiency,  and  vigilance 
in  the  discharge  of  his  duty  have  established  for 
him  a  reputation  not  only  among  his  superior 
officers,  but  also  among  the  citizens  at  large. 
His  example  as  the  faithful  officer  should  be  studied  and  practiced  by 
those  whose  ambition  is  constantly  waning. 

His  book  is  most  worthy,  truthful,  and  commendable,  and  I  take  great 
pleasure  in  recommending  it  to  all  who  desire  to  read  a  truthful  exposition  of 
the  wrong  side  of  life,  as  portrayed  and  depicted  by  such  an  experienced  and 
faithful  officer  as  C  R.  Wooldridge.    Respectfully,  f 


UIKE  P.  COIXERAN. 


Chief  of  Detectives 


18 


MICHAEL  P.  EVANS. 


BUREAU  OF  TNDENTIFICAT10M. 
Department  of  Police 

Chicago.  April  2;.  loot. 
It  affords  me  great  pleasure  to  state  that  1 
have  always  found  Clifton  R.  Wooldridge  to 
be  a  hard  working  and  industrious  officer. 
During  the  time  he  was  connected  with  the 
Harrison  Street  Police  Station  he  brought  t<-» 
the  Bureau  of  Identification  more  prisoners 
than  the  majority*  of  officers  in  the  depart- 
ment. 

Very  respectfully, 

^AAoyJLcud.  (j  •  6  v-a/m4 

Superintendent  of  Bureau  of  Identification 


.... 


...OFFICE  OF-. 


Natonal  Bureau. of  Identification 

BOARD    OF    GOVERNORS:; 
GEORGE   M.    PORTEOUS. 

SUPERINTENDENT. 


PHILIP  DEITSCH,  President. 

Superintendent  of  Police,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
JOSEPH  KIPLEV. 

Superintendent  of  Police,  Chicago. 
WM.  A.  PINKERTON. 

Principal  Pi  nkerton's  National  Detective 

Agency.  Chicago 
JOHN  MARTIN. 

Superintendent  of  Police,  Detroit,  Mich, 
GEO.  E.  CORNER. 

Superintendent  of  Police,  Cleveland,  ObiQ, 


D.  S.  G ASTER/- — 

Superintendent  of  Police,  New  Orleans,  La. 
RICHARD  SYLVESTER 

Superiniendentof  Police,  Washington,  D.  C. 
JAS.  F.  QDIGLEY. 

Superiniendentof  Police,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 
J.n.  HAAGER. 

Chief  of  Police,  Louisville.  Ey. 
FRANK  J.  CASSADA. 

Chief  of  Police,  Eimira,  N.  Y. 

City  Hall.  Chicago. 
To  Whom  It  May  Concern:  '   4 

I  take  much  pleasure  in  stating  that  I  have  known  Detective  Clifton  R. 
Wooldridge  for  a  number  of  years,  and  have  had  an  opportunity  to  note  his 
unusually  successful  record  in  the  police  work.  It  would  be  a  difficult  matter 
to  add  by  words  of  commendation  anything  that  would  speak  mofe  highly  of 
his  brilliant  work  than  that  which  is  covered  by  facts  and  figures  on  file  in 
the  records  of  the  Chicago  Police  Station.  *f^ 

Very  respectfully, 


Superintendent, 

^iK,t_»    .mi"      *  '** 


CITY  OF  CHICAGO, 
DEPARTMENT  OF  POLICE. 

Chicago,  May  i,  1892. 
Mr.  Clifton  R.  Wooldridge,  City. 

Dear  Sir:— During  my  term  of  office  at  the  Harrison  Street  Police  Sta- 
tion, I  desire  to  say  that  in  the  performance  of  your  duties  you  displayed 
ability,  honesty  and  integrity  in  all  cases  to  which  you  were  assigned.  I 
have  always  found  you  prompt,  fearless,  and  incorruptible,  the  qualities 
requisite  of  a  police  officer  at  the  most  important  station  of  a  metropolis  like 
Chicago.  Your  heart  is  in  the  right  placeTand  while  I  have  always  found  you 
stern  and  persistent  in  the  pursuit  and  prosecution  of  criminals,  you  were 
ever  kind  and  considerate,  and  I  can  truthfully  say  that  more  than  one  evil- 
doer was  helped  to  reform  and  was  given  material  assistance  by  you. 

Very  respectfully, 

GEORGE  M.  SHIPPY. 

Captain  of  Police. 


CITY  OF  CHICAGO. 
DEPARTMENT  OF  POLICE. 

January  5, 1895. 
Clifton  R.  Wooldridge,  City. 

Dear  Sir:— Having  personally  known  you  for  the  past  six  years,  I  had 
special  opportunity  in  my  capacity  as  Captain  of  Police  to  observe  your  work 
and  intimately  know  your  conduct  as  a  police  officer  and  a  guardian  of  life 
and  property.  1  take  pleasure  in  stating  that  I  have  always  found  you  to  be 
an.  honest,  sober,  industrious,  and  efficient  officer  who  meritoriously  dis- 
charges his  duties  together  with  exceptionally  good  judgment  in  emergency, 
and  accounts  of  heroism  are  on  record  in  the  Police  Department  to  which  I 
respectfully  refer,  and  state  that  you  are  one  of  the  best  and  cleverest  officers 
in  the  department. 

Respectfully  yours, 

WALTER  M.  JENKINS, 

Captain  of  Police. 


CITY  OF  CHICAGO, 
DEPARTMENT  OF  POLICE. 

February  13,  1901. 
Dear  Sir: — It  gives  me  pleasure  to  say  that  in  the  years  I  have  served  in 
this  department  I  have  never  seen  a  more  fearless  officer  than  you  have  been. 
Your  name  has  been  absolutely  free  from  scandal,  and  your  work  in  time  of 
danger  has  made  you  nothing  short  of  a  hero.  As  a  successful  detective  you 
possess  all  the  requisites,  which  include  sobriety,  a  clear  head,  good  judgment, 
and  integrity  of  the  most  pronounced  type. 

Very^truly, 

A.  F.  CAMPBELL. 

Captain  Fifteenth  Preci&ct 

SO 


CITY  OF  CHICAGO, 

DEPARTMENT  OF  POLICE. 

January  5,  1895. 

Mr.  Clifton  R.  Wooldridgs,  City. 

Few  words  are  required  of  me  to  express  my  appreciation  of  your  excel- 
lent qualities  as  a  police  officer.  While  I  was  in  command  of  the  Stanton 
Avenue  Station,  you  rendered  good  and  valuable  service  to  the  department  and 
the  public  of  Chicago.  You  possess  those  qualities  which  go  to  make  up  an 
efficient  officer,  and  those  qualities  are  intelligence,  honesty,  sobriety,  relia- 
bility, and  trustworthiness.  I  have  never  known  you  to  shirk  any  duty  to 
which  you  were  assigned,  and  have  always  found  you  willing  and  ready  for 
any  kind  of  work.  Vcrv  respectfully, 

THOMAS  C.  KANE, 

Captain  of  Police. 


CITY  OF  CHICAGO. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  POLICE. 

May  17,  X901. 
To  Whom  It  May  Concern: 

This  is  to  certify  that  I  have  known  Clifton  R.  Wooldridge  as  a  policej 
officer  for  over  ten  years,  and  during  the  year  1896  ne  was  Under  my  com- 
mand. 

I  always  found  him  to  be  absolutely  fearless  in  the  discharge  of  duty, 
irreprcachably  honest,  and  at  all  times  he  displayed  a  thoroughly  compre- 
hensive knowledge  of  the  duties  of  an  officer. 

He  is  possessed  of  great  detective  ability  and  may  be  relied  upon  to  dis- 
charge in  an  efficient  manner  any  task  assigned  to  him. 

MARTIN  HAYES, 
Captain,  Commanding  Third  District. 


CITY  OF  CHICAGO, 
DEPARTMENT  OF  POLICE. 

May  i,  1897. 
This  is  to  testify  that  I  have  known  Clifton  R.  Wooldridge  for  the  past 
five  years,  he  having  been  a  member  of  my  command  during  the  greater 
part  of  that  time.  I  have  always  found  him  to  be  a  trustworthy  and  efficient 
officer,  and  I  cheerfully  commend  him  as  a  man  upon  whom  reliance  can  be 
placed  in  all  cases.  Very  respectfully, 

CIIAS.  G.  KOCH. 
Captain,  Commanding  Second  District. 


CITY  OF  CHICAGO, 
DEPARTMENT  OF  POLICE. 

January  20.  1898. 
Mr.  Clifton  R.  Wooldridge,  City. 

Dear  Sir  .—During  the  six  years  in  which  I  was  intimately  associated 
with  you  in  the  Police  Department  I  found  you  to  be  without  exception  the 
best  and  most  efficient  officer  in  the  service  of  Chicago.  Your  police  record 
will  prove  that  my  assertions  as  to  your  efficiency  are  entirely  true.  This 
record  cannot  be  excelled  by  any  member  of  any  police  force  in  the  country. 
I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  vouch  for  your  ability  and  integrity  as  an  officer. 

MATHEW  HOMER, 

Captain  Third  Precinct, ) 
21  "^ 


FROM  LIEUTENANTS  OF  POLICE. 


The  following  letters  from  the  lieutenants  of  police,  in  the 
City  of  Chicago,  under  whom  and  with  whom,  Detective  Clifton 
R.  Wooldridge  worked,  show  the  esteem  in  which  he  is  held  by 
theim 

CITY  OF  CHICAGO. 
DEPARTMENT  OF  POLICE. 

Chicago.  January  21,  i8q3. 
It  affords  me  great  pleasure  to  testify  to  the  honesty,  integrity,  and  effi- 
ciency of  Officer  Clifton  R.  Wooldridge.  My  acquaintance  with  hira  covers  a 
period  of  thirteen  years.  During  a  portion  of  that  time  he  was  in  my  com- 
mand, and  I  have  always  found  him  thoroughly  reliable,  competent,  and  alert 
in  everything  pertaining  to  bis  duty. 

Very  respectfully, 

CHAS.  C.  HEALY. 
Lieutenant  of  Police,  Eighteenth  Precinct.; 


CITY  OF  CHICAGO? 

DEPARTMENT  OF  POLICE.  

Chicago.  December  21,  1897.  ^ 
Mr.  Clifton  R.  Wooldridge  was  under  my  command  as  a  detective  and 
patrolman  for  two  years,  and  it  gives  mc  pleasure  to  testify  to  his  ability  and 
good  character.  He  at  all  times  shows  the  citizens  of  Chicago  and  his  supe- 
rior officers  that  he  realizes  what  arc  the  proper  duties  of  a  police  officer.  lie 
is  worthy  of  any  confidence  that  may  be  placed  in  him. 

Very  respectfully. 

"WILLIAM  W.'  CUDMORE. 
Lieutenant  Commanding  Third  Precinct. ' 


CITY  OF  CHICAGO. 
DEPARTMENT  OF  POLICE.  - 

February  20.  1893. 
I  have  known  Police  OTicer  Clifton  R.  Wooldridge  since  1880.  and  he  was 
under  my  command  for  two  years.     I  regard  him  as  one  of  the  most  faithful. 
trustworthy  and  efficient  men  who  ever  traveled  under  me. 

Respectfully, 

AUGUST  C.  ARCH. 
Lieutenant  of  Police  Second  Precinct 


CITY  OF  CHICAGO. 
DEPARTMENT  OF  POLICE.  ___ 

^  Chicago,  December  28. 1897. 
Clifton  R.  Wooldridge  served  under  me  as  a  patrolman  for  a  period  of 
three  years  at  the  Harrison  Street  Police  Station,  and  was  always  an  able  and 
efficient  officer,  and  thoroughly  fearless  in  the  diseharg^of  his  duties.*^ 
-v.  Very  respectfully, 

JOHN  R.  BONFIELD: 
Lieutenant  of  Second  Precinctj 
23  *  ^ 


BIOGRAPHY   OF   THE   AUTHOR. 

Clifton  R.  Wooldridge  was  born  February  25,  1854, 
in  Franklin  County,  Kentucky.  He  received  a  common 
school  education  and  then  started  out  in  the  world  to 
shift  for  himself.  From  1868  to  1871  he  held  the  posi- 
tion of  shipping  clerk  and  collector  for  the  Washington 
Foundry  in  St.  Louis,  Missouri.  Severing  his  connection 
with  that  company,  he  went  to  Washington,  D.  C,  and 
was  attached  to  the  United  States  Signal  Bureau  from 
March  1,  1871,  to  December  5,  1872.  He  then  took  up 
the  business  of  railroading,  and  for  the  following  nine 
years  occupied  positions  as  fireman,  brakeman,  switch- 
man, conductor  and  general  yard  master. 

When  the  gold  fever  broke  out  in  the  Black  Hills  in 
1879,  Mr.  Wooldridge,  along  with  many  others,  went  to 
that  region  to  better  his  fortune.  Six  months  later  he 
joined  the  engineering  corps  of  the  Denver  &  Rio  Grande 
railroad  and  assisted  in  locating  the  line  from  Canon 
City  to  Leadville,  as  well  as  several  of  the  branches.  The 
work  was  not  only  difficult,  but  very  dangerous,  and  at 
times,  when  he  was  assisting  in  locating  the  line  through 
the  Royal  Gorge  in  the  Grand  Canon  of  the  Arkansas, 
he  was  suspended  from  a  rope,  which  ran  from  the  peak 
of  one  cliff  to  the  other,  with  his  surveying  instruments 
strapped  to  his  back.  This  gorge  is  fifty  feet  wide  at  the 
bottom  and  seventy  feet  at  the  top,  the  walls  of  solid  rock 
rising  three  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  river 
below.  The  work  was  slow  and  required  a  great  deal  of 
skill,  but  it  was  accomplished  successfully. 


24  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

Mr.  Wooldridge  went  to  Denver  in  1880  and  engaged 
in  contracting  and  mining  the  following  eighteen  months. 
He  then  took  a  position  as  engineer  and  foreman  of  the 
Denver  Daily  Republican,  where  he  remained  until  May 
29,  1883.  The  following  August  he  came  to  Chicago 
and  took  a  position  with  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St. 
Paul  railway.  In  1886  he  severed  his  connection  with  the 
railroad  and  founded  the  "Switchman's  Journal."  He 
conducted  and  edited  the  paper  until  May  26th,  when  he 
was  burned  out,  together  with  the  firm  of  Donahue  & 
Henneberry  at  the  corner  of  Congress  street  and  Wabash 
avenue,  as  well  as  many  other  business  houses  in  that  lo- 
cality, entailing  a  total  loss  of  nearly  $1,000,000.  Thus 
the  savings  of  many  years  were  swept  away,  leaving  him 
penniless  and  in  debt.  He  again  turned  his  attention  to 
railroading  and  secured  a  position  with  the  Chicago,  Bur- 
lington &  Quincy  railroad  and  had  accumulated  enough 
money  to  pay  the  indebtedness  which  resulted  from  the 
fire,  when  the  great  strike  was  inaugurated  on  that  road 
in  February,  1888.  The  strike  included  the  engineers, 
firemen  and  switchmen,  and  continued  nearly  a  year.  On 
October  5th  of  that  year  Mr.  Wooldridge  made  applica- 
tion for  a  position  on  the  Chicago  police  force,  and  hav- 
ing the  highest  endorsements,  he  was  appointed  and  as- 
signed to  the  Desplaines  Street  Station.  It  was  soon  dis- 
covered that  Wooldridge  as  a  police  officer  had  no  supe- 
riors and  few  equals.  Neither  politics,  religion,  creed, 
color,  or  nationality  obstructed  him  in  the  performance 
of  his  police  duties,  and  the  fact  was  demonstrated  and 
conceded  times  without  number  that  he  could  not  be 
bought,  bribed,  or  intimidated.    He  selected  for  his  motto, 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  25 

"Right  wrongs  no  man;  equal  justice  to  all."  His  supe- 
rior  officers  soon  recognized  the  fact  that  no  braver,  more 
honest  or  efficient  police  officer  ever  wore  a  star  or  car- 
ried a  club. 

The  mass  of  records  on  file  in  the  police  headquarters 
and  in  the  office  of  the  clerk  of  the  criminal  court  demon- 
strate conclusively  that  he  has  made  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable records  of  any  police  officer  in  the  department. 
Up  to  and  including  January,  1906.  Mr.  Wooldridge 
saw  over  thirty  years  of  experience  and  training  in  act- 
ive police  work.  Ten  years  of  this  time  he  was  located 
in  what  is  commonly  known  as  the  Levee  district,  a  ter- 
ritory where  criminals  congregate  and  where  crimes  of 
all  degrees  are  committed.  The  following  brief  synopsis 
shows  the  work  performed  by  him : 

During  his  service  on  the  police  force  he  made  18,000 
arrests,  the  name,  date,  charge  and  disposition  of  each 
case  being  accurately  kept  by  him.  Of  these  arrests,  2,000 
were  made  on  criminal  charges,  and  150  of  these  were 
convicted  and  sent  to  the  state  penitentiary,  2,000  were 
sent  to  the  House  of  Correction,  while  8,000  paid  fines, 
and  the  others  received  jail  sentences.  During  this  time 
re  recovered  lost  and  stolen  property  to  the  value  of 
$100,000,  which  was  returned  to  the  owners  through  him 
and  the  department.  Seventy-five  girls  under  age  were 
rescued  by  him  from  houses  of  ill-fame  and  a  life  of 
shame,  and  returned  to  their  parents  or  guardians,  or 
sent  to  the  Juvenile  School  or  the  House  of  the  Good 
Shepherd.  He  closed  and  broke  up  fifty  opium  joints, 
and  in  the  year  1896  closed  fifty-two  panel  houses  that 
were  then  in  operation  on  the  levee.    During  the  months 


26  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

of  October  and  December,  1898,  he  closed  twenty  houses 
of  prostitution  on  Michigan  avenue,  and  in  the  same 
months  closed  and  broke  up  forty-five  panel  houses.  In 
October,  1899,  twenty-eight  panel  house  keepers  were, 
through  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Wooldridge,  indicted  and  con- 
victed. This  last  stroke  broke  up  entirely  the  panel  house 
business  in  Chicago. 

Mr.  Wooldridge's  criminal  knowledge  of  this  class  of 
people,  which  came  through  his  contact  with  them  daily, 
made  him  one  of  the  most  valuable  officers  in  the  depart- 
ment. It  is  well  known  in  police  circles  that  he  has  re- 
fused at  different  times  bribes  of  from  $500  to  $4,000.  He 
has  in  his  library  a  scrapbook  containing  clippings  of  city 
papers  and  police  bulletins  giving  him  credit  for  criminal 
arrests  and  convictions,  recovery  of  stolen  property  and 
meritorious  conduct,  which  will  cover  a  space  of  500 
square  feet. 

As  a  further  testimonial  to  his  worth  and  efficiency  as 
a  police  officer,  Mr.  Wooldridge  has  complimentary  let- 
ters from  eight  general  superintendents  of  police,  three 
assistant  general  superintendents  of  police,  six  inspectors, 
six  captains,  nine  lieutenants,  six  police  justices,  and  three 
states'  attorneys.  He  also  has  letters  from  the  superin- 
tendent of  the  National  Bureau  of  Identification  and  the 
superintendent  of  the  local  Bureau  of  Identification,  be- 
sides a  letter  from  the  mayor  of  Chicago,  Carter  H.  Har- 
rison, and  from  the  Chief  of  Detectives,  Luke  P.  Col- 
leran. 

Mr.  Wooldridge  has  during  the  past  few  years  been 
working  out  of  the  office  of  the  General  Superintendent 
of  Police.     He  has  had  charge  of  a  detail  of  officers  in 


0T  \  DETECTIVE  27 

many  important  cases,  c*«ong  which  may  be  mentioned 
the  great  building  trades  strike  of  1900,  in  which  60,000 
men  were  thrown  out  of  employment.  He  also  had 
charge  of  a  detail  of  men  in  the  Railway  Men's  Union 
strike  of  1894,  in  which  he  performed  valiant  services 
and  prevented  the  destruction  of  much  property.  Many 
other  similar  cases  might  be  mentioned,  such  as  being  at 
the  head  of  a  force  to  suppress  gambling,  pool  selling  and 
serious  infractions  of  the  law,  in  all  of  which  cases  he 
secured  results  which  were  so  satisfactory  to  the  city 
administration  and  police  department  that  he  has  been 
continued  on  duty  from  the  office  of  the  Chief  of  Police 
ever  since. 

At  one  time  while  he  was  serving  the  city  as  a  patrol- 
man he  was  recommended  by  his  superior  officers  for  the 
Carter  H.  Harrison  medal  for  meritorious  services  on 
account  of  saving  the  lives  of  five  persons  from  a  fire, 
which  occurred  at  a  Clark  street  hotel.  He  has  been  un- 
der fire  from  criminals,  whom  he  has  attempted  to  arrest, 
innumerable  times,  and  bears  the  scars  and  marks  of 
many  conflicts  with  desperate  men.  His  life  has  been 
threatened  hundreds  of  times  and  many  conspiracies  have 
been  made  to  kill  him,  but  in  all  cases  he  has  escaped 
serious  injuries,  and  it  is  sometimes  said  in  the  police  de- 
partment that  he  bears  a  charmed  life. 

Since  1902  Mr.  Wooldridge  has  been  assigned  to  spe- 
cial investigations  answering  foreign  correspondence  di- 
rected to  the  General  Superintendent  of  Police,  and  has 
had  charge  of  the  Swindlers  and  Get-Rich-Quick  enter- 
prises operated  in  Chicago. 

Francis  Q'Neill,  General  Superintendent  of  the  Chi- 


28  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

cago  Police  Department,  says  in  his  annual  report  of 
1905: 

Mr.  Wooldridge,  "I  have  a  very  high  opinion  of  him 
and  of  his  general  efficiency.  I  do  not  know  of  any  man 
in  the  service  to-day  who  can  at  all  compare  with  him  in 
the  ferreting  out  of  swindling  and  so-called  'get-rich' 
concerns.  He  accomplished  more  in  the  last  twelve 
months  than  the  whole  department  has  in  a  lifetime  be- 
fore in  that  line  of  work." 

Never  in  the  history  of  the  city  has  such  a  successful 
and  relentless  war  been  waged  on  so-called  "get-rich- 
quick"  schemes,  such  as  matrimonial  agencies  or  mar- 
riage bureaus,  lotteries,  fake  employment  agencies,  turf 
commissioners,  fake  charity  homes,  "wild-cat"  insurance 
companies,  adulterated  and  spurious  drug  enterprises, 
and  some  other  miscellaneous  swindles. 

Long  exemption  from  interference  by  postal  or  police 
officials  rendered  Chicago  a  fruitful  field  for  concerns  of 
the  character  named.  Alluring  advertisements  in  news- 
papers and  periodicals  with  fascinating  "literature"  to 
beguile  the  greedy  and  credulous,  caught  dupes  without 
number.  One  clever,  pertinacious  police  officer,  Clifton 
R.  Wooldridge  by  name,  working  under  my  instructions, 
played  havoc  with  their  operations,  and  notwithstanding 
the  pleadings  and  protests  of  the  schemers  and  their  at- 
torneys, the  law  was  found  to  be  practical  and  compre- 
hensive enough  to  put  them  out  of  business  and  into 
jail. 

Again,  in  his  report  for  the  year  1903,  the  General 
Superintendent  of  Police  declares : 

"In  no  branch  of  police  effort  were  the  results  so  uni- 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  29 

formly  satisfactory  as  in  the  suppression  of  so-called 
'get-rich-quick'  concerns.  The  year  1903  was  one  of  un- 
interrupted disaster  to  the  schemes  concocted  by  fertile 
brains  to  delude  the  credulous  and  unwary  of  both  sexes. 
The  special  detail  under  charge  of  Officer  Clifton  R. 
Wooldridge,  operating  from  the  office  of  the  General 
Superintendent,  has  punished  and  put  out  of  business 
scores  of  matrimonial  bureaus  and  agencies,  turf  invest- 
ment concerns,  home  building  associations,  bucket-shops, 
lotteries,  wire-tappers,  fake  promoters,  book  agencies  and 
miscellaneous  concerns." 

In  presenting  this  work  to  the  public,  he  makes  no 
claims  beyond  his  merits,  and  those  merits  are  supported 
by  the  state  and  city  records,  which  are  at  all  times  open 
to  the  inspection  of  every  one.  It  is  a  simple  history  of 
his  seventeen  years'  connection  with  the  Chicago  police 
force  and  reveals  many  things  which  have  not  hereto- 
fore been  brought  to  light  in  the  execution  of  the  duties 
of  policemen  and  detectives. 

It  may  be  of  great  interest  to  some,  and  he  hopes  it  may 
be  of  sufficient  interest  to  engage  the  attention  of  a  great 
many  who  are  not  familiar  with  the  duties  and  the  perils 
attending  the  lives  of  officers  of  the  peace. 


Trapping  the  Wildcats. 

T  is  not  a  pleasant  duty  to  drag  men  from 
mansions  and  plush  carpeted  offices  and 
consign  them  to  the  horrors  of  the  peni- 
tentiary, but  when  the  public  interest  de- 
mands it  the  exchange  from  purple  and  fine 
linen  to  a  felon's  stripes  becomes  imperative.  When 
men  are  found  basking  in  luxury  begotten  of  fraud 
they  must  be  transplanted  to  the  other  extreme,  pro- 
vided by  society  for  its  erring  members.  Chicago  but 
recently  has  seen  the  end  of  such  a  process,  which  fur- 
nishes one  of  the  most  dramatic  chapters  in  the  finan- 
cial history  of  the  United  States. 

The  story  is  one  involving  millions  of  stolen  dollars, 
of  heartless  commercial  brigandage,  of  brutal  filching 
from  the  poor,  and  finally  the  running  to  earth  by  a 
policeman  of  the  buccaneers  of  business,  numbering 
hundreds,  who  for  years  had  preyed  upon  the  unpro- 
tected public. 

For,  of  all  the  swindles  ever  perpetrated  that  of 
"Wild  Cat"  insurance  was  the  vilest.  Not  only  did 
this  system  divert  from  the  legitimate  business  chan- 
nels of  a  city  the  enormous  sum  of  $500,000  annually; 
the  solid  interests  could  well  afford  to  lose  that 
amount.  It  was  the  source  whence  this  vast  loot  was 
abstracted  that  caused  loathing  in  the  minds  of  honest 
men.     Unlike  "Get-rich-quick"  schemers  of  the  ordi- 


36  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

nary  type,  the  "Wildcatters"  did  not  promise  some- 
thing for  nothing.  Neither  did  they  hold  forth  bland- 
ishments to  their  victims  by  which  to  deceive  them  as 
to  the  real  nature  of  their  business. 

Instead,  they  proceeded  in  the  ordinary  way,  along 
lines  apparently  so  legitimate  that  the  most  conserva- 
tive were  deceived.  True,  experts  in  their  particular 
line  of  business  scouted  far  ahead  of  their  more  easy- 
going brethren  and  reported  impending  disaster,  but 
the  masses  with  whom  they  dealt  were  not  experts* 
It  was  not  until  a  shrewd,  silent  member  of  the  Chi- 
cago police  force',  unimpeachable  and  determined  to 
stamp  out  wrong  where  he  found  it,  burst  into  their 
camp  and  with  physical  force  dragged  them  before  the 
bar  of  justice  that  these  past  masters  of  imposture 
were  given  their  dues. 

As  a  prelude  to  the  more  romantic  details  an  outline 
of  the  situation  from  a  purely  business  standpoint, 
written  by  the  Chicago  representative  of  one  of  the 
big  commercial  agencies,  is  given  below : 

"Perhaps  no  interest  in  Chicago  has  been  so  hard 
hit  during  the  last  few  years  as  the  fire  insurance  line. 
Those  at  a  distance  have  not  understood  the  situation, 
and  those  on  the  spot  have  not  all  at  once  realized  a 
drastic  evolution,  current  with  loss  and  serious  men- 
ace, that  has  cleared  the  air  at  a  critical  time.  Briefly: 
The  direct  losses  to  home  companies  in  such  instances 
as  the  Baltimore  and  Rochester  fires,  where  all  normal 
calculations  as  to  conflagrational  hazard  were  dis- 
rupted, constituted  a  set-back  so  unexpected  that  only 
the  surplus  of  fat  years  saved  the  day.     Marked  con- 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  37 

servatism  in  both  home  and  foreign  companies  has 
eventuated,  so  that  to-day  surplus  lines  go  begging  on 
the  street,  giving  rise  to  a  new  industry — 'The  Insur- 
ance Specialist' — who  reluctantly  defines  his  province 
as  furnishing  fire  insurance  to  persons  who  cannot  get 
fire  insurance  at  any  price  on  the  open  market. 

"It  is  this  surplus  line  business  that  has  cost  Chi- 
cago millions  of  dollars  in  premiums.  From  the 
shadow  of  its  baneful  influence  the  legitimate  agencies 
are,  self-confessedly,  just  creeping  out.  The  abuse  of 
a  primarily  meritorious  proposition  has  nearly  de- 
stroyed its  legitimate  use.  This  has  happened :  Be- 
ginning with  1900  there  came  to  the  surface  in  Chicago 
within  eighteen  months  something  like  185  'Lloyds' 
concerns. 

"These  associations  had  no  legal  standing,  were  not 
amenable  to  corporate  laws  and  based  promises  and 
prospects  on  the  success  of  English  Lloyds  combina- 
tions. Any  irresponsible  broker  could  select  a  high- 
sounding  name,  list  ten  so-called  underwriters  and 
launch  into  business. 

"They  scheduled  no  appreciable  resources,  though 
quoting  the  bulk  financial  responsibility  of  the  under- 
writers, in  some  instances  persons  of  means.  These 
concerns  advertised  all  over  the  country,  cutting  rates 
and  issuing  policies  apparently  modeled  after  the  New 
York  standard  form,  but  containing  specious  hidden 
clauses  likely  to  defeat  indemnity  in  case  of  a  fire  loss. 
The  underwriters  could  withdraw  at  any  time.  Their 
responsibility  was  specifically  restricted  in  the  con- 
tracts and  the  rule  was  to  contest  everything,  pay  only 


38  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

small  losses  and  go  out  of  business  when  suits  became 
too  numerous. 

WRITES  SIXTY  MILLION  DOLLARS  A  YEAR. 

"One  broker,  conducting  six  of  these  concerns  at  va- 
rious addresses,  is  said  to  have  written  the  enormous 
total  of  $60,000,000  worthless  insurance  in  one  year. 
Another  failed  with  $80,000  fire  losses  and  no  visible 
assets  and  the  assumption  is  that  misinformed  and 
ignorant  small  insurers  at.  a  distance  paid  annual  toll 
to  this  industry  in  Chicago  alone  to  the  tune  of 
$500,000. 

"The  commercial  agencies  detected  the  false  note  in 
this  system  at  the  start  and  sent  out  a  warning.  Of 
all  the  concerns,  multiplying  daily  in  1902,  less  than 
a  dozen  were  shown  to  have  any  excuse  for  existence. 
In  1903  the  local  police  department  made  a  thorough 
canvass  of  the  situation  and  nearly  all  of  these  Lloyds 
were  definitely  reported  as  operating  in  distinct  defi- 
ance of  the  law. 

"Meanwhile  complaints  began  to  come  in  from  all 
parts  of  the  country  and  Chicago  gained  such  wide- 
spread notoriety  for  'Wild  Cat'  service  that  the  Board 
of  Underwriters,  the  United  States  postal  service  and 
the  state  department  of  insurance,  acting  on  informa- 
tion gathered,  inaugurated  a  war  of  prosecution.  By 
January,  1905,  all  the  ringleaders  of  the  irregular  com- 
binations had  taken  flight  or  were  under  indictment, 
and  the  latter  are  now  under  heavy  fines  and  serving 
sentences  in  the  state  penitentiary  or  House  of  Cor- 
rection.   The  industry  has  practically  been  blotted  out, 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


39 


No  Closed  Season  for  Catching  this  Kind  of  Fish. 

The  Supply  Unlimited — One  Is  Born  Every  Minute. 


40  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

a  result  pronounced  by  the  insurance  experts  the  best 
and  quickest  piece  of  work  ever  executed  in  this  field. 

"The  secret,  silent  and  actual  service  in  this  matter 
fell  to  Detective  Clifton  R.  Wooldridge.  From  first 
to  last  it  was  due  to  his  indefatigable  work  that  loads 
of  records  were  unearthed,  crooked  methods  discov- 
ered and  the  evidence  gathered  in  endless  chain  and 
without  a  flaw,  which  so  dismayed  those  arrested  that 
they  pleaded  guilty  rather  than  face  over  150  wit- 
nesses summoned  to  the  Federal  court  from  every  part 
of  the  United  States. 

"His  efforts  are  considered  the  more  remarkable  be- 
cause even  experienced  insurance  men  did  not  com- 
prehend the  workings  of  the  'Wild  Cat'  trust,  and  it 
required  intelligence,  patience  and  strict  honesty  of 
purpose  to  combat  influences  exerted  by  a  'ring'  em- 
bracing some  of  the  shrewdest  confidence  scheme  op- 
erators in  America. 

"This  unique  industry  will  never  show  its  head 
again  under  the  old  guise.  The  few  concerns — less 
than  five — now  in  existence,  that  have  survived  be- 
cause they  really  proceeded  on  conservative  lines,  are 
gradually  closing  out  business  or  incorporating  as 
regular  companies  in  other  states  and  establishing  a 
home  office  where  organized,  in  conformity  with  the 
recent  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court.  The  mutual 
associations  in  Chicago  are  most  of  them  on  a  sub- 
stantial basis,  having  as  members  only  such  firms  as 
carry  a  standard  rating  in  excese  of  $300,000,  and  tak- 
ing exclusively  preferred  automatic  sprinkler  risks. 

"With  this  cleansing  of  the  Augean  stables,  Chicago 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  41 

bids  fair  to  resume  a  former  record  for  reliability  in 
the  matter  of  fire  insurance.  In  this  prompt  and  defi- 
nite extermination  of  the  Wild  Cat'  combinations  the 
direct  prosecutor  has  been  Detective  Wooldridge,  who 
has  been  compelled  to  fight,  step  by  step,  every  pos- 
sible technicality  and  the  result  has  led  to  more  strin- 
gent and  exacting  legislative  enactments  for  the  pro- 
tection of  legitimate  insurance  companies  and  the  in- 
terests of  the  insuring  public,  directing  for  the  latter 
over  half  a  million  dollars  into  trustworthy  channels 
and  giving  them  a  safe  possibility  of  just  indemnity 
in  case  of  fire  loss. 

"It  is  noteworthy  that  in  the  handling  of  this  mat- 
ter, while  some  other  investigating  mediums  carelessly 
passed  over  the  demerits  of  this  system,  deceived  by 
its  newness  and  first  popularity,  and  allowed  some  of 
these  associations  to  become  clients,  Detective  Wool- 
dridge vigorously  pursued  a  watchful  and  finally  an 
aggressive  course,  the  ramifications  of  which  eventu- 
ated in  enabling  the  United  States  courts  to  secure  the 
entire  frame-work  on  which  the  government  rested  all 
of  the  cases  that  were  successfully  prosecuted." 

If  anything  the  able  writer  of  the  above  has  been  too 
lenient  with  the  "Wildcatters."  He  does  not  tell  of 
,the  millions  of  dollars  worth  of  bogus  securities,  not 
worth  the  paper  they  were  written  on,  which  the  graft- 
ers flaunted  as  their  "resources" ;  of  the  shameless 
games  and  subterfuges  by  which  they  evaded  payment 
of  their  fire  losses ;  of  the  hundreds  of  families  that 
were  impoverished  by  reason  of  their  existence ;  of  the 
battle  that  occurred  before  the  victory  was  won. 


42  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

THE  BURSTING  OF  THE  BUBBLE. 

The  big  Baltimore  fire  was  largely  responsible  for 
the  onslaught  upon  the  lairs  of  the  "Wild  Cats"  by  the 
police.  Soon  after  the  conflagration  complaints  began 
to  reach  the  office  of  State's  Attorney  Deneen,  now 
governor  of  Illinois,  that  certain  concerns  were  evi- 
dently determined  not  to  honor  their  obligations,  and 
that  their  methods  savored  of  fraud  in  its  most  violent 
form.  It  was  estimated  that  Baltimore  policy  holders 
lost  an  aggregate  of  $184,000  through  the  irresponsible 
concerns. 

Mr.  Deneen  referred  the  matter  to  Chief  of  Police 
O'Neill,  who  assigned  Detective  Wooldridge  of  his 
personal  staff  on  the  case.  The  officer  had  as  allies 
the  Chicago  Board  of  Underwriters,  the  postal  author- 
ities and  the  state  insurance  department,  but  the  brunt 
of  the  work  fell  upon  Wooldridge,  whose  strenuous 
methods  of  gathering  evidence  made  possible  the 
breaking  up  of  the  system  and  the  complete  rout  of  all 
those  engaged  in  it. 

After  studying  the  situation  in  all  its  details  and  in- 
vestigating from  every  angle  the  detective  reasoned 
that  the  one  sure  method  of  getting  the  necessary  evi- 
dence was  by  entering  the  dens  of  the  "Wild  Cats," 
confiscating  every  scrap  of  paper  and  making  those  in 
charge  prisoners.  But,  before  proceeding  with  these 
exciting  incidents  another  circumstance  may  well  be 
dwelt  upon — a  circumstance  which  materially  aided 
the  authorities  and  which  lent  an  additional  touch  of 
dramatic  interest  to  the  affair.  This  was  the  ven- 
geance of  a  woman. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  43 

While  in  a  drunken  orgie  E.  A.  Shanklin,  who  con- 
ducted several  fake  insurance  companies  in  the  Fort 
Dearborn  building,  defamed  his  stenographer,  Airs. 
Bessie  Taylor.  The  young  woman  left  his  employ- 
ment, brought  suit  for  slander  and  sought  further  sat- 
isfaction by  inditing  the  following  letter  to  Chief 
O'Neill,  the  Federal  authorities  and  the  Chiacgo  Un- 
derwriters' Association : 

Gentlemen — As  you  have  probably  noticed  in  the 
papers  I  have  a  suit  against  Mr.  E.  A.  Shanklin,  802, 
134  Monroe  street,  for  $5,000  for  slander.  Now,  I 
worked  for  this  party  for  one  year  and  I  know  his 
business  methods.  During  the  last  three  years  he  has 
made  $50,000  a  year  defrauding  the  public.  He  boasts 
that  the  Illinois  authorities  have  never  been  able  to 
put  their  hands  on  him. 

He  started  his  wild  cat  insurance  business  about  ten 
years  ago,  according  to  his  own  story.  He  is  not  a 
broker,  as  he  represents  himself  to  be,  but  owns  all 
of  his  own  companies.  He  owns  the  American  Un- 
derwriters, the  Great  Western  Underwriters,  the 
Royal  Underwriters'  Association  and  the  Citizens'  In- 
surance Company.  He  also  sends  out  a  large  number 
of  policies  in  the  Great  Britain  Insurance  Company, 
which  has  offices  in  London,  and  who  have  no  right  to 
do  business  in  the  United  States,  because  they  have 
not  deposited  the  amount  of  capital  here  required  for 
the  protection  of  policy  holders. 

He  also  owns  the  Equitable  Insurance  Company  of 
Indiana,  which  went  into  the  hands  of  a  receiver  last 
July.  He  paid  only  one  loss  for  this  company,  and 
when  the  company  had  half  a  dozen  losses  he  simply 
threw  the  company  into  the  hands  of  a  receiver  to 
get  out  of  paying  his  losses,  intending  to  buy  in  the 
charter  again  for  $200  and  start  the  company  up  again 


44  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

with  a  clean  sheet  under  a  new  name.  This  informa- 
tion you  can  verify  by  communicating  with  Mr.  Ham- 
mand,  of  Hammond,  Ind.,  the  receiver,  and  W.  J. 
Whitney,  the  attorney  for  the  receiver,  also  of  Ham- 
mond. He  did  this  company  out  of  thousands  of  dol- 
lars and  I  can  tell  you  exactly  how  it  was  done.  He 
turns  all  his  loss  matters  over  to  Mr.  H.  J.  Toner, 
1031-35  Unity  building.     Respectfully, 

BESSIE  TAYLOR. 

The  revelations  contained  in  the  angry  woman's  let- 
ter served  to  strengthen  the  conclusion  reached  by 
Wooldridge,  that  the  best  method  of  cleansing  the  in- 
surance atmosphere  of  Chicago  was  to  clean  literally. 
Already  there  were  injunction  proceedings  pending 
against  a  number  of  bogus  insurance  companies  and 
an  official  list  of  "Wild  Cats"  had  been  issued  by  the 
national  convention  of  insurance  commissioners. 

This  was  all  very  well  and  good,  thought  Detective 
Wooldridge,  but  he  also  knew  full  well  that  court  pro- 
ceedings are  tedious  things  and  that  mere  proscription 
is  no  antidote  for  humbuggery.  With  a  record  of 
18,000  arrests  behind  him  the  officer  knew  a  thing 
or  two  about  putting  the  quietus  on  anything  objec- 
tionable. He  decided  that  the  best  way  to  "get  shet 
of  a  vermint,"  as  they  say  where  he  came  from  down 
in  old  Kentucky,  was  to  kill  the  brute. 

TRACKED  TO  THEIR  LAIRS. 

And  so  it  happened  that  on  June  16,  1904,  the  offices 
of  Dr.  Stephen  W.  Jacobs,  154  Lake  street,  and  E.  A. 
Shanklin,  134  Monroe  street,  were  raided.  Carrying 
warrants  charging  the  two  men  with  using  the  mails 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  4n 

to  defraud,  Detective  Wooldridge  and  Postoffice  In- 
spector William  A.  Ketcham  swooped  down  upon  the 
strongholds  of  the  wild-cat  chiefs.  Shanklin  protested 
vigorously  at  what  he  termed  "an  outrageous  invasion 
of  his  private  rights  as  a  citizen"  and  threatened  dire 
vengeance  in  the  courts  upon  the  officers  who  had  so 
unceremoniously  taken  possession  of  him  and  his  ef- 
fects. 

Jacobs  was  cooler,  but  he  had  less  reason  to  be  than 
Shanklin.  For  in  that  raid  there  went  to  police  head- 
quarters not  only  the  securities  and  papers  of  his  nu- 
merous insurance  companies  and  "development" 
schemes,  but  those  of  his  "Chicago  Loan  and  Trust 
Company"  and  "Merchants'  Bank" — an  aggregate  of 
over  three  million  dollars,  according  to  their  face  fig- 
ures. 

The  doctor  declared  his  business  methods  were 
straightforward,  but  while  he  was  protesting  two  at- 
torneys entered.  They  proclaimed  loudly  that  they 
had  been  there  every  day  for  a  week  seeking  settle- 
ment of  claims,  but  that  they  had  been  brazenly 
"stalled"  by  Jacobs.  The  patrol  wagons  were  backed 
up  at  both  buildings  and  were  laden  with  documentary 
evidence  to  be  used  against  the  wildcatters  and  the 
stampede  of  the  "Cats"  had  begun. 

Charles  J.  Van  Anden,  a  partner  of  Jacobs,  was 
nabbed,  and  Charles  J.  Russell,  a  big  cog  in  the  "sys- 
tem," felt  the  grip  of  the  law.  Then  "Deacon"  Wal- 
lace A.  Lowell  and  Wfalter  M.  Cowell,  his  former  part- 
ner in  the  Wisconsin  Insurance  Agency  Company, 
were  rounded  up. 


46  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

With  their  ringleaders  struggling  for  life  in  the  un- 
relenting clutches  of  the  law  the  smaller  and  more 
insignificant  members  of  the  "Wild  Cat"  fraternity 
began  to  seek  cover.  Of  the  184  in  existence  at  the 
time  a  large  majority  closed  up  shop  at  once.  Several 
fled  to  foreign  parts  and  were  never  heard  from  more, 
while  others  contented  themselves  with  quietly  closing 
up  shop  and  destroying  the  evidences  of  their  nefa- 
rious business.  A  few  managed  to  pay  some  small 
losses  that  happened  to  be  on  their  books,  and  let  go 
gracefully.  Other  and  newer  companies  which  had 
not  reached  the  deep-water  stage  of  their  existences 
got  from  under  without  a  scratch  or  a  jolt.  In  the 
resultant  trials  punishment  was  meted  out  to  the  ac- 
cused promoters  as  follows : 

Dr.  S.  W.  Jacobs,  two  years  in  Joliet  penitentiary 
and  fine  of  $1,000. 

Charles  J.  Van  Anden,  one  year  in  Chicago  House 
of  Correction  and  fine  of  $500. 

E.  A.  Shanklin,  one  year  in  House  of  Correction  and 
fine  of  $500. 

Charles  J.  Russell,  one  year  in  House  of  Correction 
and  fine  of  $500. 

Wallace  A.  Lowell,  indefinite  term  in  Joliet  peniten- 
tiary and  fine  of  $1,000. 

Walter  M.  Cowell  turned  state's  evidence  and  was 
fined  $300  and  court  costs,  the  total  amount  of  his 
assessment  being  $341. 

Inspector  Ketcham  and  Detective  Wooldridge  sent 
out  2,800  letters  to  policy  holders,  by  this  means  gath- 
ering evidence  enough  to  convict  from  three  to  five 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  47 

hundred  men  in  other  states  for  writing  "wild  cat" 
insurance.  This  evidence  was  sent  to  the  proper  of- 
ficials in  the  following  states:  Maryland,  West  Vir- 
ginia, North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Flor- 
ida, Mississippi,  Tennessee,  Louisiana,  Texas,  Arkan- 
sas, Missouri,  Wisconsin,  Iowa  and  Kentucky. 

STAND  ON  "BLUE  SKY"  AND  "HOT  AIR." 

Many  humorous  and  startling  incidents  occurred 
during  the  various  trials.  That  of  "Deacon"  Wallace 
A.  Lowell  was  the  most  productive  of  sensations.  It 
took  place  in  the  Criminal  Court  of  Cook  County,  be- 
fore Judge  McEwen.  The  trial  lasted  two  weeks  and 
four  days. 

Assistant  State's  Attorney  Fake  won  the  admiration 
of  the  entire  bar  of  the  city  and  the  thanks  of  all  hon- 
est business  men  by  the  masterful  manner  in  which 
he  conducted  the  prosecution  of  Lowell  and  Cowell. 
Attorney  Frank  M.  Fairfield,  representing  the  Chicago 
Board  of  Underwriters,  and  A.  F.  Campbell  rendered 
invaluable  assistance,  both  to  the  police  and  the  state. 
Cowel  pleaded  guilty  and  turned  state's  evidence.  His 
testimony  contributed  largely  to  enhance  the  mass  of 
evidence  gathered  by  Detective  Wooldridge  and  so 
ably  presented  by  Mr.  Fake.  The  specific  charge  upon 
which  Lowell  and  Cowell  went  to  trial  was  of  con- 
spiracy to  obtain  money  by  fraud  from  N.  R.  Jackson, 
a  negro  to  whom  they  issued  a  policy  in  their  "Union 
Lloyds"  Company. 

Cowell's  testimony  relative  to  the  "financing"  of 
their  "companies"  was  good  enough  to  be  reproduced 


48  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

on  the  stage.  Asked  where  the  securities  in  question, 
which  existed  to  the  amount  of  several  millions  of 
dollars,  came  from,  Cowell  said : 

"I  furnished  them.  I  had  a  trunk  full,  a  vault  .full 
and  my  house  in  Kenosha  was  papered  with  them. 
They  were  what  I  would  term  'blue  sky  and  hot  air' 
securities.  We  paid  some  of  our  underwriters  $5  for 
using  their  names,  but  some  of  them  were  nothing 
more  than  barrel-house  bums.  We  got  twenty  of 
them  out  of  one  lodging  house.  I  would  hand  them 
a  few  hundred  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  blue  sky 
and  hot  air  paper,  and  while  they  held  it  in  their  hands 
they  would  sign  affidavits  to  the  effect  that  they  were 
worth  half  a  million  or  a  million  dollars.  Then  I  would 
take  the  paper  away  from  them  and  hand  it  to  some 
other  underwriter.  Holding  the  same  bunch  he  would 
go  through  with  the  same  stunt.  They  were  million- 
aires in  their  minds,  while  it  lasted,  but  it  didn't  last 
long  enough  for  them  to  spend  much." 

"What  was  the  value  of  those  so-called  securities 
altogether?"  was  asked. 

"Well,"  answered  Cowell,  with  a  sad  smile,  "they 
might  have  been  worth  five  and  they  might  have  been 
worth  ten  dollars.  It  depends  on  whether  a  man  could 
use  them  in  his  business  or  not." 

To  a  query  as  to  the  liability  of  one  of  the  "under- 
writers" who  was  exploited  as  a  millionaire,  Cowell 
answered: 

"Well,  he  was  liable  almost  any  time  to  get  pinched 
for  vagrancy." 

"Where  was  his  office?''  questioned  Mr.  Fake. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE.  49 

"Under  his  hat,"  responded  Cowell. 

One  of  the  underwriters  himself  was  put  on  the 
stand. 

"You  made  affidavit  that  you  are  worth  one  million 
dollars,"  said  the  prosecutor  to  the  witness.  "Now, 
actually,  what  are  your  tangible  assets?" 

"I  think  I  might  be  able  to  dig  up  fifteen  cents,"  was 
the  frank  reply. 

When  Cowell  was  asked  concerning  the  location  of 
"40,000  acres  of  land  in  the  City  of  Omaha"  that  had 
been  scheduled  as  assets  by  him  and  Lowell,  he  re- 
plied : 

"It  all  depends  on  the  vagaries  of  the  Missouri  river. 
If  the  river  behaves  itself  you  might  be  able  to  find 
it,  but  when  the  river  takes  peculiar  notions  it  disap- 
pears altogether." 

As  to  91,000  acres  of  land  in  the  Ozark  mountains 
Cowell  gravely  admitted  that  it  was  worth  all  of  five 
or  six  dollars  in  real  money.  Another  startling  admis- 
sion of  Cowell  was  that  the  securities  he  and  Lowell 
made  use  of  were  of  the  same  kind  and  breed  as  those 
used  by  Mrs.  Cassie  Chadwick  in  her  famous  flights  in 
the  realm  of  high  finance. 

LOWELL   LASHED   BY   PROSECUTOR   FAKE, 

In  his  closing  address  to  the  jury  Mr.  Fake  branded 
the  companies  exploited  by  Lowell  and  Cowell  as 
unique  among  their  kind  in  that  they  were  even  more 
pernicious  in  their  dealings  with  the  poorer  classes 
than  the  others.  He  called  attention  to  the  fact  that 
the  Union  Lloyds  had  a  system  by  which  it  bled  almost 


50  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WOEK 

exclusively  the  people  of  the  tenements.  It  had  been 
shown  that  nearly  every  negro  family  on  the  south 
side  that  could  afford  the  luxury  of  insurance  had 
taken  out  a  policy  on  its  furniture,  the  "Deacon"  mag- 
nanimously allowing  payments  to  be  made  in  weekly 
installments* 

The  assistant  state's  attorney  pointed  out  that  from 
fifteen  to  twenty  policies  a  day  had  been  written  in 
the  Union  Lloyds  for  a  period  of  over  two  years  end- 
ing with  the  dissolution  of  partnership  on  the  part  of 
"This  pretty  pair  of  men"  in  October,  1903.  He  read 
letters  from  Lowell  to  Cowell  in  which  the  ""Deacon" 
said  he  was  taking  in  $7,000  a  month. 

Alluding  to  the  Wisconsin  Insurance  Agency  Com- 
pany, the  parent  concern  of  Lowell's  nest  of  wild-cats, 
he  said: 

"This  insurance  agency  is  for  the  purpose  of  making 
insurance  companies.  It  is  not  an  insurance  company 
in  itself.  It  is  an  insurance  agency  company.  Do  not 
lose  track  of  that.  And  under  the  law  of  Wisconsin, 
which  was  read  to  you  here,  it  is  necessary  for  the 
$12,500  on  the  part  of  Wallace  A.  Lowell  to  have  been 
paid  up.  Now,  then,  all  of  that  $12,500  is  not  neces- 
sary to  have  been  paid  up  by  each  individual.  But 
twenty  per  cent  of  the  entire  total  shall  have  been  paid 
up,  according  to  statute.  Now,  then,  these  men  tell 
you  through  Cowell — mark  you,  Cowell  is  the  mouth- 
piece— Cowell  tells  us  not  one  farthing,  not  one  penny 
has  ever  been  paid  up  for  stock  in  that  company." 

Further  Mr.  Fake  said : 

"Now  we  get  up  to  the  very  vital  part  of  the  case. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  51 

gentlemen.    Here  is  the  financial  statement  of  the  as- 
sets, August  15,  1901 : 

Mortgages  on  real  estate* $115,000.00 

Collateral    loans    secured    by    stocks '  and 

bonds 30,000.00 

Collateral   loans  secured  by   mortgages  on 

real  estate 34,000.00 

Real  estate 44,200.00 

Cash   2,551.79 

Stocks  and  bonds 54,000.00 

Bills  receivable 3I^3S-95 

Interest  accrued 4,680.00 

Total    $316,267.74 

Liabilities,  none. 

"Now,  mark  you,  there  isn't  a  letter  from  Cowell  to 
Lowell  that  does  not  ask  for  money  or  something  of 
that  kind,  when  Cowell  gets  his  ten  dollars  a  week 
salary,  if  you  please — this  multimillionaire  had  a  sal- 
ary of  ten  dollars  a  week,  for  which  he  thanks  God  and 
Lowell." 

The  prosecutor  characterized  Lowell  as  "King  of 
the  Wild  Cats,"  and  found  a  pretty  satire  in  the  min- 
ute book  of  the  Wisconsin  Insurance  Agency  Com- 
pany which  read  as  follows : 

"On  motion  the.  salary  of  the  assistant  secretary 
(Lowell)  was  fixed  at  $50  a  week,  to  commence  Au- 
gust 1,1901.  On  motion  the  salary  of  president  and 
treasurer  (Cowell)  was  fixed  at  $10  a  week." 

(Babcock,  the  secretary,  was  allowed  nothing!) 

During  the  course  of  his  address  Mr.  Fake  paused 
and  with  mock-sadness  turned  to  the  court,  saying: 


52  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

"Oh,  dear!  I'm  afraid  they'll  get  money  from  the 
judge  before  we  get  through.  They  couldn't  get  mine 
for  I'm  broke." 

VENGEANCE  OF  THE  STENOGRAPHER. 

When  Shanklin  went  to  trial  in  the  federal  court  he 
pleaded  guilty,  as  his  former  stenographer,  Mrs.  Tay- 
lor, had  so  testified  at  the  preliminary  hearing  that  it 
would  have  been  useless  for  him  to  offer  a  defense. 
Mrs.  Taylor's  account  of  Shanklin's  methods  was  di- 
verting. She  testified  he  had  operated  the  North 
American,  Interstate  and  Citizens'  Insurance  compa- 
nies of  Chicago ;  the  Great  Britain  Insurance  Corpora- 
tion, American  Underwriters,  Citizens'  Underwriters, 
Great  Western  Underwriters  and  Royal  Standard  Un- 
derwriters. 

She  declared  Shanklin  was  particularly  desirous  of 
keeping  the  Great  Britain  under  cover  as  much  as  pos- 
sible, as  when  a  "roar"  came  on  one  of  its  policies  he 
could  play  battledore  and  shuttlecock  with  it  between 
London,  Chicago  and  the  residence  town  of  the  victim 
almost  indefinitely.  When  a  claim  came  in  on  a  policy 
in  one  of  the  other  companies,  said  the  witness,  Shank- 
lin would  turn  it  over  to  his  attorney  with  instructions 
to  "nurse  it  along."  In  such  a  case,  if  the  agent  in 
whose  territory  the  loss  occurred  could  obtain  enough 
new  premiums  to  cover  the  loss  the  obligation  might 
be  met.  The  woman  told  of  Shanklin  explaining  with 
great  gusto  to  his  office  force  that  he  had  placed  the 
insurance  on  the  Belmont  Golf  Club  house  in  decent 
companies,  because  he  was  treasurer  of  the  club,  and 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  53 

if  he  placed  it  in  his  own  companies  he  would  be  com- 
pelled to  pay  the  damage. 

His  testimonials  from  supposed  loss  claimants  were 
bogus,  she  said,  and  he  paid  the  "officers"  of  his  com- 
panies $5  for  the  use  of  their  names.  Mrs.  Taylor 
asserted  that  Shanklin  had  often  told  her  that  his  com- 
panies were  nothing  but  "Wild  Cats,"  and  that  their 
only  assets  were  the  paper  deposited  in  the  Merchants' 
Bank,  operated  by  Dr.  Jacobs. 

"Deacon"  Wallace  A.  Lowell  was  the  most  pic- 
turesque figure  in  the  bunch  of  bogus  insurance  rascals 
sent  to  prison  for  wildcatting.  Of  Lowell  it  was  said 
by  his  former  partner,  Cowell : 

"We  used  to  go  over  to  his  church  for  prayer  meet- 
ing. He  could  pray  and  sing  and  exhort  like  a  good 
fellow  and  then  we'd  go  home  and  sit  up  the  rest  of  the 
night  fixing  up  schemes  to  skin  people  out  of  their 
money.  He  certainly  was  a  wrecker  from  Wreck- 
ville  and  a  master  in  the  art  of  playing  both  ends  to- 
ward the  middle.  He  could  put  a  legitimate  company 
on  the  bum  as  quickly  as  he  could  handle  the  money. 
He  double-crossed  everybody.  But  as  a  churcher  he 
was  a  shiner.  He  was  a  real  deacon  in  the  church, 
loved  and  respected  by  all,  but  he  could  trim  a  sucker 
with  as  much  artistic  finesse  as  Wooldridge  can  skin 
a  wildcat." 

Lowell  is  past  sixty  years  of  age,  white-haired  and 
distinguished  in  appearance.  Sanctimonius  in  speech 
and  bearing  he  stayed  the  hand  of  Justice  longer  than 
his  clever  fellows  and  he  was  among  the  last  of  the 
big  wildcatters  to  get  his  desserts  in  the  courts. 


54  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

Walter  M.  Cowell  was  a  young  insurance  man  of 
Kenosha,  Wis.,  when  he  fell  in  with  the  "deacon,"  and 
he  furnished  a  stack  of  bogus  securities  to  Jacobs  and 
Lowell,  which  they  used  as  a  foundation  for  their  nu- 
merous schemes  in  1898  and  1899.  Later  he  went  into 
partnership  with  Lowell,  the  two  launching  the  Wis- 
consin Insurance  Agency  Company.  They  started 
several  companies,  issuing  elaborate  annual  statements 
and  prospectuses,  in  which  they  printed  affidavits  by 
persons  claiming  to  be  worth  millions  of  dollars  and 
who  posed  as  underwriters. 

Deacon  Lowell  lived  with  his  wife  and  three  daugh- 
ters in  magnificent  style  at  5410  Madison  avenue.  The 
office  from  which  he  directed  his  schemes  was  in  the 
Rialto  building.  The  deacon  was  arrested  September 
4,  1904,  and  was  rearrested  September  17  on  twenty- 
three  charges  of  conspiracy  to  obtain  money  by  fraud. 
At  the  time  of  his  arrest  Lowell  was  associated  with 
W.  K.  Twomey  and  Attorney  M.  L.  Thackebery  in 
operating  what  was  known  as  the  Kent  Agency,  218 
La  Salle  street.  Twomey,  by  the  way,  proved  a  vex- 
ing obstructionist  to  the  police  and  federal  authorities. 
He  was  known  to  have  been  associated  with  Jacobs 
and  Lowell  in  many  schemes  and  in  1902  listed  his  in- 
surance connections  on  his  letter-head  as  follows : 

Secretary  and  Treasurer  of  Western  Fire,  Marine 
and  Plate  Glass  Insurance  Company. 

Secretary  and  Treasurer  National  Aid  Association. 

Secretary  of  the  Chicago  Fire  Insurance  Agency, 
representing: 

Standard  Lloyds  of  New  York  City. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  55 

Merchants'  and  Manufacturers'  Fire  Insurance  Com- 
pany. 

Commercial  Insurance  Company,  of  Philadelphia. 

Germania  Fire  Insurance  Company. 

Fire  Association  of  New  York. 

All  of  these  institutions  were  under  the  ban  of  the 
legitimate  insurance  interests  in  Chicago.  Twomey 
was  an  all-round  promoter  and  his  schemes  were  as 
flimsy  as  they  were  varied.  He  was  a  partner  of  W.  J. 
Fordham  in  a  fake  "stone  renovating"  company  ana 
after  the  defection  of  Fordham  he  pushed  the  same 
graft  with  John  H.  Poindexter,  a  notorious  confidence 
man  and  wire-tapper. 

Twomey  and  Lowell  were  busy  men  when  Jacobs 
and  Van  Anden  were  on  trial.  Twomey's  activities 
were  directed  principaly  toward  the  interviewing  of 
witnesses  and  he  laid  his  pretended  findings  before 
both  the  federal  authorities  and  the  defense,  claiming, 
it  is  said,  that  he  could  "swing"  the  case  either  way. 

His  tactics  were  such,  however,  that  he  was  haled 
into  Judge  McEwen's  court  on  a  bench  warrant  dur- 
ing the  trial  of  Lowell,  severely  reprimanded  and 
warned  to  keep  away  from  the  state's  witnesses.  It 
was  charged  that  Twomey,  among  other  things,  visited 
Mrs.  Mary  Kleinsmith,  3229  Forest  avenue,  a  witness 
for  the  state,  and  warned  her  that  if  she  appeared  in 
court  against  Lowell  she  would  be  sent  to  jail  or  the 
penitentiary.  Mrs.  Kleinsmith  refused  to  be  intimi- 
dated, however,  and  brought  the  matter  to  the  notice 
of  the  state's  attorney  at  once. 


56  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

BRIBERY  TACTICS  OF  NO  AVAIL. 

Lowell  fought  hard  for  his  liberty,  resorting  to  des- 
perate means  to  defeat  justice.  Attempts  were  made 
to  bribe  Detective  Wooldridge,  but  these  met  with  the 
usual  failure.  Then  political  influence  was  brought  to 
bear,  but  with  no  avail.  Next  threats  and  intimidation 
were  tried,  but  the  dauntless  detective  went  forward 
with  his  duty  as  he  saw  it  and  was  only  spurred  to 
greater  effort  by  the  forces  against  him.  One  of  the 
plans  set  afoot  by  the  Deacon's  friends  was  to  retal- 
iate on  Wooldridge  by  swearing  out  warrants  before 
rural  justices  of  the  peace,  charging  the  officer  with 
conspiracy.  Wooldridge  answered  the  first  one,  at 
Franklin  Park,  twenty  miles  from  the  city,  but  he 
went  reinforced  by  an  assistant  corporation  counsel, 
the  city  attorney,  Attorney  Frank  M.  Fairfield,  of  the 
Underwriters'  Association,  and  a  stenographer  and 
the  prosecution  failed  to  put  in  an  appearance.  See- 
ing that  Wooldridge  intended  to  put  up  a  fighting 
front  to  whatever  method  of  attack  they  chose  to 
adopt  they  dropped  this  scheme  forthwith. 

When  the  trial  began  in  the  criminal  court  the  de- 
tective appeared  with  three  patrol  wagon  loads  of  doc- 
umentary evidence  against  the  two  men.  This  repre- 
sented a  complete  record  of  their  dealings  with  from 
ten  to  fifteen  thousand  policy  holders.  The  detective 
also  marshaled  160  witnesses  into  court,  among  them 
being  two  men  from  southern  Illinois,  who  had  lost 
their  all  by  trusting  to  Lowell's  companies.  After 
being  burned  out  of  house  and  home  one  of  the  fam- 
ilies went  to  live  in  a  tent  and  the  other  was  compelled 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  57 

to  do  the  best  it  could  under  an  old  wagon  box.  The 
record  of  the  trial  filled  1,700  typewritten  pages.  The 
accused  churchman  made  lavish  use  of  private  detec- 
tives. Intimidation  and  bribery  tactics  were  tried  also 
on  the  witnesses  for  the  state,  and  Detective  Wool- 
dridge  was  kept  busy  night  and  day  thwarting  these 
efforts  to  spoil  his  case. 

Deacon  Lowell  and  Dr.  Jacobs  were  partners  in  in- 
iquity for  a  number  of  years.  Lowell  made  free  use 
of  the  paper  issued  by  Jacobs'  Chicago  Loan  and  Trust 
Company.  He  was  an  attorney  and  his  was  the  mas- 
ter mind  which  furnished  the  expert  and  technical 
knowledge  necessary  to  operate  the  elaborate  system 
of  wildcatting  then  in  vogue.  The  records  of  Cook 
County  show  that  Deacon  Lowell,  single-handed, 
wrecked  twenty-three  insurance  companies  during  his 
career. 

The  Deacon  was  perfidious  to  an  extended  degree. 
It  was  charged  by  all  with  whom  he  came  in  contact 
that  he  had  given  them  the  double  cross  and  left  them 
to  hold  the  sack  while  he  enjoyed  the  fruits  of  their 
dealings.  Even  his  brother  and  brother-in-law  re- 
ported themselves  to  the  police  as  among  his  victims, 
the  former  declaring  he  had  lost  $25,000  through  his 
brother. 

DR.  JACOBS  A  WONDER  IN  MORE  WAYS 
THAN  ONE. 

As  might  be  supposed  from  the  magnitude  of  his 
undertakings,  Dr.  Stephen  Wesley  Jacobs  is  no  ordi- 
nary man.  On  the  contrary,  he  is  a  man  of  varied 
attainments  and  is  blessed  by  nature  with  faculties 


58  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 


8.  W.  Jacobs,  President. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  59 

which  make  for  business  success  far  above  the  aver- 
age. In  the  opinion  of  Detective-Sergeant  Wool- 
driclge,  who  ran  him  to  earth,  Dr.  Jacobs  would  have 
rivaled  the  greatest  financiers  of  the  day  had  he  ap- 
plied his  talents  along  the  lines  of  legitimate  endeavor. 

Jacobs  was  the  king  pin,  the  center  pole  whence 
radiated  the  blighting  shafts  of  humbuggery.  He  was 
the  evil  genius  who  injected  the  virus  of  fraud  into 
the  ambitious  breasts  of  impecunious  business  men 
who  saw  in  him  a  savior ;  who  asked  not  whether  the 
arm  of  strength  held  forth  to  them  was  black  or  white, 
and  who  fluttered  as  moths  to  the  fascinating  glimmer 
of  his  personality.  What  if  that  which  he  offered  them 
be  not  gold  so  it  passed  for  gold?  Even  honest  men 
saw  an  opportunity  to  get  their  feet  under  them,  and 
each  trusted  to  the  great  Good  Luck  that  his  premiums 
would  exceed  the  amount  of  his  losses.  Consciences 
were  for  the  moment  stilled — for  the  moment  that 
Jacobs'  worthless  certificates  of  deposit  and  "securi- 
ties" were  fluttered  before  the  eyes  of  the  insurance 
commissioner  of  some  state ;  for  the  moment  necessary 
to  secure  the  issuance  of  a  charter.  Many  of  these 
companies  were  the  innocent  whelps  of  the  wildcat. 
Some  of  these  men  would  have  sold  their  last  per- 
sonal possession  to  satisfy  a  claim,  but  in  order  to  get 
into  the  business  at  all  they  were  compelled  to  show 
a  certain  amount  of  capital.  This  was  shown  for  them 
by  Jacobs. 

The  man  who  now  wears  stripes  in  the  Joliet  peni- 
tentiary, and  whose  strenuous  personality  has  been 
lost  in  a  felon's  registry  number  is  46  years  old.     He 


60  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK, 

was  graduated  from  Rush  Medical  College  in  1883  and 
his  subsequent  record  shows  he  might  have  made  a 
name  for  himself  in  the  chosen  profession  of  his  youth 
had  he  been  so  inclined. 

After  practicing  medicine  at  Storm  Lake,  la.,  and 
at  Madison,  S.  D.,  we  find  him  spreading  the  financial 
wings  which  were  to  carry  him  to  great  heights,  only 
to  drop  him  to  ruin  and  disgrace.  With  his  brother 
he  opened  a  private  bank  and  real  estate  office  in  Mad- 
ison, and  in  1885  he  organized  the  Madison  State 
Bank,  which  later  became  a  national  bank. 

It  was  then  that  the  evil  spirit  of  perversion  that 
gripped  his  soul  won  its  first  fall  out  of  the  promising 
young  man.  He  was  cashier  of  the  bank.  He  embez- 
zled $30,000  and  was  jailed.  His  wife  furnished  bond 
for  his  release  and  he  fled.    The  bank  went  under. 

Jacobs  dropped  down  to  Sioux  City,  la.,  in  Novem- 
ber, 1899,  and  again  took  up  the  practice  of  medicine. 
The  following  year  he  entered  the  financial  arena  for 
another  whirl  and  lost  nearly  all  his  money  by  an  in- 
vestment in  the  street  railwa}^  system  of  Raleigh,  N. 
C.  In  1891  Jacobs  removed  from  Raleigh  to  Chicago, 
but  his  wife's  health  was  poor  and  he  went  to  Rock- 
ford,  111.,  where  he  resumed  the  practice  of  medicine. 
The  money-loving  physician  bobs  up  next  in  Lincoln, 
Neb.,  where  he  organized  the  Farmers'  Mutual  Buyer 
Insurance  Company  and  a  chain  of  similar  institutions 
in  the  nearby  country. 

Associated  with  him  in  this  venture  were  several 
honest  men   and  Jacobs   might  have  led  them   all  to 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  61 

fortune  with  honor  to  himself  but  it  seems  that  lior»*,&t 
endeavor  was  too  prosaic  for  this  venturesome  physi- 
cian. He  was  forced  to  resign  from  the  concern, 
which  became  prosperous  and  stands  today  as  a  monu- 
ment to  the  man  who  wanted  no  monument  to  such- 
unexciting  qualities  as  his  honesty  and  business 
acumen.  Before  leaving  Lincoln,  Jacobs  forged  three 
notes  on  the  company  for  $1,070,  $1,080  and  $250. 

It  was  only  a  little  matter  of  personal  convenience 
that  prompted  Jacobs  to  make  these  notes  good.  His 
first  wife  had  died  and  he  was  at  that  time  engaged 
to  his  present  wife.  It  would  have  been  embarrassing 
to  flee  under  the  circumstances,  so  the  versatile  doctor 
"made  good." 

His  next  venture  was  the  organization  of  the  Fidel- 
ity Loan  and  Trust  Company  of  Lincoln,  Neb.  In 
order  to  raise  funds  to  loan  he  issued  debenture  bonds 
and  as  security  for  these  he  placed  a  large  batch  of 
paper  in  the  hands  of  a  trustee.  Among  these  securi- 
ties was  a  note  for  $6,000  signed  by  a  man  who  wras 
then  in  jail  for  hog-stealing  and  secured  by  a  first 
mortgage  on  some  worthless  real  estate.  Another 
note,  for  $14,000,  was  signed  by  a  man  in  the  Iowa 
penitentiary  and  was  secured  by  a  lot  of  spurious 
railroad  bonds.    This  venture  blew  up  in  1894. 

Also  there  were  other  irons  in  the  fire.  At  Inland 
and  at  Holstein,  Neb.,  he  started  banks,  inducing  the 
farmers  of  the  two  communities  to  put  up  real  money 
against  his  worthless  securities,  not  worth  the  paper 
they  were  written  on. 


62  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

COULDN'T  STAY  "BROKE"  FOR  LONG. 

In  1894  this  man  of  many  schemes  moved  to  Texas 
and  went  into  the  live  stock  business.  Luck  was  not 
with  him,  however.  He  soon  found  that  playing  a 
game  with  live  things  was  not  so  sure  a  means  of 
getting  the  money  as  gambling  with  stock  of  the  dead 
kind — generally  extremely  dead  when  handled  by  the 
crafty  doctor.  Of  a  carload  of  horses  shipped  to  him 
all  but  one  died.  Then  he  tried  "dead  live  stock"  as 
a  compromise,  going  into  the  packing  business.  The 
funds  of  the  packing  plant  in  which  he  invested  were 
attached  and  once  more  the  adventurer  who  wouldn't 
stick  to  pills  and  prescriptions  went  broke. 

With  a  man  of  the  caliber  of  Dr.  Jacobs,  however, 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  being  down  for  long.  All 
the  mysteries  of  fraud  were  his  and,  as  has  been  said, 
he  also  possessed  remarkable  strength  in  a  legitimate 
way. 

He  returned  to  Chicago  and  soon  there  were  so 
many  strings  to  his  bow  it  might  have  been  taken  for 
a  concert  harp  had  it  been  "of  material  shape.  After 
his  entrance  into  the  Chicago  financial  whirl  his  career 
was  cyclonic.  From  the  debris  left  by  his  downfall 
enough  facts  have  been  collected  to  prove  him  the 
wildest  of  the  wild  cats  that  have  clawed  and  scratched 
their  names  and  records  on  the  pages  of  commercial 
history  in  this  or  any  other  country.  But  neither  the 
police  nor  the  postal  authorities,  nor  the  prosecuting 
officers  of  the  Federal  and  State  courts  pretend  to 
know  everything  that  this  man  has  done. 
i  From  the  records  as  they  stand  we  find  that  in  1897 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  63 

he  procured  incorporation  papers  for  the  Chicago 
Loan  and  Trust  Company,  with  offices  at  140  Dear- 
born street  and  with  a  capital  of  $2,000,000.  S.  W. 
Jacobs  was  president  and  the  name  of  E.  M.  Cham- 
berlain appeared  as  treasurer.  Chamberlain  was  a 
beardless  cousin  of  Mrs.  Jacobs  and  never  actually 
filled  any  office  in  the  company,  nor  did  he  draw  any 
salary.  The  concern  went  bankrupt  and  was  placed 
in  the  hands  of  a  receiver.  Owing  to  its  failure  to 
make  report  to  the  secretary  of  state  for  the  year  1902 
its  charter  was  cancelled.  It  was  this  company  that 
stood  sponsor  for  the  International  Bank,  a  private  in- 
stitution operated  by  Charles  B.  Perrine  and  W.  J. 
Pomeroy  and  doing  business  on  the  strength  of  a 
letter  from  the  Chicago  Loan  and  Trust  Company 
allowing  the  former  to  use  the  latter  as  a  reference. 

The  Chicago  Loan  and  Trust  Company  was  not 
dead  but  sleeping,  however,  as  Jacobs  found  a  plan  for 
resurrecting  it.  He  simply  applied  for  a  change  in 
the  name  of  the  old  Republic  Water  Power  and  Cattle 
Company  to  the  Chicago  Loan  and  Trust  Company, 
capital  $500,000,  and  the  name  again  was  in  existence 
officially  under  the  laws  of  the  state  of  Illinois.  He 
also  opened  a  private  bank,  calling  it  the  Merchants', 
the  principal  mission  of  which  was  to  offer  itself  as  a 
reference  for  the  various  get-rich-quick  schemes  then 
flourishing. 

Another  enterprise  which  Jacobs  embarked  in  was 
the  Chicago  Wax  Paper  Company,  with  assets  of 
$100,000,  of  which  Jacobs  was  president,  and  which 
was  a  sound  money-making  institution.     The  head- 


64  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

quarters  of  all  these  concerns  were  at  152-154  Lake 
street.  It  was  from  a  directors'  meeting  of  the  Wax 
Paper  Company  that  Jacobs  rode  in  an  automobile  to 
the  courtroom  where  he  pleaded  guilty  and  accepted 
sentence. 

The  Chicago  Lt,an  and  Trust  Company,  without  a 
dollar  of  bona  fide  capital,  issued  paper  purporting  to 
represent  nearly  three-quarters  of  a  million  dollars. 
Jacobs  managed  to  break  into  the  Bankers'  Blue  Book 
with  the  names  of  his  concerns  and  the  rest  was  easy. 

Any  person  who  wanted  to  start  an  insurance  com- 
pany could  find  the  necessary  capital  by  simply  pay- 
ing a  certain  amount  of  coin  to  Mr.  Jacobs,  who  would 
furnish  him  with  fake  stocks  and  bonds  and  certificates 
of  deposit  indicating  that  vast  sums  had  been  de- 
posited in  the  coffers  of  the  Chicago  Loan  and  Trust 
Company.  Also,  Jacobs  did  a  fine  business  with  the 
"get-rich-quick"  men,  whom  he  furnished  withall  the 
references  that  might  be  desired  by  the  most  skeptical 
"sucker"  they  could  corral. 

Other  schemes  in  which  Jacobs  was  interested  were: 
The  Dyer  Light,  Heat  and  Power  Company  of  Illinois ; 
American  Electro-Automatic  Telephone  Company; 
Republic  Water  Power  and  Cattle  Company ;  Waubon 
Colonization  and  Improvement  Company ;  American 
Tropical  Planters'  Company ;  Denver  Telephone  Com- 
pany, of  Denver,  Col. ;  Fall  River  Electric  Power  Com- 
pany ;  Industrial  Commercial  Agency  of  America ; 
Caspar  County  Bond  Company ;  Merchants'  Trading 
Bank  Check  Company;  Chicago  Insurance  Agency; 
Tuhachuce  G.  &  C.  Development  Company,  and  some 


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66  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

that  the  authorities  were  too  busy  at  the  time  of  the 
raids  to  take  note  of. 

THE  MONKEY,  THE  HORSE  AND  THE  DOG. 

One  of  Jacobs'  victims  was  Frank  Bostock,  the 
famous  animal  trainer  and  showman.  The  doctor 
wrote  a  policy  on  the  educated  chimpanzee  known  as 
'  'Consul"  for  the  trifling  sum  of  $70,000,  for  which  the 
owner  paid  him  $5,000.  The  monkey  died  in  Vienna 
ind  Bostock  sent  his  policy  and  proofs  along  and 
«£&ked  for  the  $70,000.  He  was  informed  by  Jacobs 
that  he  was  behind  $2,500  in  his  premiums,  upon  the 
payment  of  which  indemnity  would  be  allowed.  The 
unsuspecting  animal  trainer  sent  along  the  requested 
amount  and  heard  no  more  from  Jacobs. 

When  Detective  Wooldridge  spoke  of  the  monkey 
to  Jacobs,  after  the  latter's  arrest,  the  wild-catter 
laughed. 

"Oh,  that  confounded  monkey,"  he  cried ;  "why,  the 
monkey  died." 

"I  know  it  died,"  remarked  Wooldridge,  "but  you 
didn't  indemnify  the  owner." 

"Why,  a  monkey  only  lives  two  years  in  this  coun- 
try, anyway,"  roared  Jacobs. 

"But  you  insured  it,  didn't  you,  and  took  $7,500  from 
Bostock?" 

"Yes,  but  we'll  get  him  another  monkey.  There 
are  lots  more  monkeys  in  the  world." 

"But  this  was  a  trained  monkey." 

"Well,  we'll  hire  a  man  to  train  him  a  monkey. 
Seventy  thousand  dollars  for  a  darned  old  monkey! 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  67 

Why,  it's  preposterous!  Who  ever  heard  of  such  a 
thing?" 

"I  don't  wonder  you're  thinking  of  pleading  guilty," 
was  the  comment  of  the  detective. 

Jacobs  would  write  a  policy  on  anything  and  he 
would  write  any  kind  of  a  policy.  He  would  insure 
against  rain,  hail,  snow,  lightning,  tornado,  hog  chol- 
era or  lumpy  jaw  in  cattle.  The  officer  had  found  an 
unpaid  claim  on  a  horse. 

"Well,  how  about  that  horse?"  he  asked  of  Jacobs. 

"Oh,  that  confounded  horse,"  whooped  Jacobs. 
"What  business  had  he  rubbering  over  in  another 
man's  yard,  anyway.  If  he  had  stayed  home  and 
minded  his  own  business  and  not  gone  sticking  his 
head  over  the  fence  he  wouldn't  have  been  struck  by 
lightning  anyway.  That  horse  didn't  have  good  sense. 
We  can't  be  responsible  for  a  fool  horse  like  that." 

"And  then  there  was  the  dog,"  continued  the  de- 
tective, alluding  to  another  claim. 

"Oh,  that  confounded  dog!"  ejaculated  Jacobs  in 
the  same  aggrieved  tone.  "What  business  had  he 
going  and  following  a  nigger  off,  anyway.  I'll  bet 
that's  the  way  he  got  what  killed  him.  He  was  get- 
ting three  good  square  meals  a  day  at  home  and  had 
no  business  dying  at  all.  Of  course  he  followed  some 
nigger  off  and  got  to  eating  bad  grub.  That's  what 
killed  him.  Now  how  can  we  be  responsible  for  a 
fool  dog  like  that?  He  didn't  have  as  much  sense  as 
the  horse." 

"Nor  the  man  who  paid  premiums  to  you  on  his 


68  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

life  in  a  fire  insurance  company,  either,"  dryly  quoth 
Wooldridge. 

In  marked  contrast  to  these  incidents  was  the 
pathetic  case  of  Samuel  James,  of  Westfield,  111.,  a 
typical  victim  of  Jacobs  and  his  wild-cat  friends.  After 
struggling  past  the  sixty-year  mark  with  the  owner- 
ship of  a  home  for  his  six  children  as  a  goal,  James 
accomplfsKed  the  end  of  his  heart's  desire.  It  cost 
him  $900  and  his  health,  for  he  was  in  the  clutches  of 
consumption  when  the  cottage  was  finally  paid  for. 
Fearing  lest  the  fruit  of  his  life-work  should  be  swept 
away  by  fire,  James  took  out  an  insurance  policy  in 
one  of  Jacobs'  companies.  The  house  burned  down 
and  he  was  not  indemnified.  With  his  wife  and  little 
ones  James  was  forced  to  take  shelter  in  a  chicken 
coop  where  they  were  living  when  the  broken-hearted 
father  came  to  Chicago  as  a  witness  against  Jacobs. 

One  of  the  favorite  grafts  of  Jacobs  was  to  issue 
fake  certificates  of  deposit  indicating  that  vast  sums 
had  been  deposited  in  the  Chicago  Loan  and  Trust 
Company  for  a  specified  term,  generally  one  or  two 
years  from  the  date  of  issuance.  These  he  placed  in 
the  hands  of  Louis  J.  Epstein,  S.  Undiwiser,  H.  B. 
Hyde  and  others,  who  traveled  about  the  country  rais- 
ing money  on  them  in  bucket  shops,  gambling  houses 
and  jewelry  establishments. 

When  one  of  the  certificates  was  presented  for  dis- 
count the  person  to  whom  it  was  presented  would  con- 
sult the  Bankers'  Blue  Book,  where  he  would  find  the 
address  of  the  Chicago  Loan  and  Trust  Company. 
The  name  sounded  good,  so  the  victim  would  tele- 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  69 

graph  to  the  trust  company,  giving  the  number  of 
the  certificate  and  asking  if  the  person  to  whom  it 
had  been  issued  actually  had  on  deposit  the  amount  of 
money  the  certificate  called  for.  When  Jacobs  re- 
ceived one  of  these  queries  it  told  him  that  one  of 
"the  boys"  was  getting  busy  and  had  a  "sucker"  on 
the  string.  Immediately  he  would  wire  back  to  the 
effect  that  the  certificate  and  the  holder  were  good  as 
gold. 

Result:  More  money  for  the  Jacobs  gang  and  a 
screech  from  the  person  who  had  been  "stang."  About 
the  time  of  Wooldridge's  descent  upon  the  trust  com- 
pany's offices  these  screeches  had  blended  into  a 
mighty  wail  that  reverberated  from  the  palms  of  Flor- 
ida to  the  pines  of  the  upper  peninsular  and  rent  the 
air  from  the  rock-bound  coast  of  Maine  to  the  Yose- 
mite  valley.  They  had  "trimmed"  people  in  every  sec- 
tion of  these  great  United  States. 

LOOK  OUT  FOR  THESE. 

They  Have  Been  Officially  Branded  as 

WILD  CATS. 

iEtna    Fire,    New    Orleans.  Commercial    Fire    Ins.    Co.,    Phila. 

^Etna    Ins.    Co.,    Louisville,    Ky.  Commercial    Fire    Ins.    Co.,    Wilming- 
\mazon,     Charleston,     \V.     Va.  ton. 

\rneritan      Fire,     Wilmington,     Del.  Commonwealth    Ins.    Co.,     Chicago. 

nerican    Fire,    Terre    Haute,    Ind.  Commonwealth    Ins.    Co.,    W.    Va. 

rican     Fire    Ins.     Co.,.  Chicago.  Continental    Fire    Ass'n,    Ft.    Worth, 

American   Trust   &   Ins.    Co.,    Chicago.       Tex. 

American     Underwriters,     Chicago.  Continental     Underwriters,     Chicago. 

Augusta    Fire,   West   Virginia.  Delaware     Trust    &     Ins.     Co.,     Wil- 
Capital    Ins.    Co.,    Jackson,    Miss.  mington. 

Ceatral    Ins.    Co.,    Chicago.  Elgin    National   Ins.    Co.,    Chicago. 

Chesapeake,     Md.  Equitable,    Indianapolis. 

Citizens    Ins.    Co.,    Chicago.  Equitable     Fire    Ins.     Co.,    Wilming- 
Columbia   Ins.    Co.,    Chicago.  ton. 

Columbian    Ins.    Co.,    Chicago.  Exchange,    Chicago. 

Commerce,     New     Albany,     Ind.  Farmers   &    Manufacturers,   W.    Va. 

Commercial   Fire   Ins.    Co.,    Chicago.  Federal   Fire,    Chicago. 


70  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

Firemens,   Chicago.  Mutual  Trust  Co.,  Dover,  Del. 

Ft.  Wayne  Ins.   Co.,   Ft.  Wayne,  Ind. National   Fire  &  Ins.  Co.,   Chicago. 
General    Trust,    Atlanta.  National    Ins.     &      Investment      Co., 

Ger mania   Fire   Ins.    Co.,   Chicago.  Dover,   Del. 

German    Union,    Wilmington,    Del.        National      Republic      Fire       Insurance 
Georgia    Indemnity     Ass'n,     Atlanta,      Co.,    Chicago. 

Ga.  North   American,   Chicago. 

Georgia   Industrial   Ins.   Co.,   Chicago. Northern,   Chicago. 
Great   Britain    Ins.     Co.     of  London,  Northwestern   Fire   Ins.   Co.,   Chicago. 

Chicago.  Peoples  Fire  Ins.  Co.,  Kenosha,  Wis. 

Great    Northern,    Chicago.  Peoples   Ins.    Co.,   Dallas. 

Great   Western,    Chicago.  Pulaski  Mutual  Ins.   Co.,  Chicago. 

Hartford,    Indian    Territory.  Prairie    State    Ins.    Co.,    Chicago,    in- 

Hiawatha,    Chicago.  .    corporated,   W.    Va. 

Illinois    Ins.    Co.,    Chicago.  Regal  Ins.    Co.,   Chicago. 

Imperial   of    Chicago.  Reserve   Fire   &    Marine,   Chicago. 

Indemnity,    Chicago.  Security  F.   &  M.,  New  Orleans. 

Indiana    Underwriters,     Indianapolis.  Security  F.  &  M.   Ins.   Co.,  Washing- 
Inland    Fire,    Chicago.  ton,    D.    C. 

International,    Chicago.  Security    Fire   Ins.    Co.,   Chicago. 

Inter   Ocean   Ins.   Co.,   Chicago.  Security    Mutual    Ins.    Co.,    Omaha. 

Interstate    Ins.    Co.,    Chicago.  Skane  F.  &  M.,  New  York. 

Kenosha     Fire     Ins.     Co.,      Kenosha,  Southern   Fire  Ins.    Co.,   Atlanta,   Ga. 

Wis.  Star   Fire   &   Burglary,   Scotland. 

Lincoln    Fire,    Chicago.  Southern  Ins.    Co.,   Corsicana,  Tex. 

Lincoln    Insurance    &    Banking    Co.,  Texas  Ins.   Co.,  VVaco,   Tex. 

Hammond,    Ind.  Threshermen's       Protective      Associa- 

Lloyds    Fire    of    Sweden.  tion,   New  York. 

London   Fire   Office.  Traders   Fire   Lloyds,  New  York. 

Mercantile    F.     &     M.,     Washington,  Underwriters    at     Standard      Lloyds, 

D.    C.  New    York. 

Mercantile    Fire   Ins.    Co.,   Chicago.     Union  Fire  Co.,  Chicago. 
Mercantile    Fire    Ins.    Co.,    Indianap-Union   Fire   Ins.    Co.,   Charleston,  W. 

olis.  Va. 

Mercantile      Ins.      Co.,      Wilmington,United    States,   West  Virginia. 

Del.  Vernon  Ins.  &   Trust  Co.,   Indiana. 

Merchants    &    Manufacturers,    Dover, Washington   Fire,   D.    C. 

Delaware.  Western     Consolidated     Underwriters, 

Merchants     Fire     Underwriters,     Chi-     Chicago. 

cago.  Western   Fire  Ins.    Co.,   Chicago. 

Merchants    Ins.    Co.,    Charleston,    W. Western   Fire,   Marine  &  Plate  Glass, 

Va.  Chicago. 

Millers  Mutual  Ins.  Co.,  Kansas  City. Western   Ins.    Co.,   Aurora. 
Mt.   Vernon,  Alexandria.  Western  Illinois  Ins.   Co.,   Chicago. 

Mutual  &  Industrial,  Dover,   Del. 

TRIED  AND  TRUE. 


THE  HONOR  ROLL. 

Following  is  a  list  of  the  reliable  fire  and  marine 
insurance  companies  doing  business  within  the  state 
of  Illinois,  as  compiled  by  W.  R.  Vredenburgh,  State 
Superintendent  of  Insurance: 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  71 

Name  of  Company.  Location. 

Calumet   Ins.   Co Chicago. 

Continental      Chicago. 

Forest    City    Rockf ord. 

German    Freeport. 

German    Fire Peoria. 

Insurance   Co.   State  of  Iilinois Rockf  ord. 

Metropolitan     Chicago. 

Traders    Chicago. 

Western    Underwriters    Ass'n >  Chicago 

(  Xame  since  changed  to  German  National)    )  tt       *  ' 

JEtna    Hartford,   Conn. 

Agricultural  ".'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'..'..'. Watertown,   N.   Y. 

Allegheny     Allegheny,    Pa. 

Allemannia     E^I1^!  Pa-T, 

Alliance     Philadelphia,  Pa. 

American  ".'.'.'.'.'.'..'.'..'. '. Newark,    N.    J. 

American     Boston,   Mass. 

American    Central'  ' .' .' .' .' .' .' .' .' ! .' .' .' .' . .'.'.'.' £t.   Loiiis, . Uo- 

American    Fire    Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Anchor  . Cincinnati,  (J. 

Armenia'  '.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.  .'. .' '.' Pittsburg    Pa. 

Assurance    Co.    of   America New    lork,    JN.    Y. 

Atlanta-Birmingham    Birmingham,  Ala. 

Ben  Franklin    £llegheny;  Pa' 

Boston    Boston,  Mass. 

British-American'  '.'.'.'. V. V.'.'.V.'.'.'.V.'.'. '.  '.  ! '.  '.New  York,  N.  Y. 

Buffalo    Commercial Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

Buffalo    German    Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

Camden   Fire   Insurance  Ass'n Camden,  N.J. 

Citizens    St.   Louis,  .  Mo. 

Colonial   Assurance    ..'...'.;'...  ...New    York,   N.    Y. 

Colonial    Washington,    D.   C. 

Columbia   -Tve,Tsey  *%?'£•  J< 

Commerce    Albany,   N.  Y. 

Commercial  Union   New  \  ork,  N.  Y. 

Commonwealth    New  York,  N.  Y. 

Concordia     Milwaukee,   Wis. 

Connecticut    Hartford,   Conn. 

Continental    New   York,  N.   Y. 

Delaware     Philadelphia,    Pa. 

Detroit  Fire  and  Marine Detroit,  Mich. 

Dubuque    Fire  and    Marine Dubuque,   Iowa. 

Dutchess     Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y. 

Eagle New  York,    N.   Y. 

Eastern     : Atlantic  Ctty,  N.  J.    . 

Equitable   Fire  and  Marine Providence,  R.   I. 

Eureka  Fire  and  Marine Cincinnati,  O. 

Farmers  and  Merchants Lincoln,  Neb. 

Federal    Jersey  City,  N.  J. 

Fire  Association   of  Philadelphia Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Firemens    Newark,   N.   J. 

Firemans     Fund San    Francisco,   Cal. 

Fire   Ins.   County  of  Philadelphia Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Franklin    Philadelphia,   Pa. 

Georgia  Home    Columbus,    Ga. 

German    Alliance    New  York,  N.   Y. 

German-American     New   York,   N.   Y. 

German-American     Pittsburg,    Pa. 

German    Pittsburg,    Pa. 

German    Indianapolis,  Ind. 


72  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

German    Wheeling,  W.  Va. 

Germania     New  York,   N.  Y. 

Girard  Fire  and  Marine Philadelphia,   Pa. 

Glens     Falls Glens  Falls,  N..  Y. 

Globe    and    Rutgers New  York,  N.  Y. 

Hamilton     New   York,   N.   Y. 

Hanover    New  York,  N.   Y. 

Hartford    Hartford,  Conn. 

Home     New  York,  N.  Y. 

Home   Fire  and  Marine San  Francisco,  Cal. 

Humboldt    ...... Allegheny,   Pa. 

Indemnity     - New   York,   N.    Y. 

Indianapolis    Indianapolis,   Ind. 

Insurance  Co.  of  North  America Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Insurance  Co.  of  State  of  Pennsylvania.  .  .Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Jefferson     Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Liverpool    and    London    and    Globe New   York,    N.    Y. 

Louisville     Louisville,  Ky. 

Lumbermens     Philadelphia,   Pa. 

Mechanics     Philadelphia,   Pa. 

Mechanics     and     Traders New   Orleans,   La. 

Mercantile  Fire  and   Marine.  . Boston,    Mass. 

Michigan   Commercial Lansing,  Mich. 

Michigan   Fire   and   Marine.  . Detroit,    Mich.  _ 

Milwaukee    Fire Milwaukee,    Wis. 

Milwaukee   Mechanics    Milwaukee,    Wis. 

Monongahela Pittsburg,  Pa. 

Nassau Brooklyn,    N.    Y. 

National    Hartford,    Conn. 

National    Allegheny,   Pa. 

National  Fire  and  Marine Elizabeth,   N.   J. 

National  Union Pittsburg,   Pa. 

Newark     Newark,  N.  J. 

New   Hampshire Manchester,  N.  H. 

New   York    New  York,   N.  Y. 

Niagara    New  York,   N.  Y. 

North  British  and  Mercantile New  York,   N.   Y 

Northern     New  York,   N.  Y. 

North  German  Fire New  York,   N.   Y. 

North   River    New  York,   N.   Y. 

Northwestern     National     Milwaukee,  Wis. 

Orient     Hartford,    Conn. 

Pacific    New   York,   N.   Y. 

Pelican   Assurance    New   York,   N.    Y. 

Pennsylvania     Philadelphia,   Pa. 

Peter   Cooper New  York,   N.   Y. 

Phenix    Brooklyn,    N.   Y. 

Phoenix     i  rartford,   Conn. 

Pittsburg     Pittsburg,    Pa. 

Providence-Washington     Providence,    R.    I. 

Queen New   York.    N.   Y. 

Reliance     Philadelphia,    Pa. 

Rochester   German    Rochester,  N.   Y. 

St.   Paul  Fire  and  Marine St.    Paul,   Minn. 

Security    New   Haven,   Conn. 

Security    Baltimore,   Md. 

Security Cincinnati,    O. 

Springfield    Fire   and    Marine Springfield,  Mass. 

Spring   Garden    Philadelphia,    Pa. 

Star     . . . '. !  ,ouisville,  Ky. 

Stuyvesant    New   York,  N.  Y. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  73 

Teutonia    Allegheny,  Pa. 

Teutonia New   Orleans,  La. 

Union    New  York,  N.   Y. 

Union    Philadelphia,  Pa. 

United    Firemen Philadelphia,  Pa. 

United     States New  York,  N.  Y. 

Victoria    New  York,   N.  Y. 

Virginia   Fire   and   Marine Richmond,    Va. 

Virginia    State Richmond,    Va. 

Westchester     New  York,  N.   Y. 

Western Pittsburg,    Pa. 

Williamsburg    City Brooklyn,   N.  Y. 

Aachen    and    Munich Aix  la  Chapelle,  Ger. 

Alliance     Assurance London,   Eng. 

Atlas    Assurance London,  Eng. 

British-America    Assurance     Toronto,  Can. 

British  and    Foreign  Marine Liverpool,    Eng. 

Caledonian    Edinburg,    Scot. 

Cologne    Cologne,    Ger. 

Commercial  Union  Assurance — Limited.  ..  .London,    Eng. 

Fire    Insurance    Co.    "Salamandra" St.  Petersburg,  Kus. 

General    Marine Dresden,    Ger. 

Hamburg-Bremen     Hamburg   Ger. 

Indemnity    Mutual    Marine London,   Eng. 

Law   Union  and   Crown    Fire  and   Life. ..  .London,   Eng. 

Liverpool  and  London   and  Globe Liverpool,    Eng. 

London   Assurance    Corporation London,   Eng. 

London  and   Lancashire.. Liverpool,    Eng. 

Mannheim    Mannheim,   Ger. 

Marine — Ltd London,   Eng. 

Moscow    Moscow,   Rus. 

Munich     Munich,   Ger. 

National    Assurance Dublin,  Ire. 

Northern     Assurance Aberdeen  &  London,  G.  B. 

North    British    and    Mercantile London   &    Edinburg,    G.    B. 

Norwich    Union Norwich,   Eng. 

Palatine — Ltd. . London,  Eng. 

Phoenix    Assurance London,  Eng. 

Prussian    National .  Stetting,    Ger. 

Reliance    Marine Liverpool,    Eng. 

Rossia     ....  v St.   Petersburg,   Rus. 

Royal    Liverpool,   Eng. 

Royal   Exchange  Assurance London,   Eng. 

Scottish   Union   and   National »  . .  Edinburg,    Scot. 

Sea — Ltd Liverpool,   Eng. 

Skandia Stockholm,    Sweden. 

State     Fire — Ltd Liverpool,  Eng. 

Sun    Insurance    Office London,    Eng. 

Svea    Fire    and    Life — Ltd Gothenburg,   Sweden. 

Thames  and  Mersey  Marine Liverpool,    Eng. 

Trans  Atlantic     _. Hamburg,   Ger. 

Union   Assurance   Society London,  Eng. 

Union    Marine — Ltd Liverpool,   Eng. 

Western     Assurance Toronto,    Can. 

Addison    Farmers   Mutual Addison. 

Coal    Operators    Mutual Springfield. 

Farmers  and  Threshers  Mutual Paris. 

Illinois    Mutual    Fire    Underwriters Chicago. 

Lumbermens    Mutual    Chicago. 

Millers    Mutual    Fire    Ass'n Alton. 

Millers  National Chicago. 


74  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

Mill    Owners    Mutual Chicago. 

National    Mutual   Church Chicago. 

Protection  Mutual Chicago. 

Retail   Merchants   Ass'n Springfield. 

Central  Manufacturers  Mutual VanWert,   O. 

Cotton   and   Woolen   Manufacturers Boston,  Mass. 

Farmers    Fire York,  Pa. 

Grain  Dealers  National  Mutual Indianapolis,  Ind. 

Indian    Millers Indianapolis,  Ind. 

Industrial     Mutual Boston,  Mass. 

Keystone    Mutual Philadelphia,   Pa. 

Manton  Mtitual Philadelphia,   Pa. 

Mercantile   Mutual • . . .  Providence,  R.  I. 

Michigan   Millers   Mutual Lansing,  Mich. 

Ohio  Millers  Mutual Canton,   O. 

Philadelphia    Manufacturers Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Rubber    Manufacturers Boston,  Mass. 

A  WORD  WITH  YOU. 

There  are  evolutions  in  crime,  just  as  are  there  ad- 
vancements in  business,  and  evil  often  keeps  pace  with 
good.  For  every  step  of  progress  made  by  the  safe 
manufacturer,  the  cracksman  has  found  some  new 
measure  to  offset  or  attack  the  improvement  made. 
The  simple  key-lock  strong  box  was  amenable  to 
powder — the  elegant  fire-proof,  burglar-proof,  water- 
proof, cross-sectioned  safe  of  to-day,  shrivels  before 
nitro-glycerine.  The  principle  applies  to  insurance 
crooks.  While  one  group  has  been  scattered,  its  mem- 
bers may  eventually  steal  from  cover,  and  meet  new 
conditions  with  new  cleverness.  Therefore,  the  vic- 
tims of  the  "Wild-catter"  may  well  ask :  "What  guar- 
antee have  I  that  I  will  not  be  bit  again?" 

There  is  one  solid  Rock  of  Safety,  and  one  only. 
The  high  ideal  of  perfect  fire  assurance  is  the  model 
recognized  by  those  authorities,  who  are  appointed 
solely  to  sift  out  the  bad  from  the  good,  and  leave  in 
the  measure  of  equity  pure  gold. 

Read  your  Policy — then  scan  the  official  list,  com- 


O?  A  DETECTIVE  75 

prising  companies  safeguarded  by  the  Board  of  Un- 
derwriters, the  legalized  Insurance  Departments,  and, 
tacitly,  by  the  United  States  government — corpora- 
tions manned  by  persons  of  standing  and  good  record, 
companies  whose  statements  bear  the  seal  of  reliabil- 
ity, and  who  never  evade  the  payment  of  a  just  loss. 

The  list  presented  has  undergone  the  close  scrutiny 
of  all  those  authorities  named,  has  stood  the  test  of 
time  and  business  principle,  and  includes  only  the 
substantial  insurance  companies  admitted  to  do  busi- 
ness in  this  State,  after  complying  with  every  require- 
ment of  the  rigid  laws,  formed  to  protect  the  interests 
of  the  assured  to  the  last  dollar. 

Good  fire  insurance  is  a  tangible  asset,  just  as  a  con- 
nection with  a  good  bank  is  a  guarantee  of  discretion 
and  reliability.  Second-class  insurance  invites  disap- 
pointment. "Wild  Cat"  insurance  is  worse  than  none. 
In  the  present  condition  of  a  purified  situation,  brought 
about  by  Detective  Wooldridge's  busy  efforts,  it  is 
the  duty  of  every  man  to  send  out  this  warning,  to 
reach  those  whose  environment  or  inexperience  have 
not  admitted  of  a  general  knowledge  of  affairs,  so  that, 
should  the  Wild-catter  steal  forth  from  his  lair  and 
try  to  do  business  in  obscure  quarters,  he  may  be 
nailed. 

This  graphic  screed  is  a  true  history  and  a  warning. 
It  is  something  more ;  it  is  a  guide,  and  the  writer  has 
only  to  add  his  absolute  endorsement  of  the  standard 
fire  insurance  companies  herein  named. 


THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 


Chicago,  111.,  Jan.   i,   1906, 
Mr.  John  M.  Collins, 

General  Superintendent  of  Police. 

I  respectfully  report  the  following  duties  performed 
and  results  obtained  during  the  year  1905 : 

First : — The  work  assigned  to  me  has  been  that  of  in- 
vestigating and  ferreting  out  schemes  and  devices  05 
means  of  which  Get-Rich-Quick  swindlers  perpetrate 
frauds  upon  the  public. 

A  conservative  estimate  of  the  sum  contributed  annual- 
ly by  this  highly  civilized  nation  to  "  safe-investment  " 
and  "  Get-Rich-Ouick  "  swindlers  is  $150,000,000. 

While  I  do  not  anticipate  the  public  will  heed  my  warn- 
ing, I  believe  the  exposition  of  such  operations  herein 
contained  will  at  least  arouse  post-office  authorities  and 
the  press  to  a  realizing  sense  of  their  duty  in  the  premises. 

To  the  swindler  the  public  includes  all  classes,  from  the 
laundress  to-  the  lawyer,  the  merchant  to  the  clergyman. 
It  dwells  on  farms,  ranches  and  plantations,  in  huts, 
hovels  and  mansions;  it  is  found  in  every  hamlet,  village 
and  city  in  this  broad  land.  No  matter  how  remote  the 
victim,  distance  is  quickly  bridged  by  Uncle  Sam's  fast 
mail  and  thus  the  most  highly  efficient  department  of  the 
most  enlightened  government  is  perverted  into  a  drain 
through  which  the  wealth  of  the  public  flows  into  the 
hands  of  the  "  Get-Rich-Ouick  "  specialist. 

Sometimes  the  swindler  is  a  "  respectable  "  citizen, 
"  leading  banker  "  or  "  broker,"  who  organizes  a  stock 


a; 

o 

a 

o 

> 
o 

a 
> 
•r 

r 

a 


Jadge:     "You  are  charged  with  stealing  the  Myers'  fed 
chickens.     How  do  you  plead?"  • 

Prisoner:  "Not  guilty,  boss,  an'  I'll  tell  yo  why.  In 
de  first  place  de  chicken  coop  doah  wuzn't  eben  locked;  in 
de  secon'  place  dar  wuz  no  burglar  alarm;  in  de  third  place 
dar  wuz  no  bull  dog;  in  de  four!  place  Myers'  Spice  done 
make  de  chickens  so  fat  dey  -ain't  fly.  Now.  dat  a 
stealin'    e1    all,   boss:    dat's   j  :•' 

ibe  it  toe  yo'  saif." 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  77 

company  to  lure  fleecy  lambs  to  a  shearing;  at  others 
he  is  a  "  sport  "  with  a  scheme  to  tap  poolroom  wires 
and  "  beat  the  races ;"  again  he  is  a  spectacular  ad- 
venturer from  the  west  who  startles  large  communities 
by  a  meteoric  career  of  deliberately  planned  but  seeming- 
ly reckless  expenditure  of  large  sums  of  money  "  taken  " 
from  a  salted  mine,  stock  in  which  is  offered  for  sale ; 
and  too  often  he  is  the  unprincipled  charlatan  that  preys 
upon  the  credulity  of  invalids  and  robs  them  of  the  last 
few  dollars  that  were  hoarded  to  deprive  approaching 
death  of  its  terrors. 

Of  the  vast  sums  annually  wrung  from  the  thrifty  by 
false  pretenses  about  $20,000,000  are  spent  for  newspaper 
advertising;  an  equal  amount  for  blackmail,  attorneys' 
fees,  circulars,  booklets,  stenographers,  clerks,  telegrams, 
and  the  maintenance  of  handsome  suites  of  offices.  The 
swindler  recklessly  squanders  his  ill-gotten  gains. 

I  do  not  believe  any  one  has  ever  had  an  opportunity 
to  make  a  more  careful  and  systematic  investigation  of 
fraudulent  methods  for  obtaining  money  than  have  I 
during  the  past  eight  years. 

Were  the  census  enumerators  of  the  United  States  to 
compile  a  list  of  the  "  sucker  "  public  the  gullible  ones 
would  aggregate  tens  of  millions.  There  is  not  a  town- 
ship in  this  great  nation  that  does  not  contain  its  portion 
of  confiding  persons  who  are  ready  to  believe  anything, 
from  the  rankest  catch-penny  advertisement  to  a  fallacy 
in  theological  dogma. 

They  are  willing  to  open  up  their  hearts  to  unknown 
matrimonially  inclined  correspondents ;  to  accept  as  gos- 
pel the  incredible  statements  of  impostors  and  to  pay 


78  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

out  money  coined  by  hard  toil  for  something  which  the 
reason  of  a  child  should  tell  them  it  is  beyond  the  power 
of  man  to  provide. 

They  are  easy  prey  alike  to  religious  and  political  im- 
postors and  materialistic  adventurers.  My  investigations 
for  years  past'  into  the  innermost  secrets  of  swindlers 
and  the  observations  incidental  to  my  official  experiences 
disclosing  how  victims  are  drawn  into  the  net  of  the 
grafter,  impel  the  belief  that  their  faith  passes  beyond 
the  bounds  of  credulity  into  the  domain  of  imbecility. 

Ample  documentary  evidence  is  in  my  possession  to 
substantiate  this  statement.  From  the  mountains  of 
mail  at  hand,  written  by  "  suckers,"  I  can  produce  enough 
signatures  to  form  a  chain  miles  in  length.  Post  marks 
on  the  letters  represent  every  nook  and  corner  in  the 
great  and  glorious  United  States  of  America  where  reign 
liberty  and  human  equality ;  where  "  All  men  are  created 
free  and  equal  "  and  within  whose  boundaries  dwell  "  the 
sharpest,  shrewdest  and  most  advanced  people  in  the 
world." 

Is  it  not  enough  to  make  an  intelligent  American 
blush  to  see  thousands  of  his  fellow  men  throwing  money 
to  the  man  who  proclaims  that  for  a  few  pennies  he  will 
impart  the  wonderful  secret  of  raising  the  dead,  or  how 
to  make  one  dollar  gain  a  million,  or  how  to  baffle  the 
savants  of  science  after  a  day's  research? 

Chicago  has  become  the  principal  distributing  center 
whence  issues  the  seductive  literature  of  "  Get-Rich- 
Quick  "  schemes.  Every  postal  car  speeding  out  of  its 
limits  groans  under  a  burden  of  mail  to  be  scattered  in 
all  directions. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  *& 


Uncle  Sam  furnishes  the  fish  pole.  The  bait  is  attached 
to  his  red  and  green  stamps.  He  jerks  the  "  sucker  " 
out  of  the  sea  of  credulity  onto  the  sharp  rocks  of  reality, 
gasping  and  floundering  from  "  con "  men  to  "  skin  " 
lawyers,  his  tender  body  cut  and  bruised  upon  each  new 
point  of  experience. 

This  city  was  infested  by  a  formidable  community  of 
swindlers,  who  invaded  all  ranks  of  life.  They  promoted 
many  specious  schemes  to  lure  the  elusive  dollar  from  the 
pockets  of  unwary  victims.  These  operatives  are  sharp, 
smooth  and  unscrupulous — the  most  dangerous  of  crim- 
inal perverts.  They  are  received  with  open  arms  in  social 
and  business  circles.  Their  contributions  to  the  church 
plate  are  accepted  without  an  unsavory  taint  arising  and 
entering  the  nostrils  of  the  collector.  Their  wives  and 
daughters  visit  in  automobiles,  dazzle  at  social  functions 
and  parade  before  the  admiring  eyes  of  gaping  "  suckers  " 
in  silks,  satins,  furs  and  diamonds. 

With  sun-shaded  eyes  scanning  the  distance  these  birds 
of  prey  skim  the  fair  horizon  of  human  faith.  Of  this 
brood  some  are  the  eagles  of  crime  while  others  are 
patent  medicine  vultures. 

Every  time  a  "  Get-Rich-Quick  "  bubble  bursts  there 
follows  a  long,  dreary  story  of  misplaced  confidence. 
The  exposure  of  fraud  unfolds  the  incredible  credulity 
of  human  beings.  But  as  soon  as  active  publicity  ceases 
the  dearly  bought  lesson  is  forgotten  and  the  "  sucker  " 
is  ready  to  spring  for  the  next  tempting  bait.  A  major- 
ity of  "  Get-Rich-Quick  "  concerns  secure  their  victims 
through  the  newspapers.     Their  printed  advertisements 


80  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

are  plainly  intended  to  gull  the  unwary  and  deprive  the 
ignorant  of  their  savings. 

Each  day  I  carefully  scan  local,  domestic  and  foreign 
papers  for  advertisements  inviting  investment  in  schemes 
of  questionable  character.  The  information  thus  obtained 
together  with  literature  and  complaints  sent  to  the  Police 
Department  to  aid  investigation  during  the  past  year 
has  been  closely  examined  by  me.  Whenever  a  man 
or  concern  could  not  show  a  "  clear  bill  of  health  "  I  have 
forced  him  to  "  disinfect,  depart  or  submit  to  the  quaran- 
tine of  the  county  jail." 

Without  fear  or  favor  I  have  inaugurated  crusades 
and  waged  wars  against  the  hosts  of  criminal  enterprise. 
By  vigilance  and  hard  work  I  have  succeeded  in  obtain- 
ing good  results.  Units,  scores,  and  legions  of  fraud- 
ulent concerns  have  been  exposed  and  driven  out  of 
existence. 

Owners  of  others,  anticipating  exposure,  did  not  wait 
but  closed  their  places  and  fled.  Many  headquarters  of 
contraband  schemes  have  been  raided  and  their  promoters 
arrested,  fined  and  forced  to  cease  operations.  During 
the  past  year  retributive  justice  has  been  visited  upon 
countless  heads  that  were  devoted  to  devising  criminal 
schemes. 

I  have  the  honor  to  report  that  to-day  Chicago  is 
freer  from  "  Get-Rich-Quick  "  concerns  than  at  any  time 
during  the  previous  twenty-five  years.  In  obtaining  this 
result  I  have  been  aided  by  the  Postal  authorities,  es- 
pecially by  Colonel  James  Stuart,  Chief  Inspector  of 
Mails  of  Chicago,  and  his  staff  of  inspectors.  From  the 
editors  and  reporters  of  the  daily  papers,  who  are  among 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  81 

the-  brightest  and  most  talented  men  in  all  walks  and 
professions  of  life,  I  have  received  much  assistance.  I 
have  worked  hand  in  hand  with  them.  They  have  trav- 
eled with  me  in  the  dead  hours  of  the  night  during  my 
efforts  to  suppress  crime  or  track  a  criminal  and  have 
often  given  me  assistance  in  the  way  of  suggestions. 


WAYS  IN  WHICH  THE  PUBLIC  IS  ROBBED. 

Five  years  ago  the  game  of  promoting,  which  previously 
was  followed  by  lightning-rod  agents  and  wild-cat  mine 
developers,  was  taken  up  in  Wall  street.  Men  who  had 
been  content  to  gamble  on  the  rise  or  fall  of  stock 
undertook  to  create  prices  for  created  certificates. 

Rogers  tried  it  and  succeeded.  He  found  that  the 
lightning-rod  agent's  game  had  boundless  possibilities. 
He  saw  that  by  inflaming  the  developing  madness  for 
money  he  could  sell  nothing  for  something. 

Morgan  followed  Rogers.  He  capitalized  all  the  iron 
in  the  earth  and  sold  it.  Then  the  madness  for  money 
was  on. 

Buncoing  the  public  became  part  of  the  country's 
financial  system. 

The  plain  business  of  theft  was  regarded  as  an  an- 
tiquated system  and  the  "  Honest  Grafter  "  began.  He 
is  called  honest  because  he  always  has  big  lawyers  at 
his  elbow  to  pilot  him  through  the  channels  of  infamy 
the  law  has  not  charted. 

The  grafting  politician  who  was  formerly  a  cheap 
thief,  developed  his  art  into  a  business. 


82  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

Through  the  rise  and  fall  of  Amalgamated  Copper  a 
hundred  millions  of  dollars  was  stolen  from  honest 
investors. 

United  States  Steel  sprung  into  existence.  Values  of 
$600,000,000  were  capitalized  for  $1,500,000,000  and  the 
stock  was  unloaded  on  the  public.  The  stock  went  down, 
down,  down  until  the  victims  were  cleaned  out.  Then  the 
stock  was  bid  in  at  its  actual  value  and  the  public  frozen 
out. 

The  Shipbuilding  Trust,  with  values  representing  no 
more  than  $2,000,000  was  stocked  for  $80,000,000.  The 
inflated  stock  was  floated  and  again  was  the  public  robbed. 

Commerce  was  perverted  into  a  saturnalia  of  promotion, 
stock  jobbing  and  stealing. 

The  poison  spread.  The  Life  Insurance  Companies 
went  into  Wall  street,  Five  hundred  millions  of  the 
policyholders'  money  was  squandered  in  speculation, 
bribery  and  debauchery. 

Senators  were  bribed,  Governors  bought  and  State 
Legislatures  put  on  the  auctioneers'  block. 

Thieving  extended  into  the  departments  of  government. 
Postal  officials  bought  and  sold  contracts  and  privileges. 

The  Agricultural  Bureau  established  an  underground 
route  from  the  capitol  to  Wall  street  and  millions  were 
stolen  through  private  information  on  government  crop 
reports. 

We  have  United  States  Senators  who  are  convicted  of 
land  swindles  and  other  criminal  frauds  and  Congress- 
men under  jail  sentences  for  stealing. 

In  the  West  exists  the  Beef  Trust  which  robs  the 
cattle  grower  and  the  consumer  without  partiality  and 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  83 

cuts  the  throat  of  the  packer  who  will  not  join  in  the 
theft. 

In  Peoria  is  presented  the  spectacle  of  an  educator 
turned  thief  and  robbing  the  citizens  of  half  a  million. 

In  Milwaukee  a  banker  stole  $2,000,000  and  poured  it 
into  the  bottomless  pit  of  speculation. 

In  Pittsburg  a  bank  cashier,  after  allowing  Republican 
and  state  officials  to  rob  the  institution,  blew  out  his 
brains.     His  bank  is  out  $2,000,000. 

SOME  METHODS  OF  ROBBERY  BY  CHICAGO 
FAKE  CONCERNS. 

Wildcat  Insurance $10,000,000 

Fake  Mines  and  Oil  Wells 8,000,000 

Turf  Swindles   7,500,000 

Home  Buying  Swindles 6,000,000 

Fake  Bond  and  Investment  Companies 6,000,000 

Bucket  Shops 5,000,000 

Blind  Pools  in  Grain  and  Stocks. 5,000,000 

Pool  Rooms  and  Hand  Books 5,000,000 

Fake  Mail  Order  Houses 3,000,000 

Ordinary  Gambling  Houses 2,500,000 

Panel  Houses  2,400,000 

Matrimonial  Bureaus 1,000,000 

Fake  Book  Concerns 1,000,000 

Fake  Underwriting 500,000 

Fake  Banks , 500,000 

Collecting  Agencies 500,000 

Fake   Medicine   Companies 500,000 

Clairvoyants,  Fortune  Tellers,  palmists,  etc. .  500,000 


84  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

Bogus  Charities 300,000 

Wire   Tappers    , 200,000 

Fraudulent   Employment   Agencies 200,000 

We  are  at  the  beginning  of  a  changing  order. 

There  is  a  revolt  on  in  this  country.  It  is  a  peaceful 
revolution  that  will  be  fought  with  the  ballot. 

The  people  are  thinking.  They  may  be  slow  thinkers, 
but  when  they  realize  just  what  is  going  on  they  will 
set  matters  right. 

BUCKETSHOPS  RAIDED. 

March  10th,  Logan,  Roche  &  Co.,  263-265  La  Salle  St., 
raided  and  closed. 

August  nth,  Frank  White  &  Co.,  263  La  Salle  St., 
raided,  closed,  literature  seized  and  destroyed  by  order 
of  the  Court.  Frank  White  was  arrested  and  on  a  plea 
of  guilty  fined  $50.00  for  keeping  a  common  gaming 
house  by  Justice  John  R.  Caverly. 

August  nth,  Mansfield  &*Hall,  room  802,  21  Quincy 
St.,  raided,  literature  and  equipment  seized  and  destroyed 
by  order  of  the  Court.  Margaret  Mansfield,  keeper, 
arrested,  and  on  plea  of  guilty  of  running  a  common 
gaming  house  fined  $50.00  by  Justice  John  R.  Caverly. 

August  nth,  Williams,  Young  &  Co.,  owned  and  run 
by  Ernest  E.  Jones,  226  La  Salle  St.,  raided  and  closed; 
literature  and  paraphernalia  seized  and  ordered  destroyed 
by  tlte  Court.  Ernest  Jones  and  inmates  arrested.  On 
the  plea  of  guilty  of  keeping  a  common  gaming  house 
Jones  was  fined  $50.00  by  Justice  John  R.  Caverly.  Other 
warrants  were  taken  out  for  his  arrest  but  he  drew  money 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


85 


RAIDING    A    BUCKET   SHOP 


86  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

deposited  in  the  bank,  and  left  the  city ;  is  now  a  fugitive 
from  Justice. 

August  nth,  W.  A.  Gleeson  &  Co.,  112  Quincy  St., 
raided  and  closed;  paraphernalia  seized  and  ordered  de- 
stroyed by  Court.  W.  A.  Gleeson  arrested  and  on  plea 
of  running  a  common  gaming  house  fined  $25.00  by 
Justice  Thomas  Bradwell. 

August  nth,  Weimer  &  Co.,  operated  by  Hotchkiss 
&  Co.,  108  La  Salle  St.;  raided  and  closed;  literature 
seized  and  ordered  destroyed.  Weimer  and  Hotchkiss 
evaded  arrest  and  are  now  fugitives  from  justice.  Two 
inmates  arrested;  pleaded  guilty  to  being  inmates  of 
common  gaming  house  and  fined  $1.00  and  costs  apiece 
by  Justice  John  R.  Caverly. 

August  nth,  Fleet  Hoyt  &  Co.,  218  La  Salle  St.,  raided 
and  closed.  Implements  and  literature  seized  and  ordered 
destroyed;  owners  and  promoters  evaded  arrest. 

August  nth,  F.  J.  Holzapfel  &  Co.,  226  La  Salle  St., 
raided  and  closed.  F.  H.  Holzapfel  and  fourteen  inmates 
arrested.  Holzapfel  indicted  by  Grand  Jury ;  is  awaiting 
trial.  Paraphernalia  held  as  evidence. 

Holzapfel  &  Co.  tried  to  secure  an  injunction  to  prevent 
John  M.  Collins,  General  Superintendent  of  Police,  and 
myself,  from  interfering  with  his  illegal  business,  which 
was  denied  by  the  Court. 

August  nth,  J.  F.  McChesney  &  Co.,  127  La  Salle 
St.,  raided  and  closed.  F.  J.  McChesney  secured  tem- 
porary injunction  restraining  John  M.  Collins,  General 
Superintendent  of  Police,  and  myself  from  interfering 
with  his  bucketshop,  which  was  dissolved.  J.  F. 
McChesney  was  again  raided  Sept.  20th,  literature  and 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  87 

implements  seized.     tie  was  indicted  by  the  Grand  Jury 
and  awaits  trial. 

September  22d,  Thomas  Davies  &  Co.,  room  318 
Rookery  Bldg.,  217  La  Salle  St.,  raided  and  closed. 

WHAT  IS  A  BUCKETSHOP? 

I  have  frequently  been  requested  to  define  bucketshops 
— a  most  difficult  task,  owing  to  the  variety  of  disguises 
which  they  assume  and  the  outward  similarity  which  they 
bear  to  legitimate  brokerage  houses.  The  following 
definition  covers  the  essential  features  of  bucketshops 
from  the  standpoint  of  an  expert. 

A  BUCKETSHOP  is  an  establishment  conducted  nom- 
inally and  ostensibly  for  the  transaction  of  a  grain, 
cotton  or  stock  exchange  business.  The  proprietor, 
with  or  without  the  consent  of  the  patron,  takes  one  side 
of  every  deal  that  is  made  in  his  place,  the  patron  taking 
the  other,  no  article  being  bought  or  sold  in  any  public 
market.  Bucketshops  counterfeit  the  speculative  trading 
on  exchanges.  Continuous  market  quotations  of  an 
exchange  are  the  essence,  "the  very  sinew  of  the  gambling 
business  carried  on  in  a  bucketshop,  being  used  as  dice 
are  used,  to  determine  the  result  of  a  bet. 

The  market  quotations  posted  in  a  bucketshop  are 
exactly  similar  to  those  posted  in  a  legitimate  broker's  I 
office,  but  they  are  displayed  for  a  different  purpose. 
The  broker  posts  the  quotations  for  the  purpose  of  show- 
ing what  the  market  has  been  on  the  exchange  as  a 
matter  of  news.  The  bucketshop  posts  them  as  the  terms 
upon  which  its  patrons  may  make  bets  with  the  keeper. ' 


88  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

A  bucketshop  is  destroyed  if  it  loses  its  supply  of  quota- 
tions. 

Margins  deposited  with  the  bucketshop  proprietor  by 
the  patrons  are  nothing  but  the  patrons'  stakes  to  the 
wager  and  are  appropriated  by  the  proprietor  when  the 
fluctuations  of  the  price  on  the  exchange  whose  quota- 
tions are  the  basis  of  the  bet,  reach  the  limit  of  the 
deposit,  one  party  (the  proprietor)  to  the  bet  acting 
as  stakeholder.  The  commissions  charged  by  the  bucket- 
shop-keepers  are  odds  in  its  favor,  and  necessary  in  order 
to  maintain  their  pretense  of  being  legitimate  brokers 
making  the  transaction  on  an  exchange. 

The  bucketshop  proprietor  is  ready  to  make  all  deals 
offered  in  any  commodity  that  fluctuates  in  price.  He 
may  call  himself  banker  and  broker  or  commission  mer- 
chant, or  disguise  his  business  under  the  form  of  an  in- 
corporated enterprise  or  exchange.  But  he  is  still  a 
common  gambler.  The  interest  of  the  proprietor  of  a 
-bucketshop  is  at  all  times  opposed  to  that  of  his  patrons, 
as  the  profits  of  the  shop  are  measured  by  the  losses  of 
the  patrons. 

Bucketshops  should  not  be  confounded  with  the  great 
public  markets  of  the  world,  where  buyer  and  seller, 
producer  and  consumer,  investor  and  speculator  meet 
in  legitimate  trade ;  for  the  pretended  buying  of  millions 
of  bushels  of  grain  in  bucketshops  will  not  add  a  fraction 
of  a  cent  to  the  price  of  the  product  of  the  farm,  nor 
will  the  pretended  selling  of  as  much  increase  the 
supplies  of  the  consumer  or  lessen  the  cost  of  his  loaf 
a  farthing.     Nor  should  they  be  confounded  jvith  the 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  89' 

offices  of  legitimate  brokers  which  they  endeavor  to  imi- 
tate in  appearance,  __ 

The  term  "  bucketshop,"  as  now  applied  in  the  United 
States,  was  first  used  in  the  late  70s.  It  was  coined  in 
London  fifty  years  ago,  when  it  had  absolutely  no  refer- 
ence to  any  species  of  speculation  or  gambling.  Beer 
swillers  from  the  East  Side  (London)  went  from  street  ^ 
to  street  with  buckets,  draining  every  keg  they  came 
across  and  picking  up  cast-off  cigar  butts.  Arriving 
at  a  den  they  gathered  for  social  amusement  around  a 
table  and  passed  the  bucket  as  a  loving  cup,  each  taking 
a  "  pull  "  as  it  came  his  way. 

In  the  interval  were  smoking  and  rough  jokes.  The 
den  came  to  be  called  a  bucketshop.  Later  the  term  was 
applied,  both  in  England  and  the  United  States,  as  a 
byword  of  reproach  to  small  places  where  grain  and  stock 
deals  were  counterfeited. 

Bucketshops  have  been  condemned  by  statutes  as  crim- 
inal and  pernicious  in  many  states  in  the  Union,  but 
anti-bucketshop  laws  are  rarely  enforced  by  public  serv- 
ants whose  duty  it  is  to  enforce  them.  "  Prosecutions 
thus  far,  except  in  Illinois,  have  been  left  to  private 
citizens  or  associations  for  the  suppression  of  gambling. 

The  "  bucketshop  "  has,  within  a  few  years  past,  sprung 
from  comparative  inconsequence  into  an  institution  of 
formidable  wealth  and  threatening  proportions.  There 
are  nearly  a  thousand  in  the  United  States.  Every 
large  city  in  the  west  has  at  least  one.  Having  banded 
together  in  a  strong  combination  they  sneer  at  legisla- 
tion. Opulent  and  powerful  they  scoff  at  antagonistic 
public  opinion. 


90  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

The  "  bucketshop  "  like  the  lottery  and  the  farobank 
finds  its  profits  in  its  customers'  losses.  If  its  patrons 
"  buy "  wheat  and  wheat  goes  up  the  "  bucketshop " 
loses. 

Many  a  bucketshop  commission  merchant  would  hardly 
know  wheat  from  oats  and  none  of  their  grain  and  prod- 
uce "  exchanges  "  ever  had  a  sample-bag  on  its  counters. 
Their  transactions  are  wagers  and  their  existence  is  an 
incitement  to  gambling  under  the  guise  of  commercial 
transactions.  The  pernicious  influences  of  the  gaming 
house  are  in  the  bucketshop  revived  with  the  allurement 
of  a  cloak  of  respectability  and  the  assumption  of  busi- 
ness methods. 

The  legitimate  exchange  is  a  huge  time  and  labor 
saving  machine.  Its  benefits  are  universal.  While  its 
privileges  are  valuable  they  have  been  rendered  so  only 
by  hard  work  and  its  members  are  entitled  to  the  protec- 
tion of  the  state  against  thieves.  The  "  bucketshop  " 
is  a  thief.  The  quotations  upon  which  the  "  bucket- 
shop  "  trades  are  the  product  of  the  labor  and  intelligence 
and  information  of  the  exchange.  The  exchange  gathers 
its  news  at  great  cost  from  all  over  the  globe  and  dis- 
seminates it  for  public  advantage.  But  its  quotations 
should  be  its  own  property.  They  are  the  direct  product 
of  its  energy,  its  foresight  and  its  business  sagacity. 

The  "  bucketshop,"  at  no  parallel  cost,  usurps  the  func- 
tions of  the  exchange  and  endeavors  to  secure  for  itself 
the  returns  for  a  labor  performed  by  others.  Were  it 
to  use  honorable  methods  with  its  patrons  it  would  be 
a  dishonorable  institution.  Using  the  methods  it  does, 
the  "  bucketshop  "  is  twice  dishonored. 


Of  a  detective  91 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  all  other  forms  of  gambling  or 
swindling  are  commonplace  and  comparatively  innocent 
when  compared  to  the  "  bucketshop  "  which  has  caused 
more  moral  wrecks,  more  dismantled  fortunes  and  made 
more  of  the  innocent  suffer  than  any  other  agency  of 
diabolism.  Just  why  so  brazen  an  iniquity  in  the  guise 
of  speculation  should  be  allowed  to  exist  it  is  difficult  to 
explain. 

Open  gambling  has  been  placed  under  the  ban  of  civic 
reform.  While  the  policy  shop,  the  lottery  and  other  less 
dangerous  methods  of  swindling  have  been  effectively 
stamped  out  of  most  cities,  the  "  bucketshop  tiger  "  con- 
tinues to  rend  the  ambitions  of  young  and  old,  dragging 
them  down  to  forgery,  embezzlement,  suicide, — or  that 
which  is  quite  as  bad, — broken  spirit  for  legitimate  en- 
deavor. Under  the  circumstances  the  sympathy  of  the 
public  should  be  with  the  movement  to  drive  "bucket- 
shops  "  out  of  business,  to  close  them  along  with  all  other 
gambling  institutions. 

It  is  time  that  something  was  done  to  check  the  grow- 
ing evil  of  gambling  on  produce,  cotton  and  stock  ex- 
change quotations.  A  beginning  has  been  made,  but 
the  movement  has  not  gone  far  enough.  These  excres- 
cences have  multiplied  rapidly  and  so  dangerously  near 
do  they  come  to  being  popular  that  the  mercantile  com- 
munity owes  it  to  itself  to  apply  the_knife  at  once. 

Moreover  there  is  no  form  of  gambling  more  disastrous 
to  the  player  than  "  bucketshop  "  gambling.  Its  semi- 
respectability  and  likeness  in  many  outward  features  to 
regular  and  reputable  commission  houses  makes  it  the 


92  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

most  insidious  of  all  temptations  to  the  young  specula- 
tor and  aspirer  after  wealth.    It  is  the  open  door  to  ruin. 

Men  do  not  blush  at  being  seen  in  a  "  bucketshop  " 
as  they  would  if  caught  in  a  faro  bank  or  poker  room 
though  they  are  drawn  thither  by  the  same  passion  for 
gambling  that  takes  them  to  the  regular  gambling  den. 
The  "  bucketshop  "  successfully  carries  on  a  worse  swin- 
dling game  than  the  "  blacklegs.''  The  wealth  the  chief 
"  bucketshop  "  men  of  the  country  have  acquired  proves 
this.  Men  can  be  pointed  put  in  Chicago,  New  York 
and  other  cities  of  the  country  who  have  amassed  fortunes 
at  the  business  while  their  thousands  of  victims  are  im- 
poverished and  ruined. 

Persons  desiring  to  speculate  or  invest  can  avoid 
"  bucketshops  "  and  "  fake  "  brokers  by  making  a  pre- 
liminary and  independent  investigation  into  the  character 
of  tjie  broker  and  the  merits  of  the  enterprise.  If  they 
accept  the  statements  and  references  of  promoters  of 
schemes  without  making  such  investigations  they  are 
not  entitled  to  sympathy  if  they  are  robbed. 

Legitimate  brokers  do  not  resort  to  sensational  ad- 
vertising ;  they  do  not  guarantee  profits ;  nor  do  they 
solicit  funds  to  invest  on  their  judgment.  The  functions 
of  a  broker  or  commission  merchant  are  to  receive  and 
execute  the  order  of  his  customers.  When  he  offers  to 
do  more  (except  in  the  way  of  giving  market  news,  ad- 
vice or  conservative  opinions)  he  should  be  avoided. 
Promoters  of  pools  and  syndicates  and  disseminators  of 
advance  information  should  be  carefully  avoided. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


93 


SPECULATION  VS.  GAMBLING. 

Definitions  and  comparisons;  they  are  separate  and  dis- 
tinct acts ;  service  of  the  speculator  to  the  farmer. 

I  think  it  is  well  to  define  speculation  and  margins 
and  gambling  and  wagers,  so  that  there  may  be  a  clearer 
understanding  of  the  distinctions  made  throughout  this 
report. 


Speculation 
(Enc.  Diet.) 
The  act  or  practice  of  buy- 
ing goods,  stock,  etc.,  or  of 
incurring  extensive  risks,  with 
a  view  to  an  increased  profit 
or  success  in  trade ;  the  buy- 
ing of  goods,  shares,  stocks, 
or  other  purchasable  commod- 
ity, in  expectation  of  a  rise  in 
the  market,  and  thus  securing 
a  gain  to  the  buyer,  or  of  sell- 
ing commodities  in  the  expec- 
tation that  prices  will  fall,  and 
thus  the  seller  will  be"  able  to 
buy  similar  commodities  back 
again  at  a   lower  price. 

Speculation 

(Century  Diet.) 

The  investing  of  money  at  a 
risk  of  loss  on  the  chance  of 
unusual  gain ;  specifically  buy- 
ing and  selling,  not  in  the  or- 
dinary course  of  commerce 
for  continuous  marketing  of 
commodities,  but  to  hold  in  the 
expectation  of  selling  at  a 
profit  upon  a  change  in  values 
of  market  rates. 

Margin 
(Century  Diet.) 
The  sum  in  money,  or  rep- 


Gambling — Legal  Defin  ition 
The  art  or  practice  of  ac- 
quiring money  or  property  by 
hazard  or  chance ;  an  agree- 
ment between  two  or  more,  to 
risk  money  upon  a  contin- 
gency, or  chance  of  any  kind, 
where  one  must  be  loser  and 
the  other  gainer. 

Whenever  money  or  other 
valuable  consideration  is  haz- 
arded and  may  be  lost,  or  more 
than  the  value  be  obtained  by 
chance,  it  is  gaming,  nor  will 
any  name  or  device  take  it  out 
of  this  category. 

Wager 
(Enc.  Diet.) 
Something  deposited,  staked 
or  hazarded  on  the  event  of  a 
contest  or  some  unsettled  ques- 
tion ;  something  staked  by  each 
of  two  persons  in  support  of 
his  opinion  concerning  a  fu- 
ture or  unknown  event ;  a 
stake.  The  party  whose  opin- 
ion proves  to  be  correct  re- 
ceives what  has  been  staked  by 
both.  By  statute  of  the  United 
States  all  contracts  or  agree- 
ments whether  in  writing  or 
parol,  depending  on  wagers, 
are    null    and    void,    and    the 


94 


THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 


resented  by  security,  deposited 
by  a  speculator  or  trader  with 
his  _  broker  as  a  provision 
against  loss  on  transactions 
made  on  account. 

Margin 
(Webster's  Diet.) 
Collateral  security  deposited 
with  a  broker  to  secure  him 
for  loss  on  contracts  entered 
into  by  him  on  behalf  of  his 
principal,  as  in  the  speculative 
buying  and  selling  of  stocks, 
wheat,  etc. 


wager  or  money  due  thereon 
cannot  be  recovered  in  a  court 
of  law.  A  wager  lost  is, 
therefore,  only  a  debt  of  honor. 

Wager 
(Webster's  Diet.) 
A  contract  by  which  two 
parties  or  more  agree  that  a 
certain  sum  of  money,  or  other 
thing  shall  be  paid  or  delivered 
to  one  of  them,  on  the  hap- 
pening or  not  happening  of  an 
uncertain  event. 

Bet 
(Webster's  Diet.) 
That  which  is  laid,  staked, 
or  pledged,  as  between  two 
parties,  upon  the  event  of  a 
contest  or  any  contingent  is- 
sue. 


PENALTY  FOR  KEEPING  "BUCKETSHOP." 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  people  of  the  State  of  Illinois 
represented  in  the  General  Assembly :  Thai:  it  shall  be 
unlawful  for  any  corporation,  association,  co-partnership 
or  person  to  keep  or  cause  to  be  kept  within  this  state 
any  "  bucketshop,"  office,  store  or  other  place,  wherein 
is  conducted  or  permitted  the  pretended  buying,  or  sell- 
ing of  the  shares  of  stocks  or  bonds  of  any  corporation, 
or  petroleum,  cotton,  grain,  provisions  or  other  produce, 
either  on  margins  or  otherwise,  without  any  intention  of 
receiving  and  paying  for  the  property  so  bought,  or  of 
delivering  the  property  so  sold ;  or  wherein  is  conducted 
or  permitted  the  pretended  buying  or  selling  of  such 
property  on  margins ;  or  when  the  party  buying  any  of 
such   property,  or  offering  to  buy  the   same,   does  not 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  95 

intend  actually  to  receive  the  same  if  purchased  or  to 
deliver  the  same  if  sold;  and  the  keeping  of  all  such 
places  is  hereby  prohibited.  And  any  corporation  or  per- 
son, whether  acting  individually  or  as  a  member,  or  as 
an  officer,  agent  or  employe  of  any  corporation,  associa- 
tion, or  co-partnership,  who  shall  be  guilty  of  violating 
this  section  shall,  upon  conviction  thereof,  be  fined  in 
any  sum  not  less  than  $200,  and  not  more  than  $500,  and 
any  person  or  persons  who  shall  be  guilty  of  a  second 
offense  under  this  statute,  in  addition  to  the  penalty  above 
described,  shall,  upon  conviction  be  imprisoned  in  the 
county  jail  for  the  period  of  six  months,  and  if  a  cor- 
poration, shall  be  liable  to  forfeiture  of  its  charter.  And 
the  continuance  of  such  establishment  after  first  con- 
viction shall  be  deemed  a  second  offense. 

GAMBLING  PROHIBITED. 

No  persons  shall  deal,  play  or  engage  in  faro,  roulette, 
or  gambling  for  money  or  other  valuable  thing,  or  any 
other  device  or  game  of  chance,  hazard,  or  skill,  either 
as  bookmaker,  dealer,  keeper,  player,  or  otherwise,  for 
the  purpose  of  gaming  or  gambling  for  money  or  other 
valuable  thing,  under  a  penalty  of  not  less  than  ten  dol- 
lars nor  more  than  two  hundred  dollars  for  each  offense. 

VISITOR,  KEEPER,  RUNNER,  ETC. 

Every  person  who  shall  patronize,  visit,  frequent,  or 
be  connected  with  the  management  or  operation,  or  who 
shall  act  as  the  doorkeeper,  solicitor,  runner,  agent,  abet- 
tor, '  or  pimp  of  any  house,  room,  yard  boat,  vessel,  or 
other  structure,  place  or  premises  kept  within  the  city 


96  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

for  the  purpose  of  permitting  persons  to  game  or  gam- 
ble for  any  valuable  thing,  shall  be  fined  not  less  than 
twenty-five  dollars  nor  more  than  fifty  dollars  for  each 
offense. 

LICENSE. 

It  shall  be  unlawful  for  any  person  or  corporation  to 
operate,  use  or  maintain  any  ticker  or  other  device  or 
instrument  for  the  receiving,  recording  or  registering 
of  printed  news,  intelligence  or  other  information  of 
any  kind  or  character  whatsoever,  without  a  license  for 
each  ticker  or  other  device,  or  instrument,  the  license  to 
be  issued  to  the  person  or  corporation  owning  or  operat- 
ing the  same. 

MARRIAGE  BUREAUS. 

Jan.  3d,  Edward  Morris,  attorney-at-law,  82  Madison 
St.,  Marriage  Bureau.  Raided,  closed  and  evidence  sub- 
mitted to  Postal  Authorities  for  investigation  and  ac- 
tion. 

Jan.  4th,  J.  H.  Hunter  Marriage  Bureau,  164  E.  Ran- 
dolph St.,  operated  by  Oscar  L.  Wells  and  J.  H.  Carson. 
Raided  and  closed.  Oscar  Wells  arrested  and  fined  $50 
by  Justice  John  K.  Prindeville. 

Jan.  9th,  Henry  Curran  Marriage  Bureau,  1242  Wa- 
bash Ave.  Raided  and  closed ;  Curran  fined  $100  by  Jus- 
tice  John   R.   Caverley. 

April  19th,  Jesse  H.  Lee  Marriage  Bureau,  84  Wash- 
ington St.,  conducted  by  J.  H.  Carson  and  J.  R.  Fergus- 
on. Ferguson  was  arrested  and  fined  $15  by  Justice 
Caverley. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


97 


fl ,'"' 


98  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

May  I2th,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Delmonta  Marriage  Bureau, 
Twelfth  and  State  St.,  operated  by  Oscar  L.  Wells,  raided 
and  closed. 

May  17th,  Belmont  Corresponding  Club,  12-14  State 
St.,  run  by  George  H.  Belmont,  "  Doc.  "  Moses,  M.  Fel- 
cherman  and  Oscar  L.  Wells.  Places  raided;  literature 
seized  and  destroyed  by  order  of  the  court.  Promoters 
arrested  and  Wells  fined  $200  by  Justice  John  K.  Prinde- 
ville. 

May  27th,  Clay's  American  Bureau  of  Correspondence, 
62  Ada  St.,  operated  by  J.  H.  Carson,  alias  Goodman 
Clay.  Raided  and  closed  up.  Carson  arrested  and  fined 
$25  by  Justice  John  K.  Prindeville. 

May  29th,  King's  Agency,  Lincoln  Ave.  and  George 
St.,  conducted  by  Henry  Curran,  alias  Lawrence  King. 
Raided,  literature  seized  and  ordered  destroyed  by  the 
court.  Curran  arrested  and  fined  $100  by  Justice  John 
K.  Prindeville. 

July  24th,  H.  C.  Swift's  Introduction  Bureau,  380 
West  Jackson  Blvd.  Raided,  literature  seized,  and  Harry 
Curran,  alias  H.  C.  Swift,  arrested  and  turned  over  to 
the  Postal  Authorities  to  be  held  pending  investigation 
and  action.  *    . 

August  2 1  st,  The  Ferguson  Directory,  171  Washing- 
ton St.,  raided  and  closed.  J.  H.  Carson  and  Jesse  R. 
Ferguson,  proprietors.  Ferguson  arrested  and  fined  $25 
by  Justice  John  K.  Prindeville. 

August  23d,  Rev.  Joseph  Spencer  Marriage  Bureau, 
80  East  Madison  St.  Raided  and  closed,  literature  seized 
and  turned  ever  to  the  Postal  Authorities. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  99 

August  25th,  H.  P.  Bradley,  attorney-at-law.  Marriage 
Bureau,  12c  Randolph  St.    Raided  and  closed. 

August  26th,  Henry  H.  Hudson  Marriage  Bureau,  79 
South  Clark  St.     Raided  and  closed. 

August  30th,  Robinson  &  Robinson,  attorneys-at-law, 
Marriage  Bureau,  120  Randolph  St.  Raided  and  closed. 
Evidence  turned  over  to  the  Postal  Authorities  for  ac- 
tion. 

August  27th,  Orange  Blossom  Marriage  Bureau,  59 
Dearborn  St.    Closed. 

September  5th,  Professor  LeRoy,  The  Astrologist  Mar- 
riage Bureau,  175  Dearborn  St.  Raided  and  closed ;  evi- 
dence turned  over  to  the  Postal  Authorities,  who  discon- 
tinued delivering  mail. 

September  8th,  John  H.  Harris,  168  Hamlin  Ave.,  edi- 
tor and  publisher  of  The  Pilot,  a  marriage  bureau  pa- 
per, was  raided  and  arrested. 

Among  the  letters  seized  were  complaints  from  his 
patrons.  They  received  no  returns  for  money  paid  him, 
and  averred  his  paper  was  being  used  to  blackmail  men 
and  women.  Complaints  were  also  made  that  many  of  the 
names  which  appeared  in  the  paper  were  not  authorized, 
and  other  names  attached  to  the  order  were  forgeries. 

Others  charged  that  many  of  the  advertisements  for 
young  girls  for  wives  wTere  placed  there  by  adventurers 
and  pure  girls  had  Been  induced  thereby  to  enter  houses 
of  ill  fame. 

The  persons  making  the  complaints  were  victims  them- 
selves and  they  furnished  additional  names  of  others  who 
fared  as  they  had. 

These  complaints  were  turned  over  to  Colonel  James 

•a 


100  •  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

Stuart,  Chief  Inspector  of  Mails  at  the  Chicago  Post- 
office   for  investigation  and  action. 

A  fraud  order  for  using  the  mails  has  been  requested 
by  the  postal  authorities  in  the   above  case. 

September  nth,  German  American  Agency,  run  by 
Mamie  Marie  Schultz,  3150  Calumet  Ave.  Raided  and 
the  literature  seized.  Mamie  Marie  Schultz  was  fined 
$25  by  Justice  Hurley.  The  evidence  obtained  was  sub- 
mitted to  the  Postal  Authorities  for  action. 

May  12th,  The  Standard  Corresponding  Club,  108 
North  Avers  Ave.  Raided.  J.  W.  Schlousser  arrested  and 
fined  $25  by  Justice  J.  R.  Caverley. 

May  1 2th,  The  Warren  Directory  Marriage  Bureau, 
897  Fulton  St.,  and  the  Warren  Directory  Marriage  Bu- 
reau, 833  Washington  Blvd.  Raided.  Ike  Warren  ar- 
rested and  fined  $25  by  Justice  John  Caverley. 

May  13th,  Walter  McDonnell,  483  West  Madison  St., 
Bureau  raided  and  McDonnell  arrested.  Discharged 
on  promising  to  eliminate  all  objectionable  features  from 
his  agency. 

September  30th,  National  Employing  Exchange,  G.  H. 
Cannon,  manager,  Ohio  Block,  2000  Washington  St. 
Raided  and  closed.  Oscar  L.  Wells  and  N.  C.  Collins 
arrested  by  Postal  Authorities  for  using  the  mails  for 
fraudulent  purposes.  Wells  was  held  to  the  Federal 
Gran  J  Jury. 

October  21st,  L.  B.  McDonald  Agency,  11957  Halsted 
St.    Closed. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  101 

MATRIMONIAL  AGENTS'  METHODS. 

To  describe  adequately  the  technicalities  of  the  mar- 
riage bureau  swindler's  methods  would  be  impossible 
without  presenting  actual  copies  of  documents  necessary 
to  the.  system.  Early  in  my  investigations  I  made  the 
discovery  that  the  scores  of  matrimonial  agencies,  "  in- 
troduction bureaus  "  and  "  marriage  clubs  "  were  using 
practically  the  same  literature.  Few  departed  from  the 
stereotyped  plan  for  "  pulling  the  suckers  on."  For  the 
most  part  the  prospectuses  and  "  follow  up  "  letters  were 
identical. 

As  often  happened,  however,  when  a  victim  was  "  land- 
ed right "  and  ventured  to  Chicago  from  his  distant  rural 
retreat  prepared  to  carry  out  in  earnest  the  game  that 
had  been  worked  upon  him  in  a  spirit  of  mercenary  reck- 
lessness the  methods  of  handling  him  were  varied  in  re- 
spect to  both  finesse  and  effectiveness. 

Any  person  familiar  with  the  uses  of  the  typewriter 
easily  could  have  discovered  that  the  "  personal "  letters 
received  from  time  to  time  were  nothing  more  than  cir- 
culars printed  by  the  thousands.  So  vast  was  the  num- 
ber of  the  gullible  that  seldom,  if  ever,  was  an  actual, 
bona  fide  letter  sent  in  reply  to  those  from  the  victims. 

Space  was  left  at  the  top  of  the  stock  letters  for  the 
insertion  of  the  name  of  the  person  to  whom  it  was  sent. 
In  their  haste  the  swindlers  often  begrudged  the 
time  necessary  to  change  the  "  Dear  Sir  "  to  "  Dear  Miss  " 
or  "  Dear  Madam  "  when  a  woman  was  addressed  on 
stationery  intended  for  male  clients. 

The  general  uniformity  of  the  literature  was  at  first 


102  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

thought  by  me  to  indicate  the  matrimonial  agencies  were 
banded  together  in  a  gigantic  trust.  But  later  I  learned 
that  as  they  increased  in  number  the  newcomers  exhibited 
conscienceless  audacity  in  copying  the  forms  used  by 
their  predecessors.  It  was  also  found  in  some  cases  sev- 
eral bureaus  were  operated  from  one  address  and  one  or 
two  men,  or  a  man  and  his  wife,  would  represent  half  a 
dozen  concerns  by  changing  names  and  locations  every 
thirty  or  sixty  days.  Because  of  these  reasons  and  the 
added  fact  that  whoever  compiled  the  original  forms  from 
which  the  others  copied  realized  he  was  in  an  illegitimate 
business  and  feared  to  prosecute  the  plagiarists.  Thus  the 
buncombe  admistered  to  the  suckers  became  uniform  in 
phraseology. 

If  a  person  desired  to  make  assurance  doubly  sure  for 
gaining  wealth  and  marital  bliss  and  he  applied  to  sev- 
eral agencies  at  the  same  time  the  same  mail  would  bring 
him  letters  from  each  bureau  with  which  he  communi- 
cated worded  identically  alike.  They  would  be  mime- 
ograph copies  and  the  only  difference  in  their  appear- 
ance would  be  in  the  printed  heading  indicating  the  name 
of  the  agency.  The  name  of  the  recipient  would  often 
be  written  at  the  top  in  ink  different  in  color  from  the 
body  of  the  letter. 

That  the  matrimonial  agency  business  is  not  confined 
to  Chicago  and  dupes  of  the  system  are  found  elsewhere 
than  in  rural  communities  and  among  the  poor  and  hum- 
ble is  demonstrated  by  recent  revelations  in  Europe.  Dur- 
ing one  raid  officers  seized  a  large  quantity  of  literature 
in  the  offices  of  a  swindling  concern  doing  business  un- 
der the  name  of  Mason  Brown  &  Co.    The  "  firm  "  adver- 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  103 

tised  itself  as  the  largest  of  its  kind  in  the  world  and  the 
only  one  "  indorsed  by  press  and  public  and  patronized 
by  royalty,"  adding  that  its  "  clients  and  representatives 
were  to  be  found  in  every  land." 

In  extra  large  type  the  information  was  conveyed  to 
the  victim  that  he  or  she  need  not  be  ashamed  to  resort 
to  the  agency  method  in  order  to  secure  a  life  partner  as 
the  royalty  of  Europe  used  this  means  exclusively  in  con- 
tracting marriages,  especially  in  cases  where  American 
heiresses  were  sought  as  wives  for  titled  but  impecunious 
foreigners. 

When  it  was  casually  remarked  during  an  examina- 
tion of  a  wagon  load  of  Mason  Brown  &  Company's  ad- 
vertising matter  the  reference  to  the  titles  and  heiresses 
was  the  only  true  statement  it  contained  there  were  smiles 
of  incredulity.  American  millionaires  were  said  to  be 
too  shrewd  and  level-headed  to  enter  into  deals  with  mar- 
riage bureaus  when  the  life-happiness  of  their  fair  and 
independent  daughters  is  concerned. 

It  was  but  a  short  time  after  this  conversation,  how- 
ever, that  the  following  cablegram  was  published: 

"  Aug.  25th.  The  alleged  attempt  to  blackmail  Count 
Franz  Joseph  Maria  Von  Larisch  Monnich  out  of  200,000 
marks  on  a  prenuptial  note  alleged  to  have  been  signed 
by  the  count,  and  the  implication  of  army  officers  and 
members  of  the  aristocracy  in  the  marriage  brokerage 
business,  has  caused  more  talk  in  high  circles  than  any- 
thing which  has  happened  since  the  elopement  of  Crown 
Princess  Louise  of  Saxony. 

"  It  is  said  the  Kaiser  has  determined  to  take  a  hand 
in  the  matter  and  insists  that  this  business  shall  be  stopped 


104  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

finally  and  effectively  on  the  ground  it  is  bringing  the 
army  and  nobility  into  disrepute  and  ridicule. 

STORY  OF  THE  MARRIAGE  SCHEME. 

M  The  story  of  the  attempt  on  Count  Larisch  is  not  an 
unusual  one.  Briefly,  the  Count,  who  is  an  Austrian,  but 
who  has  estates  in  Prussia,  was  anxious  to  replenish  his 
treasury  by  marrying  an  heiress.  A  syndicate  composed 
of  the  men  now  under  indictment,  it  is  said,  financed  him. 
He  set  out  to  marry  the  daughter  of  Faber,  the  multimil- 
lionaire pencil  manufacturer  of  Nuremberg,  giving  his 
notes  for  $50,000  payable  upon  his  marriage  to  Fraulein 
Faber.  The  venture  was  a  failure  for  Fraulein  Faber  did 
not  care  to  become  Countess  Larisch.  The  noble  fortune 
hunter  then  went  to  America  in  quest  of  a  bride.  Wheth- 
er it  was  on  his  own  account  or  under  the  auspices  of 
another  marriage  syndicate,  does  not  appear,  though  it  is 
hinted  the  latter  is  the  case.  In  any  event,  he  was  suc- 
cessful, and  married  Miss  Satterlee  of  Titusville,  Pa. 

"  On  his  return  the  members  of  the  Faber  syndicate 
demanded  payment  and  presented  a  note  purporting  to 
have  been  given  by  Larisch  without  the  qualification  that 
it  was  payable  only  after  his  marriage  to  the  pencil  manu- 
facturer's daughter.  Larisch,  regarding  the  Faber  affair 
a  closed  incident,  and  declaring  the  note  presented  a  for- 
gery, refused  to  pay.  The  matter  got  before  the  public 
prosecutor  and  the  expose  resulted. 

MARKET  FOR  AMERICAN  HEIRESSES. 
"  There  has  been  more  than  one  similar  scandal  involv- 
ing members  of  the  high  nobility  and    rich    American 
girls. 


OF  'A  DETECTIVE  105 

"  It  will  be  remembered  last  year  there  was  a  stir  cre- 
ated by  the  broadcast  announcement  that  Prince  Hugo 
Von  Hoheniche-Oehringen,  Prince  Heinrich  Von  Hanan 
and  Baron  Berhard-Muenhausen  accused  an  Englishman, 
O'Brien,  who  was  alleged  to  be  the  agent  of  Berlin  mar- 
riage brokers,  of  attempted  blackmail. 

"  Among  the  Americans  whose  names  are  said  to  be  on 
the  list  of  this  marriage  syndicate  are  the  Misses  Angelica 
and  Mabel  Gerry,  Miss  Gladys  Vanderbilt,  the  Misses 
Nora  and  Fannie  Iselin,  the  Misses  Adeline  and^  Electa 
Havemeyer,  Mrs.  Lewis  Rutherford  Morris,  formerly 
Miss  Katherine  Clark,  daughter  of  Senator  Clark  of 
Montana;  Mrs.  Francis  Burton  Harrison,  formerly  Miss 
Mary  Crocker,  daughter  of  Mrs.  George  W.  Crocker ; 
Miss  Dorothy  Whitney,  the  Misses  Beatrice  and  Gladys 
Mills,  Miss  Gwendolyn  Burden  and  the  Misses  Florence 
and  Ruth  Twombly. 

"  The  methods  used,  it  is  alleged  are  to  place  the  young 
women  in  embarrassing  positions." 

U.  S.  TO  CRUSH  MATRIMONIAL  SWINDLES. 


Government  Officials  Roused  by  Many  Frauds  Through- 
out The  Country.  '•  Bureaus  *  to  be  Put  Under  Ban 
of  Law.    Hoch  Case  Cited  as  Sample  of  In- 
jury Worked  Through  Agencies. 

As  a  result  of  the  many  recent  matrimonial  scandals  the 
Postoffice  Department  has  decided,  according  to  very 
high  authority,  to  take  steps  toward  curbing  the  activity 
of  so-called  matrimonial  bureaus  and  agencies  that  cir- 


106  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

dilate  papers  or  circulars  giving  the  addresses  of  men 
or  women  seeking  life  partners  through  this  medium. 

The  harm  done  by  these  agencies  is  almost  incalculable. 
Foolish  women  having  money  at  their  disposal  fall  easy 
victims  to  the  many  scheming  scoundrels  who  make  a 
practice  of  subscribing  to  the  bureaus  for  the  purpose  of 
securing  the  addresses  of  prospective  victims. 

As  instances  of  the  harm  done  by  these  bureaus  the 
case  of  Johann  Hoch,  who  married  fifty  women  and  is  now 
under  sentence  of  death  in  Chicago,  may  be  cited  as  a 
glaring  example.  The  case  of  Frederick  Carlton,  under 
indictment  on  two  charges  of  grand  larceny  in  Brooklyn, 
is  another. 

It  is  stated  on  what  seems  to  be  reliable  authority  this 
man  made  the  acquaintance  of  women  in  various  parts  of 
the  country  through  the  medium  of  matrimonial  adver- 
tisements, married  them  and  decamped  with  their  money 
at  the  first  favorable  opportunity. 

Still  another  case  has  cropped  out  in  that  of  Dr.  Witz- 
hofT  of  New  York.  This  man,  according  to  his  confes- 
sions published  in  the  Chicago  American  of  October  18, 
I g,  20  and  21,  1905,  married  fifty  women,  and  through 
his  bigamous  marriages  obtained  considerable  sums  of 
money  and  much  jewelry  from  nearly  a  hundred  women 
in  various  parts  of  the  country  and  then  deserted  them. 

This  business  has  proved  so  profitable  that  in  nearly 
every  large  city  of  the  country  there  are  several  matri- 
monial bureaus  which  furnish  to  their  subscribers  lists 
of  the  names  and  addresses  of  women  seeking  husbands, 
giving  full  particulars  in  regard  to  their  financial  stand- 
ing. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  107 

September  23,  1902,  J.  P.  McCann  operated  the  Bell 
Matrimonial  Agency  at  134  Van  Buren  St.  It  was  closed 
by  me.  McCann  was  arrested,  fined  $100  and  given  an 
hour  to  leave  the  city.  He  fled  to  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  where 
he  established  a  fraudulent  marriage  bureau,  and  was 
murdered  about  June,  1903,  by  F.  Segmour  Barrington, 
a  bogus  English  lord,  who  is  now  under  sentence  of 
death  at  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

May  13,  1903,  John  J.  Marietta,  alias  Homer  C.  Reid, 
Harold  C.  Mills,  A.  S.  Anderson,  C.  H.  Huston,  C.  B. 
McCoy,  H.  C.  Jones,  Harold  C.  Reed,  Homer  C.  Reed, 
was  arrested  through  exposure  by  Laura  E.  Strickler,  a 
beautiful  young  girl  from  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  who  boarded 
at  the  Young  Women's  Association,  Chicago.  He  lured 
her  to  the  Newport  Hotel,  73  Monroe  St.,  where  he  pro- 
posed marriage  and  attempted  liberties.  Miss  Strickler 
became  frightened,  jumped  from  the  second  story  win- 
dow, and  was  badly  injured. 

Marietta  married  no  less  than  six  women,  three  of 
whom,  Sophia  Headley,  Marie  Butler  and  Flora  Beals 
appeared  in  court  to  prosecute  him  September  28.  He 
was  convicted  in  Judge  Brentano's  court  of  bigamy,  and 
given  five  years  in  the  Joliet  penitentiary. 

Marietta  said  he  secured  most  of  his  wives  through  the 
marriage  bureaus.  Mills  said  to  Miss  Headley  after  meet- 
ing her  the  second  time :  "  How  anxious  are  you  to 
marry  me?  Make  me  an  offer  in  cash  of  the  sum  you 
are  willing  to  settle  on  me."  "  Three  thousand  dollars,'' 
she  answered.  "  All  right,"  he  replied,  "  but  you  know 
I  am  from  Missouri,  you  will  have  to  show  me,"  She 
gave  him  the  $3,000  and  they  were  married. 


108  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

At  the  time  of  his  conviction  Marietta  had  in  bank 
$25,000  said  to  have  been  secured  in  the  above  manner. 

LORD   BERTIE   CAVENDISH   MARRIED   MANY 
WIVES.    IT  IS  SAID  HE  SECURED  HIS  VIC- 
TIMS THROUGH  THE  MARRIAGE  BU- 
REAU,   THEN    ROBBED    AND    DE- 
SERTED THEM. 

Oct.  24,  1905,  Miss  Gladys  Simmons,  Hot  Springs, 
Ark.,  married  Lord  Bertie  Cavendish  after  two  days'  ac- 
quaintance. He  represented  himself  to  be  of  noble  birth, 
son  of  the  late  Marquis  of  Queensbury,  and  to  have  im- 
mense possessions  in  South  Africa  and  Mexico,  which 
he  was  unable  to  obtain  on  account  of  his  banishment 
from  England  for  serving  in  the  Boer  war  due  to  the  ac- 
tivity of  British  army  officers  against  him. 

Miss  Simmons'  mother  received  information  that  her 
son-in-law's  name  was  not  Lord  Bertie  Cavendish  but 
Douglas.  By  photographs  and  further  investigation  his 
identity  was  established  as  that  of  an  adventurer. 

Following  is  a  partial  list  of  his  wives,  several  of  whom 
have  asked  the  court  to  grant  them  divorces. 

Miss  Louisiana  Hobbs,  Lambert  Point,  Va.,  near  Nor- 
folk. 

Mrs.   Mabel  Duncan,  Denver,  Colo. 

Mrs.  Scott,  South  Bend,  Ind. 

Mrs.  Beatrice  E.  Anderson,  Fort  Worth,  Texas. 

$50,000  VICTIMS  IN  AMERICA. 
According  to  Mrs.  Charlotte  Smith,  president  of  the 
Woman's  International  Rescue  League,  there  have  been 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  109 

numerous  industrious  workers  in  the  matrimonial  vine- 
yard besides  Mr.  Hoch  and  Dr.  Witzhoff. 

"  There  are  today  in  the  United  States,''  she  asserts, 
"  no  less  than  50,000  women  who  have  been  married, 
robbed  and  deserted  by  professional  bigamists."  It  might 
be  inferred  from  this  that  women  are  much  easier  to  en- 
tice into  matrimony  than  men.  Probably,  however,  this 
is  an  untenable  conclusion.  When  a  woman  does  start 
on  marrying  bent  mere  men  fall  before  her  like  grain 
before  the  sickle.  Miss  Marion  Rapp,  now  under  arrest 
at  Philadelphia,  is  known  to  have  got  eight  husbands  in 
three  years,  and  is  suspected  of  having  captured  six  or 
eight  more.  Miss  Rapp  is  still  young,  and  if  her  career 
had  not  been  untimely  cut  off  she  might  have  made  a 
record  that  would  have  done  credit  (or  discredit)  to  her 
sex. 

The  sad  experiences  of  people  who  have  been  victim- 
ized by  gay  deceivers,  male  and  female,  perhaps  contain 
a  lesson  to  persons  who  carelessly  contemplate  matri- 
mony. When  a  stranger  proposes  marriage  at  first 
sight  it  may  possibly  be  well  to  take  a  look  into  his  or 
her  antecedents.  This  is  not  the  most  romantic  way  to 
proceed,  but  it  is  a  way  that  may  have  great  practical 
advantages.  It  probably  would  be  indorsed  by  every 
one  of  the  50,000  women  in  this  country  who,  according 
to  Mrs.  Charlotte  Smith,  are  now  looking  for  profes- 
sional bigamists  who  married  them  and  ran  away  with 
their  cash. 

February  12th,  1903,  Judge  Neely  declared  upon  the 
bench,  when  he  imposed  a  fine  upon  Hattie  Howard  for 
conducting  a   matrimonial  bureau :     "Men  and  women 


110  THE  ADVENTURES'  AND  WORK 

who  are  engaged  in  this  business  of  promoting  matri- 
mony are  guilty  of  crime.  It  is  opposed  to  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  society.  Such  a  practice  should 
under  no  circumstances  be  tolerated.  It  is  inconsistent 
with  the  highest  ideals  of  what  should  constitute  the 
proper  marriage  relations.  I  had  intended  to  make  an 
example  of  you,  but  as  this  is  your  first  offense  I  will 
be  lenient.  Under  ordinary  circumstances  no  mercy 
should  be  shown.  This  practice  should  be  stopped.  The 
trade  should  be  killed.  The  Courts  should  make  it  their 
business  to  extirpate  such  a  practice.  The  Police  De- 
partment of  this  city  is  entitled  to  a  great  deal  of  credit 
for  what  it  has  done  in  discouraging  this  business.  I 
hope  it  will  continue  its  vigilance  until  promoters  of 
marriages  of  this  character  will  give  this  city  and  coun- 
try a  wide  berth." 

Judge  Kohlsaat,  United  States  District  Judge,  said 
on  March  20,  1903,  when  he  passed  sentence  upon  Jacob 
Strosser :  "The  Police  and  Federal  authorities  should 
combine  together,  clean  out  these  marriage  bureaus  and 
keep  them  suppressed.  They  are  a  menace  to  society  and 
good  government."  This  sentiment  has  been  voiced  by 
the  public  press  throughout  the  country,  and  many  of  the 
papers  will  not  take  their  advertisements. 

I  would  respectfully  report  that  during  the  year  1902 
I  raided  and  closed  fifty-six  marriage  bureaus,  securing 
and  destroying  2,500,000  letters  and  100,000  photographs. 
In  the  year  1903  I  closed  up  thirty  marriage  bureaus;  in 
1904  I  raided  and  closed  twelve  bureaus. 

All  persons  who  have  been  defrauded  by  any  of  the 
fake  marriage  bureaus  should  make  complaints  to  the 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  111 

Chief  Inspector  of  Mails,  Col.  James  Stuart,  Chicago 
Postoffice.  All  mail  used  in  the  swindle  should  be  left 
with  the  Inspector,  to  be  used  as  evidence  against  the 
perpetrators. 

BOGUS   DRUG  CONCERNS. 

May  25th,  Edward  A.  Kuehmsted,  6323  Ingleside  Ave., 
king  and  ringleader  of  the  bogus  drug  dealers,  was  in- 
dicted on  thirteen  charges,  for  adulterating,  selling,  of- 
fering for  sale  and  having  in  his  possession  adulterated 
medicines. 

May  25th,  W.  G.  Nay,  alias  F.  B.  Soper,  1452  Fulton 
St. :  two  indictments.    Awaiting  trial. 

May  25th,  Burtis  D.  McCarn,  alias.  George  A.  Barton, 
613 1  Madison  Ave.    Two  indictments.   Awaiting  trial. 

May  25th,  George  Ephraim,  with  offices  in  E.  C.  Picks' 
drug  store,  477  Ogden  Ave. ;  three  indictments,  now  a 
fugitive  from  justice;  $100  reward  offered  by  the  Chief 
of  Police  for  his  arrest. 

May  25th,  J.  N.  Levy,  alias  Charles  Meyers,  alias  R. 
Waldron,  operating  under  the  name  Franklin  Drug  Co. ; 
an  ex-convict,  with  offices  at  356  Dearborn  St. ;  five  in- 
dictments.   Levy  has  the  following  police  record : 

He  was  arrested  as  Charles  Marr  at  Kansas  City,  Mo., 
Aug.  23,  1892 ;  fined  $500  and  given  twenty- four  hours  to 
leave  town.  He  was  arrested  at  Chattanooga,  Tenn., 
June  2y,  1897,  as  Henry  Samuels;  arrested  at  Indianap- 
olis, Ind.,  October  6,  1896,  for  loitering  and  was  dis- 
charged ;  arrested  as  George  Edwards  from  McLean 
county,  111.,  March  11,  1891,  and  sent  to  Joliet  Peniten- 
tiary for  one  year;  arrested  as  Charles  Cramer,  Wash- 


112  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

ington,  D.  C,  May  18,  1902,  and  turned  over  to  the 
sheriff  of  Rockwell,  Montgomery  county,  Md. ;  released 
on  bonds,  which  were  afterward  forfeited;  arrested  in 
Chicago,  March  17,  1893,  as  Harry  Samuels  for  stealing 
a.  woman's  pocket-book  on"  a  street  car,  and  held  in  $500 
bonds  for  the  Criminal  Court. 

Oct.  29,  1904,  I  raided  five  bogus  drug  concerns,  and 
seized  eleven  wagon  loads  of  drugs,  which  afterward 
were  turned  over  to  the  postal  authorities,  who  filed 
charges  against  each  defendant  for  using  the  mails  for 
fraudulent  purposes.    The  cases  are  still  pending. 

The  drugs  imitated  and  sold  by  these  people  are  Stand- 
ard Ethical  preparations,  dispensed  on  physicians'  pre- 
scriptions by  every  retail  druggist. 

These  synthetic  remedies  are  in  such  general  use  that  at 
least  one-half  of  the  prescriptions  written  by  physicians 
call  for  one  of  them. 

In  Oct.  1904,  of  139  retail  druggists  in  Chicago,  111., 
who  filled  prescriptions  calling  for  two  drachms  of  Aris- 
tol, 107  dispensed  the  drug  that  was  adulterated  from 
twenty  to  one  hundred  per  cent. 

The  Standard  Aristol  retails  for  $1.85  an  ounce.  The 
Chicago  adulterated  Aristol  costs  two  cents  per  ounce  and 
is  sold  at  any  price  the  druggist  can  get.  The  Chicago 
bogus  Aristol  is  principally  composed  of  rosin,  Fuller's 
earth  and  oxide  of  iron. 

The  subjoined  letter  is  self-explanatory : 

Chicago,  July  24,  1902. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Zaegel: 

Although  I  have  been  selling  bogus  Phenacetine  and 
a  lot  of  other  bogus  goods  for  over  three  years  I  have 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  113 

never  had  the  pleasure  of  selling  you  any  of  them.  I 
should  very  much  like  to  do  so,  and  feel  that  I  can  give 
you  satisfaction  both^t  goods  and  prices. 

Some  time  ago  I  perfected  arrangements  to  get  my 
supplies  direct  from  Europe,  where  the  supply  is  not  so 
limited  as  in  Canada  and  I  can  do  much  better  in  price. 

The  enclosed  list  gives  my  complete  line.  All  items 
with  prices  attached  I  have  in  stock  and  can  supply  with- 
out delay.     Other  items  are  continually  arriving. 

The  prices  I  have  made  you,  I  think,  are  exceptionally 
low  and  I  trust  they  will  induce  you  to  give  me  a  trial. 

Express  charges  I  prepay. 

Trusting  I  may  be  favored  with  your  valued  orders,  I 
am,  Yours  respectfully, 

Edw.  A.  'Kuehmsted. 

Mr.  M.  R.  Zaegel, 

Sheboygan,  Wis. 

The  genuine  Aristol  is  an  antiseptic  used  for  healing 
wounds  of  all  kinds,  and  sold  throughout  the  entire  world. 

It  is  said  the  use  of  the  bogus  medicine,  which  was 
sold  by  these  peddlers  and  fakers,  has  caused  untold  suf- 
fering, injury  and  death  throughout  the  entire  country. 

Colonel  Geo.  G.  Kimball,  United  States  Postoffice  In- 
spector, Chicago,  111.,  whose  department  has  charge  of 
cases  in  which  the  mails  are  used  for  the  sale  of  bogus 
medicines,  says :  "It  is  believed  this  spurious  stuff  was 
the  cause  of  President  McKinley's  death." 

FROM  ONE  OF  THE  LEADING  PAPERS. 

"Sowing  and  selling  this  spurious  drug  by  the  wayside, 
Taken  by  the  poor,  sick  and  afflicted  people, 

Oh,  what  shall  the  harvest  be?     Ask  the  undertaker. 
If  you  are  one  of  the  jurymen  who  tries  these  men, 

Oh,  what  would  your  verdict  be?" 


114  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

FAKE  DRUGS  AND  MEDICINES. 

Oct.  25th,  The  London  System,  46  Van  Buren  St., 
The  Parisian  System,  46  Van  Buren  St.,  and  The  Su- 
perior System,  46  Van  Buren  St.,  raided;  literature 
seized  and  ordered  destroyed  by  the  court.  Defendants 
were  discharged  upon  hearing  on  the  city  charge  of  cir- 
culating improper  medical  literature  in  the  city.  The  po- 
lice department  was  informed  the  postal  authorities  had 
a  case  against  the  defendants  for  using  the  mail  for 
fraudulent  purposes  and  all  evidence  gathered  in  the  raid 
was  turned  over  to  them  for  investigation  and  action. 
Otto  Henry  and  Oscar  Rydstrom  were  arrested. 

Oct.  25th,  The  Vacuum  System,  56  Fifth  Ave.,  was 
raided  and  Fred  Leach  arrested ;  literature  seized  and  or- 
dered destroyed  by  the  court.  Defendant  discharged 
upon  hearing  on  the  city  charge  of  circulating  improper 
medical  literature  in  the  city.  The  police  department 
was  informed  the  postal  authorities  had  a  case  against 
the  defendant  for  using  the  mail  for  fraudulent  purposes 
and  all  evidence  gathered  in  the  raid  was  turned  over 
to  them  for  investigation  and  action. 

Oct.  25th,  The  Ausin  System,  271  Wabash  Av.  was 
raided.  The  literature  was  seized  and  ordered  destroyed 
by  the  court.  Defendants  were  discharged  upon  hearing 
on  the  city  charge  of  circulating  improper  medical  litera- 
ture in  the  city.  The  police  department  was  informed 
the  postal  authorities  had  a  case  against  the  defendants 
for  using  the  mail  for  fraudulent  purposes  and  all  evi- 
dence gathered  in  the  raid  was  turned  over  to  them  for 
investigation  and  action.  Ed.  Ausin  and  Ed.  Lundy 
were  arrested. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  115 

Oct.  25th,  The  Berlin  System,  66  Van  Buren  St.,  was 
raided,  and  F.  A.  Hanscom  arrested.  Literature  seized 
and  ordered  destroyed  by  the  court.  Defendant  was  dis- 
charged upon  hearing  on  the  city  charge  of  circulating 
improper  literature  in  the  city.  The  police  department 
was  informed  the  postal  authorities  had  a  case  against 
the  defendants  for  using  the  mail  for  fraudulent  purposes, 
and  all  evidence  gathered  in  the  raid  was  turned  over  to 
them  for  investigation  and  action. 

BLACKMAILING  UNDER  GUISE  OF  PUBLISH- 
ING FINANCIAL  PAPERS. 

Swarms  of  "  financial  papers "  infest  the  monetary 
atmosphere  of  the  United  States  like  flies  in  the  super- 
heated air  of  a  carcass-strewn  desert.  Their  editors  exer- 
cise the  most  discriminative  care  in  the  selection  of  titles, 
which,  to  the  casual  reader  may  imply  that  the  publica- 
tions are  conducted  by  the  highest  type  of  financiers 
and  the  most  impregnable  financial  institutions.  These 
publishers  apply  the  theory  of  the  man  who  names  the 
most  explosive  gasoline  stove  "  The  Safety." 

The  fake  journal  is  a  potential  factor  in  the  field  of 
fraud.  The  fake  mercantile  agency  which  reports  ex- 
travagantly upon  the  responsibility  and  wealth  of  crim- 
inal schemers,  was  evolved  from  the  fake  financial  paper. 
Both  have  cut  a  wide  swath  in  the  credulity  of  men 
and  women. 

Fake  banks  and  bankers  have  come  into  existence  for 
the  completion  of  the  work.  All  these  agencies  con- 
spire.    They  supply  each  other  with  an  interchangeable 


116  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

"  sucker  list."  Their  offices  are  a  clearing  house  of 
crime.  Their  compilation  of  names  includes  men  and 
women  who  have  already  afforded  rich  picking  and  still 
have  enough  money  left  to  make  them  worth  a  second 
bait. 

The  first  act  of  a  swindler  who  is  after  the  easily  pro- 
curable money  of  the  gullible  is  to  establish  a  reputation 
for  honor  and  stability.  This  he  does  by  getting  fake 
indorsements  from  so-called  "  reputable "  commercial 
agencies  and  write-ups  in  questionable  "  financial "  jour- 
nals. He  pays  both  accomplices  so  liberally  that  they 
risk  the  state's  prison  whenever  he  desires  their  aid. 

Their  indorsements  he  spreads  broadcast.  These  prove 
an  effective  lure,  for  correspondents  assume  it  is  impos- 
sible for  dishonest  operatives  to  procure  such  strong  rec- 
ommendations. 

I  have  known  instances  of  fake  banks  being  organized 
solely  to  give  fraudulent  concerns  strong  financial  ref- 
erences. 

Many  persons  are  deluded  by  these  paid  "  blinds  "  for 
swindlers  who  are  after  "  suckers'  money."  This  warn- 
ing should  be  constantly  borne  in  mind,  otherwise  vic- 
tims will  regret  when  it  is  too  late  and  their  money 
reposes  in  pockets  other  than  their  own. 

A  chicken  on  the  plate  is  worth  a  whole  flock  of  wild 
geese  on  the  wing.  Leave  speculation  for  those  who 
can  afford  to  lose  money.  Be  content  with  small  but 
certain  returns  and  run  none  of  the  risks  which  a  great 
percentage  involves. 

No  man  will  give  you  a  dollar  for  fifty  cents  unless 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  117 

the  dollar  is  a  counterfeit.  All  over  the  land  are  fraudu- 
lent offers  to  make  people  rich  for  a  few  dollars. 

All  pastors  ought  to  enlighten  their  congregations  on 
the  methods  of  Get-Rick-Quick  swindlers  for  among  the 
church  members  are  large  numbers  of  confidmg  persons 
who  are  constantly  fleeced  and  plundered  by  fakers.  It 
is  to  the  interest  of  preachers  to  assist  in  this  fight  against 
frauds  as  did  Dr.  Peters  of  Philadelphia. 

The  bona-fide  circulation  of  most  "  financial  "  sheets 
consists  of  a  barely  sufficient  number  of  subscribers  to 
admit  them  to  the  service  of  the  postoffice  department  as 
newspaper  matter.  The  balance  of  the  circulation  is 
made  up  of  marked  copies  sent  out  by  investment  firms 
that  have  been  induced  to  accept  proposals  from  these 
papers.  Invariably  these  marked  papers  are  found  to 
contain  "  editorial  notices  "  lauding  the  company. 

The  editor  comprises  the  entire  staff.  He  does  the 
editorial  work,  advertisement  writing,  proof  reading  and 
often  the  office  boy's  work.  These  papers  issue  no  reg- 
ular editions  as  a  rule.  The  write-up  matter  and  date 
of  publication  are  run  on  a  special  insert-form. 

In  other  words  an  order  for  1,000  copies  of  one  of 
these  publications  would  be  made  to  order  in  the  same 
manner  as  any  other  printing  job. 

These  "  fake  special-form  publishers,"  as  they  are 
known  by  all  respectable  publications,  have  been  so  often 
exposed  in  daily  papers  and  magazines  one  would  im- 
agine intelligent  investors  ought  to  know  enough  to 
shun  them.  Their  readers  do  themselves  great  harm  by 
perusing  their  columns  inasmuch  as  they  praise  com- 


118  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

panies  that  are  indiscreet  enough  to  submit  to  blackmail 
in  order  to  obtain  sufficient  prestige  to  secure  business. 

Another  feature  of  these  papers  is  the  display  adver- 
tising. Following  is  a  list  of  advertisements  which  ap- 
peared upon  the  first  page  of  The  Commercial  Chronicle, 
dated  Chicago,  Sept.  17,  1903,  which  I  exposed  and 
.suppressed. 

First  National  Bank  of  Chicago,  capital  and  surplus, 
$8,000,000. 

National  City  Bank  of  New  York,  capital,  surplus  and 
undivided  profits  $25,000,000. 

Central  Trust  Company  of  Illinois,  Chicago,  capital 
$4,000,000.     Surplus  $1,000,000. 

Chicago  Title  and  Trust  Company,  Chicago,  capital 
$5,000,000. 

Merchants'  Loan  &  Trust  Co.,  Chicago,  capital  and 
surplus   $3,700,000. 

Federal  Trust  &  Savings  Bank,  Chicago,  capital  $2,- 
000,000.     Surplus  $500,000. 

Continental  National  Bank,  Chicago,  capital  $3,000,- 
000.     Surplus  and  profits  $1,000,000. 

American  Trust  and  Savings  Bank,  Chicago1,  capital 
$2,000,000. 

Spencer  Trask  &  Co.,  bankers,  21]  and  29  Pine  St.,  New 
York. 

Lee,  Higginson  &  Co.,  44  State  St.,  Boston,  Foreign 
Exchange. 

I  must  admit  that  advertisements  of  better  institutions 
could  not  be  found  anywhere,  but  ONLY  TWO  OF 
THESE  ADVERTISEMENTS  WERE  AUTHOR- 
IZED. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  119 

I  would  advise  subscribers  of  so-called  financial  papers 
to  ascertain  their  character  by  communicating  with  Lord 
&  Thomas,  Chicago,  111.;  Pettingill  &  Co.,  New  York- 
City;  or  J.  Walter  Thompson,  New  York  City.  These 
three  firms  are  the  largest  advertising  agencies  in  the 
world. 

There  could  be  no  more  effective  means  of  rendering 
these  publications  harmless  than  to  have  them  describe 
their  own  methods  for  obtaining  what  they  term  "  ideal 
information."  Their  supposed  knowledge  concerning 
schemes  subject  to  inquiry  is  derived  solely  from  those 
who  operate  them.  Their  "  reports  "  are  inevitably  ful- 
some praise  of  the  stability  and  financial  resources  of 
concerns  that  are  supposed  to  have  been  investigated. 
For  the  publication  of  eulogiums  of  palpable  frauds 
the  editors  are  paid  "  full  advertising  rates."  Upon  the 
recommendations  of  these  irresponsible  sheets  devoted 
to  the  cause  of  fraud  countless  innocent  persons  part 
with  their  savings. 

EDITOR  OF  GET-RICH-QUICK  PAPER  MAKES 
A  FRANK  CONFESSION. 


Lured  Investors  to  Ruin. 


Declares  He  Was  the  Tool  of  Unprincipled  Swindlers. 


New  York,  Sept.  21,  1904.  In  what  purports  to  be  the 
September  number  of  the  United  States  Investor's  Guard- 
ian, a  paper  published  for  circulation  among  the  con- 


120  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

stituents    of    "  get-rich-quick "    concerns,    appears    this 
statement,  under  the  caption  "  An  Open  Confession." 

"  After  having  held  my  position  for  three  months, 
and  causing  the  loss  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dol- 
lars I  am  about  to  retire  as  editor  of  this  paper.  I  can- 
not do  so,  however,  without  making  a  full  and  open 
confession. 

"  I  have  been  in  charge  of  this  publication  during  the 
period  named  in  the  interest  of  one  of  the  most  desper- 
ate gangs  of  swindlers  and  thieves  that  ever  infested 
any  country.  My  conscience  will  not  allow  me  to  longer 
carry  on  this  deception. 

EDITORIALS  ALL  LIES. 

"  I  wish  before  leaving  to  say  in  this,  my  last  issue, 
that  outside  of  this  statement  no  word  of  truth  has 
ever  appeared  in  these  columns.  Upright  and  honest 
business  men,  as  well  as  straightforward  prosperous  cor- 
porations have  been  maliciously  attacked  with  the  sole 
idea  that  money  might  be  diverted  from  them  into  the 
coffers  of  the  gang  that  has  given  me  employment. 
Through  their  hoggishness  they  have  denied  the  right 
of  honest  concerns  to  do  business  fearing  that  such 
houses  might  prevent  them  from  stealing  a  few  dis- 
honest dollars. 

"  Those  who  have  had  correspondence  with  me  know 
the  few  concerns  I  have  recommended  (and  I  wish  now 
to  confess  that  they  are  all  frauds),  and  those  who  have 
read  the  Guardian  know  whom  that  paper  has  con- 
demned. 

MANY  HAVE  BEEN  RUINED. 

"  Some  of  those  who  have  been  attacked  have  been 
ruined  and  thereby  many  thousands  of  dollars  have 
been  lost  by  small  investors.  I  feel  directly  responsi- 
ble for  this  loss.    When  I  think  of  the  wreck  and  ruin  I 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  121 

have  wrought  in  order  that  I  might  earn  a  few  dollars 
my  heart  is  heavy. 

'  The  attacks  which  have  appeared  have  been  abso- 
lutely without  foundation.  In  fact,  in  most  cases  the 
articles  have  been  a  pack  of  lies  from,  start  to  finish. 
No  method  I  could  pursue  can  ever  undo  the  damage  I 
have  done  in  these  various  instances. 

"  In  conclusion  I  beg  to  say  the  Guardian  never  has 
been  represented  in  Washington  except  by  an  office 
boy.,  and  that  my  work  has  been  conducted  in  an  out  of 
the  way  corner  in  New  York  in  constant  fear  of  the 
police  and  the  wrath  of  those  I  have  assailed. 

CONCEIVED   IN   INIQUITY. 

"  The  paper  was  conceived  in  iniquity  and  published 
with  but  one  object — to  divert  money  from  trusting  coun- 
try people  into  the  coffers  of  concerns  recommended 
privately  by  this  paper  and  controlled  by  the  gang  which 
for  a  few  months  has  kept  me  in  bread  and  butter. 

"  Doubtless  these  thugs  and  swindlers  will  deny  all 
this  article  in  a  subsequent  issue  but  I  have  done  my 
best  to  make  my  peace  with  those  whom  I  so  grossly 
deceived  and  those  whom  I  so  unjustly  attacked. 

"  The  Editor." 

This  "  confession  "  came  just  when  the  postoffice  au- 
thorities were  getting  ready  to  round  up  the  publica- 
tion and  its  backers.  The  Guardian  sprang  into  exist- 
ence about  June  I.  It  was  a  monthly,  of  good  typo- 
graphical make-up  and  contained  some  interesting  liter- 
ary matter.  The  financial  pages  were  two-thirds 
"  roast."  Houses  standing  as  firm  as  the  rock  of  Gib- 
raltar were  assailed  as  swindlers.  Others,  just  as  sound, 
were  declared  to  be  tottering  to  their  fall. 

Two    interesting   pages    were   given   up   to    a   list   of 


122  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

brokers  and  banking  houses  with  the  heading  "  Com- 
municate with  us  before  investing  with  these  firms."  In 
this  list  were  a  few  houses  known  to  be  shaky  and 
many  others  of  recognized  standing.  Every  now  and 
then  throughout  the  publication  there  was  a  "  snapper  " 
in  the  shape  of  a  little  paragraph  like  this,  lauding  some 
"  Get-Rich-Quick  "  scheme  : 

u  We  have  investigated  the  standing  of  Doe  &  Roe  and 
find  them  perfectly  sound." 

The  editor  is  unknown.  The  postoffice  authorities  nev- 
er have  been  able  to  locate  him. 

The  big  corporation  has  its  blackmailing  stockholder 
who  opposes  by  court  proceedings  nearly  every  impor- 
tant move  of  the  company  in  order  to  force  the  company 
to  buy  him  ofT  for  the  sake  of  harmony  and  economy. 
The  launching  of  every  important  new  financial  enter- 
prise is  attended  by  a  gathering  of  harpies,  blackmailing 
financial  writers,  financial  guides  and  shyster  lawyers. 

Public  service  corporations  are  to  a  great  extent  at  the 
mercy  of  fake  damage  suit  prosecutions  and  grafting  pub- 
lic officials,  who,  under  the  pretence  of  serving  the  in- 
terests of  constituents,  are  really  running  a  hold-up  game 
and  enforcing  the  payment  of  bribes.  The  true  char- 
acter of  these  parasites  is  being  shown  up  almost  daily 
and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  a  wave  of  indignation  will  sweep 
over  the  country  and  wash  before  it  all  the  blackmailing 
scum  from  every  branch  of  industry. 

If  the  Postal  Authorities  do  their  duty  and  act  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  best  sentiment  of  American  journal- 
ism, they  will  either  gag  or  jail  the  frauds  who  "  write 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  123 


up  "  their  fellow-crooks,  and  resell  their  garbage  second- 
hand as  a  guide  to  the  gullible.  No  sensible  investor 
would  deal  with  a  concern  weak  enough  to  lean  upon 
these  "  reprint  and  special-form  "  publications. 


THE  GUARANTEE  CO. 

The  Gurantee  Company  system  is  a  new  phase  of 
"Promotion"  that  has  come  to  the  surface  during  the 
past  two  years,  but  which,  through  police  and  legal  in- 
vestigation, has  about  reached  its  limit. 

A  strictly  legitimate  guarantee  company  is  modeled 
much  after  the  Fidelity  and  Insurance  Bond  corporations. 
They  issue  secured  bonds  for  all  necessary  business  pur- 
poses, and  are  reputable  and  responsible.  About  1903  a 
Promotion  gang  in  Chicago  stole  the  name  "Guarantee" 
and  half  a  dozen  fake  guarantee  companies  were  started. 

In  1904  I  arrested  several  of  the  Dearborn  Street  gang, 
and  put  the  companies  on  record.  Early  in  1905  I  caused 
the  arrest  of  a  fugitive  from  justice  who  was  wanted  by 
the  St.  Louis  authorities.  This  broke  up  one  of  the 
guarantee  companies.  The  two  most  dangerous  ones, 
however,  were  still  doing  business  on  Dearborn  street, 
circularizing  the  entire  country  for  "investors,"  adver- 
tising in  daily  and  financial  journals,  and  doing  a  land- 
office  business. 

In  1904  one  of  these  companies — according  to  their 
books — received  $38,500  in  "fees."  Upon  investigation 
of  the  Eastern  companies,  which  they  claimed  issued 
bonds  for  them,  it  was  found  that  in  eighteen  months 


124 


THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 


U^!C^ 


THE  GANG — IVe  11  be  back  m  two  years  / 

Wait  for  us/ 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  125 

the  Western  concerns  had  procured  exactly  one  $500 
bond. 

Their  Trustee  reported  to  Bradstreei.  s  that  in  one 
week  he  had  deposited  security  at  one  local  bank  for 
something  like  $12,000  bonds.  The  officials  of  this  bank, 
when  interviewed,  declared,  on  the  contrary,  the  guaran- 
tee company  had  not  deposited  one  cent. 

In  order  to  understand  how  these  companies  operate 
the  actual  experience  of  one  victim  will  serve  to  explain 
the  whole  system. 

A  country  manufacturer,  rated  at  $50,000,  read  an 
advertisement  in  a  financial  journal  about  as  follows: 

"Capital  Supplied — We  have  the  means  of  furnishing 
any  amount  of  capital  for  any  meritorious  industrial 
proposition.     Address  Lock  Box  XX,  Chicago." 

The  manufacturer  wrote  he  wanted  to  raise  $100,000 
to  increase  his  business,  and  ottered  to  put  in  all  his 
effects,  stock  and  good  will.  He  received  a  letter  asking 
him  to  come  to  Chicago  and  visit  the  firm,  which  for 
convenience  shall  be  described  as  "Cold  Cash  &  Co." 
He  did  so.  Cash  received  him  in  an  elegant  office  with 
open  arms.  The  manufacturer  there  restated  his  necessi- 
ties. The  affable  broker  informed  him  his  proposition 
was  a  fine  one  and  said  he  could  have  the  desired  $100,000 
within  thirty  days. 

What  would  be  the  broker's  fee?  he  inquired.  Only 
5  per  cent  when  $100,000  was  in  the  hands  of  the  manu- 
facturer. Certainly  an  alluring  prospect.  But  how  was 
the  monev  to  be  raised?     The  manufacturer  was  to  in- 


126  '  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

corporate  his  business  for  $200,000  and  the  broker  would 
sell  half  of  its  capital  stock  at  par. 

As  the  delighted  "  sucker "  was  about  to  leave  the 
broker's  office,,  the  latter,  in  the  most  off-hand  manner 
said :  "  Oh,  by  the  way,  Mr.  Manufacturer,  what  ar- 
rangements have  you  made  to  guarantee  your  capital 
stock  ?  "  "  Guarantee  it  ?  I  don't  understand  you,"  re- 
plied the  victim. 

"  Bless  you !  "  said  the  broker,  "  modern  methods  de- 
mand that  all  stock  be  guaranteed — quite  the  new  order 
of  things.  We  couldn't  sell  a  share  of  stock  nowadays 
unless  it  was  guaranteed." 

"  Explain !  " 

"  I  will.  You  go  to  some  guarantee  company  and  have 
them  agree  to  guarantee  the  payment  of  the  principal  of 
each  share  of  stock  sold  at  thirty  years.  Don't  you  see 
that  makes  your  stock  as  solid  as  a  government  bond  ? 

"  The  guarantee  company  takes  a  certain  portion  of 
the  proceeds  of  the  stock,  invests  it  for  thirty  years. 
With  interest  and  compound  interest,  in  1935  the  stock 
has  accumulated  its  par  sum.    It  is  a  beautiful  system." 

"  Very  plausible,  but  where  are  these  guarantee  com- 
panies ?  " 

"  Why,  there  are  The  National,  The  States,  and  The 
Industrial.  We  hear  The  States  is  doing  a  booming 
business.  Go  and  see  them.  They  are  at  such  a  num- 
ber." 

The  victim  went  to  the  richly  furnished  suite  of  offices 
occupied  by  the  guarantee  company  and  met  its  dignified 
"  president "  to  whom  he  explained  the  purpose  of  his 
visit. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  12? 

"  Very  good,"  said  that  official.  "  We  will  accept  your 
risk.  We  will  issue  you  an  option  agreeing  within  one 
year  to  issue  you  bonds  against  your  stock  as  sold,  you 
to  pay  us  an  advance  fee  of  $1,000." 

The  "  sucker  "  demurred.  He  had  only  $500  spare 
cash.  The  president  suggested  that  as  the  broker  would 
make  a  liberal  commission  out  of  the  deal  he  might  put 
up  the  other  $500.  The  manufacturer  'phoned  the  broker 
who  promptly  agreed  to  pay  one-half  of  the  fee.  The 
broker  gave  the  victim  a  worthless  check  for  $500  which 
he  paid,  together  with  $500  of  his  own  good  money  into 
the  hands  of  the  "  guarantee  "  company.  The  company 
thereupon  issued  a  certificate,  or  option  for  bonds  that 
were  never  called  for  because  the  broker  never  sold  any 
of  the  stock.  ? 

The  victim  went  home  loaded  down  with  promises. 
The  broker  "  strung  "  him  along  for  a  month  or  two  but 
sold  no  stock.  Finally  the  manufacturer  realized  he  was 
buncoed.  The  broker  and  the  "  guarantee "  company 
divided  the  $500,  and  proceeded  to  find  other  suckers. 

During  1905  I  was  instrumental  in  forcing  several  of 
these  swindling  concerns  to  return  "  fees  "  to  victims. 
The  guarantee  companies  are  in  a  measure  within  the 
law  as  their  contracts  are  speciously  drawn.  But  ad- 
vertising these  companies  as  fakes  has  already  nearly  put 
them  out  of  business.  During  November  evidence  was 
secured  which  proved  conspiracy  between  "  brokers  "  and 
"  guarantee  companies." 


128  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 


REAL  ESTATE  AND  LOAN  FRAUDS. 

Frauds  that  come  to  light  in  the  financial  field  have 
their  counterpart  in  the  real  estate  line.  During  the  past 
year  I  have  been  instrumental  in  unearthing  some  decid- 
edly new  schemes,  putting  several  violators  of  the  law 
behind  bars,  and  breaking  up  dangerous  gangs  which 
have  preyed  on  poor  and  honest  people  who  could  ill— 
afford  to  lose  their  hard-earned  savings. 

The  real  estate  swindler  has  various  methods  of  opera- 
tion. Usually  he  is  a  graduate  from  the  old  class  of  real 
estate  and  loan  brokers  whose  only  offices  were  under 
their  hats.  The  Licensed  Broker  Law  drove  many  of 
these  impecunious  persons  out  of  active  business  and  com- 
pelled them  to  set  their  wits  at  work  to  fleece  the  public 
without  license. 

A  favorite  scheme  with  these  chevaliers  of  industry  was 
to  pick  out  some  summer  resort  along  the  lake,  plat  into 
lots  a  thousand-acre  patch  of  sand  hills  or  swamp  land, 
get  out  glowing  prospectuses,  showing  hotels,  residences, 
a  public  library,  club-house,  bathing  beach  and  lovely 
winding  roads,  and  then  offer  lots  at  $10.00  apiece  on 
monthly  payments. 

Others  offered  to  give  a  deed  for  $1.00  to  cover  no- 
tary's fees.  In  some  instances  these  land-sharks  sold 
whole  bunches  of  worthless  lots  to  captivated  investors. 
Early  in  1905  the  "  King  Bee  "  of  this  hive  was  arrested, 
fined,  held  to  the  Grand  Jury,  and  put  out  of  business. 

A  kindred  swindle,  which  has  banished  from  Chicago 
several  slick  rascals  not  wanted  here,  is  that  of  selling 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  129 

worthless  mortgages  on  land.  One  gang,  with  headquar- 
ters in  Washington  street,  worked  patiently  for  two  years 
to  perfect  their  scheme.  Their  principal  was  an  alleged 
"  doctor,"  who,  in  1902,  went  to  Indiana  and  selected  sev- 
eral hundred  acres  of  land  on  the  lake  shore,  one-fifth 
of  which  was  under  water.  He  got  a  deed,  executed  a 
bogus  mortgage  on  each  piece,  recorded  these  in  the 
proper  counties,  returned  to  Chicago  and  opened  an  of- 
fice as  a  manufacturer  of  surgical  instruments,  He  made 
a  good  showing  by  means  of  padded  statements  and 
"  fixed  "  references.  His  business  seemed  so  simple  and 
his  manner  so  innocent,  childlike  and  bland  that  he  de- 
ceived the  banks  and  commercial  agencies. 

In  1904,  after  working  in  a  quiet,  shrewd  way  to  get 
a  standing  at  bank  and  a  $25,000  rating  with  Bradstreet 
and  Dun,  his  emissaries  pushed  the  "  phony  "  mortgages 
on  the  market.  These  were  represented  to  cover  farms. 
All  the  papers  were  straight  and  the  interest  rates 
showed  prompt  payments.  When  the  "  doctor's  "  emis- 
saries showed  the  maker  of  the  notes  was  a  local  manu- 
facturer, rated  at  $25,000,  they  readily  sold  the  mort- 
gages to  unsuspecting  investors.  The  main  worker  of 
the  scheme  jumped  the  city  in  1905  with  $26,000  in  cash. 

Of  those  making  a  business  of  selling  the  same  real 
estate  mortgages  over  and  over  several  times,  two  bank- 
ers and  one  loan  agent  have  been  sent  to  the  penitentiary. 
These  men  faithfully  and  promptly  kept  up  the  interest 
payments  on  their  duplicate  notes  until  detected. 

A  new  wrinkle  in  the  real  estate  line  was  sprung  about 
a  year  ago.    Some  300  lots  were  placed,  the  price  set  at 


130  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

$100.00  each,  and  four  houses  were  built.  When  all  the 
lots  were  sold  there  was  to  be  a  lottery,  with  296  blanks 
and  four  prize  pasteboards.  Each  of  the  latter  entitled 
the  lot  holder  to  take  one  of  the  houses.  The  scheme  was 
worked  a  month  or  two  and  abandoned. 

The  next  swindle  was  the  Home-Finding  Co.  This 
fraud  bore  a  harvest  so  large  that  its  workers  were 
quickly  driven  from  St.  Louis,  and  ran  up  against  the 
same  fate  in  Chicago.  The  scheme  was  simple :  In- 
vest $5.00  a  month,  and  at  the  end  of  a  year  the  company 
would  build  you  a  home  anywhere  you  wanted  it  and 
make  future  payments  on  it.  I  devoted  sufficient  atten- 
tion to  this  brood  to  learn  their  literature  and  close  their 
offices.  One  of  this  class  of  workers,  in  October,  when 
arrested  in  his  office,  threw  himself  from  a  fifth-story 
window  in  the  very  shadow  of  police  headquarters  and 
was  killed.  Early  in  1905  I  concluded  a  careful  investi- 
gation and  in  conjunction  with  the  government  postal 
authorities  broke  up  one  of  the  most  notorious  "  finance  " 
schemes  in  the  country.  The  exposure  implicated  an  ex- 
state  treasurer,  a  prominent  railroad  auditor,  and  an  ex- 
judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  nearly  caused  a  na- 
tional scandal. 

The  sale  of  rotten  securities  is  another  business  that  has 
flourished  in  Chicago.  It  is  quite  new  here,  but  has  been 
a  feature  in  Paris  and  London  for  half  a  century.  Head- 
quarters in  Chicago  for  these  operations  were  in  the  Na- 
tional Life  and  the  Atwood  buildings.  The  swindlers 
had  a  schedule  of  prices.  For  instance,  a  schemer  wished 
to  organize  an  insurance  company.  It  was  necessary  that 
he   make  a  public  statement.     The   securities   grafters 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  131 

would  loan  him  $100,000  in  stocks  and  lands,  for  a  day 
or  a  month,  which  he  would  list  and  show  to  the  invest- 
ors, the  agencies  and  others  interested,  If  he  wished  to 
have  possession  of  them  for  a  longer  period  he  would 
pay  a  fixed  monthly  rental.  Among  these  bonds  were 
"  Elevated  Stocks,"  but  these  were  not  stocks  in  the  ele- 
vated railroads.  In  one  instance,  investigation  of  some 
"Elevated  Bonds  "  showed  they  were  issued  on  a  five- 
mile  stub-end  of  a  road  in  a  remote  wilderness  in  Colo- 
rado, 200  miles  from  any  elevated  connection.  These 
bonds  formed  the  basis  of  the  capital  of  a  LaSalle  street 
bank  I  raided  and  closed.  This  institution  was  also  head- 
quarters for  an  "  Indiana  Wildcat  Surplus  Line  "  fire 
insurance  company  that  is  now  on  the  dead  list  with  184 
other  wildcat  companies  this  department  has  driven  out 
of  business  during  the  last  18  months. 

$100,000,000   EACH  YEAR 
Lost  by  Investments  in  Fake  Mining  Schemes. 

It  is  estimated  that  in  this  country  every  year  nearly 
$100,000,000  are  taken  cut  of  the  savings  of  people  of 
limited  means  by  financial  fakers,  especially  mining  and 
oil  fakers.  During  the  last  five  years  I  have  observed 
the  "financiering"  of  several  thousand  fake  companies, 
each  of  which  secured  a  great  deal  of  money  from  ignor- 
ant people. 

Bands  of  swindlers  repair  to  mining  camps  and  estab- 
lish branches  there.  They  expend  a  few  hundred  dollars 
for  shreds  and  patches  of  ground  void  of  present  or 
prospective  value. 


13fc  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

They  then  form  a  mining  corporation,  place  its  capital 
stock  at  some  enormous  figure — a  million,  two  or  three 
million  dollars — appoint  themselves  or  some  of  their 
dupes  directors  and  sell  the  worthless  claims  to  the  com- 
pany for  a  large  proportion  or  perhaps  all  of  the  capital 
stock  of  the  company. 

The  stock  must  be  disposed  of  with  a  rush.  It  must  all 
go  within  a  year  or  shorter  time.  When  it  is  gone  the 
suckers  who  get  the  stock  for  good  money  may  take  the 
property  of  the  company.  They  always  find  an  empty 
treasury,  worthless  claims  and  the  rosy  pictures  that  led 
them  astray  smothered  in  the  fog. 

During  the  last  five  years  the  advertising  columns  of 
leading  newspapers  have  been  full  of  offers  of  mining 
stocks  as  "sure  roads  to  fortune."  Nearly  all  of  these 
mining  companies,  into  whose  treasuries  the  public  has 
paid  millions,  have  either  been  abandoned  or  the  prop- 
erties have  been  sold  for  debts,  and  invariably  they  bring 
very  little.  The  largest  percentage  of  receipts  of  these 
companies  from  the  sales  of  stock  is  stolen  by  their  pro- 
moters. 

Official  statistics  of  the  mining  industry  show  that 
out  of  each  one  hundred  mines,  only  one  has  become  a 
success  from  a  dividend  paying  point  of  view.  About 
five  earn  a  bare  existence,  while  the  balance  turn  out  utter 
failures. 

Investors  will  do  well  to  consider  that  stocks  of  mines 
which  are  only  prospective  are  the  most  risky  form  of 
gambling.  In  buying  stocks  of  the  undeveloped  mines 
offered  to  the  public  on  the  strength  of  statements  the 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  133 

only  substance  of  which  is  the  imagination  of  promoters, 
one  runs  up  against  a  sure-thing  brace-game. 

Don't  take  the  promoter's  word  for  it. 

When  you  wish  to  place  money  where  it  can  work  for 
you,  don't  bite  at  the  first  "  good  thing  "  you  see  adver- 
tised. It  is  to  the  interest  of  the  man  who  wants  to  sell 
you  stock  to  place  it  before  you  in  the  rosiest  light. 
Otherwise  he  knows  you  would  not  buy  it.  If  you  want 
to  buy  stock,  don't  rely  upon  what  the  seller  says,  but 
consult  others. 

Before  consulting  persons  whom  you  think  may  be  able 
to  express  an  honest  and  intelligent  opinion,  ask  the  pro- 
moter to  furnish  you  a  statement  of  the  condition  of  the 
company,  showing  its  assets  and  liabilities,  profits  and 
losses,  and  an  accurate  description  of  its  property. 

You  will  then  be  able  to  judge  whether  the  company 
is  over-capitalized;  whether  it  is  incumbered  with  debts 
(for  debts  may  lead  to  a  receivership),  and  if  its  earn- 
ings may  lead  to  permanent  dividends.     ' 

Also  ask  for  a  copy  of  the  by-laws  oc  the  company. 
If,  with  such  information  at  your  disposal,  you  cannot  get 
a  correct  idea  as  to  whether  the  stock  is  desirable  or  not, 
consult  your  banker  or  somebody  else  in  your  commun- 
ity who  may  be  able  to  advise  you. 

If  some  one  offered  you  a  mortgage  on  a  certain  piece 
of  property,  common  sense  would  tell  you  to  ascertain 
whether  the  property  is  sufficient  surety  for  the  loan,  or 
if  the  title  to  the  property  is  good  and  there  are  not  prior 
incumbrances  on  it. 

The  man  who  would  buy  a  mortgage  without  ascer- 


131  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

taining  the  value  and  condition  of  the  surety  would  be 
considered  an  idiot. 

Why  not  use  the  same  precaution  when  buying  stock? 
Don't  believe  what  the  promoter  tells  you  about  the 
value  and  prospects  of  the  stock  he  wants  to  unload  on 
you.  Don't  take  it  for  granted  the  stock  offered  you  will 
turn  out  a  great  money  maker  and  dividend  payer  be- 
cause the  promoter  tells  you  so. 

The  promoter,  generally  a  person  living  in  another 
city  and  entirely  unknown  to  you,  has  no  interest  in  you, 
but  is  prompted  by  his  own  selfish  interest  to  sell  you 
something  which,  in  many  cases,  he  himself  would  not 
buy.  He  may  offer  you  a  good  thing,  but  it  is  up  to  you 
to  find  it  out. 

In  most  cases,  an  intelligent  investigation  will  prompt 
you  to  let  alluring  offers  of  great  wealth  for  little  money 
severely  alone.  The  observation  of  the  common-sense 
rules  outlined  above  will  save  investors  bitter  disappoint- 
ments and  heavy  losses. 

THE  DUTIES  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT. 

Inadequacy  of  the  protection  afforded  the  public  at 
present.  Fraud  orders.  Swindlers  are  bold.  Punish- 
ment by  fine  a  satire.    The  inexhaustible  corruption  fund. 

That  crime  of  so  despicable  a  type  as  the  cowardly  rob- 
bery of  the  poor  through  the  United  States  mails  should 
flourish  as  do  the  schemes  at  present  overrunning  the 
whole  country  is  a  sad  commentary  on  our  laws  and  the 
machinery  of  the  government  for  their  enforcement.  A 
close  observer  will  readily  discover  several  reasons  why, 
in  the   face  of  a  federal  statute  prohibiting  the  use  of 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


135 


COmpAn 


00 


HOW  MUCH  LONGER  WILL  HE  SLEEP* 


136  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

the  mails  to  further  a  scheme,  it  is  less  dangerous  and 
more  profitable  to  violate  this  law  than  it  would  be  to 
commit  highway  robbery  or  burglary  in  violation  of  a 
state  statute. 

Here  are  a  few  of  the  reasons  why  there  are  so  many 
successful  schemes  operated  at  present : 

Inadequacy  of  the  force  of  postoffice  inspectors. 
(About  two  to  each  million  of  population.) 

Inadequacy  of  punishment,  usually  a  fine  ranging 
from  $100  to  $1,000  with  an  occasional  jail  sentence. 

The  opportunity  to  steal  a  fortune  with  a  minimum 
risk  of  conviction  and  punishment  is  a  strong  incentive 
to  the  "  faker  "  to  openly  ply  his  vocation. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  Government  when  a  fraudulent 
scheme  is  launched  to  make  such  an  examination  into 
the  character  of  its  promoters  and  its  methods  as  would 
justify  its  being  declared  fraudulent,  and  its  mail  being 
stopped  before  it  gets  returns  sufficient  to  repay  the  pro- 
moters the  original  outlay  for  advertising  and  stationery. 

Radical  action  by  the  federal  authorities  should  have 
been  taken  several  years  ago,  but  it  is  not  too  late  to 
inaugurate  a  system  that  will  protect  those  incapable  of 
protecting  themselves. 

"FRAUD  ORDERS." 

It  is  within  the  power  of  the  Postmaster  General  to 
deny  the  use  of  the  United  States  mails  to  firms  or  in- 
dividuals engaged  in  a  fraudulent  business,  by  issuing 
instructions  to  the  local  postmaster  prohibiting  him  or 
his  employes  from  delivering  to  the  fraudulent  concerns 
mail  addressed  to  it.    Upon  the  receipt  of  such  an  order 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  137 

(which  is  commonly  called  a  "fraud  order"),  the  local 
postmaster  returns  to  the  senders  all  mail  matter  ad- 
dressed to  the  concerns  against  which  the  order  was  is- 
sued, with  the  word  "Fraudulent"  stamped  in  large  let- 
ters across  the  face  of  the  envelope  or  wrapper.  This 
is  a  very  effective  method  of  disposing  of  schemes  to 
defraud  and  quickly   drives  "fakers"  out  of  business. 

Every  well-equipped  fraudulent  concern  acquires  as 
rapidly  as  possible  the  names  and  addresses  of  suscepti- 
ble persons,  and  the  painstaking  revisions  of  the  lists 
made  up  of  these  names  and  addresses  form  an  impor- 
tant part  of  the  labor  of  the  principals  or  employes.  The 
lists  grow,  as  each  advertisement  brings  out  inquiries 
from  persons,  who,  either  through  curiosity  or  a  desire 
to  "invest,"  write  for  particulars.  Affiliated  swindles 
and  those  operated  in  succession  by  a  gang  of  "fakers" 
use  the  same  list  of  "suckers,"  as  they  term  the  pros- 
pective victims. 

In  the  case  of  affiliated  swindles,  if  the  "sucker"  does 
not  succumb  and  remit  his  money  on  the  inducements 
offered  by  one  concern,  his  name  is  transferred  to  the 
list  of  another  one  of  the  schemes  operated  by  the  same 
parties  and  he  is  then  bombarded  with  different  litera- 
ture. Thus  a  man  must  pass  through  the  ordeal  of  hav- 
ing dozens  of  tempting  offers  made  him  before  he  dem- 
onstrates that  he  is  not  a  "sucker,"  or  has  not  got  the 
money,  when  his  name  is  stricken  from  the  list. 

A  bill  was  presented  to  the  State  Legislature  Feb- 
ruary, 1905,  by  which  the  Fly-By-Night  corporations  or 
business  organizations,   with   nothing  more  than  a  tent 


138  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

as  an  excuse  for  existence  would  have  been  put  out  of 
business  if  the  legislature  had  passed  the  act. 

It  read : 

All  tontine  investment,  installment,  home  purchasing, 
bond  or  certificate  selling  companies  offering  future  re- 
turns to  the  investor  must  file  lists  of  their  officers  and 
directors,  who  are  to  be  examined  under  oath  and  must 
deposit  with  the  state  auditor  $50,000  in  good  securities 
before  they  are  licensed  to  begin  business  in  the  state. 
Officers  of  foreign  companies  also  must  submit  to  exam- 
ination under  oath  before  they  operate  in  the  state. 

The  auditor  is  given  authority  to  examine  the  books 
of  a  firm  or  corporation  at  any  time  he  may  see  fit,  and 
should  he  find  the  liabilities  exceed  the  assets,  exclusive 
of  the  $50,000  deposit,  he  may  declare  the  company  in- 
solvent and  on  application  to  the  Circuit  Court  have  a  re- 
ceiver appointed  to  close  up  the  business  of  the  concern. 

This  bill  applies  to  all  concerns  that  issue  or  sell  con- 
tracts, bonds,  debentures  or  certificates  providing  for  a 
single  payment  by  the  investor  who  is  to  receive  in  return 
at  some  future  time  a  whole  or  a  part  of  the  sum  paid 
in.  It  provides  that  each  concern  shall  file  with  the  audi- 
tor a  statement  showing  whether  business  is  to  be  trans- 
acted by  an  individual,  a  firm  or  co-partnership,  an  as- 
sociation or  a  corporation,  giving  the  names  and  resi- 
dences of  all  persons  interested  therein  and  the  name  un- 
der which  the  business  is  to  be  transacted. 

If  the  applicant  be  a  corporation  a  certified  copy  of  the 
articles  of  incorporation  together  with  the  names  and  ad- 
dresses of  all  officers  and  directors,  the  amount  of  the 
capital  stock  and  the  amount  paid  in  shall  be  filed. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  139 


MISCELLANEOUS  FAKE  SCHEMES. 

Jan.  7th,  Idaho  Colony  Co.,  225  Dearborn  St.,  a  fraud- 
ulent land  scheme  operated  by  Albert  Hunter  and  Charles 
E.  Smith.  Raided  and  suppressed;  literature  seized  and 
turned  over  to  the  United  States  Inspector  of  Mails  for 
investigation  and  action.  Two  hundred  victims  de- 
frauded. 

Jan.  17th,  Roberts'  Fake  Medicine  Scheme,  259  Mich- 
igan Ave.,  raided  and  suppressed.  James  Roberts  ar- 
rested and  fined  $100  by  Justice  John  K.  Prindeville. 

Jan.  26th,  Isaac  Steinberg's  fake  mail  order  and  jew- 
elry house,  302  Dearborn  St.,  closed,  literature  seized  and 
turned  over  to  the  Postal  Authorities,  who  arrested  the 
promoters. 

March  2d,  M.  L.  Welshley's  fake  agency  for  the  em- 
ployment of  stage  struck  girls  and  boys,  room  317  Mec- 
ca Building,  Thirty-third  and  State  Sts.,  raided  and 
closed.  Welshley  arrested  and  fined  $5  by  Justice  George 
Underwood. 

March  13th,  Jennie  Nichols,  fraudulent  spiritualist,  184 
Seober  St.,  arrested  and  seances  suppressed. 

March  29,  Rex  Publishing  Co. 

Gem  Art  Co. 

Select  Toilet  Co. 

Standard  Press  Syndicate. 

Woman's  Specialty  Co. 

United  States  Advertising  Co. 


140  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

Home  Employment  Co. 

Offices  at  56  Wabash  Ave.,  raided  and  closed,  litera- 
ture seized  and  turned  over  to  Postal  Authorities  for 
investigation  and  action. 

April  nth,  John  Clifford,  anonymous  letter  writer,  32 
Ogden  Ave.,  arrested  and  evidence  turned  over  to  the 
Postal  Authorities  for  investigation  and  action. 

April  nth,  The  Mutual  Security  Co. 

Mutual  Accumulation  Society,  operated  by  Louis  Brady 
and  Richard  Ransom,  who  were  arrested,  indicted  and 
are  awaiting  trial.    Offices  closed ;  business  suppressed. 

April  12th,  Chicago  Buyer  and  Sale  Co.,  a  fraudulent 
concern  for  selling  stock  to  farmers.  Operated  by  F. 
H.  Wilcox,  M.  G.  Rudloff,  and  Miss  L.  M.  Wilcox,  3845 
State  St.,  and  904  East  Forty-seventh  St.,  exposed  and 
suppressed. 

May  10th,  Keystone  Commission  Co.,  95  Dearborn 
St. 

International  Mercantile  Co.,  95  Dearborn  St.,  fraud- 
ulent diamond  company,  operated  by  William  T.  McKee 
and  John  Campbell,  who  were  arrested,  indicted  and  are 
awaiting  trial.  Place  raided  and  closed. 

June  3d,  Crescent  Fuel  Co.,  374  West  Monroe  St. 

Consolidated  Wood  Co.,  332  Washington  Boulevard. 

Consolidated  Wood  Co.,  1048  West  Van  Buren,  fraud- 
ulent concerns,  who  "circularized"  the  northwest  with 
their  literature,  bought  several  hundred  carloads  of  wood 
from  farmers,  sold  the  same  and  pocketed  the  proceeds. 
Operated  by  James  A.  Tabor,  with  headquarters  at  1048 
West  Van  Buren  St.  Place  raided,  methods  ex- 
posed and  swindle  suppressed. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  141 

June  5th,  Bismarck  Brewing  Co.,  79  Dearborn  St. 

The  U.  S.  Standard  Oil  Co.,  79  Dearborn  St.,  room 
1 144,  Unity  Building.  The  above  concerns  operated  by 
H.  B.  Robinson  were  exposed  and  closed. 

June  6th,  American  Financial  Industrial  Co.,  125  La 
Salle  St. 

International  Investment  Co.,  125  La  Salle  St.,  "pro- 
moters, guarantors,  underwriters  and  stock  brokers." 
Operated  by  W.  J.  Hogue,  "President ;"  W.  A.  Bo- 
water,  "Vice-president;"  J.  A.  Lucas,  "Secretary,"  and 
G.  S.  Howe,  "Treasurer."    Raided  and  closed. 

July  1 8th,  Chicago  Adirondack  Gold  Mining  Co.,  1439 
Marquette  Bldg.,  raided  and  closed. 

Aug.  5th,  S.  E.  Smith,  Turf  Speculator,  155-157  Wash- 
ington St.,  offices  raided  and  closed. 

Aug.  10th,  Investors  Financial  Agency,  a  fraudulent 
concern  operated  from  the  Masonic  Temple  by  Albert  H. 
Propper,  attorney,  and  P.  J.  Cummings,  manager.  Closed 
and  evidence  procured  turned  over  to  the  Postal  Authori- 
ties who  issued  a  fraud  order  depriving  the  scheme  of 
use  of  the  mails. 

Sept.  29th,  Equitable  Finance  Co.,  92  La  Salle  St. 

Equitable  Real  Estate  and  Loan  Society,  92  La  Salle 
St.,  fraudulent  concerns  which  operated  among  farmers. 
Adolph  Perbohner  was  arrested  for  obtaining  money  by 
the  confidence  game,  and  was  held  in  bonds  of  $500  to  the 
Grand  Jury  by  Justice  John  K.  Prindeville. 

Perbohner  came  to  Chicago  in  1892,  and  worked  as 
an  insurance  solicitor.  His  wife  was  engaged  as  a  for- 
tune teller  and  clairvoyant.  His  company  was  incorpor- 
ated in  Dakota,  Dec.  20,  1902,  with  a  capital  stock  of 


142  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

$25,000.  Perbohner  was  "president,  "secretary"  and 
"manager;"  in  fact,  he  owned  the  entire  concern.  It 
sold  contracts  and  claimed  to  make  loans  to  contract  hold- 
ers for  the  purpose  of  assisting  them  in  the  purchase  of 
homes. 

Contracts  were  said  to  be  issued  in  consecutive  num- 
bers and  the  borrower  had  to  continue  payments  until  the 
number  of  his  contract  was  reached  before  he  was  en- 
titled to  a  loan.  The  company  was  arranged  so  it  would 
go  out  of  business  before  the  contract  matured.  Per- 
bohner victimized  one  hundred  and  fifty  people  at  Joliet, 
111.    Warrants  were  procured  by  several  of  the  victims. 

Oct.  27th,  Perbohner  was  arrested  in  a  saloon  at  155 
Washington  St.,  by  Sergeants  John  H.  Tobin  and  John 
Duffy.  Upon  being  taken  to  his  room  to  secure  some 
papers,  the  prisoner  ran  to  the  window  and  bursting 
through  the  glass,  committed  suicide  by  diving  headlong 
from  the  fourth  story  to  the  street.  He  was  instantly 
killed. 

Sept.  5th,  Guarantee  Employment  Bureau,  Room  616, 
167  Dearborn  St. ;  operated  by  R.  Lyons ;  two  hundred 
persons  swindled.  Raided  and  closed.  Lyons  evaded  ar- 
rest, and  is  a  fugitive  from  justice. 

Aug.  2,  Guaranty  Bond  &  Trust  Co.,  125  Dearborn 
St.    Closed. 

Oct.  6th,  Honduras  National  Lottery,  282  E.  Division 
St.,  raided  and  closed.  Carl  Jeppson  arrested  and  fined 
$5°  by  Justice  John  R.  Caverly. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  143 

TURF  INVESTORS. 

Aug.  5th,  Wilson  and  Richman,  225  Dearborn  St., 
raided  and  closed.    Literature  seized  and  destroyed. 

Nov.  The  Ellsworth  Co.,  horse  owners,  book  makers 
and  Turf  Investments  specialists,  Ellsworth  Building,  353- 
357  Dearborn  St.    Raided  and  closed. 

Nov.  2d,  Thomas  Collyer  was  arrested  at  A.  H.  Rosen- 
stiel's  saloon,  173  Milwaukee  Ave.,  for  violating  the  In- 
terstate Commerce  Laws.  Collyer  manufactured,  sold  and 
distributed  obscene  pictures  for  use  in  Penny  slot-ma- 
chines and  arcades  through  the  United  States  and  for- 
eign countries. 

Collyer  did  business  under  the  names  The  Chicago 
Novelty  Supply  House,  173  Milwaukee  Ave.,  and  the 
Acme  Publishing  Company,  162  North  Union  St.  He 
selected  for  his  models  prostitutes,  fallen  women,  and  de- 
praved men.  They  were  taken  to  an  abandoned  photo- 
graph gallery  on  the  top  floor  in  the  rear  of  95  East  Chi- 
cago avenue  where  the  negative  pictures  were  made. 
Collyer  then  took  them  to  his  home,  549  Austin  avenue 
where  the  pictures  were  developed,  printed,  mounted  and 
put  in  packages  for  shipment. 

I  found  and  seized  120,000  obscene  pictures  and  plates. 
These  are  now  held  as  evidence.  The  Postal  Authorities 
sought  this  plant  for  six  months.  It  was  the  largest 
and  most  complete  plant  of  the  kind  in  the  United  States. 

Nov.  24,  Collyer  was  arraigned  before  United  States 
Commissioner  Mark  L.  Foote  and  held  to  the  Federal 
Grand  Jury  in  bonds  of  $300. 

Nov.  25,  L.  D.  Abbott  &  Company,  manufacturers  of 


144  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

skirts  and  corsets  at  331  and  333  Wabash  avenue;  offices 
raided  and  closed.  E.  C.  Hughes,  a  former  preacher  at 
St.  Louis,  Mo.,  and  A.  M.  Reed,  co-partners  of  L.  D. 
Abbott,  of  East  St.  Louis,  111.,  were  arraigned  for  con- 
spiracy to  defraud  by  the  confidence  game,  before  Justice 
John  Richardson. 

The  fraud  consisted  of  obtaining  money  deposits  of 
from  $25  to  $2,000  apiece  from  traveling  salesmen  who 
were  required  to  appoint  sub-agents  to  sell  unsalable 
goods.  Upon  failure  of  the  agents  to  appoint  the  re- 
quired number  of  sub-agents  the  deposits  were  declared 
forfeited  to  the  firm.  Fully  500  persons  were  swindled 
by  this  dishonest  scheme.  Their  losses  are  estimated  at 
$200,000.    They  are  indicted  and  awaiting  trial. 

Nov.  15,  James  E.  Burk  &  Co.,  suite  1100,  No.  184 
La  Salle  street,  promoters,  bond  sharks,  fake  underwrit- 
ing company ;  agents  for  E.  C.  Talmadge  and  M.  J.  Car- 
penter, 52  Dearborn  street;  offices  raided  and  closed. 

Dec.  2,  National  Underwriting  and  Bond  Company, 
home  office,  San  Francisco,  Cal. ; 

National  Underwriting  and  Trust  Company,  San 
Francisco,  Cal.; 

Pacific  Underwriting  and  Trust  Company,  San  Fran- 
cisco, Cal.; 

Imperial  Trustee  Company,  Jersey  City,  N.  J. ; 

Chicago  National  Bond  Co.,  suite  401-421,  52  Dear- 
born street,  operated  by  E.  C.  Talmadge,  M.  J.  Carpenter, 
and  George  D.  Talmadge; 

International  Trust  Company,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  raided 
and  E.  C.  Talmadge  and  M.  J.  Carpenter  arrested  for  con- 
spiracy to  defraud.    Case  pending  hearing. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  145 

Dec.  8,  W.  H.  Todd  &  Co.,  suite  803,  112  Dearborn 
street,  promoter,  fake  stock  jobber,  underwriter  and 
shark;  raided  and  closed.  W.  H.  Todd  was  arrested  for 
conspiracy  to  defraud.     Case  pending  hearing. 

Dec.  11,  the  Central  States  Underwriting  and  Guar- 
antee Corporation,  room  1306  Tribune  building,  was 
raided  and  W.  M.  Hulburt,  H.  B.  Hudson,  M.  J.  Roug- 
han,  Francis  Owings,  were  arrested  for  conspiracy  to 
defraud  by  means  of  the  confidence  game.  Case  pending 
hearing. 

Dec.  8,  offices  of  J.  H.  Bell,  proprietor  of  a  fraudulent 
show  card  college,  21  Quincy  street,  raided  and  closed, 
upon  complaints  of  many  women  who  were  victimized 
out  of  small  amounts  ranging  from  $1.00  to  $10.00.  Bell 
promised  his  students  positions  and  work  after  they  fin- 
ished the  required  course. 

Bell  refused  to  keep  his  promises.  He  was  arrested, 
charged  with  practicing  a  confidence  game,  and  held  to 
the  grand  jury  on  five  charges  in  bonds  of  $1,500,  by 
Justice  John  K.  Prindeville. 


146  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 


DETECTIVE  CLIFTON  R.  WOOLDRIDGE'S 

"Never=Fail"  System 

THE  ONLY  SURE  WAY  TO  BEAT: 

TURF  FRAUDS. 

WILD  CAT  INSURANCE. 

BOGUS  SECURITIES,  CONFIDENCE  GAMES. 

CITY-LOT  SWINDLES. 

HOME-BUYING  SWINDLES. 

DISHONEST  DEBENTURE  BOND  COM- 
PANIES. 

FRAUDULENT  PROMOTERS. 

"SALTED"  MINING  AND  OIL  WELLS  COM- 
PANIES. 

BUCKET  SHOPS. 

BLIND  POOLS  IN  GRAIN  AND  STOCKS. 

PANEL  HOUSES. 

BOGUS   MAIL  ORDER  HOUSES. 

POKER,  FARO  AND  OTHER  GAMBLING 
GAMES. 

MATRIMONIAL  BUREAUS. 

COUNTERFEIT  UNDERWRITERS. 

FRAUDULENT   BOOK   CONCERNS. 

DISHONEST    COLLECTION  AGENCIES. 

ADULTERATED  MEDICINE  DEALERS. 

WIRE  TAPPERS. 

FAKE  BROKERS. 

BOGUS  CHARITIES. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  147 

SPURIOUS  EMPLOYMENT  AGENCIES. 

SWINDLE   PROMOTERS. 
MUSHROOM  BANKS. 
CLAIRVOYANTS. 
FORTUNE  TELLERS. 
PALMISTS. 

$1,000  REWARD  WILL  BE  PAID  TO  ANY  ONE 
WHO  USES  DETECTIVE  CLIFTON  R.  WOOL- 
DRIDGE'S  NEVER  FAIL  SYSTEM  AND  FAILS 
TO  BEAT  THE  ABOVE  SWINDLES. 

DO  NOT  RISK  YOUR  MONEY  WITHOUT  HAVING  FIRST 
CAREFULLY  INVESTIGATED  THE  CHARACTER  OF  THE 
ENTERPRISE  IN  WHICH  YOU  ARE  INVITED  TO  BECOME 
FINANCIALLY  INTERESTED. 

BE  CONVINCED  BEYOND  ALL  REASONABLE  DOUBT 
THAT  THE  MEN  CONNECTED  WSTH  THE  ENTERPRISE 
ARE  ABOVE  SUSPICION. 

IF  THEIR  PROBITY,  INTEGRITY  OR  RELIABILITY  CAN 
NOT  BE  ESTABLISHED  BY  PAST  TRANSACTIONS  IT  IS 
CERTAIN  THEIR  HONESTY  WILL  NOT  BE  DISCLOSED 
BY  FUTURE  DEALINGS. 

DO  NOT  INVEST  IN  ANY  COMPANY,  CORPORATION, 
OR  PRIVATE  CONCERN  UNTIL  THE  MANAGEMENT  HAS 
FURNISHED  INDISPUTABLE  PROOF  OF  ITS  ABILITY  TO 
FULFILL   EVERY  PROMISE. 

LEAVE  SPECULATION  TO  THOSE  WHO  CAN  AFFORD 
TO   LOSE. 

LARGE  GAINS  ON  SMALL  INVESTMENTS  USUALLY 
EXIST  ONLY  IN  THE  IMAGINATION  OF  GULLIBLE 
INVESTORS  AND  UNSCRUPULOUS  PROMOTERS. 

LARGE   RISKS  INCUR  LARGE   LOSSES. 

NO  MAN  WILL  "LET  YOU  INTO  A  GOOD  THING;"  HE 
WILL  KEEP  IT  FOR  HIMSELF  AND  HIS  FRIENDS. 

PROMOTERS  ARE  NOT  IN  BUSINESS  TO  MAKE  MON- 
EY  FOR  YOU,   BUT   "OUT  OF   YOU." 


148  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

CONTENT  YOURSELF  WITH  LEGITIMATE  INVEST- 
MENTS  AND  SMALL   BUT  SAFE    RETURNS. 

RATHER  THAN  SEEK  GREAT  PROFITS  WITHOUT  TOIL 
STRIVE  FOR  THE  DESERVED  FRUITS  OF  INDUSTRY. 

NO  MAN  WILL  GIVE  YOU  A  DOLLAR  FOR  FIFTY  CENTS 
—UNLESS  THE  DOLLAR  IS  COUNTERFEIT. 

DO  NOT  PAY  OUT  YOUR  OWN  GOOD  MONEY  FOR  AN- 
OTHER MAN'S  BOGUS  DOLLARS. 

IF  THE  PROMOTER  CAN  DO  ONE-HALF  OF  WHAT  HE 
CLAIMS,  HE  WOULD  NOT  NEED  YOUR  MONEY,  BUT 
SOON  WOULD  BE  RICH  BEYOND  THE  DREAMS  OF 
AVARICE. 

DO  NOT  INVEST  YOUR  HARD-WON  SAVINGS  IN  VAN- 
ISHING AIR  CASTLES. 

PROMISES  WHICH  PROCEED  FROM  A  DESIRE  TO  GET 
YOUR  MONEY  ALWAYS  MERIT  SUSPICION.  SUBJECT 
THEM  TO  THE  MOST  CAREFUL  AND  RIGID  EXAMINA- 
TION. 

ADOPT  THE  BANKER'S  RULE  THAT:  "ALL  MEN 
SHOULD  BE  REGARDED  AS  DISHONEST  UNTIL  THEIR 
HONESTY  IS  PROVED,"  RATHER  THAN  THE  SUCKER'S 
THEORY  THAT  "ALL  MEN   ARE   HONEST." 

THE  BANKER  WILL  END  LIFE  POSSESSED  OF 
WEALTH  WHILE  THE  CREDULOUS  OPTIMIST  WHOSE 
FAITH  IS  UNBOUNDED  WILL  WIND  UP  HIS  DAYS  "A 
POORER  BUT  WISER  MAN." 

WHEN    IN    DOUBT  DO   NOTHING. 

IF  A  PROMOTOR  CAN  NOT  DISPEL  YOUR  DOUBTS  HE 
IS    NOT   WORTHY    OF   YOUR    CONFIDENCE. 

DO  NOT  FOLLOW  SIREN  CHANCE.  SHE  WILL  LEAD 
YOU   INTO  THE  ABYSS  OF  DESPAIR. 

BEWARE  OF  THE  DICE;  THERE  IS  BUT  ONE  GOOD 
THROW  WITH  THEM— THROW  THEM  AWAY.  THEY 
WERE  USED  TO  CAST  LOTS  FOR  THE  BLOOD-STAINED 
GARMENTS  OF  JESUS  CHRIST;  THEY  ARE  USED  TO 
GAMBLE  AWAY  THE  HONOR  OF  MEN. 

PLAY  NOTHING,  INVEST  IN   NOTHING,  BUY  NOTHING, 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  149 

TRUST  NO  MAN  OR  WOMAN  UNTIL  YOU  HAVE  REASON 
TO  BELIEVE  THE  ENTERPRISE  IS  LEGITIMATE  BEYOND 
QUESTION. 

AVOID  THE  MISTAKE  OF  THAT  GREATEST  FOOL  OF 
ALL  FOOLS,  THE  MAN  WHO  THINKS  HE  IS  TOO  SMART 
TO  BE  FOOLED. 

YOU  ARE  NOT  SHREWD  ENOUGH  TO  BEAT  ANY  MAN 
AT  HIS  OWN  GAME;  HE  HAS  STUDIED  ITS  MANIPULA- 
TIONS;  YOU  ARE  A  NOVICE. 

DON'T  LET  ANYONE  STAMPEDE  YOU  INTO  DOING 
ANYTHING.  THE  "RUSH"  ACT  IS  A  FAVORITE  TRICK  OF 
GRAFTERS  FROM  THE  CHEAP  CADGER  WHO  BORROWS 
SMALL  CHANGE  TO  THE  INVESTMENT  BROKER  WHO 
OFFERS  AN  OPPORTUNITY  TO  RISK  A  FORTUNE  IN 
'THE  CHANCE  OF  A  LIFE-TIME"  THAT  MUST  BE 
SNAPPED  UP  IMMEDIATELY  OR  LOST  FOREVER. 

WHEN  A  MAN  TRIES  TO  HURRY  YOU  INTO  SPENDING 
YOUR  MONEY,  PUT  IT  BACK  IN  YOUR  POCKET  AND 
KEEP  YOUR  HAND  ON  IT. 

USE   CAUTION,    REASON    AND   COMMON    SENSE. 

DO  UNTO  OTHERS  AS  YOU  WOULD  HAVE  THEM  DO 
UNTO  YOU.  MOST  OTHERS  WILL  "DO"  YOU  IF  YOU 
GIVE  THEM  A  CHANCE. 

IF  YOU  ARE  MARKED  AS  ONE  OF  THE  GEESE  READY 
FOR  PLUCKING  BY  GET-RICH-QUICK  SWINDLERS  THEY 
WILL  SEND  YOU  LITERATURE  THROUGH  THE  MAILS. 
SAVE  EVERY  CIRCULAR,  LETTER  OR  OTHER  COM- 
MUNICATION TOGETHER  WITH  THE  ENVELOPES  AND 
SEND  THEM  TO  THE  POSTOFFICE  INSPECTOR  IN  THE 
TOWN    FROM   WHICH   THEY   WERE   SENT. 

BE  SURE  TO  SEND  THE  ENVELOPES  WITH  THE  LIT- 
ERATURE AS  THE  COMMUNICATIONS  CANNOT  BE  AD- 
MITTED AS  EVIDENCE  UNLESS  THE  ORIGINAL  WRAP- 
PERS OR  ENVELOPES  IN  WHICH  THEY  WERE  MAILED 
ARE  OFFERED  WITH  THEM.  THE  POSTMASTER  WILL 
INSTRUCT   HOW  TO  FORWARD  THE  COMPLAINT. 


150  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

PROSECUTION  OF  THE  SWINDLERS  WILL  SURELY 
FOLLOW. 

IF  YOU  ARE  IN  DOUBT  ABOUT  THE  CHARACTER  OF 
THE  CONCERN  WHICH  INVITES  YOU  TO  INVEST  YOUR 
MONEY,  CONSULT  A  LAWYER,  BANKER  OR  REPUTABLE 
COMMERCIAL  AGENCY. 

Intending  investors  should  remember  that: 
"SURE  TIPS"  are  sure  bait  for  sure  fools. 
When  you  hear  stocks  have  gone  up  and  men  who  bought 
them   cheap   have  sold  them   at  high   prices  and  gained  for- 
tunes suspect  your  informant.     If  he  seeks  to  induce  you  to 
invest  be  assured  he  is  a  GET-RICH-QUICK  grafter. 

Many  swindlers  wear  the  garb  of  respectability;  they  even 
cloak  their  rascality  with  piety.  Many  men  accepted  by  the 
world  as  honorable  members  of  society  spend  their  lives  living 
on  the  credulity  of  the  ignorant,  and  when  they  die  go  to 
the  grave  followed  by  hordes  of  dupes  who  mourn  their  end. 
These  swindlers  await  you  at  every  turn;  on  the  race-track; 
in  the  saloon;  with  the  poker  deck  and  the  ivory  dice;  with 
watered  stock  and  fraudulent  bonds;  with  prayers  on  their 
lips  and  designs  in  their  minds  to  defraud  you. 

THERE  IS  NO  SUCH  THING  AS  AN  HONEST  GAMBLER. 
Every  gambling   game    is  a   dishonest  scheme.     You   seek 
to  get  the  other  man's  money  without  giving  him  anything  in 
return. 

You  are  not  entitled  to  one  penny  unless  you  give  value  in 
return.  If  you  are  in  business  you  know  that  every  promis- 
sory note,  to  be  valid,  must  bear  on  its  face  two  words,  "value 
received." 

INDUSTRY,  ENERGY,  THRIFT!  These  are  the  dice  that 
win.     The  lesson  is  hard  to  learn  5or  the  young. 

He  has  anxious  days  and  feverish  nights  who  risks  at 
chance  what  should  be  devoted  to  the  nobler  ends  of  life; 
who  "makes  throws"  on  the  green  cloth;  who  watches  the 
snake  like  tape  squirm  out  of  the  ticker;  or  gazes  at  a  bunch 
of  horses  running  around  a  ring. 

GIVE  IT  ALL  UP  AND  ADOPT  HONEST  MEANS  OF  PRO- 
CURING WEALTH! 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  151 


WHAT  APPROXIMATES  A  PERFECT  POLICE 
DEPARTMENT. 

Opinions  as  to  what  constitutes  a  perfect  police  de- 
partment are  as  far  apart  as  the  apogee  and  the  nadir  of 
the  orbit  of  human  morality.  A  certain  element  will 
not  be  satisfied  with  anything  short  of  an  absolute  ideal 
in  morals.  The  great  majority  realize,  however,  this  is 
an  impossibility. 

Ideal  morality  cannot  be  universally  enforced  in  any 
community,  particularly  in  a  large  city,  even  by  a  police 
force  made  up  of  men  having  the  moral  courage  of 
martyrs  and  the  stern  convictions  of  Puritans. 

What,  then,  is  the  nearest  attainment  to  the  ideal 
which  may  be  expected  with  human  nature  as  it  is  now 
constituted?  How  much  can  be  demanded,  within  the 
limits  of  practical  reason,  in  suppressing  vice  and  crime 
and  preserving  order  in  a  modern  metropolis?  My  own 
definition  of  a  highly  effective  police  administration  as 
it  has  been  worked  out  by  long  years  of  service  is  this : 

First :    The  suppression  of  public  gambling  to    a  point 
where  the  police  force  does  not  know  of  its  existence, 
and  where  honest  and  vigilant  effort  is  constantly  put  t 
forth  to  discover  its  outcropping  and  to  punish  its  ap- 
pearance. 

Second :  The  suppression  of  vice  to  a  point  where  it 
cannot  directly  affect  those  who  do  not,  of  their  own 
unaided  choice,  seek  its  haunt. 


1  52  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

Third :  The  placing  of  the  saloon  under  the  complete 
control  of  the  law. 

Fourth :  The  reduction  of  crime  and  disorder  to  that 
minimum  which  results  from  a  knowledge,  on  the  part 
of  the  potential  law  breakers,  that  punishment  shall  be 
impartial  and  exempt  from  the  influence  of  political  pull, 
or  other  form  of  official  corruption,  as  far  as  the  police 
department  is  concerned. 

These  are  the  main  points  in  my  definition  of  a  sound 
police  administration.  If  the  conditions  I  have  outlined 
are  provided  the  people  may  well  be  satisfied  and  give 
that  administration  their  hearty  confidence  and  support, 
resting  assured  they  will  never  know  at  what  cost  of 
vigilance,  hard  work  and  perpetual  warfare  against  the 
potentialities  of  crime  such  a  result  has  been  attained. 

It  must  be  apparent  to  any  thonghtful  and  well-in- 
formed man  of  the  world  that  the  materials  with  which 
a  policeman  has  to  work  are  not  ideal. 

The  policeman's  pay  and  the  nature  of  his  duties  are 
not  attractive  to  a  man  of  acute  moral  sensibilities  or 
highly  developed  intellectuality.  I  do  not  assert  this 
as  a  reflection  upon  the  mental  or  moral  character  of  the 
men  who  constitute  the  police  force.  They  are  human; 
their  wage  is  comparatively  small  and  their  work  is 
rough  and  repulsive  to  the  man  of  refined  sensibilities. 
They  are  constantly  brought  into  contact  with  the  harsh, 
corrupt,  vicious  and  sordid  elements  of  life.  It  is  not 
to  be  marvelled  that  many  of  them  yield  to  the  unwhole- 
some influence  of  such  contact.  The  conscientious  and 
energetic  police  officer  must  exercise  tireless  vigilance 
to  prevent  his  honest  efforts  from  being  thwarted. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  153 

The  causes  of  crime  are  as  complex  as  the  conditions 
of  city  life.  As  crime  cannot  be  ascribed  to  any  single 
source  there  is  no  one  specific  to  cure  it.  Remedies  are 
as  manifold  as  the  conditions  which  account  for  our 
situation.  An  outbreak  of  crime  is'  not  so  sudden  as  it 
seems.  It  is  a  harvest  that  was  seeded  long  prior  to 
its  garnering.  It  is  the  growth  of  conditions  tolerated 
too  long. 

It  is  useless  to  say  that  crime  and  immorality  do  not 
exist  in  any  town  or  city  where  it  is  necessary  to  organ- 
ize a  police  force.  Such  a  statement  would  be  foolish, 
for  every  city  is  more  or  less  wicked.  Admitting  this 
to  be  so,  the  question  arises :  Can  crime  and  immorality 
be  abolished  ?  In  every  community  larceny,  burglary  and 
robbery  are  the  offenses  which  put  the  police  officer  on  his 
mettle.  At  times  he  is  called  upon  to  successfully  grapple 
with  what  is  known  as  a  "carnival  of  crime." 

Dishonesty  and  immorality  cannot  be  abolished.  If 
there  were  such  an  eventuation  we  would  have  then 
arrived  at  Utopia.  But  crime  can  be  abated  and  so  can 
all  violations  of  law.  The  only  means  to  this  end  is  to 
properly  enforce  the  State  and  the  City  laws ;  but  here 
is  the  rub. 

There  are  only  two  agencies  for  the  suppression  and 
repression  of  crime,  viz. :  moral  suasion  and  punishment. 
The  first  we  can  safely  leave  to  the  Juvenile  court  and 
probation  officers,  the  second  should  receive  the  serious 
consideration  of  all  good  citizens  as  well  as  of  all  mem- 
bers of  the  police  force. 

It  is  evident  to  all  thinking  people  that  a  spirit  of  un- 
rest  and   aggressive    discontent   and   disregard    for   law 


154  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

manifests  itself  all  over  this  broad  land  at  present  and 
it  is  a  hopeful  sign  when  citizens  become  aroused  on  the 
subject. 

To  the  ease  and  frequency  with  which  influential  male- 
factors escape  punishment  can  largely  be  attributed  the 
prevalence  of  crime.  The  lack  of  proper  home  training 
and  moral  restraint  imposed  by  church  influences  in 
early  youth  are  also  responsible  for  the  disregard  of  law. 

Unwillingness  on  the  part  of  complainants  and  wit- 
nesses to  appear  in  court  and  testify  when  required ;  the 
constant  and  persistent  efforts  of  interested  persons  to 
interfere  with  the  operation  of  law ;  the  proverbial  law's 
delay;  the  indeterminate  sentence  act  and  the  want  of 
sufficient  police  are  the  principal  causes  which  multiply 
the  difficulties  of  police  officers. 

Repeated  and  almost  inexcusable  continuances  in  court, 
changes  of  venue,  forfeitures  of  bond  with  leave  to  rein- 
state are  calculated  to  tire  out  the  average  complainant. 
The  prosecutor  who  follows  his  case  to  a  successful  ter- 
mination realizes  that  it  is  a  long  road  from  the  police 
station  to  the  penitentiary.  Criminal  courts  usurp  the 
functions  of  pardon  boards ;  reformatories  and  judges 
permit  self-confessed  thieves  and  those  who  are  adjudged 
guilty  by  a  jury  to  go  free  on  their  own  recognizance, 
— a  formality  which  frustrates  efforts  to  apply  the  law. 

Friendless  indeed  is  the  criminal  who'  cannot  get  a 
bondsman,  and  thereby  regain  his  liberty  so  he  may 
redouble  his  activity  to  obtain  plunder  with  which  to  pay 
the  fee  of  some  criminal  lawyer  "who  understands  his 
business." 

The  policeman  who  starts  out  to  do  his  full  duty  runs 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  155 

into  a  snag.  The  snag  is  almost  universal  interference. 
This  interference  begins  the  moment  the  first  move  is 
made  to  enforce  the  law.  Before  the  policeman  lands 
his  prisoner  in  the  penitentiary  he  has  been  fought  not 
only  by  the  prisoner  and  his  friends,  but  by  prominent 
citizens,  and  too  often  by  the  forces  which  he  reasonably 
expects  to  assist  him.  He  must  battle  at  every  turn 
against  the  organized  forces  of  mistaken  sympathy.  The 
wonder  is  that  he  overcomes  all  obstacles  and  finally 
lands  his  man. 

As  a  rule  politicians  do  not  like  to  run  around  inter- 
fering with  police  officers  in  the  discharge  of  their  duty 
but  the  politician's  existence  depends  on  his  being 
useful  in  getting  his  acquaintances  out  of  trouble  and 
keeping  his  constituents  out  of  jail. 

Hence  he  must  aid  criminals  who  fall  into  the  hands 
of  the  police. 

From  the  moment  an  arrest  is  made  the  policeman's 
trouble  begins.  Everybody  arrested  is  the  son  of  some 
one,  the  brother-in-law  or  relative  of  some  one  whose 
friendship  is  valuable,  or  a  member  of  an  organization 
whose  members  it  will  be  found  desirable  to  aid  or 
placate. 

The  first  move  to  interfere  with  the  enforcement  of  the 
law  is  usually  made  by  friends  of  the  prisoner  who  en- 
deavor to  induce  the  officer  to  drop  the  prosecution  or 
at  least  withhold  some  of  the  testimony.  The  majority 
of  policemen  will  stick  to  their  prosecutions,  as  there  is 
small  chance  of  inducing  an  officer  to  quit  by  direct  ap- 
peal to  himself  or  his  commanding  officers,  other  means 
are  resorted  to.     Witnesses  upon  whom  the  officer  must 


156  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

depend  to  convict  the  prisoner  are  importuned  and  threat- 
ened and  not  unfrequently  bought  off  so  when  the  case 
reaches  the  Police  Court  it  fails  for  lack  of  prosecution. 

Criminals  employ  lawyers  in  the  Police  Court  who  are 
obstructingly  "technical"  if  nothing  worse.  These  at- 
torneys know  the  "ins  and  outs"  of  Police  Court  prac- 
tice. Numerous  continuances  are  procured  to  tire  out 
the  officer  and  prosecuting  witnesses  and  in  the  hope  the 
anger  of  the  complainant  will  cool  and  to  avoid  being 
repeatedly  forced  to  attend  court  he  will  decide  to  have 
nothing  more  to  do  with  the  case. 

The  officer  must  remain  constantly  in  touch  with  the 
complainant  and  keep  up  his  zeal.  If  this  means  fails 
the  next  move  to  interfere  with  the  enforcement  of  the 
law  is  to  hunt  up  an  unsafe  bondsman  who  will  give 
his  services  for  a  cash  consideration.  This  bond  se- 
cured, the  defendant  does  not  appear  and  the  "straw  se- 
curity" is  forfeited  with  leave  to  reinstate.  The  officer 
must  follow  up  the  case  until  the  bond  is  finally  forfeited 
or  the  defendant  appears  for  trial. 

Should  the  criminal  be  held  to  the  Criminal  Court  he 
next  strives  to  keep  the  witnesses  away  from  the  Grand 
Jury.  The  annoyances  incident  to  following  up  a  crimi- 
nal case  disgust  many  people  Frequently  they  drop  out 
at  various  stages  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  criminal 
and  his  attorney.  If  the  complainant  is  determined  to 
prosecute  the  case  after  the  officer  has  overcome  the  pre- 
liminary interferences  an  indictment  is  not  a  difficult  mat- 
ter. After  its  return  the  officer  must  keep  tab  on  the 
witnesses  for  it  may  be  months  before  the  case  is  called. 

In  the  meantime  the  politicians  and  other  friends  of 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  157 

the  defendant  put  in  their  time  endeavoring  to  influence 
the  prosecution.  After  the  criminal  is  finally  convicted, 
interference  with  the  enforcement  of  the  law  keeps  on 
just  the  same.  The  judge  is  importuned  to  reduce  the 
sentence,  or  to  change  it  to  a  short  term  in  the  County 
Jail,  or  to  grant  a  new  trial;  here  the  politicians  and 
friends  usually  get  in  their  work. 

A  short  time  ago  in  Chicago  two  men  held  up  a  saloon 
keeper  and  were  arrested.  When  their  records  were 
looked  up  it  was  found  they  were  charged  with  seven 
previous  hold-ups.  Notwithstanding  this  the  judge  be- 
fore whom  they  were  convicted  and  sentenced  to  the 
penitentiary  changed  the  sentence  to  a  short  term  in  the 
County  Jail. 

Even  when  penitentiary  doors  close  behind  a  criminal 
interference  continues.  The  Board  of  Pardons  and  the 
Governor  are  appealed  to  by  interested  persons.  From 
the  time  of  the  arrest  of  a  criminal  until  his  liberation  or 
death,  interference  with  the  operations  of  the  law  never 
ceases. 

Instances  of  how  habitual  criminals  from  their  early 
youth,  after  repeated  failures  were  finally  landed  in  the 
penitentiary  may  interest  the  public.  These  criminals 
were  socially  well  connected  and  had  successfully  run 
riot  in  the  southwestern  part  of  Chicago  some  years  ago. 

One  Christmas  eve  shortly  before  midnight  they  held 
up  and  robbed  an  Englishman  of  $9.00.  The  English- 
man, in  a  state  of  great  excitement,  reported  the  out- 
rage at  the  police  station.  His  description  of  his  assail- 
ants plainly  established  their  identity.  They  were  posi- 
tively identified  when  arrested  about  an  hour  later,  and 


158  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

when  brought  into  court,  repeated  continuances  were 
taken,  as  was  customary  in  such  cases,  but  the  English- 
man was  a  persistent  individual  bent  upon  prosecuting 
the  crooks. 

They  were  held  in  heavy  bonds  to  the  Criminal  Court 
and  eventually  indicted.  Things  began  to  look  serious. 
There  was  nothing  to  be  done  but  to  buy  off  the  com- 
plainant. This  was  finally  accomplished  by  reimbursing 
him  for  his  loss  and  promising  him  $50.00  when  the  case 
was  stricken  from  the  docket.  He  then  disappeared  from 
the  neighborhood  and  left  no  address. 

The  bailiff  who  served  notice  of  the  trial  was  a  brother- 
in-law  of  the  defendants.  By  the  nonchalant  manner 
with  which  he  left  the  summons  at  the  police  station  it 
was  apparent  he  was  aware  of  the  arrangement.  Hav- 
ing failed  in  so  many  previous  cases  the  police  had  dou- 
ble reason  to  regret  that  the  stubborn  Englishman  was 
induced  to  relent.  A  scheme  was  devised  which  worked 
out  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  officer. 

A  policeman  who  knew  "Mr.  Bull"  was  instructed  to 
seek  for  him  on  new  buildings,  as  he  was  a  carpenter. 
On  the  third  day  of  the  search  the  officers  discovered  the 
Englishman  on  a  roof.  Nothing  was  said  to  him  until 
the  morning  of  the  trial  when  the  officer  called  on  him 
and  read  a  subpoena  from  the  Criminal  Court,  taking  him 
into  custody  at  the  same  time  and  keeping  him  under 
cover  three  blocks  from  the  Criminal  Court  building. 

Had  the  Englishman  been  seen  in  the  court  house,  or 
its  vicinity,  the  lawyer  for  the  defendants  would  have 
made  a  successful  plea  for  a  continuance  on  the  usual 
grounds.    When  the  case  was  called  the  complainant  did 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  159 

not  appear.  The  lawyer  with  a  flourish  announced  he  was 
ready  for  trial  and  asked  that  the  case  be  stricken  from 
the  docket  as  there  was  no  one  to  prosecute  except  the 
police  officer  who  made  the  arrest,  and  he  had  no  per- 
sonal knowledge  of  the  crime. 

This  was  just  what  the  officer  desired.  He  informed 
the  judge  the  complaining  witness  would  be  on  hand  in 
a  few  minutes.  A  third  officer  who  was  to  act  as  mes- 
senger, hastened  to  a  saloon  where  the  complainant  was 
reluctantly  engaged  in  a  game  of  "forty-five"  with,  his 
custodian.  When  brought  into  court  he  testified  without 
hesitation  and  the  two  defendants,  to  their  great  sur- 
prise, were  given  a  good  round  term  in  the  penitentiary, 
which  sentence,  I  am  happy  to  say,  caused  their  re- 
form. They  are  now  leading  honest  lives.  This  reads  like 
a  conspiracy  to  convict  but  it '"was  straight  goods"  and 
accomplished  the  desired  results. 

The  interference  described  is  not  only  with  the  police- 
man in  the  enforcement  of  the  law  but  it  extends  to  inter- 
ference with  higher  officials  in  the  enforcement  of  dis- 
cipline. A  short  time  ago  two  clergymen  called  on  the 
Mayor  of  Chicago  and  demanded  that  a  certain  police- 
man be  discharged  instanter. 

It  was  explained  to  the  clergymen  that  under  the  Civil 
Service  law  they  must  prefer  charges  against  the  officer, 
and  with  a  view  to  that  end  I  took  the  names  of  wit- 
nesses. As  it  was  found  the  case  against  the  policeman 
merited  investigation,  charges  were  preferred  against 
him  for  violation  of  certain  rules  of  the  department.  The 
next  day  the  clergymen  who  made  the  complaint  and 
betrayed  much  indignation  because  the  officer  was  not 


160  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

discharged  without  a  hearing,  came  and  pleaded  earn- 
estly though  in  vain  to  have  the  matter  dropped. 

Inevitably  one  plank  in  every  municipal  campaign 
platform  by  the  party  out  of  power  is  to  take  the  police 
out  of  politics.  If  successful  the  pledge  is  kept  to  the 
extent  of  appointing  a  new  chief  of  police  and  taking 
the  other  fellows  out.  What  chance  is  there  of  taking 
the  police  out  of  politics  as  long  as  the  head  of  the 
department  cannot  hope  to  retain  his  position  if  his  party 
is  defeated?  It  is  the  new  man  who  always  works  won- 
ders and  reforms  things  until  he  gets  enmeshed  in  the 
difficulties  of  his  predecessors.  Then  the  old  programme 
of  good  intentions,  intermittent  criticism  and  eventual 
disappointment  is  repeated  with  variations. 

Indiscriminate  fault-finding  finds  a  handy  public  target 
in  the  police.  No  matter  how  many  agencies  whose  sins 
of  omission  or  commission  may  cause  unpleasant  condi- 
tions the  police  alone  seem  fated  to  get  the  blame.  Handi- 
caps of  defective  laws,  antiquated  Justice  "shops,"  and 
technical  and  slothful  criminal  courts  are  unnoticed;  the 
"fall  guy"  is  invariably  the  policeman. 

You  may  as  well  charge  the  clergy  with  inefficiency 
because  they  fail  to  keep  congregations  in  a  state  of 
perpetual  grace  or  accuse  physicians  because  their  pa- 
tients relapse  into  infirmities  after  undergoing  successful 
treatment  as  to  charge  the  police  with  incapacity  because 
crime  cannot  be  prevented  and  good  order  constantly 
maintained.  The  police  may  arrest  criminals  and  sup- 
press crime  to  the  best  of  their  ability  but  when  of- 
fenders and  malefactors  are  released  by  courts  on  pleas 
for  leniency,  because   of  technicalities  or  other  causes, 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  161 

the  work  has  to  be  repeated  again  and  again  and  unless 
the  people  will  evolve  into  a  condition  of  being  good  and 
remaining  good,  the  efforts  and  worries  of  the  police 
must  be  expected  to  continue  to  the  end  of  time. 

THE  EDUCATION  OF  POLICE  OFFICERS. 

Those  who  think  police  business  is  simply  a  soft  job 
are  greatly  fooled.  If  the  public  knew  more  about  the 
duties  and  schooling  of  a  first-class  department  there 
would  be  less  derision  of  the  police. 

The  business  of  catching  thieves  and  preserving  pub- 
lic peace  is  a  distinct  trade  and  every  policeman 
knows  he  can  never  cease  to  learn.  The  better  the  po- 
liceman is  posted  on  the  laws  of  his  state  the  better  his 
chances  Lr  promotion. 

A  man  who  blindly  patrols  his  beat  is  not  a  police- 
man. He  is  a  good  officer  who  knows  when  a  law  is 
violated  and  when  he  is  authorized  to  make  an  arrest 
without  having  to  refer  to  his  superior  officer.  Men  of 
metropolitan  departments  have  the  advantage  of  police 
schools  of  instruction.  Men  in  small  towns  must  rely  on 
their  own  resources. 

When  towns  shall  merge  and  state  police  become  a 
reality  in  America  as  in  foreign  countries  the  police  of 
small  as  well  as  large  towns  will  undergo  a  period  of 
instruction  and  examination.  Until  then  the  chiefs  of 
small  forces  should  try  in  every  way  to  educate  their 
men  to  a  high  standard  of  police  business. 

No  matter  how  small  the  force  there  is  no  reason 
why  there  should  not  be  a  school  of  instruction  and  the 
chief  who  inaugurates  it  will  make  a  hit  with  the  public 


162  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

although  the  men  may  "kick."  The  men  will  also  thank 
him  when  they  realize  the  benefits. 

Rules  and  regulations  for  the  government  of  a  force 
should  embody  the  duties  required  from  a  police  officer, 
his  behavior  and  conduct  toward  the  public  and  instruc- 
tions as  to  the  enforcement  of  statutes  and  ordinances 
that  will  guide  him  to  diligently  and  impartially  dis- 
charge this  important  duty.  Political  partisan  service, 
sentiments  and  affiliations  should  not  be  considered  as  a 
part  of  the  qualifiations  of  an  applicant. 

It  is  a  matter  of  fact  and  must  be  well  known  to  every 
police  official,  that  a  politician  will  never  make  an  efficient, 
fearless  and  impartial  police  officer.  It  should  not  be  a 
question  as  to  what  party  an  officer  is  affiliated  with,  but 
it  is  of  great  importance  to  inquire  if  he,  after  receiving 
his  appointment,  discharges  his  duty  honestly,  faithfully 
and  impartially,  and  if  he  desires  and  tries  to  promote  the 
interests  of  the  service  and  the  security  of  the  people. 
He  should  understand  that  upon  his  individual  actions 
and  behavior,  his  courage,  qualifications  and  knowledge 
of  criminal  laws  and  city  ordinances  mainly  depends  the 
efficiency  and  discipline  of  the  force. 

A  police  department  must  have  the  respect  and  good 
will  of  the  people ;  otherwise,  its  usefulness  is  impaired. 
No  one  should  be  appointed  unless  he  is  a  man  of  so- 
briety, integrity  and  a  respected  citizen,  able  to  read  and 
write  understandingly.  Before  appointment,  he  should 
pass  a  rigid  physical  examination.  He  should  be  not 
less  than  twenty-three  nor  more  than  forty  years  old. 

Appointments  should  continue  only  during  good  be- 
havior and  efforts  by  the  officer  to  fulfill  the  require- 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  163 

ments  of  the  service.  No  officer  should  be  dismissed 
or  degraded  unless  there  is  evidence  that  he  violated  the 
law,  has  been  inefficient,  or  guilty  of  misconduct  or  in- 
subordination. In  such  cases,  charges  should  be  properly 
filed  before  a  trial  board  of  officers  designated  to  act  as 
judges. 

The  first  duty  of  an  officer  is  to  prevent  the  commis- 
sion of  crime.  He  should  be  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
all  the  rules  contained  in  the  manual.  In  a  school  of  in- 
struction, presided  over  by  a  competent  police  officer,  he 
ought  to  receive  thorough  instructions  as  to  criminal 
laws  and  ordinances  and  how  and  in  what  manner  to 
make  arrests.  Without  possessing  these  prerequisite 
qualifications  he  cannot  discharge  the  responsible  duty 
of  his  office. 

He  must  be  thoroughly  acquainted  with  all  impor- 
tant locations  of  the  city,  prominent  buildings,  railroad 
depots,  street  cars  and  places  of  amusement,  in  fact,  ev- 
ery place  of  interest,  so  he  can  give  proper  answers  and 
directions  to  citizens  and  strangers.  Politeness  and  gen- 
tlemanly conduct  are  indispensable  in  the  make-up  of  a 
first-class  police  officer. 

POLICE  EVER  ON  GUARD. 

Against  the  hostility  of  crime  and  social  disorder 
stands  the  policeman  to  prevent  attacks  upon  the  citizen 
and  common  security.  He  is  unceasingly  on  guard. 
While  the  energies  of  citizens  are  engaged  in  industries 
and  commerce  and  the  toilers  of  head  and  hand  are  pur- 
suing customary  vocations  this  guardian  of  public  peace 
is  on  duty. 


164  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

The  rights  of  honest  men  to  live  and  labor  undis- 
turbed are  by  him  made  sure.  In  all  kinds  of  weather 
he  pursues  his  duty,  perils  lurking  about  him,  hidden 
surprises  awaiting  his  approach,  sudden  emergencies  con- 
fronting him,  outbursts  of  criminal  passion  threatening 
and  assailing  him,  always  strong  and  brave, — a  soldier 
guardian  of  the  people. 

The  thousands  of  men  throughout  the  nation  who 
constitute  its  police  departments  do  not  all  receive  recog- 
nition commensurate  with  the  benefits  they  bestow.  So- 
ciety is  habituated  to  contemplating  with  indifference 
the  defenses  thus  provided  and  it  loses  sight  of  the 
human  element  which  vitalizes  the  vast  machinery  and 
its  obligation  to  the  men  who  merit  grateful  approba- 
tion. 

In  time  of  war  when  patriotism  sounds  its  trumpet 
armies  gather  under  the  symbol  of  the  republic  and  offer 
themselves  to  their  country's  altar  of  sacrifice.  The  on- 
looking  people,  hushed  by  the  solemnity  of  the  scene  of 
duty  and  devotion,  gaze  with  admiration  which,  subduing 
its  voice  until  the  victory  comes,  at  last  proclaims  the 
gratitude  of  their  hearts  and  the  glory  of  their  cham- 
pions. The  heroes  of  the  hour  are  placed  in  the  nation's 
memorial  hall  of  honor. 

In  times  of  peace,  always  persistent  and  permanent,  in 
the  American  community  and  under  its  laws,  are  organ- 
ized protectors  of  its  institutions  and  the  lives  and  pos- 
sessions of  its  citizens — men  whose  motive  and  conduct 
are  like  those  of  soldiers  and  who  deserve  a  similar  ap- 
preciation. These  are  the  guardians  of  civic  peace,  the 
police. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


165 


166  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 


FLEECING  INVALIDS  AND  CRIPPLES. 


The  Letter  Writing  at  Home  Graft  is  the  Most  Des- 
picable of  All — How  Unfortunates  Are  Made  to 
See  Hope  of  Earning  a  Living  Only  to 
Be  Mercilessly  Disillusioned 
and   Robbed. 

This  is  a  story  of  the  most  despicable  graft  extant. 
For  although  it  has  been  broken  up  in  Chicago  it  still 
flourishes  in  nearly  every  other  large  city  in  the  country. 
It  is  not  only  despicable  but  it  is  heinous,  fiendish,  un- 
speakable. It  is  the  sort  of  a  thing  that  causes  the 
blood  of  an  honest  man  or  of  a  manly  rogue  to  boil  and 
long  for  a  chance  to  clutch  its  inventor  by  the  throat. 
It  is  the  letter  copying  scheme.  Real  criminals  take 
chances  on  death  or  the  penitentiary  and  on  personal 
encounters  with  those  whose  money  they  unlawfully  seek 
to  acquire,  but  the  vultures  behind  the  "ads"  promising 
lucrative  work  at  home,  content  themselves  with  mulct- 
ing helpless  invalids,  aged  and  infirm  persons  who  seek 
to  contribute  to  their  own  support  and  persons  whom 
poverty  has  driven  to  desperation  and  who  see  in  the 
gilded  promises  of  the  cormorant  an  avenue  of  escape. 

The  public  is  familiar  with  the  advertisements  which 
constantly  are  seen  in  the  newspapers  offering  employ- 
ment that  will  not  necessitate  canvassing,  or  peddling, 
and  which  can  be  done  in  the  home  with  great  profit. 
Occasionally  the  "ads"  explain  that  the  work  is  that  of 
copying  letters. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  1 67 

The  victim  answers  the  "ad"  and  in  reply  receives 
this  stereotyped  letter — the  form  is  the  same  in  every 
instance : 

Esteemed  Friend : 

Replying  to  your  application  to  write  letters  for  us  at 
your  home  during  spare  time,  we  beg  to  say  that  your 
writing  is  satisfactory  and  we  have  decided  to  offer  you 
the  appointment. 

The  work  we  give  out  is  simply  writing  letters  from 
a  copy  which  we  furnish,  for  which  we  pay  you  direct 
from  this  office  at  the  rate  of  twenty  ($20.00)  dollars 
per  thousand.  You  do  not  have  to  write  any  certain 
number  of  letters  before  receiving  pay,  and  all  letters 
you  write  you  return  to  us.  There  is  no  mailing  them 
to  your  friends  as  most  other  advertisers  who  advertise 
for  letter  writers  demand,  neither  is  there  any  canvassing 
or  selling  anything,  or  anything  else  to  mislead  you ; 
you  simply  write  from  a  copy  which  we  furnish  and  we 
pay  you  direct.  We  are  an  old  reliable  firm,  always 
state  plainly  what  is  required,  do  exactly  as  we  promise 
and  treat  our  employes  honestly. 

The  work  is  easy ;  the  letters  to  be  written  are  the 
length  of  the  ordinary  business  letter  and  all  we  require 
is  neatness  and  correctness.  We  furnish  all  materials 
free  of  charge ;  paper,  etc.,  and  prepay  all  costs  of  de- 
livery to  your  home.  You  work  only  when  you  desire 
or  have  leisure  time,  and  no  one  need  know  you  are 
ioing  die  work. 

We  pay  spot  cash  for  all  work  done  the  same  day  as 
'received.  We  use  thousands  of  these  letters  for  adver- 
tising our  business,  because  we  receive  better  results 
from  using  written  letters  than  from  plain  printed  cir- 
culars. We  have  a  large  number  of  people  all  over  the 
countrv  working  for  us,  and  if  you  desire  to  become 
one  of  our  regular  workers  we  request  you  to  send  us 


I 


168  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

one  dollar  for  which  we  will  send  you  our  regular  dollar 
package  of  goods  you  are  to  write  about. 

This  is  all  you  are  required  to  invest,  there  being  no 
other  payments  at  any  further  time,  and  this  deposit  is 
returned  to  you  after  doing  work  to  the  amount  of  two 
thousand  letters.  We  are  compelled  to  ask  for  this  small 
deposit  to  protect  ourselves  against  unscrupulous  per- 
sons who  do  not  mean  to  work  and  who  apply  out  of 
idle  curiosity. 

We  also  send  you  first  trial  lot  of  letter  paper,  copy 
of  letter  to  be  written  (as  we  desire  all  letters  to  be 
written  on  our  own  letter  paper),  also  instructions  and 
all  necessary  information.  After  receiving  the  outfit  you 
start  to  work  immediately.  More  reliable  workers  are 
needed  at  once,  and  we  guarantee  everything  to  be  ex- 
actly as  represented.  If  you  find  anything  different  we 
will  refund  the   amount  invested. 

Fill  out  the  enclosed  blank  and  send  it  to  us  with  one 
dollar  or  express  or  postoffice  money  order  (stamps  ac- 
cepted), and  we  will  immediately  send  everything,  all 
expenses  prepaid.  You  can  start  to  work  the  same  day 
you  receive  the  outfit  by  simply  following  our  plain  in- 
structions. 

Kindly  reply  at  your  earliest  convenience.  Fill  out  en- 
closed blank  and  direct  your  envelope  carefully.  Trust- 
ing to  be  favored  with  your  prompt  seryices,  we  remain, 

Very  truly  yours, 

Leslie  Novelty  Company, 

Per  C.  C.  Kendall. 

In  their  investigation  of  this  sort  of  swindle  the  po- 
lice discovered  that  almost  invariably  the  victims  were 
bed-ridden  persons  or  women  in  straitened  circum- 
stances who  were  in  frantic  search  of  some  means  of 
keeping  the  wolf  from  the  door.  Many  instances  were 
found  where  some  unfortunate  had  taken  up  a  collection 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  169 

in  the  neighborhood  in  order  to  raise  the  necessary  dol- 
lar to  send  for  the  "Outfit."  Persons  were  found  who 
were  actually  starving  and  who  had  pawned  their  last 
possession  to  get  the  money  that  was  to  start  them  on 
the  road  to  affluence. 

Of  all  the  offices  raided  Detective  Wooldridge  did  not 
find  record  of  one  instance  where  a  victim  had  been  able 
to  keep  the  requirements  of  the  swindlers.  The  sup- 
posed letter  sent  to  be  copied  was  generally  about  800 
words  in  length,  full  of  words  difficult  to  spell,  of  rude 
and  complicated  rhetorical  construction  and  punctuated 
in  a  most  eccentric  manner.  The  task  imposed  was  prac- 
tically a  life-time  job  and  even  if  any  one  had  fulfilled 
it  there  were  a  hundred  loopholes  whereby  the  thieves 
could  escape  payment  by  declaring  their  specifications 
had  not  been  heeded  to  the  letter. 

The  "Outfit"  consisted  of  a  cheap  penholder,  a  pen 
and  a  box  of  fake  pills. 

Imagine  the  joyous  anticipation  with  which  a  starving 
cripple  would  await  the  arrival  of  the  "Outfit"  that  was 
to  give  him  the  opportunity  of  prolonging -existence! 
The  bright  hopes  of  the  work-worn  widow  who  ex- 
pected by  this  genteel  means  to  keep  her  little  ones  in 
bread ! 
I  Think  of  the  despair  of  both  upon  discovering  they 
had  paid  out  money  so  sadly  needed — money  which 
probably  had  been  begged  or  borrowed — only  to  dis- 
cover that  they  had  been  victimized  instead  of  benefited ! 

Trembling,  cringing,  whining  specimens  of  humanity 
were  found  in  charge  of  each  of  these  fakers'  dens  when 
Detective  Wooldridge  swooped  down  upon  them.     They 


170  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

were  typical  of  their  graft — small,  mean,  snake-like, 
cowardly.  None  among  them  was  found  who  would 
bid  defiance  to  the  officers,  who  would  resist  intrusion 
by  the  law  or  who  would  go  into  court  and  fight.  All 
were  cheap  and  dirty  in  mind,  loathsome,  shrinking, 
snarling,  but  not  daring  to  bite. 

Among  those  driven  out  of  business  by  Detective 
Wooldridge  were  the  Twain  Novelty  Company,  the  Les- 
lie Novelty  Company,  the  Illinois  Industrial  Company 
and  Blackney  &  Company. 

"I  have  raided  all  classes  of  swindling  institutions," 
said  Wooldridge,  "but  it  gave  me  more  pleasure  to  run 
down  these  fellows  than  all  the  others  put  together. 
They  did  not  dare  try  to  get  money  out  of  people  who 
could  afford  to  lose  it  or  who  were  out  in  the  world 
where  they  could  talk  with  others  of  more  experience. 
Their  dupes  were  in  almost  every  instance  the  most 
pitiable  objects  of  the  communities  in  which  they  lived. 
The  facts  disclosed  by  these  raids  were  enough  to  fill 
the  heart  of  the  blackest  grafter  with  indignation  and  a 
desire  to  trounce  the  perpetrators." 

TOOK  ROULETTE  WHEEL  AND  CASH. 

March  25,  1894. 

The  Berlin  saloon,  298  State  street,  was  run  by  Thomas 
McGinnis,  and  beneath  the  saloon  was  a  full-fledged 
gambling  house,  in  which  almost  every  game  of  chance 
was  played,  among  the  rest  was  a  roulette  wheel.  Upon 
the  face  of  the  wheel  were  $250  in  bills,  ranging  from 
$1  to  $100.     Over  its  glass  face  rotated  an  arrow  that 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  171 

worked  with  a  spindle;  you  gave  the  wheel  a  spin  and 
received  whatever  prize  the  arrow  pointed  to  when  it 
came  to  a  standstill. 

On  the  morning  of  March  24,  1894,  some  one  burg- 
larized the  place,  smashed  the  wheel  all  to  pieces,  taking 
the  cash,  and  they  also  secured  a  cash  box,  broke  it 
open  and  took  what  change  there  was  in  it.  In  the  ex- 
citement four  $1  bills  were  dropped  on  the  floor.  These 
were  picked  up  in  the  morning. 

Detective  Wooldridge  was  detailed  on  the  case.  He 
arrested  Thomas  White,  who  made  a  confession  impli- 
cating Charles  Holmes  and  William  Whalen.  Both  were 
arrested  in  a  few  hours  afterwards.  Whalen  was  found 
in  an  opium  joint  on  State  street  in  company  with  three 
white  girls  and  two  colored  ones,  all  more  or  less  under 
the  effects  of  the  opium.  In  Whalen's  pocket  were 
found  32  boxes  of  cigarettes,  one  pack  of  cards,  a  bull- 
dog revolver,  some  cheap  wild-west  novels,  and  $50  in 
money. 

The  prisoners  were  all  locked  up  at  the  Harrison  street 
station,  and  secured  a  continuance  the  next  morning.  Be- 
fore the  case  came  up  for  trial  the  money  had  been  re- 
funded to  McGinnis.  He  refused  to  prosecute,  conse- 
quently the  defendants  were  turned  loose. 


172  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 


CAPITAL,  $5,000,000;  ASSETS,  $1.25. 


How  a  Glib  Young  Promoter  Tried  to  Hire  a  Detec- 
tive as  One  of  100,000  Employes  Who  Were  Going 
to   Buy    Stock    in    His    Company    and    Help 
Drive  the  Big  Express  Concerns  Out  of 
Business. 

Ordinarily  when  a  bunch  of  grafters  inaugurates  a 
nice  scheme  for  separating  the  "easy"  public  from  its 
savings  and  announces  in  glowing  prospectuses  its  sys- 
tem for  turning  money  over  with  profit  at  the  rate  of 
a  thousand  per  cent  it  flashes  an  elaborate  array  of  beau- 
tifully engraved  "securities"  to  show  that  it  really  doesn't 
need  the  money,  but  is  in  business  for  the  sole  purpose 
of  keeping  the  dear,  dear  public  from  dying  poor. 

But  the  Aetna  Express  Company  was  an  exception. 
It  blandly  announced  that  its  capital  of  $5,000,000  was 
full  paid  and  non-assessable,  and  let  it  go  at  that.  It 
didn't  even  offer  any  bank  references.  In  fact,  its  litera- 
ture predicted  that  the  stock  would  largely  be  oversub- 
scribed and  advised  everybody  to  get  in  early  and  avoid 
being  left  out  in  the  cold. 

This  ambitious  concern  was  launched  in  August,  1904. 
Its  main  office  was  at  12 10  Security  building,  where  one 
Randolph  Sylvester  held  forth.  A  branch  ofhce  was  in 
in  the  Baltimore  building,  in  charge  of  Thomas  S.  Gray 
Newbold.  It  was  from  the  latter  place  that  the  country 
was  flooded  with  florid  literature. 

The  letter  head?  bore  a  half-tone  engraving"  of  an  ex- 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


173 


Randolph  Sylvester. 


174  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

press  train,  surrounded  by  a  red  and  black  border,  and 
the  names  of  four  hotel  clerks  as  president,  vice-presi- 
dent, secretary  and  treasurer.  These  were,  respectively, 
J.  P.  Kelly,  E.  L.  McHenry,  George  E.  Whitney  and 
H.  M.  Sullivan.  Neither  was  ever  accused  of  being  a 
millionaire. 

None  but  holders  of  stock  would  be  allowed  to  fill 
any  of  its  100,000  positions. 

In  a  letter  to  Mr.  G.  Williams,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  the 
president  said : 

"The  Aetna  Express  Company  is  organized  under  the 
laws  of  the  state  of  Arkansas,  with  a  capital  stock  of 
$5,000,000,  divided  into  200,000  shares  of  $25  each,  full 
paid  and  non-assessable.  The  purposes  of  this  company 
are  to  carry  on  a  general  express  business  throughout 
the  United  States  and  foreign  countries,  to  carry  and 
transmit  from  place  to  place  all  sorts  of  merchandise, 
manufactured  or  otherwise ;  raw  material,  live  stock  of 
all  kinds  and  description,  fruit,  cotton,  products  of  the 
soil,  parcels,  packages,  cases,  gold  and  silver  bullion, 
specie,  jewelry,  precious  stones,  valuables  and  securi- 
ties, and  do  all  such  other  things  as  are  usually  intrusted 
to  express  companies. 

"Further,  issuing  money  or  express  orders,  travelers' 
checks,  letters  of  credit,  sight  drafts,  transferring  money 
by  cable  or  telegraph  and  do  a  general  banking  business." 

One  morning  in  October  a  stranger  wandered  into 
Mr.  Sylvester's  office  and  announced  that  he  had  heard 
of  the  new  company  and  wanted  to  get  in  on  the  good 
thing,  both  as  an  employe  and  an  investor. 

"You're  just  the  man  I  want,"  Sylvester  said,  growing 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  175 

confidential.  "You  see,  we  are  going  to  put  out  forty 
or  fifty  wagons  here  in  the  city  next  week,  but  we  are 
anxious  to  begin  operations  on  the  railroads  as  early  as 
possible.  Our  cars  are  now  being  built.  By  the  time 
they  are  ready  for  service  we  want  to  have  all  of  the 
best  messengers  and  local  agents  hired  away  from  the 
other  companies. 

"Now,  I'll  engage  you  and  as  many  more  intelligent, 
clever  men  like  you  as  I  can  find  to  go  out  along  the 
lines  running  through  the  southwest  and  talk  to  the  old 
employes  of  our  rivals.  You  will  be  at  full  liberty  to 
engage  them,  offering  them  from  25  to  50  cents  more 
salary  than  they  are  getting. 

"Of  course,  we  want  every  employe  to  be  a  share- 
holder, but  we  will  not  allow  one  employe  to  buy  more 
than  one  share  of  stock.  You  see,  these  agents  are  well 
acquainted  in  their  own  towns,  and  some  of  them  ought 
to  sell  ten  or  twenty  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  stock 
right  among  their  friends. 

"Inside  of  a  year  we  will  drive  the  Pacific  and  Wells- 
Fargo  express  companies  out  of  business.  Of  course 
you  will  have  no  objection  to  buying  one  share  of  stock 
before  taking  the  position. 

"We  have  100,000  positions  in  all  branches  of  the  serv- 
ice, you  know,  and  many  of  our  employes  are  anxious 
to  take  over  more  than  a  single  share,  but  we  want  to 
have  the  stock  scattered.  I  am  glad  you  called,  as  you 
are  the  very  man  I'm  looking  for,  Mr. — what  was  the 
name,  please?" 

"Thompson,"   replied   the  caller.     "I   came   up   from 


176  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

Bowling  Green,  Ky.,  and  I'll  take  the  job.  I'll  call  to- 
morrow and  fix  up  the  details." 

The  next  day  "Thompson,"  who  was  none  other  than 
Clifton  R.  Wooldridge,  stepped  into  the  office  of  the 
Aetna.    With  him  were  four  other  men. 

"I've  brought  some  friends  up  with  me,"  announced 
the  detective  to  the  promoter,  who  had  no  suspicion  of  his 
identity.  "They're  also  interested  in  this  thing  and  we 
want  to  make  some  further  inquiries." 

"All  right,  gentlemen,"  responded  Sylvester,  gayly. 
"But,  remember,  I  positively  cannot  sell  more  than  one 
share  of  stock  to  each  man  if  you  become  employes  of 
the  company." 

"That's  all  right,"  said  Wooldridge,  "but  we'd  like  to 
know  first  if  your  company  is  responsible.  You  said 
you  were  incorporated.  Let's  see  your  incorporation  pa- 
pers." 

"Well,  I  can't  show  them  to  you  today,  and,  besides, 
you  ought  to  take  my  word  for  little  things  like  that. 
Why,  this  concern  is  capitalized  at  $5,000,000,  man!" 

"Yes,"  quietly  replied  the  detective,  "but  we're  from 
Kentucky  and  we  want  to  know  what  we're  doing  be- 
fore we  do  it.  Where  are  they  building  those  cars  ?  And 
the  wagons — where  did  you  buy  them?  Where  is  the 
bank  you  do  business  with?" 

"Really,  I  haven't  time  to  discuss  those  small  things 
today,"  answered  Sylvester.  "Come  around  in  three  or 
four  days  and  I'll  have  more  time."    » 

"But  I'm  dead  crazy  to  get  this  job,"  insisted  Wool- 
dridge, "I  haven't  been  able  to  eat  or  sleep  since  you 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  177 

told  me  about  it.  I'm  going  to  find  all  that  out  now. 
I'm  terribly  interested/' 

"Well,  I  can't  show  you  those  things  now,"  said  Syl- 
vester, growing  nettled. 

"Then  I  guess  I'll  have  to  look  for  them  myself,"  the 
detective  drawled. 

The  promoter's  face  flushed  with  anger  and  he  strode 
to  the  door,  flinging  it  open  and  inviting  the  presumptu- 
ous visitor  to  depart.     Then  he  sank  limply  into  a  chair. 

Wooldridge  had  produced  a  search  warrant  and  pro- 
ceeded to  ransack  the  place  for  evidence.  Sylvester  was 
taken  to  the  Harrison  street  police  station  and  a  trip 
was  made  to  the  office  of  Newbold. 

He  was  also  arrested  and  the  entire  stock  of  literature 
of  the   company   was   confiscated. 

When  the  two  men  were  searched  the  officers  found 
the  only  tangible  assets  their  investigations  had  been 
able  to  uncover.     These  were : 

Sylvester — 30  cents  and  a  box  of  cigarettes. 

Newbold — 95  cents  and  a  plug  of  tobacco. 

Sylvester  was  fined  $100  next  day  for  operating  a  con- 
fidence game  and  the  confiscated  literature  was  burned 
by  order  of  the  court. 

A  SOLDIER  ROBBED 

After  He  Had  Answered   the  Call  of  His   Country 

Twice  and  Had  Fought  for  His  Flag  on  Both 

Sides  of  the  Globe. 

One  of  those  cases  which  are  only  of  too  frequent 
occurrence  in  all  large  cities  and  which  show  how  dis- 
honest men  are  sometimes  protected  by  politicians,  fell 


178 


THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 


Charles  Payne. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  17'J 

into  the  hands  of  Detective  Wooldridge  on  March  14, 
1901.  The  whole  proceeding  presented  two  phases  of 
public  life — a  fearless  officer  trying  to  do  his  duties  and 
a  man  with  a  "pull"  trying  to  liberate  him. 

For  the  performance  of  his  duty  in  this  case  all  kinds 
of  threats  were  made  against  Wooldridge,  but  when  the 
newspapers  on  the  following  morning  took  up  the  matter 
and  presented  the  facts  as  they  really  were,  the  proposed 
efforts  to  have  the  detective  dismissed  for  the  discharge 
of  his  duties,  were  put  aside  for  a  "future  reference," 
and  nothing  more  was  heard  of  the  matter  except  from 
Wooldridge's   standpoint. 

On  the  day  mentioned  Charles  Payne,  a  veteran  of  the 
Spanish  and  Philippine  wars,  came  to  Chicago  from 
San  Francisco  where  on  March  8  he  was  honorably  dis- 
charged from  the  volunteer  service.  When  he  reached 
Chicago  an  alleged  hotel  runner,  with  a  badge  denoting 
his  occupation,  approached  the  ex-soldier  and  carried 
him  to  the  Hammond  hotel  at  444  Dearborn  street. 

Later  in  the  day,  this  same  hotel  runner  piloted  him 
to  the  clothing  store  of  Edwin  Rose,  256  State  street. 
Here,  according  to  Mr.  Payne's  own  statement,  he 
purchased  some  clothing.  His  purchase  included  an 
overcoat,  a  suit  of  clothes,  a  hat  and  a  pair  of  shoes,  the 
whole  amounting  to  $28.  He  paid  for  each  article  sep- 
arately, however.  When  he  bought  the  overcoat,  the 
price  of  which  was  $9,  he  tendered  a  $20  gold  piece,  and 
Rose  brought  back  to  him  only  $1  in  change,  in- 
stead of  $11,  which  he  should  have  had.  After  con- 
siderable argument,  however,  Mr.  Payne  got  his  cor- 
rect change. 


180  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

When  the  customer  got  back  to  his  room,  he  opened 
his  bundle  and  began  to  put  on  his  new  clothes.  Then 
he  discovered  that  the  articles  he  had  purchased  had 
been  changed  and  the  suit  of  clothes  was  so  small  he 
could  scarcely  get  into  it.  The  trousers  were  several 
inches  too  short  and  the  coat  sleeves  nearly  reached  his 
elbows. 

Payne  complained  to  a  police  officer  near  the  hotel 
and  they  went  together  to  the  store,  where  a  pretense 
was  made  of  giving  him  the  package  he  originally 
bought,  but  when  he  reached  his  room  again  he  found 
different  garments,  all  of  which  were  also  entirely  too 
small.  Mr.  Payne  then  determined  to  go  to  the  Chief 
of  Police  and  make  a  complaint.  This  was  done  and 
Detectives  Wooldridge,  Schubert  and  Sullivan  were  sent 
to  make  an  investigation. 

They  went  with  Payne  to  Rose's  store.  The  lat- 
ter was  pointed  out  to  Wooldridge  who  asked  that  the 
man  be  given  the  clothes  he  purchased  or  that  his  money 
be  returned  to  him. 

"Who  are  you?"  the  big  proprietor  of  the  store  asked. 

"I  am  a  police  officer,"  Wooldridge  replied,  quietly, 
"and  here  is  a  man  who  has  gone  to  the  call  of  his  coun- 
try twice;  who  has  fought  for  the  flag  on  both  sides  of 
the  globe.  He  asks  me  to  see  that  justice  is  done  him 
here,  and  as  an  officer,  I  propose  to  give  him  the  pro- 
tection he  asks." 

"You  can't  run  any  bluff  on  me,"  Rose  replied. 
"I  have  heard  police  officers  talk  before.  You  get  out 
of  here  or  I  will  have  you  discharged  from  the  force. 
I  have  a  'pull'  and  I  will  get  your  star." 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  181 

"You  will  give  that  man  his  money  or  his  clothes  or 
you  will  go  to  the  police  station/' 

"Where  is  your  warrant?" 

"I  do  not  need  a  warrant.  Here  is  the  man  who  claims 
you  have  swindled  him  and  he  demands  your  arrest. 
Now  I  will  give  you  just  five  minutes  to  return  his 
money  or  be  arrested." 

Wooldridge  drew  out  his  watch  and  began  to  count 
the  minutes  as  they  ticked  away.  When  he  had  counted 
three,  Rose  defiantly  said,  "make  it  seven."  When 
he  again  counted  four,  Rose  defiantly  spoke  up  and 
said,  "Better  make  it  ten."  Then  the  last  minutes  had 
passed  and  the  detective  said : 

"Five !     Time  is  up ;  you  are  under  arrest,  sir." 

Wooldridge  then  went  to  the  front  door  where  his 
two  assistants  were  stationed,  told  one  to  go  to  the  rear 
while  the  other  remained  there.  He  then  went  to  the 
patrol  box  on  the  corner  and  called  for  the  patrol  wagon 
and  two  officers  in  uniform.  In  a  few  minutes  the 
wagon  came  up,  and  when  Rose  saw  the  men  in 
uniform  and  the  dreaded  wagon  in  front  of  his  store,  he 
began  to  weaken  and  said  he  would  make  it  all  right 
with  Payne. 

"You  will  go  to  the  police  station,"  said  Wooldridge. 
"It  is  too  late  to  parley  with  me." 

In  the  confusion  which  followed  the  arrest  of  the  three 
clerks  in  the  store,  Rosen  hid  under  a  counter,  but  was 
dragged  out.  He  then  stood  up  behind  the  counter 
and  defied  the  detective.  Wooldridge  went  over  the 
counter    at    one    bound,    and,    seizing    Rosen    landed 


182  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

him  in  the  wagon  before  he  could  realize  that  he  was 
facing  a  dreadfully  earnest  proposition. 

He  and  his  clerks  were  soon  in  the  Harrison  street 
i  station.  There  Rose  denied  his  identity  and  said  his 
•  name  was  Hill,  but  letters  and  other  papers  in  his  posses- 
sion clearly  showed  who  he  was.  All  "of  them  gave  bond 
later,    Ben    Barrett   becoming   surety    for  them. 

Threats  were  again  made  that  the  officer  would  be  dis- 
charged for  making  the  arrest  and  machinery  was  at 
once  put  in  motion  for  that  purpose. 

Friends  of  Rosen,  who  was  considered  a  man  of 
some  influence  in  politics  because  he  controlled  a  few 
votes,  went  to  see  Chief  of  Police  Kipley  and  com- 
plained that  detectives  exceeded  their  authority  in  mak- 
ing the  arrest  without  warrants.  Kipley,  of  course,  list- 
ened to  the  story  which  was,  of  course,  colored  to  favor 
the  man  arrested. 

The  next  morning  the  men  were  arraigned  before 
a  police  justice,  and  the  evidence  of  the  complaining 
witness  was  heard.  No  evidence  was  heard  from  the 
defense  nor  was  any  asked  for,  yet  the  men  were  dis- 
charged. The  facts  reached  the  Evening  News  and 
Chicago  Inter-Ocean,  and  reporters  were  sent  out  to  see 
what  kind  of  justice  it  was  that  allowed  a  man  who 
fought  for  his  country  in  two  wars  to  be  robbed  with 
impunity,  and  when  police  interference  was  sought,  the 
officers  were  defied  and  threatened  with  discharge  be- 
cause the.  ward  heeler  who  swindled  the  soldier  had  a 
political  "pull." 

Then  the  true  facts  in  connection  with  the  case  came 
out.     The  alleged  "pull"  was  pulled  off  and  Detective 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  183 

Wooldridge  and  his  assistants  continued  in  the  discharge 
of  their  duties.  It  is  true  the  defendants  in  this  case  were 
dismissed  and  escaped  punishment,  as  the  guilty  escape 
often  through  travesties  on  justice,  but  Rosen  and 
his  kind  were  taught  a  lesson  which  will  perhaps  make 
them  pay  more  respect  to  the  officers  of  the  law  than 
they  did  before,  even  if  they  do  have  a  political  "pull." 

When  Rosen  and  his  clerks  were  discharged,  the 
soldier  who  was  swindled  went  before  a  Notary  Public 
and  made  an  affidavit  which  supported  every  detail  of 
the  case  as  reported  by  the  detectives  and  which  also  sup- 
ported the  evidence.  Payne  was  taken  to  the  Photograph 
Gallery  and  his  picture  taken  with  the  misfit  clothes  on 
ready  for  submission  to  the  justice  of  the  peace  when  the 
men  were  placed  on  trial. 

When  it  was  stated  that  the  charges  would  be  taken 
before  the  grand  jury,  Wooldridge  declared  he  would 
take  the  complaining  witness  to  his  own  house  where 
he  could  remain  until  the  case  was  reached  even  if  it 
were  a  year  later.  W.  E.  Parmer  of  the  Palmer  House, 
who  was  present  when  the  assertion  was  made,  supple- 
mented this  by  saying  that  the  soldier  could  come  to  the 
hotel  and  remain  free  of  charge  until  the  trial  was  had 
no  matter  how  long  it  was  deferred. 

Payne  was  led  to  the  Rosen  store  by  an  alleged  ho- 
tel runner.  In  reference  to  this  class  of  grafters  only  a 
few  words  are  necessary  to  define  them.  They  pay  a 
license  of  $14  a  year  in  order  to  secure  a  badge  which 
permits  them  to  solicit  custom  near  the  depots,  as  the 
police  would  run  them  away  if  they  were  without  them. 
While  they  do  generally  carry  cards  for  some  cheap  hotel 


184  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

and  solicit  business  for  them,  they  are  also  solicitors  for 
cheap  clothing  stores  and  shops  which  have  no  hesitancy 
in  robbing  every  man  who  is  steered  inside  their  doors. 
These  runners  get  33  1-3  per  cent  of  the  money  their 
customers  leave  in  these  stores,  which  is  about  20  per 
cent  more  than  is  made  on  clothing  in  an  honest  and 
reputable  house. 

After  the  charges  against  Rosen  had  been  dis- 
missed Detective  Wooldridge  looked  up  his  record  and 
found  that  numerous  complaints  of  a  similar  character 
had  been  made  at  the  Harrison  Street  station  against 
him.  One  case  in  particular  was  that  of  a  complaint 
filed  by  Adam  Bingham  of  Keene,  Iowa,  who  claimed  he 
had  paid  $85  for  clothing  which  had  been  changed  be- 
fore they  were  delivered  to  him. 

Another  case  in  which  the  Chief  of  Police  was  asked 
to  lend  his  assistance  in  getting  Rosenthal  to  settle  with 
a  party  who  had  been  swindled  in  his  store  came  from 
Utica,  N.  Y.  The  following  letter,  which  was  received 
by  the  Chief  of  Police  of  Chicago,  will  explain  this 
case: 

Utica,  N.  Y.,  March  17,  1901. 

Chicago  Chief  of  Police, 
Dear  Sir: — 

I  arrived  in  your  city  last  Wednesday,  March  13,  from 
Iowa  and  purchased  a  suit  of  black  clothes  from  E.  Rosen, 
256  State  street,  and  left  there  Thursday  for  Utica, 
New  York,  and  upon  opening  the  suit  last  night  I  found 
it  was  not  the  suit  I  bought  at  all.  The  one  I  bought 
was  thirty-five  dollars,  and  this  one  he  gave  me  is  every 
thread  cotton  and  worth  about  $3.50.  I  also  purchased 
a  wedding  ring,  which  he  sold  me  for  solid  gold  at  $5, 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  185 

which  is  a  filled  ring  marked  14  K.  S.  B.  Co.  I  had  a 
check  on  the  Farmer's  Savings  Bank  at  Williamsburg, 
Iowa,  which  he  took  a  part  of  the  money  out  of  and  gave 
me  his  check  in  return.  Mine  was  for  $175  and  the  one 
he  gave  me  is  for  $150.  The  check  is  on  the  Illinois 
Trust  and  Savings  Bank,  signed  E.  Rosen.  I  thought 
I  would  first  write  you  to  know  if  anything  could  be  done 
with  him.  You  will  find  a  stamp  for  return  letter,  and 
it  will  give  me  great  pleasure  to  hear  from  you. 

Yours  truly, 

David  Jones, 
34  Spring  St.,  Utica,  N.  Y. 

By  the  advice  of  the  Chief  of  Police  the.  matter  was 
settled  satisfactory  to  the  complainant  on  April  5,  fol- 
lowing the  receipt  of  the  letter,  through  Isaac  Abraham 
and  Louis  Harris,  attorneys  at  67  Clark  street.  Mr. 
Harris  attended  to  the  matter  in  person,  and  was  offered 
$40  if  he  would  report  to  Mr.  Jones  that  there  was  no 
chance  for  him  to  get  any  settlement  of  his  claim.  This 
was  refused,  a  settlement  on  the  terms  demanded  was 
made,  which  was  a  return  of  the  money  in  full. 

When  the  papers  on  Rosen  at  the  police  station 
were  examined  the  officers  found  in  his  possession  a 
document  which  proved  to  be  the  honorable  discharge 
from  the  volunteer  service  of  the  United  States  Army  of 
William  Hilliard,  who  it  was  supposed  had  been  treated 
in  the  same  way  the  other  soldier  was  treated.  This 
document  showed  that  Hilliard  was  discharged  at  San 
Francisco  after  returning  from  the  Philippines  on  Febru- 
ary 12,  1901. 

Ten  or  twenty  more  letters  have  been  received  by  the 
Chief  of  Police  of  Chicago  since  the  story  of  Rosen's 


186  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

arrest  was  published  in  the  Chicago  Daily  News  and  the 
Inter  Ocean,  from  persons  whom  he  had  victimized  in 
the  same  manner  that  he  swindled  these  parties.  Each 
one  of  these  volunteered  to  come  to  Chicago  at  any  time 
they  were  requested  by  the  police  and  testify  against 
Rosen.  If  all  the  charges  against  him  were  prose- 
cuted and  proven  he  would  stand  a  fair  chance  of  spend- 
ing a  number  of  years  in  the  service  of  the  state  in 
Joliet. 

Detectives  Wooldridge,  Schubert  and  Sullivan  have  been 
patiently  waiting  for  him  to  file  the  threatened  suits  and 
charges  against  them,  but  he  has  not  for  some  cause 
seen  fit  to  do  so.  They  have,  by  diligent  inquiry  into 
the  police  records,  got  the  entire  record  of  his  dis- 
honest operations  since  he  has  been  in  Chicago.  They 
have  the  names  of  all  complainants  and  witnesses  in  each 
case,  and  the  names  of  the  officers  who  made  the  arrests. 
These  records,  in  themselves,  would  fill  a  large  volume, 
and  they  are  being  carefully  preserved,  with  the  possibil- 
ity of  being  useful  at  some  future  time. 

FARMER  FINDS  FIANCEE  IS  A  BARTENDER. 


Comes  to  Town  With  Picture  of  Maude  Adams  Only 
to  Find  its  Sender  Mixing  Drinks — Keen  Pur- 
suit   and    Final    Triumph    Over    Three 
Crafty  Men  and  a  Girl  Swindler. 

While  engaged  in  a  series  of  raids  on  Sept.  24,  1902, 
Detective  Wooldridge  swooped  down  upon  an  office  in 
the  building  next  to  the  Criminal  Court  structure,  in 
which  he  had  reason  to  believe  there  were  being  operated 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  187 

three  fraudulent  concerns.  Officers  were  sent  into  the 
entrances  at  61  Clark  street  and  161  Michigan  street,  but 
when  they  met  at  the  door  of  the  office  in  question  it 
was  found  that  the  occupants  had  received  a  tip  from 
persons  previously  raided  during  the  day  and  had  fled. 
The  door  was  broken  in,  however,  and  evidence  was  found 
to  show  that  the  Globe  Directory  Company,  the  Edna 
Directory  Company  and  the  Martin  Directory  Company, 
matrimonial  agencies,  knew  the  place  as  their  lair. 

The  literature  of  the  three  concerns  set  forth  that  they 
were  each  capitalized  at  $25,000,  and  that  they  were 
jointly  operated  by  Jacob  Stroesser,  Andrew  J.  Stacer 
and  Carrie  Anderson,  alias  Hattie  Howard.  Several 
wagon  loads  of  printed  matter  were  confiscated  and  war- 
rants were  procured  for  the  arrest  of  the  two  men  and 
the  woman.  Before  the  instruments  were  served,  how- 
ever, Attorney  James  Turnock,  with  offices  at  96  La- 
Salle  street,  hunted  up  Detective  Wooldridge  and  sub- 
mitted to  the  officer  an  affidavit  by  Hattie  Howard,  which 
read  as  follows : 

State  of  Illinois,  J  ss> 

County  of  Cook,  j 

HATTIE  HOWARD,  being  first  duly  sworn,  deposes 
and  says  that  she  is  a  resident  of  the  City  of  Chicago, 
State  of  Illinois;  that  she  was,  during  the  summer  of 
1902,  engaged  in  business  under  the  name  of  the  "EDNA 
DIRECTORY  COMPANY,"  at  60  N.  Clark  street ;  that 
during  said  time,  up  to  Sept.  24th,  1902,  she  did  not  send 
out  over  four  hundred  circulars  and  did  not  receive  any 
substantial  returns  from  any  of  the  circulars  sent;  that 
she  lost  money  in  said  business ;  that  she  has  not  done  any 
business  under  said  name  since  the  24th  of  September, 


188  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

1902 ;  that  during  the  time  she  was  in  business  under 
the  name  above  mentioned  nobody  else  but  herself  had 
anything  to  do  with  the  same ;  that  she  was  not  aware 
until  after  the  24th  dav  of  September,  1902,  that  it  was  an 
illegal  act  to  use  the  name  "EDNA  DIRECTORY  COM- 
PANY ;"  that  she  is  the  only  support  of  her  mother  and 
two  small  children,  who  reside  with  her  in  the  citv  of 
Chicago.  HATTIE  HOWARD. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  15th  dav  of 
October,  1902.  JAMES  TURNOCK, 

Notary  Public. 

With  much  feeling  the  attorney  pleaded  with  the  de- 
tective to  spare  this  honest  and  hard-working  young  wo- 
man from  the  suffering  and  disgrace  incident  to  prosecu- 
tion in  the  courts.  He  declared  that  she  was  guileless 
and  unsophisticated  in  matters  of  business  and  had  been 
gulled  into  taking  charge  of  the  matrimonial  agency  busi- 
ness represented  by  the  three  concerns ;  that  she  alone 
was  responsible  for  any  wrong  that'  had  been  done  and 
that  punishment  must  fall  upon  her  fair  young  head  if 
any  were  meted  out  as  a  result  of  the  raid.  He  conveyed 
to  Wooldridge  the  young  woman's  promise  that  she  would 
cease  to  conduct  the  business  if  the  officer  would  allow 
her  to  go  this  time. 

The  plea  had  the  desired  effect  on  the  detective  and 
Chief  O'Neill  agreed  with  him,  in  view  of  the  affidavit, 
that  the  girl  should  not  be  molested.  Both  officers  knew 
that  if  the  promise  were  not  kept  they  -could  place  the 
maker  of  it  in  the  toils  at  any  time,  but  it  seems  the  young 
woman  and  her  companions  held  a  highly  discounted 
opinior  of  the  men  with  whom  they  were  dealing. 

Indeed.  Lawyer  Turnock  called  down  upon  his  head  a 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  189 

scathing  tonguelasliing  by  Wooldridge  for  attempting  to 
hand  him  a  large  roll  of  bills.  After  the  agreement  to 
let  the  girl  alone  had  been  made  the  man  called  Wool- 
dridge to  one  side  and  drew  the  money  from  his  pocket. 

"This  was  given  me  to  hand  to  you,"  he  said. 

Of  all  things  in  the  world  that  the  man  could  have  done 
to  arouse  the  ire  of  Wooldridge  his  action  was  the  one 
most  calculated  to  incite  him  to  violence.  Countless  times 
during  his  strenuous  career  the  detective  has  been  ap- 
proached with  propositions  of  bribery  or  with  "gifts  of 
appreciation  for  favors,"  but  always  he  spurned  them  and, 
although  a  poor  man,  treated  them  as  the  grossest  insults 
that  could  be  offered  his  manhood. 

His  scorching  reply  to  the  lawyer  was  one  that  might 
well  be  learned  by  heart  by  many  men  in  public  office 
and  elsewhere,  but  unfortunately  there  was  no  stenog- 
rapher present,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  Attorney  Turnock 
took  pains  to  recollect  the  little  speech  addressed  to  him. 
Wooldridge  immediately  reported  the  matter  to  his  chief 
and  it  had  no  little  effect  on  the  detective's  subsequent 
dealings  with  the  crafty  lawyer. 

It  was  the  very  next  day  after  the  episode  of  the  affi- 
davit that  John  Valentine  Kaiser,  of  Festus,  Mo.,  ap- 
peared on  the  scene.  The  man  with  the  middle  name  so 
suggestive  of  Cupid  and  things  connubial,  did  not  need 
to  present  a  three  sheet  lithograph  of  his  8o-acre  farm 
down  in  Jefferson  county  to  convince  anyone  that  he  was 
a  tiller  of  the  soil  and  a  milker  of  kine.  J.  Valentine's 
jeans  were  stuck  into  his  cowhide  boots  and  his  clothes 
were  redolent  of  other  things  than  clover  and  honeysuckle. 
He  was  a  living  contradiction  of  the  often  heard  statement 


190  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

that  people  from  Missouri  "have  to  he  shown."  In  fact 
he  was  a  typical  marriage  bureau  patron. 

J.  Val  wore  a  troubled  expression  when  he  strolled  into 
the  office  of  the  chief  of  police  and  accosted  Detective 
Wooldr-idge.  Doffing  his  big  Missouri  hat  and  mopping 
his  brow  with  a  red  bandana  handkerchief  he  unfolded 
his  woes  to  the  kindly-faced  officer. 

"I  just  got  in  town  this  morning,"  said  he,  "and  I  want 
you  to  help  me  find  the  girl  I'm  engaged  to  be  married  to. 
Her  name's  Mary  Martin,  and  she's  got  $80,000  and  a 
marble  mansion  and  all  them  kind  of  things.  I've  never 
seen  her  but  she's  awful  stuck  on  me,  because  she  wrote 
me  lots  of  letters  and  said  so  and  sent  me  her  photograph. 
I've  got  her  picture  right  here.  Maybe  you  can  find  her 
by  that." 

The  visitor  drew  forth  the  picture  of  a  woman  as  he 
spoke  and  held  it  out  to  Wooldridge.  The  detective 
sank  into  a  chair.  It  was  a  large  fine  likeness  of  Miss 
Maude  Adams,  the  famous  actress.  It  was  all  plain  now 
that  it  was  a  case  of  another  sucker  caught.  The  ruralite 
grew  uneasy. 

"Ain't  you  going  to  help  me  find  her?"  he  queried. 
"She'll  be  awful  disappointed  if  she  finds  I  came  to  town 
and  didn't  see  her,  and  she's  just  crazy  to  get  married." 

"What's  her  address?"  asked  the  detective. 

"I've  got  that  here,  too.  It's  161  Michigan  street,"  re- 
sponded the  fiance  of  Mary  Maude  Adams  Martin.  "But 
I  guess  there  must  be  some  mistake.  I  went  up  there  and 
couldn't  find  anybody  there  by  that  name  and  it  wasn't 
any  mansion  at  all.  There  was  a  nice  big  gray  stone 
building  next  door  and  another  one  around  the  corner 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  l9l 

from  that.  I  went  to  both  of  them,  but  a  feller  in  the 
first  one  said  it  was  the  court  building  and  the  feller  inside 
the  other  place  said  I'd  have  to  come  around  on  visiting 
day." 

In  his  search  for  his  "lonely  maiden  of  20,  jolly  and 
kind  and  worth  $80,000,"  Valentine  had  gotten  into  the 
criminal  court  building  and  as  far  as  the  vestibule  of  the 
county  jail.  The  discovery  that  there  stood  before  him  a 
real,  live  dupe  of  the  innocent  Hattie  of  the  affidavit  affair, 
was  not  calculated  to  put  Wooldridge  into  a  very  amiable 
state  of  mind,  and  there  was  a  mean  glitter  in  his  eye  as  he 
led  the  booted  countryman  from  the  city  hall.  By  meth- 
ods peculiar  to  himself  Wooldridge  soon  discovered  that 
a  change  of  base  by  the  outfit  that  formerly  had  held 
forth  at  161  Michigan  street  had  been  taken  to  299  Wells 
street.  Repairing  thither  with  Kaiser,  two  officers  and  a 
search  warrant,  the  detective  found  the  place  to  be  a 
saloon.  As  he  entered  ahead  of  the  others,  Wooldridge 
saw  a  man  whom  he  recognized  as  Jacob  Stroesser,  one 
of  the  men  he  had  formerly  identified  with  the  Michigan 
street  "companies,"  behind  the  counter  garbed  as  a  bar- 
tender. Stroesser  was  .busy  writing.  Before  him  lay 
a  pile  of  mail  that  had  just  arrived  and  stacked  nearby 
were  a  number  of  letters  that  he  had  apparently  finished 
writing.  Wooldridge  grabbed  his  man  as  the  latter  at- 
tempted to  sweep  the  two  piles  of  letters  from  the  bar, 
and  in  the  ensuing  scuffle  Stroesser  managed  to  tear  most 
of  them  in  two. 

Imagine,  if  you  can,  the  heart  palpitations  of  Mr.  J. 
Valentine  Kaiser  of  Missouri,  when  the  detective  turned 

«4 


192  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

to  him  and  with  elaborate  mock  courtesy  introduced 
him  to : 

"Your  lovely  betrothed,  Mary  Martin,  lonely  maiden 
of  20,  jolly  and  kind,  and  worth  $80,000." 

For  such  was  the  case.  The  bartender  was  Mary 
Martin.  The  letters  that  had  just  been  delivered  to  him 
were  addressed  to  Mary  Martin  and  those  he  was  send- 
ing out  were  signed  Mary  Martin,  and  breathed  of  love 
and  devotion  to  a  score  of  admirers,  each  of  whom  had 
paid  $5  that  he  might  forevermore  enjoy  her  charms  and 
help  her  spend  her  $80,000.  And  he  didn't  look  the  least 
bit  like  Maude  Adams,  either. 

Leaving  his  prisoner,  the  confiscated  letters  and  the 
latest  dupe  of  the  matrimonial  swindlers  in  care  of  the 
two  officers,  Wooldridge  went  to  the  rooms  over  the 
saloon,  where  he  had  reason  to  believe  Hattie  Howard 
might  be  found.  He  learned  that  the  woman  had  been 
there,  but  that  she  had  flown  upon  being  apprised  of  what 
had  transpired  below  stairs. 

Enraged  at  the  manner  in  which  he  had  been  taken  in 
by  Attorney  Turnock,  the  detective  took  his  man  straight- 
way to  the  office  of  the  lawyer  at  96  LaSalle  street. 
Bursting  in  upon  the  surprised  Turnock,  the  two  police- 
men, bringing  up  the  rear  with  Stroesser  in  custody, 
Wooldridge  upbraided  him  roundly  for  his  deception,  and 
demanded  the  affidavit  by  which  he  had  the  day  before 
perfidiously  secured  immunity  for  the  Howard,  or  Ander- 
son woman. 

The  lawyer  insisted  that  the  document  had  been  de- 
stroyed, but  he  quickly  produced  it  when  the  detective 
declared  his  intention  of  arresting  him  for  conspiracy. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


193 


John  V.  Kaiser.  "Mary  Marttn. 

Jacob  Stosser. 
FAttMEB  WHO  DIDN'T  MAERI,  THE  MAIOEJiAKEB  AND  TUB  "BBIDB.* 


194  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  VVORlt 

Pocketing  the  bit  of  evidence  Wooldridge  took  Stroesser 
to  Harrison  street  police  court,  where  Justice  Hall  im- 
posed a  fine  upon  him  of  $50  on  a  charge  of  operating  a 
confidence  game,  Stroesser  agreeing  to  refund  to  Kaiser 
his  railroad  fare  and  expenses  and  promising  to  discon- 
tinue the  cupid  game  forever. 

Several  weeks  later  complaints  began  to  reach  Wool- 
dridge that  a  fraudulent  matrimonial  agency,  known  as 
the  Marion  Directory  Company,  was  receiving  heavy 
mails  at  the  Grant  postoffice,  51st  avenue,  seven  miles 
west  of  the  City  Hall.  On  December  28,  1902,  the  detect- 
ive concealed  himself  at  the  suburban  post  office  and  was 
dumfounded  to  see  his  old  friend  Stroesser  call  for  two 
large  sacks  of  letters  and  depart  toward  the  city  with 
them.  The  following  day  Wooldridge  again  went  to 
the  postoffice,  accompanied  by  an  officer  unknown  to 
Stroesser — Sergeant  William  Byrnes.  Again  Stroesser 
received  two  heavy  sacks  of  mail  and  in  a  blinding  snow 
storm,  through  two  feet  of  snow,  the  policemen  shadowed 
the  persistent  swindler  on  foot  for  two  miles  to  the  ele- 
vated railroad  terminus. 

A  train  was  just  pulling  out  and  there  was  no  time  for 
Wooldridge  to  lose  in  disguising  himself,  but  he  man- 
aged to  do  so  with  such  success  that  when  Stroesser  and 
his  mail  sacks  started  toward  town  the  man  he  most 
feared  in  the  world  was  sitting  close  to  him,  with  no 
chance  of  his  identity  being  discovered.  As  he  ran  up 
the  station  platform  WTooldridge  had  tied  a  handker- 
chief around  his  face,  tying  it  on  top  of  his  head  and  pull- 
ing his  fur  cap  well  down  over  his  eyes.  Then  he  turned 
up  the  collar  of  his  great  coat  and  stuffed  two  other 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  195 

handkerchiefs  around  his  jaws  so  that  his  mustache  was 
hidden  from  view.  Nothing  but  his  eyes  showed  and  he 
had  the  appearance  of  a  man  suffering  severely  from 
toothache  or  the  mumps. 

Another  surprise  was  in  store  for  the  detective  when 
he  reached  the  down  town  district.  Stroesser  betook 
himself  directly  to  the  office  of  Attorney  Turnock  at  96 
LaSalle  street.  After  seeing  his  quarry  enter  the  office 
Wooldridge  left  Byrnes  on  guard  while  he  hurried  to  the 
court  of  Justice  Hall  and  secured  a  search  warrant  for 
the  place. 

And,  lo  and  behold!  when- the  policemen  stalked  into 
the  office  they  encountered  surprise  number  three,  for 
there,  busily  opening  the  letters  brought  by  Stroesser, 
sat  Carrie  Anderson,  the  Hattie  Howard,  whose  pitiful 
plea,  sworn  to  in  an  affidavit,  had  so  recently  saved  her 
from  punishment  for  the  very  acts  in  which  she  was  then 
engaged. 

Checks,  money  orders  and  cash  to  the  amount  of  about 
$350  were  piled  in  front  of  her.  Stroesser  and  the  girl 
were  placed  under  arrest  on  charges  of  disorderly  con- 
duct and  obtaining  money  by  a  confidence  game.  Post- 
office  Inspectors  William  Farrell  and  Goma  were  called  in 
to  take  charge  of  the  mail.  Next  day  the  man  and  woman 
were  arraigned  in  police  court  but  Wooldridge  took  a 
non-suit  in  the  cases  he  had  brought  against  *hem.  The 
prisoners  were  turned  over  to  the  United  S  "mal 

and  taken  before  Commissioner  Humphr  eral 

warrants  charging  them  with  using  the  rr  •  ;aud. 

They  were  held  to  the  Federal  grand  '  ids  of 

$1,000  each. 


196  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

Meantime  the  detective  had  located  the  lawyer  Tur- 
nock  in  an  office  on  the  floor  below  the  one  in  which 
Stroesser  and  the  girl  were  taken,  where  the  attorney 
shared  his  room  with  A.  J.  Stacer,  partner  of  the  Howard 
woman  and  Stroesser  in  their  various  schemes  to  deceive 
the  innocent.  He  went  before  the  Cook  county  grand 
jury  and  secured  indictments  for  all  four,  charging  them 
with  operating  an  alleged  incorporation  without  incor- 
porating and  with  obtaining  money  by  such  means. 

In  retaliation  the  accused  persons  procured  warrants 
before  Justice  Martin  for  the  arrest  of  Detective  Wool- 
dridge,  who,  although  he  was  severely  ill  with  sciatic 
rheumatism,  appeared  several  times  in  court,  many  con- 
tinuances being  taken  by  his  accusers,  costing  the  detect- 
ive $14  in  bond  fees  before  the  hearing,  at  which  he  was 
acquitted. 

When  the  cases  were  called  in  the  criminal  court  the 
woman  accepted  the  entire  responsibility  for  all  the  acts 
committed  by  the  gang  and  was  fined  $100  by  Judge 
Neely.  In  passing  sentence  on  her,  Feb.  12,  1903,  the 
eminent  jurist  took  occasion  roundly  to  score  the  perni- 
cious system  of  marriage  bureaus  and  to  praise  the  work 
of  Detective  Wooldridge  in  suppressing  them.  Judge 
Neely's  words  are  interesting.     He  said : 

"Men  and  women  who  engage  in  this  business  of  pro- 
moting matrimony  for  money  are  guilty  of  crime.  It  is 
opposed  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  society.  Such 
a  practice  should  under  no  circumstances  be  tolerated. 
It  is  inconsistent  with  the  higher  ideals  of  what  should 
constitute  the  proper  marriage  relations.  I  had  intended 
making  an  example  of  you,  but  seeing  that  it  is  your  first 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  107 

offense  I  will  be  lenient.  Under  ordinary  circumstances 
no  mercy  should  be  shown.  This  practice  should  be 
stopped.  The  trade  should  be  killed.  The  courts  should 
make  it  their  business  to  discourage  it  in  a  manner  easily 
understood.  The  police  department  of  this  city  is  entitled 
to  a  great  deal  of  credit  for  what  it  has  done  in  dis- 
couraging this  business.  I  hope  it  will  continue  in  vigil- 
ance until  promoters  of  marriages  of  this  character  will 
give  this  city  and  county  a  wide  berth." 

Stacer,  Stroesser  and  the  girl  were  all  indicted  by 
the  Federal  grand  jury  and  strangely,  in  this  court 
Stroesser  took  it  upon  himself  to  shoulder  the  blame  for 
the  whole  outfit.  He  declared  that  he  alone  was  guilty, 
and  on  March  21,  1903,  Judge  Kohlsaat  sentenced  him  to 
three  months  in  jail  and  to  pay  a  fine  of  $500. 

The  noted  Federal  judge  also  severely  rated  the  system 
from  the  bench,  saying : 

"The  police  and  federal  authorities  should  combine 
together  and  clean  out  these  marriage  bureaus  and  keep 
them  suppressed.  They  are  a  menace  to  society  and  good 
government." 

Although  Stacer  escaped  conviction  by  the  self-sacrifice 
of  his  accomplices  his  career  was  known  to  the  police- and 
federal  officers  as  an  extremely  unsavory  one.  He  had 
been  convicted  on  similar  charges  two  years  previously 
and  soon  afterward  it  was  learned  that  he  was  under 
indictment  in  the  east. 


198  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

DRIVES  OUT  A  NUISANCE. 


Detective  Rids  a  Neighborhood  of  an  Objectionable 

Resident. 

In  September,  1891,  many  complaints  were  made  at 
the  Stanton  Avenue  Station  about  a  disorderly  house 
located  at  3539  Ellis  avenue.  The  complaints  came  from 
citizens  living  in  that  vicinity  and  from  the  Fourth  Ward 
Club  and  also  from  Aldermen  Hepburn  and  Madden, 
Four  officers  were  detailed  on  the  case,  but  no  progress 
was  made  in  the  matter. 

Finally  Detective  Wooldridge  was  called  in  and  ordered 
to  find  out  who  conducted  the  house  and  break  it  up. 

Wooldridge  went  to  the  place,  which  he  found  to  be  a 
handsome  double  house  of  six  flats.  After  securing  the 
names  of  the  tenants  he  proceeded  to  make  investiga- 
tions as  to  their  character  and  standing.  He  found  them 
all  well-to-do  people  except  a  Mrs.  Jones,  who  lived  in 
one  of  the  top  flats. 

He  looked  up  the  Jones  woman's  record,  found  out 
where  she  had  formerly  lived,  and  went  to  the  agent  and 
neighbors  and  inquired  about  her  reputation  and  general 
character.  He  discovered  that  she  was  a  grass  widow 
and  lived  at  2413  Wabash  avenue  prior  to  moving  to 
Ellis  avenue,  and  kept  a  house  of  assignation.  She  had 
led  a  checkered  life  for  years,  and  had  been  mixed  up 
with  several  men  and  women  of  questionable  character, 
and  at  that  time  was  the  mistress  of  a  large  Michigan 
avenue  dry-goods  merchant. 

The  facts  were  then  laid  before  the  agent  of  the  Ellis 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  199 

avenue  house,  together  with  the  complaints  of  the  other 
tenants  and  people  residing  in  the  vicinity. 

He  was  notified  to  have  her  vacate  and  leave  the 
neighborhood  quietly  or  the  police  would  watch  their 
opportunity,  back  the  wagon  up  to  the  door  and  take 
her  and  the  other  inmates  to  the  station. 

But  instead  of  vacating  Mrs.  Jones  secured  the  service 
of  counsel  and  went  to  the  Chief  of  Police  and  com- 
plained that  she  was  being  vilified  and  prosecuted  by  the 
officers  of  the  Stanton  Avenue  Station.  Wooldridge  was 
called  to  the  office  for  report. 

Upon  reaching  the  office,  Wooldridge  was  taken  aside 
by  the  Chief's  Secretary,  to  whom  he  reported  his  investi- 
gations, giving  him  the  names  of  all  the  parties  who  had 
furnished  him  with  information,  including  Alderman 
Verling,  which  was  apparently  satisfactory. 

A  few  hours  later  what  was  his  surprise  to  receive  a 
message  from  the  Chief's  Secretary  to  furnish  Mrs. 
Jones,  who  was  on  her  way  to  the  station,  all  the  facts 
and  the  names  of  those  who  furnished  him  with  the 
information  he  had  lodged  against  her.  ^ 

Mrs.  Jones,  accompanied  by  her  mother  and  another 
woman,  went  to  the  Stanton  Avenue  Station,  but  the 
Lieutenant  in  charge  refused  to  give  her  any  informa- 
tion which  had  been  given  to  Wooldridge  in  confidence, 
because  the  police,  at  that  time  had  begun  no  legal  pro- 
ceedings against  her.  It  afterwards  developed  that  the 
Chief  of  Police  knew  nothing  of  the  orders  to  furnish 
her  with  the  information  she  wanted. 

Mrs.  Jones  then  rented  a  house  at  2940  Lake  avenue 
and  began  moving  into  it,  when  the  owner,  having  heard 


200  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK_ 

of  her  reputation,  stopped  her.  Wooldridge  was 
sent  to  the  Lake  avenue  house  to  watch  the  develop- 
ments, and  while  there  received  two  notes  from  the 
Michigan  avenue  merchant  to  her,  and  was  also  tnere 
when  the  merchant  called  to  see  the  woman  some  time 
later,  who  of  course  was  absent. 

The  next  morning  Mrs.  Jones  secured  counsel  and 
entered  suit  against  the  owner  of  the  house.  Wooldridge 
was  again  called  on  to  straighten  out  the  matter,  and 
if  possible,  to  get  the  landlord  out  of  the  trouble,  which 
he  accomplished  by  a  clever  plan. 

He  went  at  once  to  see  the  Michigan  'avenue  merchant, 
and  after  telling  him  he  was  a  police  officer,  asked  why 
he  had  sent  for  him.  The  merchant  denied  sending  for 
Wooldridge,  but  became  suddenly  very  much  interested, 
and  in  reply  to  inquiries  the  detective,  said  he  supposed 
he  was  sent  for  in  reference  to  the  Jones  woman.  He 
then  told  the  merchant  what  had  occurred,  and  about 
the  suit  brought  against  the  owner  of  the  flat.  Pro- 
ducing a  memorandum,  he  read  the  woman's  record, 
with  all  the  details  of  what  had  taken  place  since  the 
woman  left  Ellis  avenue. 

Great  drops  of  perspiration  as  large  as  beans  stood 
out  on  the  merchant's  face,  and  he  implored  the  detective 
to  keep  the  information  he  had  from  the  press,  as  it 
would  ruin  him  if  it  was  made  public.  Wooldridge  told 
him  he  had  been  dodging  reporters  all  day,  as  the  in- 
formation he  had  did  not  belong  to  the  public,  and  he 
intended  to  say  nothing  unless  compelled  to  do  so  as  a 
witness  in  the  lawsuit  which  had  been  filed  against  Mr. 
Kinsman. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  201 

The  merchant  ordered  a  cab  and  they  jumped  into  it 
and  started  to  see  the  Jones  woman.  He  declared  he 
would  close  her  mouth,  have  the  suit  withdrawn  and 
make  her  leave  the  neighborhood.  He  kept  his  word, 
and  everything  was  settled  satisfactorily  to  all  concerned, 
and  no  more  complaints  were  heard  at  the  police  station. 

DETECTIVE  IN  A  FIERCE  FIGHT. 


Thumb  is  Broken  in  a  Struggle  With  a  Saloon  Keeper 
While  Seeking  Stolen  Goods. 

A  band  of  robbers,  called  "baggage  thieves,"  operated 
extensively  in  Chicago  during  the  Worlds  Fair,  and 
robbed  visitors  of  many  thousands  of  dollars  worth  of 
property.  Their  plan  was  to  watch  an  express  wagon 
loaded  with  trunks  and  valises  and  to  follow  it  to  some 
point  at  which  some  piece  of  baggage  was  to  be  de- 
livered. While  the  expressman  was  delivering  the  pack- 
age into  some  hotel  or  private  house,  the  thieves  would 
jump  on  the  wagon  and  drive  away,  carrying  all  the 
packages  which  had  not  been  delivered.  These  would 
be  taken  to  some  out  of  the  way  place  and  stored,  and 
afterwards  sold ;  the  horse  and  wagon  would  be  found 
in  some  out  of  the  way  alley  many  hours  afterward. 

Many  complaints  were  made  to  the  Harrison  Street 
Station  by  expressmen  at  this  time  that  their  wagons 
and  horses,  together  with  loads  of  baggage  he  was 
delivering,  had  been  stolen.  Detective  Wooldridge  was 
detailed  to  investigate  these  complaints,  and  found  that 
several  trunks  had  been  dropped  by  some  express  wagon 
at   the   corner   of  Peck   court   and   Wabash   avenue   on 


202  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

August  9,  1893,  and  were  carried  to  a  saloon  called  the 
"Inn."  He  reported  the  matter  to  his  superior  officers, 
who  directed  him  to  go  to  the  saloon  and  make  a  thor- 
ough search  of  the  premises,  in  company  with  one  of  the 
complainers.  The  two  went  to  this  saloon,  which  is 
owned  by  two  brothers  named  Jessup.  He  met  William 
Jessup,  who  was  in  charge  at  the  time.  He  introduced 
himself  and  told  him  that  he  was  an  officer  of  the  Har- 
rison Street  Station,  and  was  sent  here  to  make  an  in- 
quiry concerning  two  trunks  which  had  been  dropped 
there  by  an  expressman  and  said  to  have  been  carried 
inside  his  place. 

Wooldridge  addressed  the  saloon  man  in  as  courteous 
a  manner  as  it  was  possible  for  any  one  to  do, 
but  he  did  not  receive  courteous  treatment  in  return. 
Jessup  replied  to  his  inquiry  in  a  very  insulting  man- 
ner. He  told  the  officer  that  he  must  be  a  guy,  and  asked 
him  how  long  he  had  been  on  the  police  force,  and  if  he 
really  had  been  sent  there  by  his  superior  officers.  Then, 
after  using  some  profane  language,  he  told  the  detective 
to  get  out  of  his  place.  Wooldridge  replied  that  he  had 
been  sent  there  and  that  he  had  treated  Jessup  like  a 
gentleman  when  asking  a  plain  and  simple  question  and 
that  he  wanted  and  expected  a  civil  answer. 

At  this  time  Jessup  was  behind  the  bar.  Wooldridge 
was  standing  in  front  of  him  with  both  arms  lean- 
ing on  the  counter.  With  a  terrible  oath  Jessup  struck 
Wooldridge  full  in  the  face,  a  stinging  blow,  without  any 
cause  or  provocation  and  then  started  from  behind  the 
bar.  When  he  reached  the  front  of  the  bar  he  and  Wool- 
dridge met  and  the  latter  told  the  saloon  keeper  he  was 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  203 

under  arrest.  Jessup  made  another  blow  at  the  detect- 
ive, but  he  dodged  and  dealt  his  assailant  a  broadside 
with  his  revolver,  striking  him  over  the  forehead,  mak- 
ing a  gash  two  and  a  half  inches  long,  which  sent  him 
reeling  to  the  floor  some  distance  away.  Several  em- 
ployes and  loungers  came  to  the  saloon  keeper's  assist- 
ance, and  seizing  Wooldridge  from  behind  gave  him  a 
strong  arm,  while  Jessup  seized  him  by  the  throat  and 
choked  him  three  times  in  succession.  Not  content  with 
this,  they  wrenched  his  revolver  from  his  hand  and  in 
doing  so  broke  his  thumb.  In  the  conflict,  however,  the 
revolver  was  discharged.     The  bullet  entered  the  bar. 

The  shot  attracted  the  attention  of  passersby  and 
very  soon  a  large  crowd  had  rushed  into  the  saloon. 
Wooldridge  repeatedly  told  his  assailants  that  he  was  an 
oflicer  and  asked  them  to  release  him  but  they  paid  no 
attention  to  his  demands. 

At  tnis  time  three  other  officers  in  full  uniform  ar- 
rived and  arrested  Jessup,  Wm.  Clark  and  J.  Summer- 
field,  who  were  taken  to  the  Harrison  Street  Police  Sta- 
tion and  locked  up.  On  the  next  morning  Justice  Brad- 
well  fined  them  $50  each. 

Some  months  after  this  Jessup  became  involved  in  a 
quarrel  on  the  sidewalk  in  front  of  the  saloon  with 
several  men  who  were  passing  and  assaulted  one  of 
them.  Officer  Wm.  Hayes  was  traveling  this  post  at 
that  time  and  tried  to  separate  the  two  men  when  Jessup 
drew  a  knife  with  a  blade  three  inches  long  and  cut  the 
officer  in  the  face,  the  knife  entered  the  cheek  near  the 
nose  and  passed  across  the  jaw,  extending  three  inches 
behind  the  ear.     The  officer  drew  his  revolver  and  fol- 


204  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

lowed  Jessup  into  the  saloon  and  snapped  every  cart- 
ridge but  not  one  of  them  exploded.  Jessup  escaped 
and  is  still  a  fugitive  from  justice. 

The  gang  which  had  been  robbing  the  expressmen 
was  located  several  days  later  in  a  hotel  on  Fifth  avenue 
and  Harrison  street.  The  house  was  raided,  four  of  the 
thieves  caught,  and  two  wagon  loads  of  trunks  and 
valises  recovered.  The  jewelry  and  wearing  apparel 
from  a  number  of  the  trunks  had  been  sold  in  houses  of 
ill  fame  on  Custom  House  place  and  Clark  street,  but 
these  were  also  recovered.  The  value  of  the  property 
stolen  by  these  thieves  and  returned  to  their  owners 
amounted  to  nearly  $4,000. 

MISS  FROM  MISSISSIPPI  MISSES  OUT. 


Damsel  Decked  Out  Like  a  Flagship  on  Dress  Parade 

Travels   Far  to  Wed  a  Wealthy   Stock  Broker 

Only  to  Find  That  Her  Romeo  Has  a  Wife 

and  Four  Children — The  Rescue. 

Perhaps  the  experience  of  Detective  Wooldridge  in  his 
relentless  pursuit  of  the  marriage  bureau  fakers  that  most 
nearly  approached  opera  bouffe  was  the  case  of  Georgia 
Crosby.  Set  to  music  the  story  of  the  guileless  Georgia's 
eventful  trip  to  Chicago  from  the  cotton  fields  of  Missis- 
sippi would  furnish  a  theme  requiring  no  embellishment 
at  the  hands  of  a  comic  opera  impresario.  The  incident 
convulsed  the  newspaper  readers  of  a  city  at  that  time,  but 
even  then  all  of  the  ludicrousness  and  humor  of  the  situ- 
ation was  not  brought  out  in  the  public  press. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  205 

At  this  late  day  the  grave  face  of  the  noted  detective 
is  seen  to  twitch  with  illy  suppressed  mirth  when  he  re- 
counts the  details  of  the  affair.  As  in  most  cases  of  the 
kind  the  elements  of  possible  tragedy  were  not  lacking  in 
Georgia's  escapade  and  it  was  only  the  astuteness  of  the 
policeman  that  turned  the  drama  into  a  comedy. 

It  was  early  in  October,  1902,  that  an  apparition  in 
skirts  got  off  a  train  from  the  far  south  in  the  Illinois 
Central  depot.  As  a  color  scheme  her  attire  was  a  night- 
mare. The  combination  of  tones  and  shades  with  which 
she  had  decked  her  pudgy  figure  would  have  driven  a 
Michigan  avenue  modiste  into  fits.  The  maiden,  who 
appeared  to  be  about  17  years  old,  gave  the  impres- 
sion that  she  had  taken  the  idea  for  her  gaudy  outfit 
from  the  lithographs  of  Admiral  Dewey's  famous  signal 
at  Manila: 

"When  you  are  ready,  Gridley,  you  may  fire!" 

A  traveling  man  remarked  on  this  to  a  companion  as 
they  scrutinized  the  weird  conception  and  his  friend 
ventured  to  bet  that  if  Mr.  Captain  Gridley  had  been 
there  to  see  it  he  probably  would  shoot.  A  baggage  man 
added  his  mite  to  the  general  comment  by  declaring  the 
damsel  reminded  him  of  what  the  aurora  borealis  must 
look  like  to  an  Esquimau  with  the  delirium  tremens. 
The  contribution  of  a  college  boy  was  that  he  had  seen 
exactly  the  same  thing  once  when  he  was  looking 
through  a  kaleidoscope  at  a  rainbow  and  the  kaleidoscope 
was  hit  by  lightning. 

The  girl  was  as  bewildered  as  her  clothes  were  be- 
wildering. Through  the  flimsy  folds  of  her  bright  pink 
lawn  dress  the  chill  breezes  from  off  the  lake  swept  un- 


206  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

comfortably  and  told  her  she  was  in  a  strange  country 
where  the  sun  is  not  so  kind  as  it  is  in  the  land  where 
cotton  garments  are  in  vogue  the  year  around.  Her 
bright  red  slippers  seemed  unduly  heavy  as  she  specu- 
lated mentally  on  the  problem  offered  to  one  in  her  po- 
sition. 

Nervously  she  toyed  with  an  immense  palm  leaf  fan 
into  which  she  had  entwined  ribbons  of  many  bright 
hues*  Hanging  over  one  eye  like  a  grocery  awning  was 
a  gigantic  white  sailor  hat  of  straw,  surmounted  on  one 
side  by  a  big  sunflower  and  on  the  other  by  a  large 
bunch  of  wax  cherries.  Streaming  from  her  shoulders 
were  pink  and  white  ribbons,  long  and  broad,  and  held 
in  place  by  rosettes  of  magenta.  A  broad  plaid  sash  en- 
circled her  ample  waist  and  hung  to  the  hem  of  her 
skirt.  Her  arms,  tanned  almost  black,  were  bare  to  above 
the   elbows. 

And  all  this  on  the  lake  front  in  October. 

But  the  girl's  clothes  were  not  worrying  her  at  all.  It 
was  her  wedding  outfit  and  she  was  perfectly  satisfied 
with  it.     What  worried  her  most  was  this : 

Not  one  man  in  all  that  throng  rushed  up  to  her, 
clasped  her  in  his  arms  and  introduced  himself  as  her 
ownest  own,  called  her  his  ducky  doo-dimple  and  mur- 
mured in  her  ear  that  fudgy  would  always  love  wudgy. 
For  such  a  welcome  had  been  on  her  programme  and  she 
couldn't  understand  why  it  didn't  materialize.  He  had 
told  her  to  wear  a  pink  ribbon  so  he  could  recognize  her 
easily.     Surely  she  had  worn  pink  enough ! 

Now,  previously  to  the  arrival  of  the  train  which  pre- 
sented the  damsel  and  the  clothes  to  Chicago  an  anxious- 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


207 


THE  "OPTION"   SYSTEM   OF   COURTSHIP  AND   MARRIAGE. 


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208  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

faced  man  had  walked  nervously  about  the  depot.  When 
the  passengers  disembarked  he  pushed  forward  and  care- 
fully looked  over  each  woman.  But  when  his  gaze  fell 
upon  the.  maiden  with  the  bare,  black  arms  and  the 
other  markers  hereinbefore  mentioned,  his  anxiety  to 
push  forward  and  find  was  reversed  to  a  wild  desire  to 
flee  and  avoid.  Twice  he  turned,  as  if  fearing  pursuit, 
and  each  time  what  he  saw  only  accelerated  his  speed. 

A  minute  later  a  man  with  a  wild,  hunted  look  in  his 
eyes  and  blanched  cheeks  rushed  into  a  saloon  and 
weakly  called  for  something  to  steady  his  nerves.  To 
the  expressed  solicitude  of  the  bartender  he  only  re- 
plied : 

"I've  had  a  terrible  shock — and  a  narrow  escape !" 

The  depot  policeman  noticed  the  bewilderment  of  the 
Romeoless  Juliet,  and  finding  she  had  the  address  of  a 
hotel  that  had  been  given  her  in  case  of  emergencies  he 
directed  her  to  the  National,  Van  Buren  street  and  Wa- 
bash avenue. 

There  the  girl  explained  that  she  was  Georgia  Crosby, 
of  Hickory,  Newton  county,  Mississippi.  She  had  come 
from  her  brother's  plantation  to  wed  A.  E.  Riggs,  a 
stock  broker,  who  had  assured  her  he  would  meet  her 
at  the  depot  and  lay  at  her  feet  his  heart,  wrapped  up 
in  ten  $1,000  bills.  She  knew  there  must  have  been 
some  mistake  about  his  failure  to  meet  her  as  he  was  an 
awful  nice  man  and  just  as  kind  and  loving  and  gener- 
ous as  anything.  A  matrimonial  agency  had  told  her 
so,  and  she  knew  it  must  be  true  because  she  had  paid 
two  dollars  for  the  information.  The  lovely  Mr.  Riggs 
had  written  her  to  go  to  the  hotel  in  case  he  missed  her 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  209 

at  the  depot.  As  time  went  on  and  her  fiance  failed  to 
call  and  claim  her  she  was  directed  to  the  Harrison  street 
police  station,  where  she  explained  her  predicament  to 
Inspector  Lavin. 

Convinced  that  the  girl  was  a  victim  of  matrimonial 
agency  sharpers  the  inspector  called  Detective  Wool- 
dridge  into  the  case.  After  some  clever  work  the  de- 
tective became  satisfied  that  the  man  who  probably  would 
know  more  about  the  matter  than  anyone  else  would  be 
found  in  Austin — that  his  name  was  E.  F.  Hansell  and 
that  he  conducted  a  matrimonial  agency  and  mail  order 
business  at  235  North  Park  avenue.  Leading  the  un- 
sophisticated country  lass  by  the  hand  Wooldridge 
started  for  Austin.  Every  foot  of  the  way  the  appear- 
ance of  the  queerly  clad  girl  in  custody  of  the  quiet, 
grave  man  caused  comment  that  would  have  prompted 
flight  inglorious  in  a  man  of  less  nerve  than  Wooldridge. 
Friends  afterward  declared  that  it  ranked  among  his 
bravest  deeds,  although  Wooldridge  has  been  in  dozens 
of  desperate  pistol  battles — generally  with  a  hospital 
finish  for  all  concerned. 

Hansell  somehow  got  wind  of  Wooldridge's  approach 
and  he  was  not  at  home  when  Wooldridge  apeared  with 
the  girl.  His  son  spoke  for  him,  however,  and  refused 
absolutely  to  tell  where  the  man  Riggs  could  be  found. 

"We  never  disclose  the  secrets  of  our  business,''  he 
said, 

"Oh,  you  don't  don't  you?"  queried  the  detective, 
facetiously.  "Well,  Georgia,  we  shall  now  set  in  op- 
eration a  method  which  I  have  found  very  effective  in 
disclosing  the  whereabouts  of  gentlemen  like  your  dear 


210  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

friend,  Mr.  Riggs.  Georgia,  there  is  going  to  be  some- 
thing doing,  but  don't  let  your  little  heart  flutter  unduly. 
It  has  had  about  all  the  fluttering  it  can  stand,  and  if  any- 
body acquires  heart  disease  in  this  thing  it  probably  will 
not  be  you  or  me." 

Whereupon  he  promptly  summoned  some  officers  from 
the  Austin  police  station. 

"Watch  this  place  and  these  people,"  he  ordered, 
"while  I  go  and  procure  a  search  warrant.  I'm  going 
to  clean  it  out.  Perhaps  some  of  the  business  secrets  of 
this  establishment  will  prove  interesting." 

The  young  man  began  to  wilt. 

"Who  are  you?"  he  demanded  of  the  detective. 

"My  name  is  Wooldridge." 

If  there  had  been  in  Georgia's  mind  any  doubt  as  to 
the  truth  of  her  protector's  prediction  concerning  cardia- 
cal  troubles,  it  was  quite  removed  by  the  agitation  of 
Hansell  upon  discovering  that  he  was  in  the  presence 
of  the  renowned  terror  of  the  fakers. 

With  profuse  apologies  he  declared  that  so  soon  as  his 
father  returned  he  would  promise  to  have  Riggs  found 
and  come  with  him  to  any  place  the  detective  might 
designate ;  that  the  agency  would  make  full  amends  to 
Miss  Crosby  for  any  inconvenience  caused  her  and  that 
"everything  would  be  made  all  right." 

Returning  to  town  with  his  charge  the  detective  placed 
her  in  the  hotel  while  he  went  about  some  other  business 
which  demanded  his  attention.  When  he  returned 
shortly  afterward  he  found  that  "Mr.  Riggs"  had  stolen 
a  march  on  him.  and  removed  the  girl  to  another  hotel. 
He  traced  them  thither  and  called  the  man  aside. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  211 

"Who  are  you?"  asked  the  officer. 

'"My  name  is  Riggs,"  replied  the  man,  and  he  glibly 
gave  his  address  and  place  of  business.  The  keen  per- 
ception of  Wooldridge  told  him,  however,  that  the  man 
was  lying.  It  was  only  after  the  detective  had  declared 
his  intention  of  forcing  the  man  to  visit  with  him  the 
places  where  he  said  he  lived  and  worked  that  the  gay 
Lothario  of  Georgia's  romance  broke  down. 

"Really,  I  don't  want  to  marry  her  now  that  I've  seen 
her,"  he  whispered.  "I  saw  her  get  off  the  train  at  the 
depot  the  other  day  and  the  sight  was  too  much  for  my 
nerves.  Can't  we  fix  this  up  some  way?  There's  $200 
in  it." 

"All  right,"  assented  Wooldridge,  "but  we'll  go  over  to 
the  station  and  fix  it  up  over  there." 

In  the  office  of  Inspector  Lavin  Wooldridge  demanded 
to  know  what  Riggs  would  do  for  the  girl. 

"I'll  willingly  send  her  back  to  where  she  came  from," 
said  Riggs.     "I  sent  her  the  money  to  come  here  on." 

"But  the  young  lady's  feelings  have  been  cruelly 
jarred,"  suggested  the  detective.  "Here  she  came  all 
the  way  from  Mississippi  to  marry  a  rich  broker.  Just 
think  what  a  reputation  you'll  be  giving  the  fair  city  of 
Chicago  down  there  where  the  cotton  blossoms  grow — 
unless  you  do  the  right  thing.  I'm  afraid  the  fair  maid's 
heart  needs  balm — green  balm,  if  you  please.  It  looks  to 
me  as  if  it  were  up  to  you  to  supply  a  thick  plaster  of  frog 
skins — long  green  ones — with  which  to  patch  the  lady's 
blighted  romance." 

Inspector  Lavin's  stout  sides  were  shaking  with  laugh- 
ter at  the  discomfiture  of  Riggs,  who  mopped  his  brow 


212  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

and  shivered  every  time  his  eyes  rested  on  his  circus 
poster  "fiancee." 

As  a  fitting  recompense  for  his  failure  to  keep  his  con- 
tract with  the  Miss  from  Mississippi  Riggs  was  told 
that  $100  would  be  about  right.  He  thought  the  figure 
exorbitant  until  Wooldridge  quietly  remarked: 

"Well,  perhaps  I'd  better  telephone  out  to  Austin  and 
ask  your  wife  and  the  four  children  to  step  down  here 
and  take  a  look  at  your  lovely  betrothed  from  Dixie 
land." 

The  shock  was  too  much  for  "Mr.  Riggs."  He  un- 
bosomed himself  then  and  there  and  begged  for  mercy. 

For  "Mr.  Riggs"  was  none  other  than  Mr.  Hansel!, 
the  elder.  Wooldridge  had  discovered  that  the  matri- 
monial agent  was  an  albino  and  had  been  aware  of  his 
identity  from  the  first. 

A  kind  police  matron  showed  Georgia  where  to  conceal 
her  $100  where  it  would  be  safe  from  thieves  on  the  trip 
back  to  the  southland  and  the  girl  and  her  clothes  started 
back  to  Mississippi. 

"And  now  you  be  good,"  was  the  parting  admonition 
of  the  detective  to  the  marriage  bureau  man.  There  was 
a  significant  twinkle  in  the  grave  officer's  eye  as  he  said 
it,  but  Hansell  understood  so  well  that  he  has  since  given 
no  trouble  to  the  famous  foe  of  the  fakers. 

And  Georgia? 

"Well,"  said  she,  before  the  train  pulled  out,  "There 
ain't  any  fly  stock  brokers  down  Newton  county  way,  but 
there's  some  pretty  nice  boys  around  home  all  the  same, 
and  there's  plenty  of  them  just  crazy  to  marry  me.  And 
they  ain't  got  no  pink  eyes  and  white  hair  and  wives 
and  children  and  things,  either." 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  213 


TERROR  OF  CITIES. 


Reckless  and  Careless  Women  Drivers  Place  Pedes- 
trians in  Great  Peril. 

Among  the  terrors  of  a  large  city  are  the  drivers  of 
horses,  and  one  of  the  most  serious  obstacles  to  the 
maintenance  of  orthodox  religious  injunctions  by  police 
officers,  so  far  as  swearing  is  concerned,  is  met  in  their 
endeavors  to  prevent  pedestrians  from  being  crushed 
beneath  the  wheels  of  vehicles.  If  you  are  fortunate 
enough,  with  the  aid  of  policemen  at  the  street  crossings, 
to  keep  out  of  the  way  of  brewery  wagons  and  ice 
wagons,  you  are  still  not  safe,  for  there  is  another  danger 
to  be  avoided.  This  is  the  woman  who  owns  a  horse  and 
buggy.  The  police  officer  can  often  manage  the  big 
teamsters  who  drive  two,  four  and  sometimes  six  horses, 
but  the  woman  driving  one  horse  is  beyond  his  control. 
C.  B.  Lewis,  the  famous  "M  Quad"  of  the  Detroit  Free 
Press,  saw  the  humorous  side  of  this  terror  of  the  street 
once  while  he  was  on  a  visit  to  Chicago,  and  as  it  could 
not  possibly  be  printed  in  any  better  manner,  the  author 
will  tell  of  it  in  Mr.  Lewis's  own  words.  Detective  Wool- 
dridge  saw  him  dodging  a  woman  behind  a  horse  one 
day  and  watched  the  papers  for  his  views  on  the  subject, 
and  here  is  what  he  wrote : 

Between  the  woman  who  wanders  about  the  street 
shoving  a  baby  carriage  before  her  and  the  woman  who 
drives  a  horse  and  buggy  there  is  choice.  The  baby  car- 
riage  can   sometimes   be   dodged,    jumped  over   or   got 


214  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

around.  You  can  sometimes  evade  it  by  climbing  a  tele- 
graph pole  or  rushing  into  a  basement.  If  you  are  armed 
with  a  club  and  can  look  ferocious  the  woman  will  some- 
times turn  aside  and  cripple  some  one  else.  But  for  the 
woman  who  drives  a  horse  and  buggy — look  out ! 

I  saw  her  start  out  the  other  day.  When  the  horse  left 
the  post  the  woman  was  looking  back  to  wave  her  hand 
at  somebody  and  the  lines  were  on  the  dashboard.  There 
was  an  ice  wagon  coming  up  the  street,  but  wave  she 
must  and  did.  She  was  almost  ready  to  turn  her  at- 
tention to  the  horse,  when  he  stopped.  He  had 
to.  He  had  run  plump  into  the  ice  wagon  team, 
and  he  couldn't  climb  over  them.  The  woman 
picked  up.  the  lines,  pulled  on  the  "gee"  and  then 
on  the  "haw,"  ran  the  horse  over  the  curbstone  and 
twisted  around  a  tree,  and  as  she  got  into  the  street 
again  she  upset  a  swill  cart  with  the  off  wheels  and  went 
her  way  with  serene  countenance. 

When  she  reached  the  avenue  she  was  fussing  with 
the  laprobe,  and  the  horse  took  a  long  turn.  There  was 
a  street  car  passing,  and  if  the  driver  hadn't  put  on  the 
brake  and  turned  his  horses  across  the  track  she  would 
have  been  run  down.  It  is  doubtful  if  she  noticed  the 
fact.  She  pulled  on  one  rein  with  both  hands,  told 
Dobbin  to  "git  ap,"  and  finally  got  away  on  a  straight 
line  on  the  wrong  side  of  the  street,  of  course.  A  brick 
team  crowded  her  into  the  curbstone',  but  the  smile  never 
left  her  face.  A  milk  wagon  rubbed  the  fore  wheel  and 
the  milkman  yelled  at  her,  but  she  looked  straight  ahead. 
The  horse  finally  crossed  over  to  the  other  side  on  his 
own  account,  and  the  street  car  missed  the  hind  wheel 


OF  A  DETECTIVfe  215 

by  such  a  close  shave  that  half  the  passengers  cried  out 
in  alarm. 

All  of  a  sudden  the  woman  pulled  hard  on  both  of  the 
lines  and  cried  "Whoa !"  She  had  been  struck  at  sight  of 
a  new  hat  on  a  passing  woman  and  she  wanted  to  see 
more  of  it.  A  grocer's  delivery  wagon  was  following 
close  behind  and  the  sudden  stop  brought  about  a  crash. 
Horse,  woman  and  phaeton  were  slewed  around  and  al- 
most upset,  but  the  only  one  at  all  disturbed  was  the 
horse.  He  didn't  seem  to  believe  in  sudden  changes. 
He  was  hawed  and  geed  and  pulled  into  shape  and  as 
he  jogged  along  the  lines  were  dropped  while  the  driver 
fussed  with  her  hat.  Her  buggy  struck  the  nose  of  a 
horse  backed  up  to  a  grocer's  door,  brushed  against  an 
express  wagon,  skinned  along  the  side  of  a  street  car  and 
finally  locked  wheels  with  a  beer  wagon.  Nothing  was 
broken,  nobody  disturbed  in  mind  or  body.  A  harness- 
maker  backed  her  horse  out  and  headed  him  down  street, 
and  the  serene  journey  was  again  resumed,  to  be  inter- 
rupted on  the  next  block  by  the  animal  bringing  up 
against  the  back  end  of  a  farmer's  wagon. 

"What  in  blazes — !"  roared  the  farmer,  but  he  stopped 
there.  She  had  dropped  the  lines  to  tuck  in  the  lap- 
robe. 

Down  at  the  next  street  three  men  stood  talking.  The  \ 
phaeton  crossed  over  and  made  a  bee  line  for  them  and 
drove  them  off  and  then  crossed  back  and  skinned  along 
a  pile  of  brick  and  drove  four  or  five  stone-cutters  to 
jump  for  their  lives.  It  was  just  half  a  block  further 
that  the  horse  was  hawed  to  cross  to  a  photograph  gal- 
lery.    Vehicles  were  passing  in  a  mob.     A  private  car- 


216  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

riage  was  stopped  dead  still,  a  fishman's  cart  backed 
into  a  sand  team  and  a  plumber's  horse  given  a  set-back 
to  last  him  a  month,  but  retribution  was  at  hand.  A 
two-horse  dray  caught  a  hind  wheel  of  the  phaeton  and 
wrenched  it  off  and  drove  splinters  into  the  pavement. 
Someone  held  the  horse  and  someone  else  helped  the 
woman  out,  and  when  she  surveyed  the  wreck  she  mildly 
observed : 

"I  wonder  how  on  earth  that  could  possibly  have  hap- 
pened when  I  am  such  a  good  driver!" 

I  give  you  fair  warning.  I  saw  her  at  the  wagon  shop 
yesterday  bargaining  for  a  new  wheel.  She  intends  to 
drive  out  again.  No  arrangements  can  be  made  with 
the  signal  service  men  to  hoist  the  danger  flag  when  she 
starts  out,  nor  will  the  police  ride  on  ahead  and  clear  the 
streets.  The  public  must  look  out  for  itself  until  the 
legislature  again  convenes  and  some  law  can  be  made  to 
cover  the  case. 

RACHEL  GORMAN'S  "GREEN  SISTERS" 

GRAFT. 


How  Thousands  of  Dollars  Were  Collected  for  the 
Care  and  Cure  of  Epileptics  by  One  of  the  Smooth- 
est Confidence  Women  in  the  World — Garbed 
as  Nuns  Solicitors  Preyed  Upon  Wealthy 
and  Prominent  Men. 

The  rise  and  fall  of  Rachel  Gorman  makes  one  of  the 
most  unique  stories  in  the  history  of  graft.  The  woman's 
scheme  was  peculiar  to  herself.  She  was  in  no  sense  a 
copyist,  but  on  the  contrary   was  an  originator.     Her 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


217 


(KSBSIOU  0»   TBS    <AI4.:NlQBt   S»iOCl«> 


218  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

methods  were  bold  and  far-reaching.  She  rushed  in 
where  angels  feared  to  tread  and  "made  good."  In  the 
garb  of  a  nun  she  placed  the  magic  touch  upon  the  purse 
strings  of  men  high  in  office,  of  race  track  frequenters 
and  of  business  men,  and  she  had  dozens  of  trained  as- 
sistants doing  the  same  thing.  And  then  in  the  same 
nun's  habiliments  she  would  toss  her  easily  gotten  pelf 
over  saloon  bars  within  a  stone's  throw  of  the  offices  of 
her  victims,  lift  her  saintly  robes  to  her  knees  and  dance 
jigs  of  jubilation  for  the  edification  of  those  who  were 
helping  her  to  drink  up  the  money  she  had  collected  in 
the  name  of  suffering  humanity. 

All  in  all  Rachel  was  a  wonder.  She  served  an  ex- 
tended apprenticeship  before  essaying  to  strike  out  for 
herself,  and  when  she  did  launch  her  bark  upon  the 
golden  sea  of  graft,  she  trimmed  her  sails  in  a  manner 
that  left  all  rivals  in  her  wake.  Even  after  her  craft 
struck  the  shoals  of  police  interference  and  was  dashed 
to  pieces  on  the  rocks  of  authority,  she  saved  a  young 
fortune  from  the  wreck  and  quit  winner  by  many  thou- 
sand dollars. 

The  "Rachel  Gorman  Home  for  Epileptics"  will  stand 
for  all  time  to  come  as  the  smoothest  and  at  the  same  time 
the  "rawest"  enterprise  of  the  kind  that  has  ever  been 
encountered  by  the  police  of  any  city  in  the  United  States. 
The  "home"  was  nothing  more  nor  less  than  the  mag- 
nificent dwelling  in  Blue  Island,  111.,  purchased  by  the 
Gorman  woman  for  her  own  private  dwelling.  The  only 
semblance  to  an  epileptic  home  was  artfully  provided  by 
Rachel,  who  had  two  or  three  servants  trained  to  throw 
fake  fits  at  stated  intervals  on  the  front  lawn  for  the 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  219 

purpose  of  impressing  her  neighbors  and  the  police.  Also 
she  managed  to  keep  one  or  two  "pay  patients"  in  the 
house  who  were  of  greater  value  than  the  servants  in  the 
"fit"  line,  because  they  could  have  real,  bona  fide  fits  ac- 
casionally. 

Of  Rachel  Gorman's  early  life  little  is  known,  but 
enough  of  her  checkered  career  was  uncovered  by  the 
police  to  stamp  her  as  a  marvel  among  female  grafters. 
Up  to  the  time  when  her  graft  was  broken  up,  in  the  fall 
of  1904,  she  had  traveled  a  fast  enough  pace  to  have  been 
married  three  times,  to  have  acquired  an  unprecedented 
capacity  for  alcoholic  liquors  and  a  faculty  for  getting 
the  money  that  would  have  put  John  D.  Rockefeller  into 
Class  B.  had  she  been  permitted  to  go  on  unmolested. 

All  the  more  wonderful  is  it  that  she  could  array 
herself  in  churchly  attire,  assume  the  expression  of  a 
Madonna  and  throw  enough  beseeching  tenderness  into 
her  voice  to  draw  money  out  of  the  tightest  fist  that  ever 
clutched  a  hundred  dollar  bill. 

The  higher  the  position  of  the  person  she  tackled  the 
higher  the  toll  she  exacted.  She  carried  a  list  of  promi- 
nent men  who  had  contributed,  and  when  she  wished  to 
impress  a  victim  with  the  fact  that  his  donation  was.  not 
commensurate  with  his  position  in  the  world  she  would 
produce  the  list,  and  by  the  subtle  means  known  only  to 
Rachel,  would  drag  a  check  out  of  the  man  for  perhaps 
ten  or  twenty  times  the  amount  he  had  originally  intended 
to  contribute.  Among  those  whom  she  victimized  were 
Governor  Richard  Yates  of  Illinois  and  William  Jen- 
nings Bryan,  each  of  whom  had  unhesitatingly  handed 
her  a  $100  bill.     With  these  names  and  those  of  dozens 


220  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

of  other  prominent  men,  she  procured  cash  at  a  landoffice 
rate.  In  a  single  day  she  is  known  to  have  collected 
$164. 

The  Gorman  woman  laid  the  foundation  for  her  career 
when  she  entered  the  service  of  a  man  of  the  name  of 
Held,  who  started  the  "Illinois  Home  for  Epileptics," 
and  advertised  that  he  could  cure  epilepsy.  He  was  not 
even  a  licensed  physician  at  the  time,  being  only  a  student, 
but  he  did  a  good  business  through  Rachel  Gorman,  who 
arrayed  herself  in  a  striking  costume,  resembling  that  of 
a  trained  nurse,  and  collected  goodly  sums  for  the 
charity  department  of  the  home.  Held  found,  after  three 
years  of  prosperity,  however,  that  Rachel  was  prospering 
faster  than  he  was  and  he  discharged  her.  He  gave  as  his 
reasons  that  she  was  appropriating  too  much  of  the  money 
collected  for  her  own  use,  that  she  drank  to  excess  and 
that  her  character  was  not  befitting  the  tender  mission 
upon  which  she  had  been  delegated.  The  Illinois  Home 
for  Epileptics  led  a  precarious  existence  after  Rachel 
ceased  to  play  the  part  of  principal  "meal  ticket"  for  it, 
and  after  moving  about  from  place  to  place,  found  a 
home  at  Arlington  Heights,  111.  Then  it  proceeded  to 
burn  down,  leaving  the  field  clear  for  Rachel,  who  mean- 
while had  concocted  plans  of  her  own  for  the  poor,  fore- 
saken  epileptics. 

She  persuaded  a  man  named  S.  F  Cleveland  and  an- 
other person,  known  as  "Doctor"  Gibson,  to  join  in  the 
establishment  of  an  enterprise  which  was  given  the  title 
of  the  " American  Chronic  and  Epileptic  Association." 
Headquarters  were  established  at  1015  North  Clark  street. 
Cleveland  was  manager,   Rachel   Gorman   occupied  the 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


221 


222  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

"charity  chair"  and  "Doctor"  Gibson  attended  to  the 
medical  end  of  the  show.  It  appeared  subsequently  that 
"Doctor"  Gibson  was  not  at  that  time  a  physician,  but 
bore  the  title  of  "Doctor"  because  he  was  or  had  been 
a  clergyman. 

But  this  scheme  ended  in  a  fight.  Cleveland  accused 
the  woman  of  withholding  donations  made  to  herself 
and  assistants,  whom  she  trained  as  carefully  as  a  stage- 
manager  directs  a  comic  opera  chorus.  He  also  accused 
Gibson  of  pretending  to  be  a  physician  when  the  extent 
of  his  knowledge  in  the  medical  line  was  the  administra- 
tion of  some  kind  of  "dope"  to  the  occasional  patients 
who  dropped  in  for  "treatment." 

Gibson,  Gorman  &  Co.  then  organized  a  scheme  on 
their  own  account,  called  the  American  Epileptic  Charity 
Association,  but  soon  they  too  split.  Cleveland  opened 
the  Cleveland  Neurotarium,  a  fake  epileptic  cure  estab- 
lishment, at  1065  North  Clark  street,  and  sought  to  emu- 
late Rachel's  system  of  soliciting  by  sending  out  a  num- 
ber of  solicitors  dressed  as  nurses.  But  he  had  reckoned 
without  Rachel  Gorman.  Her  time  had  come  and  she 
grasped  the  chance  of  her  life.  She  arranged  with  a  Mrs. 
White  at  Round  Lake,  111.,  to  board  such  patients  as  she 
might  send  to  her  farm  house  and  advertise  that  the 
"Rachel  Gorman  Home  for  Epileptics"  was  at  Round 
Lake.  Then  she  gathered  her  corps  of  solicitors  togethe.: 
and  went  after  the  money.  The  dress  she  put  on  them 
was  striking.  It  consisted  of  a  long  green  robe  and  hood, 
patterned  after  the  gown  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  with  a 
cross  on  the  white  breast  linen,  and  the  legend  "Epileptic 
Charity." 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  223 

These  women  Mrs.  Gorman  sent  broadcast  soliciting 
funds.  They  became  familiar  figures  throughout  the 
business  district  of  the  city,  at  the  race  tracks,  in  sa- 
loons and  on  the  trains  going  to  and  from  the  race 
courses.  Their  routes  were  laid  out  for  them  daily  by 
Rachel  Gorman,  who  did  her  work  so  well  that  the  money 
rolled  in  by  the  hatful.  Meantime  the  good  that  was 
being  done  the  epileptics  of  the  community  was  scarcely 
noticeable.  In  eighteen .  months  seven  patients  were 
picked  up  and  sent  to  the  farm  house  at  Round  Lake. 
When  the  graft  got  so  good  that  Rachel  had  no  time  to 
think  about  epileptics  she  simply  broke  connections  with 
the  farmer's  wife,  incidentally  owing  the  woman  $229. 

In  1904  the  game  had  become  fast  and  furious.  In 
June  of  that  year  Rachel  Gorman  purchased  a  fine  house 
in  Blue  Island  and  from  that  time  on  the  "home"  was 
advertised  as  being  located  in  that  town.  For  the  sake 
of  convenience  a  city  office  was  established  at  91  Wis- 
consin street.  Here  each  day  the  fake  "nuns"  gathered 
to  don  their  green  habits  and  white  coifs  and  receive  in- 
structions from  Rachel.  She  enlarged  her  field  and  be- 
gan sending  the  women  on  trips  to  other  cities.  She  kept 
careful  track  of  state  and  county  fairs  and  had  one  or 
two  "nuns"  on  hand  wherever  there  was  money  being 
spent  by  large  numbers  of  people.  She  herself  attended 
conventions  of  all  kinds  and  her  revenue  from  the  poli- 
ticians was  no  small  portion  of  her  loot. 

Rachel  had  a  system  of  her  own  for  gathering  money 
at  the  race  tracks.  So  far  as  is  known  it  was  the  only 
really  successful  system  ever  devised  for  assuring  a  fuli 
pocket  book  after  the  horses  had  quit  going  around  the 


224  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

magnetic  oval.  She  would  bet  on  the  horses,  drink, 
dance  and  sing — all  in  her  nun's  garb — and  with  the  as- 
sistance of  several  friends  would  keep  careful  tab  on 
those  who  won  large  sums  of  money.  By  the  time  the 
trains  started  home  she  had  every  big  winner  marked  for 
a  large  "touch."  She  would  enter  into  their  jubilation 
over  their  success  with  great  gusto  and  at  the  height  of  the 
hilarity  she  would  ask  for  a  donation.  She  never  took 
"no"  for  an  answer,  and  there  is  no  instance  on  record 
where  she  failed  to  obtain  a  liberal  sum  from  any  suc- 
cessful bettor  upon  whom  she  bent  her  efforts.  Many 
cheerfully  gave  money  to  the  "green  sister"  in  the  belief 
that  their  good  luck  was  due  to  her  presence  at  the  track. 
Others  donated  rather  than  be  dubbed  "cheap"  before  a 
car  full  of  people,  most  of  whom  were  aware  of  their 
success  in  the  betting  ring.  But  it  mattered  not  to  Rachel 
what  motives  inspired  the  cointributions  so  long  as  they 
found  their  way  to  her  fat  pocket  book.  The  racing 
season  was  fine  for  Rachel. 

Soon  after  one  of  the  solicitors  was  sent  to  St.  Louis 
it  was  discovered  by  the  police  that  an  account  of  large 
proportions  had  been  opened  with  a  bank  in  that  city. 
The  Republican  and  Democratic  conventions  at  Spring- 
field, 111.,  were  a  source  of  harvest  and  in  Chicago  con- 
tributing to  the  "green  sisters"  had  become  a  habit  with 
thousands  of  people.  The  public  had  accepted  the  nuns 
as  an  established  institution  and  opened  up  their  purse 
strings  accordingly. 

The  fall  came  October  18,  1904.  The  police  had  heard 
from  Secretary  Egan  of  the  State  Board  of  Health  that 


HlQHl  SCENES  ON  THE  LEVEE, 


226  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

the  Epileptic  Charity  home  was  a  bogus  proposition  and 
they  determined  to  break  it  up. 

Detective  Wooldridge  raided  the  Wisconsin  street 
office  and  then  went  to  the  Blue  Island  house,  where, 
accompanied  by  the  chief  of  the  local  police,  he  paid  a 
call  upon  Rachel.  The  woman  was  found  in  an  invalid's 
chair,  with  a  pair  of  crutches  at  her  side.  She  claimed 
to  be  unable  to  move,  owing  to  an  injury  she  had  received 
by  falling  through  a  defective  sidewalk.  She  discussed 
her  "work"  with  the  officers,  however,  and  put  up  an 
artistic  game  of  talk  concerning  the  conduct  of  her  sys- 
tem. She  claimed  that  most  of  her  patients  were  scat- 
tered throughout  Chicago  and  they  were  treated  at  their 
homes  or  else  called  at  the  sanitarium  for  attention. 

The  Blue  Island  City  Council  had  enacted  an  ordinance 
prohibiting  a  home  for  epileptics  in  the  town,  but  the 
threat  of  the  Gorman  woman  to  sue  the  city  for  damages 
for  her  injury  seemed  to  restrain  the  city  authorities  from 
enforcing  it. 

The  scene  at  the  house  was  like  an  act  from  a  farce 
comedy.  The  officers  found  the  supposed  invalid  seated 
on  the  rear  porch,  chatting  with  some  friends.  They  in- 
formed her  that  they  possessed  a  search  warrant  for  the 
premises.  The  woman  immediately  leaped  to  her  feet, 
and  forgetting  that  she  was  supposed  to  be  crippled,  ran 
into  the  house  and  defied  the  policemen  to  enter.  She 
menaced  them  with  her  uplifted  crutches  and  used  lan- 
guage more  forceful  than  elegant. 

"Dowie  himself  couldn't  cure  a  cripple  quicker  than 
that,  "  commented  Wooldridge,  as  the  two  officers  pushed 
past  the  infuriated  woman  and  began  to  search  the  vari- 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  227 

ous  rooms.  When  she  saw  that  the  officers  were  not  to 
be  turned  aside  Rachel  bowed  to  the  inevitable  and  fol- 
lowed them  through  the  house.  For  one  hour  and  a 
half  the  ''invalid"  stood  upon  her  feet,  unaided '  by 
crutches,  and  kept  up  a  running  fire  of  jokes  and  coarse 
comment  with  the  intruders.  She  invited  them  to  sup- 
per and  told  them  that  if  they  would  come  and  stay  a 
week  she  would  show  them  what  kind  of  hospitality  her 
hospital  could  put  up.  She  told  them  that  detectives  had 
been  after  her  before  and  that  she  valued  their  visits 
highly  as  a  mode  of  advertisement  for  her  institution. 

"It's  a  queer  game,"  she  said.  "Out  here  in  Blue 
Island  they  want  to  run  me  out  because  I  keep  epileptics, 
and  the  Chicago  police  are  after  me  because  I  don't  keep 
epileptics.  It  looks  to  me  like  a  case  of  'heads  I  win  and 
tails  you  lose.'  " 

A  mass  of  documents,  including  memoranda  and  let- 
ters, was  found  by  Wooldridge,  which  showed  that  thou- 
sands of  dollars  had  been  collected  by  the  woman  and 
her  assistants.  The  women  worked  on  .a  commission 
basis,  and  from  the  appearance  of  the  credit  sheets  it 
was  plain  that  Rachel  was  not  the  only  person  who  was 
thriving  on  the  epileptic  graft.  It  was  found  that  she 
had  paid  $3,000  down  on  the  house  she  occupied  and  that 
she  also  had  a  large  bank  account. 

Further  action  was  deemed  unnecessary  by  Wool- 
dridge, as  the  publicity  given  the  exposure  in  the  news- 
papers rendered  it  impossible  for  the  "green  sisters"  to 
do  any  more  grafting  in  Chicago  or  anywhere  within 
many  hundreds  of  miles.  The  green  robes  from  the 
Wisconsin  street  office  were  confiscated  and  turned  over 


228  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

to  the  city  custodian  and  a  warning  was  given  to  Rachel 
that  if  any  evidence  of  an  attempt  on  her  part  to  resume 
business  were  found  trouble  of  a  serious  nature  would 
follow  for  her. 

To  this  day  the  "sweet  faces1'  of  the  "Green  sisters" 
have  not  reappeared  on  the  streets  of  Chicago^ 

CONFIDENCE  GAMES. 


Details  of  the  Many  Schemes  and  Devices  Employed 
to  Fleece  Strangers. 

Of  all  criminals  with  which  the  Police  Department  of 
any  great  city  has  to  deal,  confidence  men  are  the  most 
troublesome.  The  smooth,  well-dressed  bunko  steerer 
often  escapes  the  eye  of  the  most  vigilant  officer  and 
picks  his  victim  from  the  depots,  public  buildings,  and 
streets,  where  policemen  are  detailed  in  large  numbers. 

The  Chicago  police  have  encountered  the  confidence 
man  in  a  hundred  varieties  of  "con"  games.  They  have 
found  him  in  league  with  politicians  and  other  persons 
of  influence,  and  waging  a  war  against  him  has  been  a 
task  which  required  the  most  skillful  work.  Detective 
Wooldridge  has  been  the  known  enemy  of  the  oily* 
tongued  criminal,  and  during  his  service  in  the  Chicago 
Police  Department  he  has  battled  with  him  unrelenting!;  . 
His  efforts  have  resulted  in  the  breaking  .up  of  some  of 
the  most  notorious  and  best  organized  gangs  of  "con" 
men,  and  more  than  one  of  this  gentry  now  in  the  Joliet 
penitentiary  can  consider  his  stripes  a  souvenir  of  De- 
tective Wooldridge's  work  in  behalf  of  society  and  law 
and  order. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  229 

During  the  first  four  years  of  the  administration  of 
Mayor  Carter  H.  Harrison,  the  younger,  the  press  again 
and  again  called  attention  to  the  robberies  committed  by 
confidence  men.  Chief  of  Police  Joseph  Kipley  called 
Wooldridge  in  and  instructed  him  to  wage  a  relentless 
warfare  on  the  "con"  men. 

With  the  assistance  of  several  officers  from  Chief  Kip- 
ley's  office,  Wooldridge  invaded  the  haunts  of  the  confi- 
dence men,  and,  entirely  disregarding  their  political  in- 
fluence, he  broke  up  gang  after  gang.  Hundreds  were 
arrested  and  ordered  to  leave  Chicago  or  fined,  and 
others  were  indicted  by  the  grand  jury  upon  evidence 
gathered   and  presented   by   Detective   Wooldridge. 

Soon  the  "tip"  went  to  the  politicians  who  posed  as 
the  protectors  or  backers  of  the  confidence  men,  "Have 
Wooldridge  called  off,  or  the  game  is  gone." 

Wooldridge  was  not  "called  off,"  and  as  a  result, 
Chicago,  for  the  first  time  in  twenty  years,  was  practic- 
ally cleared  of  confidence  men.  Charles  Gundorf,  known 
as  a  "fixer"  and  also  as  the  "King  of  Con  Men,"  quit 
Chicago.  Finding  that  he  could  not  follow  his  nefarious 
pursuits  here,  Gundorf  went  to  Niagara  Falls,  where  he 
secured  certain  "privileges."  He  took  with  him  from 
Chicago  a  score  of  bunko  steerers  and  "con"  men  who 
found  Wooldridge's  efforts  ruinous  to  their  games.  Gun- 
dorf and  his  gang  is  but  one  of  a  number  which  aban- 
doned Chicago  before  the  onslaught  of  Wooldridge  and 
his  fellow  officers  from  Chief  Kipley's  office.  The  ma- 
jority of  these  "grafters"  went  to  Buffalo  or  that  vicin- 
ity to  work  during  the  Pan-American  Exposition.  Chief 
of   Police   O'Neill   kept  up   the   good   work,   and  all  of 


230  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

these  men  were  driven  out  or  abandoned  confidence 
work. 

Previous  to  January,  1901,  the  names  of  Charles  Gun- 
dorf,  "Farmer"  Brown,  George  Beazley,  "Big  Sam" 
Jerioux,  "Kid"  Wilson,  "Dirty"  Eddie  Hall,  George 
Harrass,  "Bunk"  Allen,  Harry  Featherstone  and  Lamon 
Moore  were  as  familiar  to  newspaper  readers  as  the 
names  of  the  city  officials.  Since  that  time,  owing  to 
Wooldridge's  efforts,  the  names  of  these  men  have  not 
appeared  in  public  print  except  to  note  the  fact  that 
"Dirty"  Eddie  Hall  and  Harry  Featherstone  have  been 
convicted  and  sentenced  to  the  penitentiary,  and  that  the 
others  have  been  frequently  arrested  or  forced  to  quit 
their  dishonest  practices.  Their  political  "pulls,"  how- 
ever strong,  did  not  save  them. 

It  was  "Eddie"  Hall  and  his  associates,  "Slim  Jim" 
Davis  and  "Curly"  Collins,  who,  on  Dec.  2,  1887,  came 
near  killing  Captain  Luke  P.  Colleran,  who  at  this  writ- 
ing is  chief  of  the  Chicago  City  Detective  Department. 
Captain  Colleran  was  then  a  plain-clothes  man,  and  was 
watching  for  confidence  men  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Ran- 
dolph street  viaduct.  He  had  an  advantageous  point  of 
view,  and  saw  Hall  and  Davis  escort  strangers  up  the 
bridge.  By  a  long  detour,  Colleran  eluded  those  who 
were  left  at  the  end  of  the  bridge  to  give  signals  of  the 
approach  of  officers,  and  appeared  suddenly  on  the  scene 
and  found  f'Slim  Jim"  Davis,  "Eddie"  Hall,  "Dick"  Dean, 
and  "Kid"  Murphy  trying  to  fleece  two  farmers.  Col- 
leran was  alone,  but  he  was  determined  and  was  not  ap- 
palled because  there  were  four  to  fight. 

He  seized  Davis  by  the  coat  collar,   saying,  "Davis, 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


231 


L»y>v<Ad. , 


232  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

stand  still."  Leveling  his  revolver  at  Hall,  he  exclaimed, 
"Eddie,  if  you  move,  I'll  shoot."  They  knew  that  he  was 
in  earnest,  and  submitted,  but  the  other  two  confidence 
men  escaped.  He  had  two  under  arrest,  but  he  was  not 
out  of  trouble  yet. 

Starting  off  the  viaduct  towards  the  patrol  box  with 
his  prisoners,  he  met  "Curly"  Collins,  who  offered  to 
assist  the  officer. 

"All  the  assistance  I  ask  of  you,  Collins,"  said  Colleran, 
"is  for  you  to  mind  your  own  business/' 

Collins  then  passed  on,  but  when  only  a  few  feet  away, 
he  picked  up  a  piece  of  timber,  and  running  up  behind 
Colleran,  dealt  him  a  blow  which  knocked  him  insensible. 
The  others  then  jumped  on  the  officer  and  beat  him  ter- 
ribly. Not  satisfied  with  this,  they  picked  up  the  limp 
and  unconscious  detective  and  threw  him  over  the  rail- 
ing of  the  viaduct.  He  struck  the  top  of  a  freight  car, 
bounded  thence  head  foremost  to  a  flat  car  loaded  with 
iron,  and  then  fell  to  the  railroad  tracks.  The  gang  ran 
and  escaped.  Colleran  was  unconscious  many  hours  and 
was  in  the  hospital  many  months,  but  he  has  had  the 
satisfaction  at  last  of  seeing  every  member  of  the  gang 
that  assaulted  him,  sent  to  prison. 

The  "Woolen  'Mills"  gang  was  the  most  troublesome 
of  all  to  the  police,  owing  to  the  fact  that  this  variety  of 
"con"  game  was  easiest  worked,  and  the  swindlers  had 
no  trouble  shifting  their  basis  of  operation  quickly.  These 
gangs,  also  known  as  "broad"  gangs,  were  allied  with 
certain  politicians,  and  they  wielded  no  light  influence 
to  handicap  the  work  of  the  police.  But  their  political 
influence  carried  no  weight  with  Detective  Wooldridge, 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  233 

and  the  "Woolen  Mills"  gang  is  to-day  extinct,  the 
swindlers  scattered  over  the  United  States,  and  the  lead- 
ers and  backers  disheartened. 

From  four  to  ten  confidence  men  skilled  in  the  art  of 
acting,  and  skilled  in  this  connection  implies  the  fullest 
meaning  of  that  word,  formed  the  combination  known  as 
the  "Woolen  Mills"  gangs.  One  gang  worked  under  the 
direction  of  "Farmer"  Brown,  and  others  were  headed 
by  grafters  of  equal  accomplishments.  Three  of  the 
"con"  men  in  these  gangs  remained  about  the  fake 
offices,  and  the  others  worked  the  vicinity  of  the  railroad 
depots,  the  stock  yards,  and  the  public  streets  and  build- 
ings, on  the  lookout  for  victims. 

The  outside  men,  known  as  bunko  steerers,  approached 
unsophisticated  strangers.  One  of  the  swindlers  would 
hasten  to  the  victim,  grasp  his  hand  and  call  him  by  some 
fake  name.  Invariably  the  stranger  stated  that  a  mis- 
take had  been  made,  and  during  the  explanation  by  the 
grafter,  the  stranger's  real  name  was  secured.  This 
was  quickly  imparted  to  another  bunko  steerer  who  car- 
ried a  pocket  bank  and  postoffice  directory.  The  second 
swindler  quickly  gleaned  the  directories  and  picked  out 
the  name  of  a  banker  or  the  postmaster  in  the  town  from 
which  the  stranger  hailed  or  nearest  which  he  resided. 

Then  came  the  fine  work.  The  second  "con"  man  ap- 
proached the  stranger  and  called  him  by  his  right  name. 
He  introduced  himself  as  a  nephew,  brother,  or  cousin  of 
the  banker  or  postmaster,  and  stated  that  he  was  in  busi- 
ness with  the  "Great  Western  Woolen  Mills."  He  then 
invited  the  stranger  to  accompany  him  to  the  office  of  the 


2o4  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

woolen  mills  company  to  have  a  free  suit  of  clothing 
made. 

"We're  making  suits  for  advertising  purposes,  and 
all  we  ask  is  for  you  to  show  it  to  the  folks  out  home,  and 
tell  them  how  the  'Great  Western  Woolen  Mills  Com- 
pany' made  it,"  the  swindler  explained. 

The  stranger  was  then  conducted  to  the  "broad"  joint, 
usually  an  office  located  in  the  levee  district.  There  he 
was  told  that  the  manager  was  out  for  a  minute.  Within 
a  minute  or  two  other  confidence  men,  pretending  to  have 
come  from  the  stock  yards  after  selling  a  carload  of 
mules  or  stock,  would  come  in.  They  began  discussing 
a  game  played  with  four  cards,  three  of  which  have 
stars  printed  on  them  and  one  of  which  bears  a  picture 
of  a  girl  kicking  a  hat.  The  stranger  is  induced  to  make 
bets  that  he  can  pick  out  the  fourth  card.  In  this  process 
the  swindler  who  brought  him  to  the  place  turns  up  the 
corner  of  the  fourth  card  and  wins.  When  the  victim 
places  all  his  money  on  a  bet  the  other  confidence  men 
change  the  cards  and  turn  up  the  corner  of  another. 

If  the  victim  shows  an  inclination  to  cause  trouble  for 
the  swindlers,  the  manager  of  the  fake  concern  is  called 
in  and  he  upbraids  the  victim  for  gambling.  If  he  is 
not  then  inclined  to  leave  the  "broad"  joint  without  mak- 
ing trouble,  a  bogus  policeman  is  called  in.  This  fake 
officer  arrests  the  victim  for  gambling  and  conducts  him 
through  a  maze  of  streets  and  alleys  to  an  out-of-the-way 
place  where  he  is  left  to  shift  for  himself. 

When  the  stranger  leaves  the  "broad"  joint,  the  gang 
picks  up  the  samples  of  cloth  and  desks  which  adorned 
the  fake  office  and  makes  a  quick  move  to  another  fake 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


235 


236 


THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 


i\ 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  237 

office.  In  the  event  of  the  victim  making  complaint  to 
the  police  the  gang  is  out  of  the  way.  Officers  may  be 
led  to  the  rooms  where  the  victim  was  robbed,  but  they 
find  it  is  so  changed  that  the  stranger  seldom  recognizes 
it  as  the  same  place.  Robberies  of  this  kind  have  netted 
as  high  as  $2,500  each. 

But  the  day  of  the  "broad"  joint  and  its  smooth  oper- 
ators has  ended.  Detective  Wooldridge  familiarized  him- 
self with  the  haunts  of  the  swindlers,  with  their  methods 
and  their  faces,  and  his  warfare  drove  them  from  the 
city. 

It  was  as  a  "broad"  joint  operator  that  "Farmer" 
Brown  became  famous,  although  Charles  Gundorf  is 
generally  spoken  of  as  the  originator  of  this  infamous 
swindle.  Brown  took  the  part  of  a  Kentucky  farmer 
who  had  just  sold  a  load  of  mules,  and  his  smooth  talk 
induced  hundreds  of  victims  to  bet  their  money  on  the 
card  game  swindle.  A  conservative  estimate  of  the 
amount  of  money  taken  from  strangers  in  Chicago  by 
this  swindle  previous  to  1901  is  $10,000  per  month. 

There  are  so  manv  of  these  confidence  games  that  it 
would  require  almost  a  whole  volume  to  describe  all  of 
them.  One  which  is  a  "sure  thing"  for  the  owners  of  it 
is  the  Tivoli  game.  It  does  not  differ  very  materially 
from  the  regular  Tivoli  game  which  is  frequently  seen 
in  saloons  and  billiard  halls,  except  that  the  latter  is  on 
the  square,  whereas  the  former  is  a  gambling  game  and 
has  connected  with  it  a  mechanical  device  which  prevents 
the  player  from  winning.  It  consists  of  a  small  high 
table  on  which  is  arranged  rows  of  pins  and  pockets  or 
holes  and  looks  much  like  the  regulation  bagatelle  table. 


238  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

At  the  end  is  a  short  hollow  post,  surmounted  by  a  negro 
head,  whose  wide  mouth  is  a  target  at  which  a  small 
ball  is  thrown. 

The  pockets  or  holes  in  the  table  are  all  numbered  and 
pay  according  to  the  numbers.  The  player  is  asked  to 
throw  a  ball  into  the  negro's  mouth 'and  if  the  ball  goes 
into  the  mouth,  down  the  hollow  tube  and  then  rolls 
into  a  certain  pocket,  he  gets  a  certain  amount  of  money, 
which  is  always  declared  to  be  several  times  the  amount 
paid  for  making  the  venture. 

But  by  a  cleverly  arranged  mechanism  the  operator 
can  by  a  simple  pull  on  a  cord  underneath  and  without 
observation,  cause  a  small  pin  to  protect  and  thus  pre- 
vent the  ball  from  going  into  any  pocket  into  which  he 
does  not  want  it  to  go. 

There  is  a  fascination  for  strangers  about  the  game, 
because  it  looks  simple  and  seems  on  the  square,  but  it 
is  a  hard  game  to  beat,  even  when  not  operated  by 
crooks.  The  bunko  steerer  finds  many  victims  for  this 
game  and  thousands .  of  dollars  have  been  lost  in  it,  of 
which  nothing  has  been  said,  because  the  victim  usually 
realizes  when  it  is  too  late  that  he  has  been  robbed  by 
a  cheap  swindle  and  is  ashamed  to  let  any  one  know  it. 
This  the  swindler  well  knows  and  he  does  not  hesitate  to 
get  all  the  money  he  can. 

The  same  methods  are  used  to  get  players  for  this 
game  as  are  used  in  all  the  other  games.  "Cappers"  are 
sent  out  to  bring  in  the  rural  visitors.  They  are  told  of 
the  "big  sights"  to  be  seen  in  this  wonderful  place ;  shown 
pictures  of  women  in  suggestive  attitudes  and  hear 
stories  of  a  reproduction  of  a  harem  and  this  more  easily 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  239 

leads  out-of-town  sightseers   astray  than  anything  else. 

Another  swindling  game  which  has  filled  the  pockets 
of  many  crooks  is  what  is  called  the  "goose-neck."  This 
game  is  similar  to  that  which  is  frequently  seen  at  coun- 
ty fairs  by  which  a  man  tests  his  hitting  strength  with 
a  heavy  mallet  or  maul,  by  striking  a  large  pin  which 
sends  an  automatic  marker  up  on  a  tube  which  registers 
the  striker's  strength. 

The  "goose-neck"  is  a  reproduction  of  this  on  a  small 
scale,  except  that  the  victim  does  not  register  his 
strength.  In  hitting  the  pin  with  a  small  mallet  he  is 
supposed  to  produce  on  the  post  or  cylinder  even  or  odd 
numbers.  These  numbers  are  controlled  by  the  operator 
who  by  a  turn  of  a  small  screw  which  is  invisible  to  the 
victim  can  make  the  register  show  either  one  he  desires. 

The  victim  is  lured  on  by  confidence  men  or  by  a  steerer 
who  will  make  a  bet  of  say  $2  that  he  can  get  the  even 
numbers.  Of  course,  when  he  strikes,  the  even  numbers 
show  up.  He  is  allowed  to  win  a  number  of  times,  when 
the  operator  tells  him  he  is  too  lucky  and  that  he  will 
allow  him  to  play  no  more. 

Then  he  pretends  to  be  greatly  angered  and  turns  to 
his  victim  and  tells  him  to  play ;  that  he  is  liable  to  win 
a  thousand  dollars;  that  the  operator  is  in  bad  luck,  etc. 
The  victim  will  start  out  by  betting  $2,  and  he  is  allowed 
to  win  because  the  operator  turns  the  screw  to  set  the 
numbers  bet  on.  Then  the  victim  is  told  he  had  made 
a  conditional  bet;  that  is,  he  had  won  two  dollars  by 
getting  the  even  numbers,  but  by  putting  up  $2  more  he 
stands  to  win  not  $4,  but  $20.  This  seems  alluring  and 
he  is  told  again  that  the  conditions  are  that  by  putting 


240  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

up  $25  more  he  can  win  $500.  That  is  the  limit  of  the 
conditional  betting  he  is  told,  unless  the  steerers  and 
cappers  find  the  victim  has  plenty  of  money  and  is  will- 
ing to  stand  to  win  a  thousand,  in  which  case  he  is  likely 
to  be  asked  to  put  up  anywhere  from  $100  to  $500  to 
win  $1,000.  But  if  the  victim  seems  to  be  afraid  to  put 
up  any  more  than  the  $25,  the  screw  is  turned  to  show 
up  the  odd  numbers,  if  the  bet  is  made  on  the  evens  and 
presto,  he  is  informed  that  he  has  lost  and  the  "steerers," 
"cappers,"  "coin  separators,"  "outside  hooks,"  and 
"come-ons"  begin  to  surge  toward  the  street,  carrying 
the  victim  with  them  and  he  soon  finds  himself  standing 
on  the  sidewalk  with  no  one  in  sight  whom  he  saw  on 
the  inside. 

And  thus  it  goes.  When  on  the  inside,  he  is  made  to 
think  that  every  one  around  him  is  anxious  to  play  the 
game  and  when  they  are  stopped  on  account  of  their 
"heavy  winnings/'  they  encourage  him.  "Go  in,  old 
man,"  they  will  say,  "you  can't  lose,"  and  when  he  is 
permitted  to  win  a  few  bets,  one  of  them  will  exclaim, 
"I  wish  I  had  your  luck.  I  never  saw  anything  like  it. 
Let  me  play  once."  But  the  operator  will  tell  him  it 
is  not  fair  to  him  to  play  on  another  man's  luck,  and 
winds  up  by  saying,  "This  gentleman  may  win  all  my 
money,  but  I  will  be  fair  and  not  stop  him  until  he  goes 
the  limit." 

Thus  encouraged,  the  stranger  lets  his  money  go  and 
frequently  leaves  without  a  cent  in  his  pocket. 

An  experienced  confidence  man — such  as  he  with 
whom  Officer  Wooldridge  has  dealt  with  such  a  firm 
hand — is  always  ready  to  fleece  victims  and  to  this  end 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  241 

he  carries  dice,  a  fake  lock  and  other  swindling  devices 
in  his  pocket.     He  has  them  ready  to  use  in  a  moment. 

With  three  ordinary  dice  the  swindler  entices  the  vic- 
tim into  the  "top-and-bottom"  or  "Rocky  Mountain" 
dice  game.  A  booster  is  necessary  in  this  game.  The 
booster  meets  the  victim  and  conducts  him  to  a  saloon  or 
byway  and  there  the  operator  is  found  shaking  three 
dice.  The  operator  offers  to  bet  the  booster  and  his  vic- 
tim that  they  cannot  tell  what  number  the  spots  on  the 
tops  and  bottoms  of  the  three  dice  will  aggregate.  The 
booster  makes  a  bet,  giving  the  number  as  twenty-one 
and  wins.  The  operator  then  excuses  himself  for  a 
minute  or  two,  and  during  his  absence  the  booster  ex- 
plains that  twenty-one  will  always  be  the  count  on  the 
tops  and  bottoms  of  the  dice  no  matter  how  they  are 
thrown.     The  victim  quickly  sees  this. 

When  the  operator  returns  he  offers  to  make  more 
bets.  The  booster  apparently  wishes  to  discourage  bet- 
ting, but  the  operator  is  so  insistent  at  wagering  his 
money  on  what  appears  to  be  a  certain  loss  that  the 
booster  tells  the  victim  to  bet  with  him.  It  is  an  easy 
matter  to  lure  the  stranger  into  this  swindle. 

After  the  money  is  bet  the  victim  is  usually  allowed  to 
win  the  first  wager.  The  operator  then  increases  the  size 
of  the  bet  to  the  amount  which  he  believes  the  victim 
to  possess.  The  bet  is  made,  and  the  dice  thrown.  Some 
operators  "switch"  dice,  putting  in  a  dice  with  equal 
numbers  on  opposite  sides.  This  breaks  the  count  and 
the  victim  loses.  Other  operators  turn  one  dice  half 
round  after  the  top  numbers  have  been  counted.  This, 
too,  breaks  the  count  at  the  victim's  expense. 


242  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

In  the  lock  game  the  booster  with  the  victim  appears 
to  find  a  brass  lock  on  the  street.  He  laments  the  fact 
that  he  found  no  key.  Another  confidence  man  is  near 
at  hand  and  is  introduced  to  the  victim.  The  second 
swindler  is  shown  the  lock  and  he  produces  a  bunch  of 
keys,  one  of  which  opens  the  lock.  The  victim  is  given 
the  key  and  lock,  and  finds  that  it  works  right,  but  the 
original  booster  is  unable  to  work  the  lock.  The  victim 
is  roped  into  betting  as  in  the  dice  game,  and  by  pressing 
a  hidden  spring,  the  lock  is  bound  so  that  the  victim 
cannot  unlock  it  after  his  money  is  up. 

The  confidence  man  lives  strictly  by  his  wits  and  he 
can  truthfully  be  said  to  be  a  witty  and  a  hard  customer 
to  handle.  He  is  inventive  and  constantly  bringing  out 
new  swindles.  But  with  his  new  ideas  he  finds  old  ones 
best  in  some  cases  and  hence  newspaper  readers  learn 
through  the  daily  press  of  swindling  by  the  "steamboat 
explosion"  and  "tunnel  cave-in."  The  surprising  thing 
is  that  these  ancient  swindles  find  victims  after  years  of 
exposure  in  the  daily  press. 

The  "steamboat  explosion"  and  "tunnel  cave-in" 
dodges  are  used  in  many  instances  as  a  subterfuge  to  get 
the  victim  into  the  clutches  of  shell  men  and  other  con- 
fidence operators.  But  sometimes  they  are  used  to  fur- 
ther downright  robbery.  Many  cases  of  both  descrip- 
tions have  been  encountered  by  Officer  Wooldridge  and 
many  criminals  with  victims  in  tow  have  been  put  to 
flight  by  the  appearance  of  Wooldridge  when  the  game 
was  all  but  sprung. 

Some  years  ago  these  swindlers  became  very  bold  and 
to  demonstrate  that  he  could  catch  them  despite  theii 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  243 

shrewdness,  Officer  Wooldridge  disguised  himself  as  a 
countryman. 

He  was  approached  by  a  booster  and  was  led  to  the 
swindle,  where  he  disclosed  his  identity  and  arrested 
one  of  the  most  troublesome  gangs  with  which  the  police 
ever  had  to  deal. 

The  unsophisticated  stranger  in  Chicago  is  approached 
by  a  booster  who  asks  him  if  he  has  seen  the  tunnel  cave- 
in  or  steamboat  explosion.  This  usually  excites  the  curi- 
osity of  the  victim  and  he  is  easily  led  to  some  out-of-the- 
way  spot  to  be  shorn  by  the  shell  game  or  held  up  by  a 
fake  policeman.  In  the  latter  instance  he  is  accused  of 
having  counterfeit  money  in  his  possession.  The  bogus 
officer  flashes  a  star  and  the  booster  promptly  hands  over 
his  money  for  the  scrutiny  of  the  alleged  policeman. 

This  is  returned  as  "sound,"  and  the  victim  is  in- 
duced to  allow  the  examination  of  his  money.  This  is 
"found"  to  be  counterfeit.  The  fake  policeman  takes  it 
away  after  telling  the  victim  to  call  at  the  police  station 
later,  and  if  it  is  found  that  the  money  is  genuine  he 
can  secure  its  return.  If  the  victim  is  inclined  to  object 
to  seeing  his  money  go  from  him,  he  is  told  that  he 
will  be  arrested  for  carrying  counterfeit  money  and  that 
the  punishment  is  a  year's  confinement  in  the  peniten- 
tiary. This  yarn  usually  settles  the  most  suspicious 
victim. 

There  is  another  game  operated  by  confidence  men, 
which  is  the  most  illusive  of  them  all. 

This  is  called  the  envelope  game.  It  seems  such  an 
easy  matter  to  catch  the  envelope  containing  a  $10  bill, 
and  the  odds  given  on  it  are  so  large  that  even  the  most 


244  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

conservative  people  are  often  tempted  to  try  their  luck. 

It  consists  of  an  ordinary  envelope  box  containing 
about  fifty  envelopes.  In  the  presence  of  the  man  who 
wants  to  try  his  luck,  a  $10  bill  is  inserted  into  the  en- 
velope, which  is  thrown  into  the  box  with  the  others 
and  then  a  chance  is  given  any  one  to  select  any  five  of 
the  envelopes  which  are  in  the  box  for  $i.  Each  en- 
velope has  a  small  slit  in  the  bottom  of  it  and  it  is  through 
this  that  the  operator  cunningly  extracts  the  $10  bill, 
when  to  all  appearances  it  has  been  left  in  the  envelope. 
It  is  a  simple  trick  which  the  confidence  men  ca^  operate 
so  dexterously  that  the  outsider  seldom  sees  how  it  is 
done  and  a  great  deal  of  money  has  been  lost  through  the 
efforts  of  strangers  to  get  the  envelope  containing  the 
$10. 

It  may  be  a  matter  of  surprise  to  many  persons  to 
learn  that  the  ancient  shell  game  continues  to  bring  a 
steady  and  very  remunerative  income  to  the  confidence 
men  and  swindlers  of  the  largest  cities. 

Since  Illinois  was  a  rolling  prairie  and  the  few  set- 
tlers were  trading  tin  cups  for  valuable  furs  with  the 
Indians,  the  shell  game  has  been  a  sort  of  well  known 
institution.  It  has  thrived  in  Chicago  and  even  in  the 
small  towns  where  days  of  celebration,  county  fairs,  and 
circus  exhibitions  brought  visitors  from  the  rural  dis- 
tricts. The  cost  of  attempting  to  locate  the  elusive  "pea" 
has  long  been  met  by  the  curious  countrymen  and 
"green"  townsmen,  and  as  late  as  today  shell  men  or 
"nut"  men  can  be  found  occasionally  about  the  depots, 
stock  yards  or  other  such  places  where  visitors  from  the 
country  are  likely  to  be  met. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


245 


246  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

Three  half-shells  of  the  English  walnut,  an  India  rub- 
ber "pea"  and  a  soap  box  or  a  small  table  complete  the 
swindling  outfit  of  the  shell  man.  At  least  one  "booster" 
i  is  essential  to  the  success  of  the  swindle. 

The  operator  rolls  the  "pea"  about  under  the  inverted 
shells  and  bets  the  victim  that  he  cannot  tell  which  shell 
it  is  under.  The  "booster"  steps  up  first  and  the  op- 
erator, with  seeming  carlessness,  allows  the  "pea"  to  slide 
slowly  under  one  of  the  shells.  This  motion  is  seen  by 
the  countryman  and  the  "booster."  The  latter  makes  a 
bet  and  of  course,  wins.  Then  the  victim  is  inveigled 
into  the  game. 

The  operator  appears  to  handle  the  shells  more  care- 
lessly than  before.  He  allows  the  "pea"  to  remain  an 
instant  under  the  edge  of  one  shell.  The  victim  sees 
this  and  imagines  that  he  has  a  sure  thing.  He  makes 
his  bet  and  picks  up  the  shell,  to  find  it  empty.  The  shell 
operator,  necessarily  skilled  in  handling  the  "pea,"  causes 
it  to  pass  under  the  shell  picked  up  by  the  victim  and 
inside  the  next  shell.  The  motion  is  too  quickly  made 
for  detection. 

There  is  another  confidence  game  which  is  worked  on 
small  storekeepers  and  by  which  many  a  clerk  and  pro- 
prietor, men  and  women,  have  been  victimized.  This  is 
called  the  "short  change"  scheme.  The  man  who  works 
this  plan  of  robbery  usually  selects  one  of  those  small 
stores  which  are  located  in  the  vicinity  of  schools  and  in 
which  are  sold  confections,  stationery,  etc. 

His  plan  is  to  enter  one  of  these  stores  with  a  lot  of 
small  change  in  his  hand  and  tell  the  clerk  or  proprietor 
he  has  written  his  wife  a  letter  and  wants  to  inclose  $5 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  247 

in  it  and  ask  for  a  bill  in  exchange  for  silver.  He  has 
the  letter  in  his  hand,  already  stamped  and  addressed. 

He  counts  out  the  small  change  and  manages  to  ex- 
tract from  it  fifteen  or  twenty  cents  without  being  de- 
tected. He  is  given  the  five-dollar  bill  and  then  tells 
the  clerk  to  count  the  silver  to  see  if  it  is  correct.  While 
this  is  being  done,  the  confidence  man  places  the  five- 
dollar  bill  in  the  letter,  but  dexterously  gets  it  out  and 
then  seals  the  letter. 

In  the  meantime  the  clerk  has  discovered  that  the 
change  is  fifteen  or  twenty  cents  short.  The  confidence 
man  hurriedly  counts  it  again  and  declares  he  has  made 
a  mistake.  He  then  gives  the  clerk  the  letter  supposed 
to  contain  the  five-dollar  bill  and  tells  him  to  "just  hold 
that  a  few  minutes  until  I  run  back  home  and  get  the 
balance  of  the  change." 

Thinking  the  five-dollar  bill  is  in  the  envelope,  the 
clerk  takes  it  and  lays  it  aside,  while  the  confidence  man 
with  the  bill  in  his  pocket  picks  up  the  change  and  say- 
ing, "I'll  be  back  in  a  minute,"  departs  and  is  not  seen 
again.  This  game  has  been  played  hundreds  of  times 
in  Chicago  and  very  few  of  the  rascals  have  been  caught. 


248  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

TRICKS  OF  COUNTRY  FAIR  FAKERS. 


Crooked  Gambling  Tools  Sold  to  Fleece  Farmers. 

The  country  fair  is  the  harvest  time  for  the  genial 
faker.  And  now  dealers  in  crooked  apparatus  for  fleec- 
ing the  farmers  are  sending  out  catalogues  of  their 
wares.  One  such  circular  tells  in  so  many  words  that 
when  the  harvest  moon  hangs  low  in  the  West  and  the 
frost  is  on  the  pumpkin  and  the  corn  is  in  the  shock,  then 
does  the  faker  go  out  to  reap  a  bounteous  store  of  nickels 
and  climes  to  put  away  against  that  time  when  the  snows 
shall  pile  deep  and  icy  winds  shall  blow. 

The  faker  is  not  a  husbandman  and  he  sows  not,  and 
neither  does  he  gather  up  and  bind  into  bundles,  and 
yet,  when  the  harvest  season  is  over  the  faker  has  more 
money  than  the  honest  farmer  who  has  tilled  many 
golden  acres. 

For  the  faker  gets  up  early  in  the  morning  and  goes 
to  bed  late  at  night,  and  he  makes  money  all  the  live-long 
day. 

Yet  the  faker  is  not  an  unpopular  visitor  to  the  coun- 
try fair.  On  the  contrary,  a  country  fair  at  which  was 
not  heard  the  stentorian  shouts  of  the  faker  to  "come  on, 
boys ;  here's  the  chance  to  make  your  fortune,"  would  be 
considered  a  dismal  failure.  The  temptation  to  get  some- 
thing for  nothing,  or  at  least  much  for  little,  to  flirt  with 
coquettish  fortune,  is  irresistible.  Though  a  man  knows 
full  well  that  the  faker  is  not  at  the  fair  merely  for  the 
sake  of  his  health  or  for  a  pleasant  outing,  and  that  his 
tricks  put  to  shame  those  of  the  heathen  Chinee,  still  the 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


249 


Tricks    of    Country  Fair    Fakers. 

Crooked    Gambling     Tools     Sold     to     Fleece     Farmers, 


victim  will  take  the  one  chance  out  of  a  million  of  beat- 
ing the  game.  He  doesn't  beat  it,  for  the  game  wasn't 
rigged  up  so  that  he  could  beat  it.  Still  he  is  willing 
to  take  the  chance,  and  he  suffers  no  disappointment 
when  he  fails. 

TRICKS  OF  THE  CANE  RACK. 

Chief  among  the  catchpenny  attractions  of  the   faker 
is  the  cane  rack.     The  country  cousin's   eye   is  caught 


250  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

by  the  sight  of  the  array  of  canes  which  seem  so  easy 
to  secure.  A  cane  is  something  that  he  thinks  would 
add  much  to  his  cityfied  appearance,  and  besides  would 
be  useful  in  punching  the  cattle  around  and  in  slapping 
his  friends  playfully  across  the  back. 

The  cane  rack  outfit  does  not  cost  the  faker  much. 
A  net  rack  may  be  bought  for  from  65  cents  to  $1.25 
and  a  canvas  one  for  from  50  cents  to  $1.30.  Canes 
cost  from  50  cents  a  dozen  to  $1.50  per  dozen.  Rings 
cost  65  cents  per  hundred.  With  this  outfit  and  a 
permit  the  faker  sets  up  his  rack  on  four  stakes,  which 
are  purposely  loose,  so  as  to  allow  the  rack  to  sway 
slightly.     Then  he  plants  his  canes. 

The  cheaper  ones  predominate,  but  canes  with  swelled 
heads  are  occasionally  seen  and  here  and  there  are  crooks, 
some  reproducing  a  miniature,  a  lower  member  missing, 
the  torso  of  Venus.  The  rings  vary  from  one  and  one- 
quarter  to  one  and  three  quarters  inches  inside  diameter. 
The  heads  of  some  of  the  canes  are  almost  as  great  in 
diameter,  and  those  with  crooks  are  turned  in  such  a 
way  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  ring  them  unless 
the  ring  is  dropped  immediately  upon  them.  It  is  dif- 
ficult even  to  ring  the  smaller  canes,  for  they  stand 
loosely  in  the  rack,  and  a  side  blow  tips  them  so  that 
the  ring  slides  off. 

KNIFE  BOARD  A  GOOD  "GRAFT." 

Next  in  favor  is  the  knife  board.  A  board  costs  from 
$1.50  to  $3.50,  and  a  complete  outfit — board,  100  rings, 
and  eightly-four  knives — may  be  had  for  $14.50  and 
upward.     Knives  may  be  had  from  30  cents  a  dozen  to 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  251 

$3.98  a  dozen.  These  knives,  the  cheaper  predominat- 
ing and  costing  about  two  and  a  half  cents  apiece,  are 
conspicuously  displayed  with  all  the  blades  open,  and 
therein  lies  the  secret  of  the  knife  board.  The  cunning 
faker  arranges  his  knife  board  so  that  the  rings  slide 
over  them  as  water  does  a  duck's  back. 

The  wheel  of  fortune  seems  as  fair  as  any  game  can 
be,  yet  the  arrow  has  a  "sneak"  and  the  faker  can  stop 
it  at  any  number  or  article  he  desires.  A  wheel  may 
be  bought  as  low  as  $10,  including  250  pieces  of  jewelry, 
but  this  is  of  the  cheapest  kind,  rings,  for  example,  being 
quoted  as  low  as  one  cent  apiece.  With  this  cheap 
wheel  the  first  profit  at  10  cents  a  whirl,  without  any 
sneaking,  amounts  to  $15,  and  the  business  "requires  no 
previous  experience."  A  full  outfit  of  250  pieces  of 
jewelry  costs  but  $5,  thus  making  a  gain  of  $20,  and 
some  fakers  make  as  much  as  $50  a  day. 

The  higher  the  cost  of  the  wheel  the  more  easily  and 
quickly  the  money  is  made,  as  they  are  fitted  with  large 
pins  to  separate  numbers  or  colors,  and  the  arrow  point 
has  a  screw  feather,  making  a  certain  winner  of  any 
desired  number  or  color  and  avoiding  all  possibility  of 
dispute. 

Nothing  is  more  tempting  to  the  country  cousin  than 
the  striking  machine,  and  nothing  looks  fairer.  But 
these  striking  machines  are  ingenious  arrangements, 
and,  in  the  words  of  an  advertisement  of  a  new  kind 
now  on  the  market,  "can  be  manipulated  without  a 
helper."  One  of  these  may  be  had  for  $50,  while  prize 
cigars  are  offered  to  the  fakers  for  $10  a  thousand. 


252  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

RED,    WHITE    AND    BLUE    BOX. 

Red,  white,  and  blue  is  a  dealing  game.  There  is  a 
"layout"  with  three  shields  on  it,  one  red,  one  white, 
one  blue.  A  box  and  sixteen  balls,  five  of  each  color 
and  one  "dealer's  percentage"  goes  with  the  outfit. 
Players  place  their  money  on  a  given  shield,  a  slide 
opens  in  the  box,  and  out  pops  a  ball.  If  the  ball 
is  of  the  same  color  the  player  put  his  money  on,  he 
wins.  If  not,  he  loses.  If  this  was  a  fair  game  the 
player,  by  the  law  of  chance,  would  stand  some  show 
of  winning,  but  as  the  box  is  "fixed"  the  dealer  can 
produce  a  ball  of  any  color  he  desires,  yet  any  one  not 
in  the  secret  can  examine  the  box  at  any  time  and  find 
it  apparently  "square,"  yet  it  is  a  tricky  box. 

There  are  half  a  hundred  trj^ks  worked  with  cards, 
and  all  of  such  a  nature  that  they  can  be  worked  without 
the  slightest   fear  of  detection. 

But  the  visitor  to  the  country  fair  is  looking  for  fun. 
The  faker  and  his  outfit  entertains  him  and  he  doesn't 
begrudge  the  money. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  253 


POLICY  SHOPS  GALORE. 


All  Over  the  City  These  Gambling  Places  Continue  to 

do  Business. 


GET  TOO  NEAR  SCHOOLS. 


Police  in  Many  Instances  Have  to  Drive  Establish- 
ments Away — Technical  Terms. 

Policy  shops  are  becoming  more  numerous  in  Chicago 
than  grocery  stores  and  there  are  comparatively  few 
blocks  in  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  city  that  do 
not  contain  one  of  the  policy  writers.  Especially  is 
this  true  in  the  downtown  district  and  on  the  south  side 
as  far  as  63d  street.  Many  complaints  have  been  made 
to  the  police  recently  of  the  existence  of  these  gambling 
places  within  a  short  distance  of  schoolhouses  because 
children  are  lured  to  make  investments  of  a  few  pennies. 
Once  these  boys  win  from  this  small  speculation  they 
are  started  on  the  gambler's  way  and  in  many  cases  it 
is  the  first  step  in  vice.  The  police  have  in  many  in- 
stances caused  shops  to  be  moved  because  of  their 
proximity  to  schools.  Other  shops  invite  the  play  of 
these  youngsters,  while  some  will  not  allow  children 
or  even  women  to  make  bets  on  the  three  numbers, 
"gigs,"  "saddles"  and  other  terms  used  by  the  policy 
players. 

SAYS   HER  SON   WASTES   MONEY. 

One  woman  in  particular  has  complained  to  the  police 
of  the   existence   of  these   gambling  shops,   where  her 


254  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

son,  aged  15  years,  spends  all  his  pennies  and  even 
squanders  money  given  him  by  his  mother  to  buy  food 
for  the  house.  Basements  in  Clark  street,  Van  Buren 
and  State  contain  policy  shops  and  many  of  them  have 
plays  equal  to  a  poolroom,  although  the  game  is  a  bit 
slow,  there  being  but  two  drawings  a  day — 12  o'clock, 
noon,  and  5  p.  m. 

x\t  63d  street  and  Wentworth  avenue,  a  colored  man, 
said  to  have  been  a  pastor,  presides  over  a  shop.  He 
is  well  known  among  the  colored  people  and  is  said  to 
have  preached  in  many  of  their  pulpits,  but  of  late  re- 
tired for  various  reasons.  Policy  has  seventy-eight  num- 
bers in  the  list,  from  1  to  78,  and  of  these  three  are 
guessed,  which  are  likely  to  be  drawn  at  either  the 
forenoon  or  afternoon  drawings.  This  entitles  the 
speculator  to  one  chance  in  340  where  three  numbers 
are  played  and  it  pays  $10  for  a  5-cent  investment,  if 
played  in  one  book. 

HORSES,    GIGS    AND    SADDLES. 

In  playing  a  horse,  four  numbers,  the  player  has 
one  chance  in  700,  and  is  paid  $25  for  an  investment  of 
5  cents.  For  two  numbers,  termed  "a  saddle,"  there  are 
fifty  chances,  and  $1.50  is  paid  for  the  nickel  invest- 
ment.    In  the   seventy-eight  numbers  there  are   76,076 

oicrc 

There  is  a  row  for  every  dream  imaginable  and  dream 
books  are  furnished  at  nearly  all  of  the  shops.  During 
the  morning  hours  men  and  women  flock  to  the  rooms 
to  find  out  what  this  dream  and  that  one  means  and 
then  they  play  their  pin  money  on  the  numbers.     Dif- 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  255 

fercnt  concerns  have  different  rows.  Probably  the  most 
famous  gig  is  4-11-44,  which  comes  out  about  once  a 
year  and  then  all  the  colored  population  has  "money 
to  burn."  Some  call  it  "coon  row,"  others  "animal  row," 
"apple  row,"  "race  row,"  "policy  row,"  "railroad  row." 
"Murder  row"  is  2-12-22;  "burglar  row,"  9-18-42; 
"baby  row"  is  1-12-21 ;  "bedbug  row,"  1-2-3-20;  "cat 
row"  is  7-17-27;  "chicken  row,"  2-1 1-22;  "coffin  row," 
4-7-74;  "drowning  row,"  8-32-60;  "father  row,"  19-29- 
39;  "mother  row,"  22-69-70;  "dirty  row,"  3-6-9;  "kiss- 
ing row,"  1-8-62;  "money  row,"  7-13-56;  "prosperity 
row,"  5-9-10;  "suicide  row,"  2-7-20;  "white  man's  row," 
10-18-44;  Thanksgiving  row,"   17-25-35. 

DREAMS  PLAY  GREAT  PART. 

Nearly  all  policy  players  are  governed  by  dreams  and 
therefore  dream  books  are  plentiful  and  highly  prized. 
To  dream  you  are  in  a  railroad  accident  foreshadows 
misfortune,  disapointment  and  losses  in  business.  Num- 
bers corresponding  are  4- 14-41 -44.  To  dream  of  an  altar 
denotes  hasty  marriage,  numbers  9-36-51-57-62;  to  dream 
of  a  horserace  denotes  loss  of  wealth  and  numbers  4-1 1- 
44  must  be  played  according  to  the  system. 

Policy  writers  say  it  is  remarkable  the  number  oi 
people  who  play  policy  and  are  governed  by  dreams. 
Business  men  and  politicians  are  often  the  patrons  of  the 
shops,  but,  of  course,  always  send  their  money  by  some- 
one else  to  avoid  suspicion.  One  downtown  policy  shop 
man  says  half  of  his  trade  comes  from  the  city  hall,  but 
he  refused  to  give  any  of  the  names  of  his  patrons, 


256  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 


BUNG    LOO,    CHINESE    LOTTERY,    POLICY'S 
STRONG  RIVAL. 


Favorite  Levee  Game  Despite  Unfavorable  Odds. 

Bung  Loo,  or  the  "Chinese  game,"  as  it  is  called, 
which,  along  with  policy,  has  been  the  subject  of  inves- 
tigation by  the  police,  has  become  known  in  Chicago 
almost  within  the  last  three  years.  Its  fascinations  are 
such  that  it  has  largely  supplanted  policy,  and  the  former 
followers  of  "4-1 1-44,"  "dead  mans  row,"  "oyster  row," 
and  the  various  other  rows  of  the  policy  fiend,  are  now 
trying  to  pick  ten  numbers  to  yield  a  $400  return  from 
an  investment  of  10  cents. 

Like  policy,  bung  loo  derives  its  support  largely  from 
the  poorer  classes,  to  whom  the  prospect  of  large  win- 
nings from  a  small  bank  roll  appeals,  and  to  whom  the 
enormous  mathematical  odds  against  the  player  does  not 
appeal. 

The  prospective  winnings  in  bung  loo  are  on  a  graded 
scale  varying  from  20  cents  to  $400  on  a  minimum  play 
of  10  cents,  which  is  the  usual  amount  risked.  With 
eighty  numbers  to  select  from,  the  player  marks  ten  on  a 
ticket  which  he  receives  as  a  receipt,  the  company  keep- 
ing one  and  the  agent  another.  Twenty  numbers  of  this 
eighty  "come  out,"  and  from  this  the  profits  are  based. 
A  10-cent  ticket  pays  as  follows  and  larger  tickets  in 
proportion  : 

Five  numbers,  20  cents;  six  numbers,  $1.60;  seven 
numbers,  $16;  eight  numbers,  $80;  nine  numbers,  $200; 
ten  numbers,  $400. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


257 


Bung  Loo,  Chinese  Lottery*  Policy's  Strong  RivaJ 

Favorite    Levee    Game    Despite    Unfavorable    Odds 


r»  «  sr 


Ji   it   *  JP    SI 


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258  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

As  there  are  eighty  numbers,  of  which  twenty  come 
out,  and  the  player  is  allowed  to  select  only  ten,  his 
natural  percentage  would  be  2J,  with  geometrical  pro- 
gression odds  against  each  succeeding  number.  Twenty 
cents  is  frequently  secured,  $1.60  less  often,  and  the 
higher  amounts  rarely.  Stories  are  told  of  those  who 
have  won  $400,  but  such  winners  are  usually  difficult  to 
locate  personally.  The  large  profits  can  be  imagined 
from  the  fact  that  agents,  of  whom  there  are  more  than 
100  in  the  city,  receive  a  commission  of  20  per  cent  gross. 

xAs  to  the  honesty  of  the  drawings,  which  are  con- 
ducted twice  daily  in  a  large  room  over  a  State  street 
saloon  in  the  levee  district,  there  apparently  has  never 
been  any  question,  because  the  natural  odds  against  the 
player  are  so  strong  the  company  can  afford  to  run 
squarely.  Any  player  known  to  one  of  the  many  agents 
scattered  about  the  city  is  allowed  to  make  the  drawings 
himself  if  he  is  at  all'  skeptical,  and  usually  from  200  to 
500  persons  congregate  to  watch  the  proceeding. 

HOW    THE   DRAWINGS   ARE    MADE. 

In  a  large  glass  jar  are  placed  eighty  hollow  rubber 
tubes  about  two  inches  long.  Within  these  tubes  are 
rolled  up  pieces  of  paper  on  which  are  placed  the  fig- 
ures. Four  smaller  jars  are  used  as  receptacles  by  the 
person  making  the  drawing,  who  takes  out  four  tubes  at 
a  time  from  the  larger  jar,  dropping  one  each  into  the 
four  smaller,  repeating  the  proceeding  until  the  eighty 
are  drawn.  With  twenty  tubes  apiece  in  each,  four  tubes 
are  again  placed  in  the  big  jar  corresponding  to  the  num- 
bers of  the  four  smaller  glass  jars.    From  these  is  drawn 


©F  A  DETECTIVE  259 

the  tube  which  indicates  the  jar  containing  the  winning 
numbers  for  that  drawing. 

This  final  choosing  of  the  winning  jar  also  is  made  the 
subject  of  betting  by  the  motley  crowd  of  whites  and 
blacks  which  gathers  to  watch  the  drawing.  A  few  Chi- 
nese usually  are  present,  but  the  Phoenix  Company,  as 
the  concern  operating  the  game  is  called,  has  compara- 
tively few  players  among  the  Chinese,  who  play  another 
game  operated  in  the  city  in  which  the  symbols  denoting 
the  figures  are  in  Chinese  hieroglyphics. 

The  sample  ticket  reproduced  represents  a  return  to 
the  player  of  20  cents.  The  103  in  the  right-hand  corner 
represents  the  number  of  the  drawing.  The  10  cents  in 
the  upper  left-hand  corner  represents  the  amount  paid. 
The  number  at  the  lower  left-hand  corner  the  number  of 
the  agency,  and  the  letters  the  player's  initial,  few  players 
giving  their  full  names  because  the  game  is  against  the 
law. 

The  ticket  with  the  twenty  holes  punched  out  shows 
the  winning  numbers  and  is  furnished  players,  who,  by 
placing  it  directly  over  their  receipt  ticket,  can  see  at  a 
glance  how  many  black  marks  show  through  and  whether 
they  have  guessed  enough  right  to  win.  Generally  they 
have  not. 

WHY    GAMBLING    DOESN'T    PAY    ANY    ONE 
BUT  THE  GAMBLERS. 

Saloon  and  cigar  store  patrons  who  seek  diversion  be- 
tween purchases  by  dallying  with  the  various  gambling 
devices  in  the  places  are,  in  the  vernacular  of  the  sport- 


260  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

ing  fraternity,  *'  up  against  it."  This  was  demonstrated 
by  a  recent  raid  of  the  Harrison  street  police  on  the  many 
"  free  cigar  "  slot  machines  scattered  through  the  dis- 
trict. By  dropping  a  cent  or  a  nickel  in  the  machine, 
cards  mounted  on  wheels  revolved,  forming  combinations 
of  poker  hands.  Prizes  of  drinks,  cigars  or  money  were 
offered  for  difficult  hands.  When  the  police  smashed 
the  machines  after  confiscating  them  and  examined  the 
interiors,  it  was  found  that  broken  decks  or  missing  and 
duplicate  cards  made  the  prize  combinations  impossible. 
■  A  "Private  Catalogue  for  Bankers  and  Gamekeepers," 
recently  issued  by  a  firm  in  Chicago  and  mailed  to  thou- 
sands of  saloonkeepers  throughout  the  city  and  country, 
is  even  more  demonstrative  of  the  profit  accruing  to  sa- 
loonkeepers from  gambling  patrons,  whether  of  the  ama- 
teur, experienced,  or  intoxicated  ilk. 

The  advice  to  prospective  purchasers  of  the  devices 
advertised  frequently  tendered  in  the  pamphlet  is :  "  This 
is  the  chance  to  clean  up  all  the  money  in  your  neighbor- 
hood, and  you  might  as  well  get  it  as  to  let  some  one 
else."  Cuts  and  descriptions  of  scores  of  gambling  de- 
vices are  shown,  not  one  of  which  offers  even  the  slight- 
est hope  for  success  to  the  victim  who  stakes  his  money. 
The  admonition  often  is  given  after  the  descriptive  mat- 
ter, "  Back  of  any  live  bar  this  will  pay  the  rent,"  and 
undoubtedly  the  machines  are  doing  so  in  hundreds  of 
resorts. 

Loaded  dice,  grooved  dice  boxes,  marked  and  trimmed 
cards,  "  fixed  "  slot  machines,  pocket  roulette  wheels, 
magnetized  or  susceptible  to  the  manipulations  of  the 
bartender  if  not  arranged  with  a  prohibitive  percentage 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  261 

against  the  player,  and  many  other  implements  are  inter- 
mingled with  "  crooked  "  hyronemus  tubes,  hazard  boxes, 
faro  layouts,  and  "  holdouts  "  for  use  where  open  gam- 
bling is  permitted.  The  absolute  safety  and  surety  to 
the  keeper  is  guaranteed  in  all  cases.  The' effect  on  his 
victim  is  given  no  comment. 

INNOCENT   DICE    MACHINE    A    SURE   WINNER. 

The  apparently  innocent  dice  machine  which  stands 
unmolested  in  scores  of  Chicago  cigar  stores  and  saloons 
is  described  as  the  cheapest  and  most  profitable  for  small 
places,  especially  where  children  are  permitted  to  play. 
In  this  the  percentage  for  the  keeper  is  so  great  that 
manipulation  of  the  machine  is  unnecessary.  By  drop- 
ping a  coin  in  a  slot,  five  dice,  inclosed  in  a  globular 
glass  cover,  are  thrown  up  from  a  vibrating  platform. 
The  award  of  prizes  is  determined  by  the  numbers  up- 
permost on  the  dice  when  they  fall.  The  list  of  prizes 
offered  and  remarks  are  appended  and  will  serve  to  illus- 
trate for  almost  any  of  the  percentage  machines : 

5  aces  pays  50  for  1  6  pays  25  for  1  24  pays    5  for  I 

5  deuces  pays  50  for  1  7  pays  10  for  1  25  pays    5  for  1 

5  treys  pays  50  for  1  8  pays  10  for  1  26  pays    5  for  1 

5  fours  pays  50  for  1  9  pays    5  for  1  27  pays  10  for  I 

5  fives  pays  50  for  1  10  pays    5  for  1  28  pays  10  for  1 

5  sixes  pays  50  for  1  1 1  pays    5  for  1  29  pays  25  for  1 

"The  reading  of  this  list  will  convince  any  one  that 
there  are  inducements  enough  offered  to  tempt  almost 
any  one  to  try  his  luck,  and  yet  the  game  is  300  per  cent 
strong  in  favor  of  the  house.  This  machine  is  made  with 
interchangeable   slots   and   can   be   played    with    either   a 


262  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

penny,  nickel,  dime,  or  quarter.  Send  in  your  order  and 
get  the  best  money  maker  ever  made.  The  possibilities 
of  this  machine  are  unlimited ;  one  man  is  liable  to  get 
stuck  and  lose  more  money  than  a  slot  machine  can  take 
off  in  months." 

HAS    ONE    CHANCE    IN    J,Jj6. 

Here  is  another  suggestion  for  the  buyer: 
"Hundreds  of  our  customers  are  making  money  with 
this  machine.  Why  not  you?  This  idea  is  entirely  new. 
Why  not  be  the  first  to  spring  in  your  neighborhood  and 
reap  the  golden  harvest?  Upon  receiving  your  machine 
go  to  your  banker  and  buy  a  certificate  of  deposit  for 
$100.  Place  the  certificate  in  the  frame  of  your  machine, 
which  is  put  there  for  that  purpose.  Then  offer  it  to  the 
first  man  who  throws  five  sixes,  the  player  having  to 
put  25  cents  in  the  slot  each  throw.  Or  if  you  wish  you 
can  put  up  $50  and  charge  10  cents  each  throw.  The 
player's  chance  to  throw  any  one  set  of  five  of  a  kind  is 
one  in  J,7j6.  But  this  is  not  taken  into  consideration  by 
one  in  a  hundred.  The  idea  of  getting  big  money  for  so 
small  an  investment  is  what  catches  the  average  citizen. 
These  machines  will  take  off  from  $5  to  $50  a  day  in  any 
live  saloon." 

Saloonkeepers,  especially  those  in  small  towns  and 
country  resorts  where  dice  games  are  most  popular,  are 
recommended  loaded  dice  as  the  most  profitable  and 
surest  system  of  securing  the  player's  money.  For  the 
more  avaricious  keepers  electric  appliances  that  leave 
nothing  to*  chance  are  supplied.  Before  quoting  the 
styles  and  prices  of  his  wares  the  compiler  of  the  pam- 


GF  A  ©ETECTIVE  263 

phlet  extends  the  following  hints.  Although  intended 
for  the  eyes  of  those  familiar  with  the  games  and  their 
terms  they  are  intelligible  to  the  novice : 

"Concerning  loaded  dice — The  most  essential  points 
to  be  observed  are :  First,  see  that  the  weight  is  per- 
fect. Second,  the  eyes  must  be  the  same  and  they  must 
roll  like  a  fair  dice.  Any  one  can  put  a  load  in  a  dice 
and  plug  it,  but  it  takes  years  of  patience  and  skill 
to  acquire  the  knack  of  making  a  dice  to  act  perfect ; 
come  exactly  for  what  it  is  desired,  and  yet  roll  like 
a  fair  dice.  But  this  is  what  we  are  doing.  Every 
dice  that  leaves  our  house  is  thoroughly  tested.  We 
employ  no  boys  on  any  of  our  work.  Compare  our 
prices  and  work  with  other  houses." 

MAGNETS  TO  HELP  LOADED  DICE. 

For  the  ordinary  saloon  games  the  following  are  sug- 
gested : 

"First  dash  out  of  the  box — The  only  dice  in  the 
country  for  a  saloon,  cigar  stand,  or  any  place  where  they 
shake  'first  flop.'  You  can  get  three  of  a  kind,  four  of 
a  kind,  or  five  of  a  kind  at  your  pleasure,  while  your 
opponent  gets  what  his  luck  would  be  with  fair  dice. 
No  shifting;  the  only  thing  is  to  know  how  to  get  them 
out.  With  our  instructions  it  will  take  but  a  few  minutes 
to  learn  how  to  get  them  out  in  a  natural  manner  with- 
out exciting  any  suspicion  whatever.  Loaded  for  aces 
or  whatever  number  is  high  in  your  vicinity.  This  is 
your  chance  to  clean  up  all  the  money  in  your  neighbor- 
hood, and  you  might  as  well  get  it  as  to  let  someone 
else. 


264  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

"Electro  magnet  for  bar — You  press  the  squeeze;  the 
magnet  does  the  rest.  The  magnet  being  placed  under 
the  bar,  table,  or  counter  is  neither  seen,  heard,  nor 
felt.  It  is  connected  by  wires  with  a  dry  battery.  In 
order  to  make  a  big  throw  all  you  have  to  do  is  to  press 
the  secret  squeeze  and  throw  the  dice  over  the  spot 
where  the  magnet  is  concealed,  and  you  can  beat  almost 
any  throw  that  your  opponent  might  make,  and  this  with 
the  same  dice  he  uses,  without  any  juggling  of  dice  or 
box.  Just  put  the  dice  into  the  box  and  throw  them 
out  in  a  natural  and  careless  manner. 

"The  dice  roll  perfectly  natural  at  all  times  and  no 
one  can  see  any  difference  when  the  current  is  on — only 
in  size  of  hands  thrown.  Counter  magnets  and  batteries 
weigh  -about  forty  pounds.  It  acts  through  any  thickness 
of  wood,  glass,  paper,  cloth,  etc.  This  is  the  thing 
to  have  if  you  want  big  money. 

"Transparent  dice — We  are  making  up  transparent 
loaded  dice  with  regular  plain  spots.  Not  inlaid,  but 
natural  concave  spots.  Players  always  have  confidence 
in  the  game  when  shooting  with  a  set  of  these  dice  for 
the  simple  reason  that  they  can  look  through  them. 
Transparent  dice  will  always  get  the  play  in  preference 
to  any  other.     We  guarantee  detection  impossible." 

Other  forms  of  diversion  for  the  patron  and  profit 
for  the  proprietor  are  offered  at  "bargain  rates  as  side 
issues."  Attention  is  called  to  a  $2  pocket  roulette  wheel, 
seemingly  a  toy,  but  as  perfectly  regulated  and  thieving 
as  the  other  paraphernalia.  It  is  an  aluminum  roulette 
wheel  weighing  about  four  ounces  and  capable  of  being 
carried   in   a    small   pocket.      Displayed   as    a   toy,    it   is 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  265 

usually  given  a  few  "whirls"  by  the  sportively  inclined 
patron. 

To  the  Chicago  saloonkeeper,  however,  where  the  so- 
cial draw  poker  game  is  "a  harmless  adjunct  to  a  saloon," 
marked  cards  and  card  "holdouts"  are  commended  as 
exciting  no  suspicion  among  the  victims.  In  the  "quiet 
little  games"  in  the  rear  rooms  of  the  resorts  and  the 
"private  whist  clubs"  above,  thousands  of  dollars  are 
stolen  monthly  from  the  unsuspecting  devotees  of  the 
game,  according  to  the  manufacturers  of  the  "crooked" 
implements.     Few  of  the  players  ever  win. 

HOLD  OUTS. 

Correspond  with  us  before  buying  of  others.  We 
have  the  finest  line  of  any  house  in  the  country,  and 
every  machine  is  made  to  get  the  money,  not  for  or- 
nament. 


No.  40. — Keplinger's  patent  considered  to  be  the  finest 
machine  ever  produced.  Can  be  worn  in  either  a  white 
or  flannel  shirt,  and  is  the  only  machine  that  can  be 
worked  in  the  shirt  without  having  to  wear  a  coat. 
Guaranteed  to  work  perfectly,  noiselessly  and  every  part 
is  made  with  the  greatest  care  and  accuracy,  and  in  fact 
just  as  much  pains  are  taken  as  is  done  with  the  finest 
watch.  Works  with  a  knee  movement  and  by  a  slight 
movement  everything  disappears.    Our  price,  only  $125.00 


No.  41.     Sullivan.     Here   is   the  latest   style  and   im- 
proved machine,  and  is  impossible  to  be  detected  in  work- 


266  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

ing.  No  coupling  up  at  the  knee,  and  pressing  the 
side  or  other  false  movements.  When  you  want  to  take 
the  cards  or  bring  them  back  you  only  have  to  make 
a  slight  movement  that  no  one  can  see ;  no  difference  if 
they  have  played  cards  all  their  lives  they  will  stand  it. 
Price,  expansion  movement,  only  $90.00.  With  knee 
movement,  $65.00. 

Note. — With  this  machine  you  can  slip  into  a  closet, 
put  the  machine  on  in  a  minute  and  after  you  have  won 
your  money  you  can  take  it  off  in  two  seconds,  slip  it 
into  your  pocket  and  appear  again  in  your  shirt  sleeves. 
Nothing  like  it  ever  made  before. 


No.  42.  Latest  Arm  Movement.  This  is  a  little  jewel 
and  is  a  winner.  Cannot  be  detected  as  it  fits  snugly 
to  the  arm  and  is  worked  by  a  slight  pressure  against 
side,  and  does  not  require  any  pressure  at  all  after  you 
have  become  familiar  with  machine.  All  it  requires  is 
to  hold  the  arm  solid  against  the  side  and  swell  the 
chest,  which  is  all  that  is  necessary  to  work  the  machine. 
Can  be  worn  at  all  times  without  inconvenience.  Fully 
guaranteed  to  do  what  we  claim.     Price,  only  $25.00. 


No.  43.  Vest  Machine.  This  is  a  money  producer 
and  will  soon  win  out  a  Keplinger  or  Sullivan  for  you, 
as  it  is  the  best  machine  for  the  money  ever  sold;  fits 
in  the  vest  near  the  top  and  requires  no  unnatural  move- 
ments to  work,  is  worked  by  the  foot  and  cannot  possibly 
be  detected.    Working  easily  and  without  noise  and  with 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  267 

a  true  "sneak"  that  gives  and  takes  perfectly;  this  is 
a  hard  one  to  go  against.    Price,  only  $15.00. 


No.  44.  Sleeve  Machine.  The  cheapest  machine  in 
the  country.  Light  and  durable  and  is  worked  by  raising 
and  lowering  the  arm.  Can  be  put  on  and  taken  off  in  a 
second.     Either  arm  can  be  used.       Price,  only  $10.00. 


DICE  SETS. 

No.  642.  Special.  Comprises  6  dice,  and  controls  all 
points  of  the  game.  One  pair  is  spotted,  so  it  is  im- 
possible to  throw  seven.  The  other  pair  is  spotted  so 
as  to  throw  seven  every  other  time,  and  one  pair  fair. 
You  use  the  pair  without  any  seven  and  let  your 
opponent  come  out  for  a  point  and  then  switch  the  dice 
on  him,  he  loses  his  point.  One-half  inch  bone.  One  pair 
top  and  bottom,  one  pair  splits,  and  one  pair  fair, 
only  $1.50. 


Tops  and  Bottoms,  Horses,  Splits,  Yams,  &c.  Spotted 
any  way  you  desire.     State  how  you  want  them. 
1  pr.  y*  in.  bone,  ivory  or  celluloid,  $  .50  1  pr.  fair,  $  ,50 
ipr.9/16       "  "       "         "  .75  1       "  75 

1  pr.  s/8  "  «       «         «  1.00  1       "  1.00 

ipr.  11/16     "  "       "         "  1.25  1       "  1.25 

ipr.^4  "  «■       "         "  1.50  I       "  1.50 


Set  No.  644.     A  new  one  in  the  top  and  bottom  line. 
Comprises  one  pair  fair  and  two  dice  spotted  to  pass, 


268  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

and  one  dice  for  a  splitter.  There  is  only  one  chance 
against  you  with  the  passing  dice,  and  that  is  craps. 
But  at  the  present  age  it  isn't  safe  to  win  every  bet,  and 
as  you  do  not  lose  control  of  the  dice  on  the  crap, 
you  pass  until  you  get  tired,  and  then  let  your  opponent 
come  out  with  them ;  then  shift  in  your  splitter  and  he 
loses  out. 

The  dice  are  spotted  so  that  to  look  at  them  from  any 
direction  they  look  like  fair  dice  and  have  to  be  taken 
up  before  discovering  they  are  tops  and  bottoms.  We 
have  seen  smart  people  stand  these  and  recommend  them 
where  they  won't  stand  the  old  style  top  and  bottom. 
Price,  y2  in.  bone,  set  of  5  t.  and  b.  and  splitter  and  fair, 
$1.25. 

Never  cut  or  mutilate  dice  by  putting  private  marks 
on  them  until  you  have  tried  them  and  found  them  all 
right.  We  cannot  exchange  dice  then,  as  they  would  be 
of  no  use  to  us. 


ELECTRIC   MONEY  DRAWER. 

For  Klondike  and  hazard  games,  including  two  sets 
of  dice ;  each  set  a  different  combination ;  our  own  in- 
vention. SWIFT,  SURE,  SILENT.  The  magnet,  bat- 
teries and  connections  are  all  in  the  drawer,  and  remem- 
ber, all  you  have  to  do  is  to  screw  this  drawer  under 
any  table,  the  same  as  any  ordinary  money  drawer,  then 
it  is  all  ready  for  use.  Hundreds  now  in  use.  $45.00 
Our  magnets  are  an  improvement  over  anything  ever 
turned  out. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


269 


ELECTRIC  DICE  AND  ELECTRIC  CRAP  TABLES  A  SPECIALTY. 

Prices    for   electric   crap   tables   according   to   size   of 
space  you  want  covered. 


The  Pocket  Roulette  Wheel 

•'Another  New  One." 


This  device  back  of  any  live  bar  will  pay  the  rent. 
Can  be  made  to  come  high  or  low  at  will.  Always  works. 
Detection  impossible.  A  great  game  for  the  drinks  or 
cigars,  it  will  perform  just  as  well  for  dollars  also.  A 
decided  novelty,  never  having  been  sold  before. 

Made  of  aluminum,  very  light ;  weight,  6  oz. ;  size, 
3^2  in.  in  diameter.     Price,  $2.00. 


270  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

MARKED   CARDS. 

The  victim  does  not  realize  until  too  late  that  the 
supposed  gambler's  luck  and  skill  by  which  they  were 
beaten  was  robbery  as  carefully  planned  and  executed 
as  the  performance  of  a  professional  pickpocket. 

The  backs  of  marked  cards  are  shown  on  the  pages 
and  carefully  prepared  cards  are  offered  at  prices  little 
above  the  unmarked  decks.  To  avoid  additional'  ex- 
pense proprietors  of  places  where  games  are  unmolested 
are  advised  to  purchase  from  the  firm  the  inks,  brushes, 
and  pens  essential  to  the  work  and  shade  the  cards  to 
their  own  satisfaction.  Models  and  instructions  are  sent 
to  economical  keepers. 


"holdouts"  needed  for  "big  money." 

Sleeve  and  vest  "holdouts"  of  the  kind  made  famous 
by  exposures  of  professional  gamblers  on  the  ocean 
steamship  lines  are  offered  to  the  dealer  who  is  going 
after  "big  money."  Judicious  use  of  the  cheaper  kind 
will  earn  enough  to  pay  for  a  more  elaborate  outfit,  the 
pamphlet  suggests.  Every  machine  is  made  "to  get  the 
money,  not  for  ornament,"  dealers  declare,  and  descrip- 
tions of  a  few  are  appended. 

Scores  of  other  implements  and  devices  are  made  in 
the  place  and  exhibited  openly  for  sale,  despite  the 
statutes  concerning  the  manufacture  or  sale  of  gambling 
paraphernalia.  The  place  is  visited  daily  by  many 
buyers  and  the  purchases  are  shipped  with  little  secrecy. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  271 

No  electrician  knows  the  uses  of  a  little  piece  of  in- 
sulated wire  better  than  many  of  the  professional  gam- 
blers in  Chicago.  That  is  why  the  men  continue  to  be 
professional  gamblers,  and  are  not  serving  the  city  as 
professional  criminals. 

The  intricate  system  of  alarm  bells  and  danger  signals 
with  which  gamblers  are  notified  that  the  police  are  thun- 
dering at  their  gates  is  as  complicated  and  as  effective 
as  any  system  can  well  be.  That  is  why  detectives  have 
taken  to  wearing  disguises,  and  why  the  methods  of  Old 
Sleuth  and  Captain  Collier,  those  heroes  of  dime  novels, 
so  long  scouted  by  real  detectives,  have  crept  into  favor. 

In  the  first  place,  it  must  be  understood  that  there  is 
gambling  in  Chicago.  Hand  books  in  which  bets  may 
be  made  on  the  races  flourish  in  many  places  where  one 
would  not  look. for  them.  Craps,  poker,  roulette  and  the 
old  army  game  may  be  interviewed,  yet  the  number  of 
good  cases  made  out  in  court  against  the  well-known 
proprietors  of  these  games  is  pitifully  small.  The  de- 
tectives have  gone  into  gambling  houses,  arrested  the  in- 
mates, and  then  have  come  into  police  courts  and  have 
been  forced  to  admit  that  they  were  unable  to  present  2 
case  strong  enough  to  warrant  the  magistrate  in  holding 
the  prisoners  to  the  grand  jury  for  trial.  They  have  been 
forced  to  fall  back  upon  the  old  vagrancy  charge.  They 
accuse  men  of  vagrancy  when  they  find  that  the  gam- 
bling charges  are  not  well  enough  sustained.  Many  men 
wearing  the  best  clothes  obtainable  and  laden  with  dia- 
monds enough  to  make  a  jeweler's  window  turn  green 
with  envy  have  been  charged  with  being  vagrants,     All 


272 


THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  273 

of  which  is  set  down  to  the  knowledge  that  the  gamblers 
in  Chicago  have  of  the  usefulness  of  an  electric  wire. 

VANISH    BEFORE    DETECTIVES    APPEAR. 

The  gambling  resorts  may  be  running  full  blast.  The 
play  may  be  heavy,  the  spectators  as  great  in  number  as 
those  at  a  fashionable  concert,  yet  when  the  detectives 
break  into  the  room  the  men  are  all  there,  the  apparatus 
is  hidden,  and  the  gambling  charge  must  fall  flat.  All 
of  the  gambling  houses  whose  owners  can  afford  the  out- 
lay are  provided  with  a  set  of  danger  signals  that  would 
do  credit  to  a  train  dispatcher's  office  or  the  main  room 
in  a  telegraph  concern. 

It  is  often  necessary  to  pass  two  and  sometimes  three 
lookouts  before  the  main  room  is  reached.  But  that  is 
the  easiest  part  of  it.  The  hardest  is  to  get  as  far  as  the 
first  lookout  without  being  recognized.  The  bootblack 
on  the  corner,  the  newsboy,  the  seller  of  fruit,  any  or  all 
of  them  may  be  in  the  employ  of  the  gambler  whose  place 
is  near.  As  soon  as  a  suspicious  character  enters  the 
neighborhood  and  asks  to  be  directed  to  a  place  where 
the  game  is  running,  or  when  a  detective  assigned  to 
gambling  work  heaves  in  sight,  the  outside  helpers  of 
the  gamblers  become  occupied.  One  will  pass  the  word 
to  another,  and  it  is  seldom  a  minute  before  some  one 
has  his  finger  on  an  electric  button.  This  jars  out  a 
warning  in  the  gambling  room,  although  the  noise  is  not 
heard  by  those  approaching.  On  the  instant  the  faro 
table  becomes  the  center  of  a  group  of  men  reading  news- 
papers, many  times  with  unusual  facility  and  upside 
down.     The  other  gambling  devices  become  the  fields 


274  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

upon  which  innocent  games  of  pedro  and  penuchle  are  in 
progress,  and  the  detectives  pause  at  the  threshold  and 
know  their  labor  has  been  wasted. 

FOOTBOARDS   GIVE   WARNING. 

But  it  is  not  by  means  of  the  simple  electric  bell  that 
most  of  the  gamblers  find  security  from  unwelcome  vis- 
itors. Many  of  the  places  are  equipped  with  movable 
footboards  in  the  hallways.  As  soon  as  a  foot  presses 
on  one  of  these  the  bell  rings  and  the  gamblers  are 
warned.  Mirrors  showing  the  street,  such  mirrors  as 
are  on  every  house  in  Holland,  are  also  used.  Men  are 
paid  well  to  do  nothing  except  watch  the  street. 

It  is  with  difficulties  like  these  that  the  detectives  in 
the  gambling  detail  that  is  attached  to  Chief  O'Neilrs 
office  have  to  deal.  That  is  why  the  gambling  detail  is 
known  as  the  hardest  worked  detail  on  the  police  force. 
When  the  duties  of  many  of  the  other  policemen  are 
taken  in  consideration  the  honor  of  this  reputation  is  at 
once  apparent.  Detective  John  Herts,  who,  with  Cap- 
tain Schuettler,  arrested  Emma  Goldman  here ;  Detec- 
tives Schubert,  Sederberg  and  Walley  are  the  men  upon 
whom  the  weight  falls. 

Their  work  is  made  all  the  harder  by  the  fact  that 
most  of  the  gamblers  know  them  by  sight.  The  appear- 
ance of  any  one  of  them  in  a  gambling  neighborhood  is 
a  signal  of  danger.  Everything  that  is  suspicious  is 
whisked  out  of  the  way.  Often  the  detectives  are  shad- 
owed from  the  office  in  the  City  Hall,  and  their  arrival 
at  a  gambling  house  is  known  minutes  before  it  takes 
place.  And  in  this  work  every  minute  is  worth  not  sixty 
seconds,   but   sixty  opportunities. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  275 

HAVE   TO    USE    STOOL    PIGEONS. 

Knowing  as  they  do  that  the  element  of  surprise  is 
eliminated  from  the  possibilities  of  their  success  the  de- 
tectives are  forced  to  call  in  other  aids.  For  instance, 
many  times  they  employ  men  who  are  strangers  in  the 
neighborhood  to  which  they  are  sent,  and  through  them 
they  get  an  insight  into  the  inner  workings  of  the  gam- 
bling house  they  intend  to  attack.  They  may  then  at- 
tack it  with  more  intelligence.  When  their  employe 
goes  to  court  to  testify  he  finds  his  testimony  partly  dis- 
credited because  his  work  was  not  done  as  the  work  of  a 
police  officer,  but  as  that  of  an  informer,  and  informers 
get  little  sympathy  or  credence  in  police  courts.  Each 
court  is  attended  by  spies  employed  by  the  gamblers. 
They  are  there  in  the  guise  of  innocent  and  disinterested 
spectators,  but  in  reality  they  have  their  eyes  and  ears 
open  all  the  time.  They  hear  the  description  of  the 
means  the  detectives  employed  to  gain  entrance  to  the 
place,  and  if  the  method  is  a  new  one  they  hurry  to  tell 
their  employers,  who  are  then  armed  against  the  innova- 
tion. These  spies  serve  another  purpose.  They  get  ac- 
curate descriptions  of  the  informers  or  "stool  pigeons" 
of  the  police,  and  any  informer  who  again  ventures  into 
the  place  which  he  has  betrayed  does  it  at  his  peril.  Of 
course,  no  foolish  attempt  is  made  on  his  life,  but  the 
proper  way  to  administer  a  beating  is  thoroughly  un- 
derstood by  the  gamblers'  assistants.  , 

Being,  as  they  are,  entirely  unable  to  surprise  any 
gambler  while  he  is  gambling,  and  being  stripped  of  the 
services  of  effective  ini'onners,  the  detectives  must  seek 


276  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

another  way  to  get  arrests  that  are  necessary.    Then  it  is 
that  the  old  game  of  disguises  is  used. 

SOMETIMES    DON    DISGUISES. 

Of  course  it  is  understood  that  not  one  time  in  a  thou- 
sand does  a  Chicago  detective  find  it  necessary  to  assume 
a  disguise.  Outside  of  Detective  John  Thompson  of  the 
Central  station  the  number  of  officers  who  have  done 
detective  work  while  disguised  is  larger  only  than  the 
number  of  hens'  teeth.  Thompson  wore  a  disguise  once 
and  the  man  he  "made  up"  to  represent  was  John  Alex- 
ander Dowie.  A  boy  wrote  to  Dr.  Dowie  that  unless  he 
brought  $4,000  to  the  junction  o<f  the  Chicago  &  North- 
western railway  tracks  and  Kedzie  avenue  something 
dreadful  would  happen.  This  was  just  after  the  Cudahy 
kidnaping  in  Omaha,  and  Dr.  Dowie  turned  the  threat- 
ening letter  over  to  Captain  Colleran.  Detective  Thomp- 
son donned  a  long  robe  and  white  whiskers  and  played 
Dr.  Dowie  long  enough  to  meet  the  boy  and  arrest  him. 
But  that  case  was  a  lonely  exception.  Real  detectives 
take  a  pride  in  doing  work  that  is  entirely  different  from 
the  detective  work  described  by  writers  of  blood  and 
thunder  detective  stories.  Detective  Wooldridge  and 
Detective  Schubert  of  this  difficult  gambling  detail  are 
exceptions  to  that  rule.  Not  because  they  particularly 
like  the  role  of  sensational  detectives,  but  because  if  they 
did  not  occasionally  go  disguised  they  would  arrest  fewer 
gamblers  than  they  do.  Detective  Schubert's  favorite 
disguise  is  that  of  a  milk  man.  Wooldridge  makes  up 
best  as  a  farmer.  They  change  their  walks  and  com- 
pletely change  their  clothing,  and  sometimes  they  elude 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  277 

the  pickets  and  the  electrical  apparatus  and  sometimes 
they  do  not.  Once  when  they  were  successful  they  got 
into  "Pony"  Moore's  gambling  place  in  Twenty-first 
street,  between  Dearborn  and  State  streets,  but  they  have 
tried  the  disguise  often  since. 

And  so  it  is  that  when  a  policeman  or  a  detective  is 
asked  to  name  the  most  difficult  work  in  the  province  of 
the  Chicago  Police  Department  his  answer  will  in  all 
probability  be,  "the  arresting  and  successful  prosecution 
of  gamblers  who  know  a  thing  or  two  about  electricity." 


LOTTERIES  AND  GIFT  ENTERPRISES. 

All  lotteries  are  humbugs,  no  matter  how  fairly 
managed.  Their  main  object  is  to  make  money  for 
their  proprietors,  and  the  pretense  of  benefiting  some 
public  or  charitable  institution  is  a  mere  bait.  Within 
the  recollection  of  many,  lotteries  were  tolerated,  and 
even  legalized,  in  almost  every  state  of  the  Union,  but 
of  late  years  the  moral  sense  of  the  community  has 
demanded  that  they  be  suppressed,  and  now  most  states 
have  laws  prohibiting  them.  The  managers  of  these 
concerns  try  to  dazzle  the  minds  of  the  people,  with  the 
hope  of  getting  for  $i  or  $5,  a  $15^000  prize,  also  fine 
houses,  a  farm,  carriages,  pianos,  etc.  Only  very  foolish 
people  will  invest  in  lotteries.  You  are  far  more  in 
danger  of  being  struck  by  lightning  than  you  are  of 
drawing  one  of  the  $1,000  or  $5,000  or  other  valuable 
prizes/  Never  have  anything  to  do  with  them,  whether 
called  "Gift  Enterprises,"  "Artists'  Unions,"  "Benev- 
olent Enterprises,"  "Prize  Concerts,"  "Prize  Association," 


278  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

'Ticket  Sales,"  "Grand  Gift  Concerts,"  etc.  Each  and 
all  of  these  affairs,  no  matter  what  name  they  are  called, 
or  who  endorses  them,  are  all  detestable,  and  unworthy 
of  the  slightest  countenance  or  favor  even  supposing 
they  were  conducted  legitimately ;  for  every  dollar  that 
goes  to  a  good  object,  several  other  dollars  find  their  way 
into  the  pockets  of  the  operators — no*  matter  how 
specious  their  statements  and  pretences.  No  matter 
under  what  pretence  these  things  are  advertised — and 
those  cloaked  under  charitable  disguises  are  more  re- 
prehensible than  bold  and  barefaced  lotteries — they  all 
hold  out  temptations,  that  the  few  may  get  something 
at  the  expense  of  the  many.  It  is  gambling  in  its 
meanest  form;  and  no  honorable  man,  whether  he  be 
governor,  mayor,  merchant,  or  priest,  should  allow  his 
name  to  be  used  to  promote  any  such  scheme. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


279 


Mother  &  OrJy  Doing  Her  Duty.     Grin  and  Bear  It,  Dad.     It 
Will  be  the  Making  of  You, 


280  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 


INTERESTED  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


Three    Men    Arrested    Who    Fought    Extradition — 
Tragedies  at  the  Trial. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  criminal  cases  with  which 
the  police  of  any  city  in  the  world  have  been  connected 
and  which  through  its  ramifications  became  a  question  of 
international  importance,  and  went  from  the  police  court 
to  the  United  States  Commissioner,  thence  to  the  District 
Federal  Court,  and  on  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  and  finally  to  the  Dominion  of  Canada, 
is  one  which  Detective  Wooldridge  and  his  assistants 
made  possible  by  the  arrest  of  three  men  said  to  be  the 
most  dangerous  bank  robbers  in  the  country,  and  whose 
trial  in  Canada,  in  June,  1901,  was  attended  with  many 
tragedies,  resulting  in  the  death  of  two  of  the  robbers  and 
the  killing  of  an  officer. 

This  case  first  came  before  the  public  in  May,  1900, 
and  for  a  period  of  nearly  twelve  months  following  it 
occupied  the  attention  of  the  press  and  of  the  foreign 
consuls  of  the  United  States,  because  of  the  fact  that  ex- 
tradition was  demanded  by  the  Dominion  of  Canada  of 
three  men  who  were  citizens  of  the  United  States.  The 
final  decision  of  the  important  question  was  made  on  Feb- 
ruary 25,  1901,  and  it  established  a  precedent  which  will 
have  an  important  bearing  on  all  similar  cases  which  may 
engage  the  attention  of  the  courts  in  the  future,  or  at 
least  until  there  is  a  change  in  the  existing  treaty  between 
the  United  States  and  Canada. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  281 

The  case  in  question  was  brought  about  by  the  arrest 
on  June  I,  1900,  at  the  Ashland  apartment  building,  131 
Ashland  avenue,  of  Fred  Lee  Rice,  Frank  Rutledge  and 
Thomas  Jones,  upon  a  request  from  Chief  of  Police  Gras- 
sette,  of  Toronto,  to  Chief  of  Police  Kipley. 

The  following  is  the  telegram  received  by  Chief  of 
Police  Kipley  from  the  Toronto  official,  May  23,  1900:      , 

"Look  out  for  and  arrest  four  men — Fred  L.  Rice, 
Frank  Rutledge,  Thos.  Jones — the  fourth  man's  name  is 
unknown.  On  the  morning  of  May  3,  1900,  they  robbed 
the  postoffice  and  bank  at  Aurora,  some  thirty  miles  from 
Toronto,  securing  $700  in  currency,  $200  worth  of 
stamps,  and  a  large  assortment  of  mining  stocks,  and  they 
made  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  blow  up  the  safe  of  the 
bank  in  Toronto.  After  assaulting  and  nearly  killing  a 
police  officer,  and  stealing  a  horse  and  wagon,  they  drove 
to  another  town,  where  their  baggage  was  shipped  by 
their  friends  to  452  Austin  avenue,  Chicago." 

Chief  Kipley  at  once  realized  that  he  had  an  important 
case  on  hand,  and  called  in  Detective  Wooldridge  and 
placed  him  in  charge  of  it,  giving  him  all  the  information 
he  possessed. 

Later  in  the  day  a  minute  description  of  the  men  and 
of  the  baggage  was  received.  Wooldridge  was  given  a 
detail  of  assistants  and  at  once  placed  four  men  on  duty 
around  the  house  at  452  Austin  avenue  with  instructions 
to  watch  for  the  baggage  and  arrest  the  fugitives  if  they 
put  in  an  appearance. 

All  the  railroad  trains  from  the  east  were  carefully 
watched  by  a  corps  of  officers  for  the  purpose  of  inter- 
cepting the  robbers,  in  case  they  had  not  already  arrived 


282  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

in  the  city,  or  of  getting  the  baggage  if  it  had  not  already 
been  received. 

Wooldridge  then  went  to  the  offices  of  all  the  express 
companies  in  Chicago  and  secured  the  assistance  of  the 
superintendents  of  each  in  locating  and  detaining  the 
baggage  in  the  event  it  should  be  shipped  by  express, 
which  was  most  likely. 

In  a  day  or  two  Wooldridge  was  notified  that  the  bag- 
gage had  arrived  at  the  Dearborn  street  station  over  the 
Wabash  road.  Two  detectives  were  then  stationed  on 
the  inside  of  the  depot  and  two  on  the  outside  with 
bicycles  on  which  they  might  follow  any  one  who  called 
for  the  baggage,  which  consisted  of  three  valises.  It  was 
not  supposed  that  either  of  the  owners  of  the  baggage 
would  call  in  person  for  it,  but  that  it  would  be  sent  for 
and  taken  to  the  rooms  of  the  fugitives. 

In  the  meantime  information  was  received  by  one  of 
the  officers  on  guard  at  the  Austin-avenue  house  that 
three  of  the  men  he  was  seeking  were  at  that  place  on 
the  evening  of  May  24. 

Wooldridge  got  his  forces  ready  and  told  them  to  re- 
port at  three  o'clock  the  following  morning.  The  fol- 
lowing are  the  names  of  those  who  answered  the  roll- 
call  :  William  Schubert,  W.  H.  McGrath,  J.  J.  Sullivan, 
M.  F.  Farelly,  Tim  De  Roche,  Joseph  Dubach,  Charles 
Niggermeyer,  J.  O'Hara,  William  Taylor,  P.  J.  Fitz- 
gerald, Ed.  Burns  and  Ter  Issian. 

Wooldridge  and  all  his  associates  realized  that  the  men 
wanted  were  dangerous  and  desperate  criminals  and  that 
their  capture  would  probably  expose  every  one  to  great 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


283 


peril.     It  was  expected  they  would  make  a  strong  resist- 
ance, and  even  die  before  submitting  to  arrest. 

The  Austin-avenue  house  was  a  two-story  structure, 
the  ground  floor  being  occupied  by  a  saloon.  The  living 
apartments  above  were  reached  by  a  long  flight  of  stairs 
which  ran  up  from 
the  side,  near  the 
center.  It  was  by 
means  Of  this  stair- 
way that  entrance 
must  be  gained  to 
the  rooms  above ; 
peaceably  if  possible, 
by  force  if  neces- 
sary. 

Some  of  the  men 
protested  against  in- 
vading the  house  in 
this  way  because  of 
the  splendid  chances 
of  getting  shot  from 
above.    * 

Detective  Woold- 
ridge  then  stepped 
forward  and  said  he 
would    not  ask    any 

man  to  go  where  he  was  unwilling  to  go,  declaring  he 
would  lead. 

Detectives   Schubert,   Sullivan,   McGrath   and   Dubach 
joined  him,  and  the  others  surrounded  the  house.     An 


Fred  Lee  Rice. 


284  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

entrance  was  made  easily  enough,  but  when  the  officers 
got  inside,  they  found  that  the  game  had  flown. 

Many  clews  were  taken  up  after  this  and  followed  per- 
sistently and  relentlessly,  but  nothing  came  of  them,  and 
the  detectives  met  only  disappointment.  But  Wooldridge 
was  never  discouraged  or  downcast  on  account  of  a  fail- 
ure. He  never  lagged  in  his  efforts  to  locate  and  capture 
the  safe-blowers.  He  kept  up  the  chase  vigorously,  and 
on  May  31  it  was  discovered  that  an  expressman  had  car- 
ried the  trunks  of  Fred  Lee  Rice  and  Frank  Rutledge 
from  1355  Michigan  avenue,  where  they  formerly  had 
apartments,  to  another  place,  and  then  a  search  was  made 
for  the  location  of  their  new  quarters. 

Nearly  every  driver  of  an  express  wagon  on  the  south 
side  was  found  by  Wooldridge  and  closely  questioned 
about  these  trunks.  The  search  seemed  fruitless,  but 
there  was  one  driver  he  had  not  seen.  Officer  McGrath 
found  the  man  at  11  o'clock  at  night,  and  by  the  free  use 
of  money  got  the  desired  information.  He  was  told  by 
this  driver  that  the  trunks  were  taken  to  131  Ashland 
avenue,  and  finally  accompanied  McGrath  to  the  place, 
which  was  the  Ashland  apartment  building,  located  in 
one  of  the  most  aristocratic  and  fashionable  residence  dis- 
tricts of  Chicago. 

On  June  1  Detectives  Schubert,  McGrath,  Sullivan, 
Dubach,  Burns  and  Fitzgerald  were  sent  in  a  body  to  get 
the  men  if  possible.  They  waited  until  late  at  night  in 
order  to  find  the  robbers  in  their  rooms  asleep. 

The  house  was  kept  by  Mrs.  A.  D.  Harling,  who  was 
awakened  and  told  that  she  had  some  safe-blowers  for 
guests.     She  readily  admitted  that  the  men  named  by 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  285 

the  detectives  were  there,  and  conducted  them  to  their 
rooms.  Here  a  whispered  consultation  was  held.  The 
officers  knew  they  were  going  to  have  trouble  in  making 
the  arrests  if  the  robbers  were  given  a  single  opportunity 
to  defend  themselves  or  resist.  It  was  a  desperate  under- 
taking and  required  great  judgment  and  nerve. 

While  they  were  whispering  with  Mrs.  Hading  in  the 
hall,  they  were  overheard  by  Fred  Lee  Rice.  He  opened 
the  door,  evidently  expecting  that  some  of  his  "pals" 
who  were  out  had  just  returned.  The  officers  saw  him 
as  he  looked  out  into  the  hall  and  made  a  rush  at  him. 
He  was  knocked  heels  over  head  in  a  corner  of  the  room 
and  his  revolver  and  belt  of  cartridges  removed  before 
he  had  time  to  recover. 

Rutledge  and  Jones,  the  other  two  robbers,  were  asleep 
in  one  bed,  and  near  each  was  lying  a  huge  revolver, 
loaded  and  ready  for  use,  and  two  boxes  of  cartridges. 
The  sudden  and  quick  work  of  the  officers  prevented  them 
from  using  their  guns.  There  is  little  possibility  that 
they  would  ever  have  been  taken  alive  if  they  had  gotten 
an  opportunity  to  resist  the  officers.  The  detectives  seized 
the  revolvers,  then  quickly  covered  the  robbers  with  their 
own  revolvers  and  effected  their  arrest  with  neatness  and 
despatch. 

It  was  fortunate  that  Rice  was  expecting  the  fourth 
man  in  and  opened  the  door.  If  the  officers  had  been 
compelled  to  break  into  the  room  or  to  arouse  the  men, 
some  of  them  would  undoubtedly  be  now  sleeping  under 
the  willow  trees  of  a  cemetery. 

The  robbers  were  taken  to  the  Harrison  Street  Station, 
where  their  pictures  were  taken  for  the  rogues'  gallery. 


286  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

From  there  they  were  taken  to  the  Desplaines  Street  Sta- 
tion. 

Knowing  full  well  that  his  prisoners  were  shrewd 
criminals  and  men  who  would  use  all  the  resources  at 
their  command  to  get  out  of  the  clutches  of  the  police, 
Detective  Wooldridge  adopted  a  plan  which  was  really 
the  most  important  move  taken  in  the  whole  case.  On 
June  2  he  went  before  United  States  Commissioner  Mark 
A.  Foote  and  secure!  on  belief  and  information  a  fugi- 
tive warrant,  which  he  placed  in  the  hands  of  United 
States  Marshal  George  Allen.  The  three  prisoners  were 
then  released  by  the  police,  but  before  they  could  leave 
the  station,  they  were  arrested  by  the  United  States  Mar- 
shal. 

They  were  taken  before  the  commissioner  for  a  hear- 
ing and  the  case  continued  from  time  to  time  until 
July  10. 

The  prisoners  employed  S.  H.  Trude,  and  then  began 
a  desperate  legal  fight  to  resist  extradition  to  Canada. 
The  Canadian  Government,  by  William  Wyndham,  the 
British  consul,  had  made  application  for  extradition.  At- 
torney Lynden  Evans  represented  the  consul  at  a  hearing 
before  the  United  States  commissioner,  who  held  the 
prisoners  and  recommended  that  President  McKinley 
issue  the  extradition  warrant. 

Then  the  prisoners  applied  for  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus 
before  Judge  Kohlsaat.  This  stayed  the  President's  war- 
rant. After  a  hearing  Judge  Kohlsaat  dismissed  the 
writ.  From  this  decision  an  appeal  was  taken  to  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court.  This  highest  court  af- 
firmed the  decision  of  Judge  Kohlsaat,  denying  the  writ. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  28? 

The  case  attracted  widespread  notice  among  the  law- 
yers and  students  of  constitutional  rights.  The  points 
brought  up  in  their  attempt  to  resist  extradition  were 
numerous,  the  four  important  ones  being: 

1.  It  was  claimed  that  all  United  States  citizens  were 
entitled  to  bail,  and  this  was  denied  the  prisoners  below. 
The  Supreme  Court  approved  the  denial. 

2.  It  was  claimed  that  the  treaty  with  Great  Britain 
on  extradition  and  acts  of  congress  on  extradition  are 
unconstitutional  because  they  do  not  guarantee  jury  trial 
to  the  prisoners  deported  as  would  be  their  right  in  the 
United  States.  This  claim  the  Supreme  Court  disap- 
proved. 

3.  It  was  claimed  the  treaty  on  extradition  contra- 
venes the  Illinois  Constitution  in  the  above  points. 

4.  It  was  claimed  that  the  words  "surrendering  state" 
used  in  the  treaty  referred  in  this  case  to  Illinois  and  not 
to  the  United  States. 

The  further  contention  was  made  that  the  commis- 
sioner who  heard  the  cases  had  received  them  on  infor- 
mation and  belief,  and  that  this  proceeding  was  not  jus- 
tifiable in  an  extradition  case.  Regarding  the  point,  Jus- 
tice Brown  said:  "If  the  officer  of  the  foreign  govern- 
ment has  no  personal  knowledge  of  the  facts,  he  may 
with  entire  propriety  make  a  complaint  upon  information 
and  belief,  stating  the  sources  of  his  information  and  the 
grounds  of  his  belief,  and  annexing  to  the  complaint  a 
properly  certified  copy  of  any  indictment  or  equivalent 
proceedings  which  may  be  found  in  the  foreign  court, 
or  a  copy  of  the  depositions  of  witnesses  having  actual 
knowledge  of  the  facts." 


288 


THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 


That  ended  the  fight  against  extradition.  In  due  course 
the  court's  mandate  reached  Chicago  .  and  the  prisoners 
were  taken  to  Canada.  Their  first  trial  began  in  To- 
ronto on  May  20.  This  was  on  a  charge  of  robbing  the 
bank  at  Aurora.     By  the  use  of  money  friends  of  the 

prisoners  *  succeeded 
in  getting  enough 
men  on  the  jury 
who  were  favorable 
to  the  defendants, 
to  prevent  an  agree- 
ment as  to  a  verdict 
and  this  jury  was 
discharged,  the  rob- 
bers getting  another 
trial. 

This  was  begun, 
on  May  27.  De- 
fendants had  entered 
a  plea  of  guilty  on 
four  minor  charges, 
that  of  attempting 
to  rob  the  Standard 
Bank  of  Toronto, 
robbing  the  post- 
office  at  Aurora, 
horse  stealing  and  stealing  a  revolver  from  an  officer. 
Detectives  Schubert  and  McGrath  of  Chicago  were 
summoned  to  Toronto  as  witnesses  to  testify  as  to  the 
contents  found  in  the  trunks  when  the  men  were  arrested 
on  Ashland  avenue.     The  second  trial  progressed  rap- 


Frank  Rutledge. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  239 

idly,  and  on  June  4,  when  the  case  was  nearing  an  end 
and  the  prisoners  saw  conviction  staring  them  in  the  face, 
they  made  a  desperate  effort  to  escape,  which  resulted  in 
the  death  of  two  of  them  and  of  an  officer  who  had  them 
in  charge. 

Late  that  afternoon  they  were  handcuffed  together  and 
placed  in  a  carriage  to  be  taken  back  to  jail.  Jones,  who 
was  considered  the  most  desperate  man  of  the  three,  had 
handcuffs  on  both  wrists,  while  Rice,  who  is  left-handed, 
was  placed  on  his  right,  and  Rutledge  on  the  left.  This 
put  both  of  Jones'  hands  out  of  use  and  left  Rutledge 
with  the  use  of  his  left  hand  only,  and  Rice  with  his 
right  hand. 

This  precaution  was  taken  because  the  officers  sus- 
pected that  a  plot  had  been  formed  to  rescue  the  pris- 
'oners.  They  were  placed  on  the  rear  seat  of  the  carriage, 
while  Constables  Boyd  and  Stewart  sat  opposite  them  on 
the  front  seat.  Another  constable,  Bogart,  took  a  seat 
on  the  box  with  the  driver,  and  the  carriage  started  for 
the  jail.  When  it  reached  the  corner  of  Sumach  and 
Gerrard  streets,  a  young  woman  dressed  in  man's  cloth- 
ing rushed  to  the  side  of  the  vehicle  and  threw  a  hat  into 
the  laps  of  the  prisoners.  Instantly  the  two  free  hands 
belonging  to  Rutledge  and  Rice  plunged  into  the  hat  and 
drew  out  two  long  revolvers. 

Quick  as  a  flash  Rice  fired,  and  Constable  Boyd,  who 
had  started  to  seize  him,  fell  back  dying.  Constable 
Stewart,  who  was  the  only  one  of  the  three  officers  that 
had  a  revolver,  reached  back  for  his  weapon,  but  Rice 
pushed  his  gun  into  his  face  and  he  remained  quiet,  tell- 
ing them  to  get  out  of  the  carriage. 


t 


290 


THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 


The  horses  then  stopped  and  the  three  men  sprang 
out,  Rutledge  first,  dragging  the  others  behind  him. 
After  leaving  the  carriage  they  fired  into  it  several  times 
while  running  away.  Constable  Stewart  returned  the 
fire  and  shot  Jones  in  the  arm,  shattering  the  bone. 

Then   he    jumped 
from  the  vehicle  and 
fired  again,  the  sec- 
ond    shot     striking 
Jones   in   the   groin. 
An  electric  street  car 
which    the    carriage 
had  passed  was  ap- 
proaching,       an  d 
Jones,   who   was    so 
badly   hurt    that   he 
could  scarcely  walk, 
was  dragged  by  his 
companions  onto  the 
front     platform     of 
the   car,   which   had 
stopped    on   account 
of     the      shooting. 
Then      followed      a 
desperate    fight    for 
possession     of     the 
car.      Constable   Bogart   had    jumped   off   the   box   seat 
of  the  vehicle,  and  although  unarmed,  was  making  his 
way  towards  the  car.     The  prisoners  fired  at  him  and 

missed. 

Stewart  rushed  bravely  in  pursuit  of  the  fleeing  men, 


Thomas  Jones. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


291 


firing  as  he  went.  He  had  emptied  his  own  revolver 
when  he  reached  the  car,  and  threw  himself  on  Rice  and 
Rutledge  and  wrenched  their  revolvers  from  them.  Then 
he  beat  them  over  their  heads  until  they  gave  up.  They 
were  bleeding  freely  from  scalp  wounds,  and  by  this  time 
were  exhausted  and 
unable  to  offer  fur- 
ther  resistance.      » 

The  motorman 
held  on  to  the  motor 
crank  and  the  con- 
ductor pulled  the 
trolley  off  the  feed 
wire  during  the 
struggle,  to  prevent 
the  robbers  from 
starting  the  car  in 
case  they  had  gotten 
possession  of  the 
crank,  which  Avas 
their  intention. 

Jones  was  in 
great  agony  and 
cried  out  to  the 
officers  to  take  the 
handcuffs  off  his 
wrists.  The  bone  in  the  arm  had  been  shattered  by  the 
bullet  fired  by  Stewart,  and  in  the  hand-to-hand  strug- 
gle the  arm  had  been  twisted  out  of  shape.  With  the 
three  prisoners  lying  almost  in  a  heap  on  the  floor 
in    the    car    and    the   officers    standing   over    them,    the 


Frank  Stewart,  alias  Gannon. 


292 


THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 


THE   ATTEMPT  TO    ESCAPE    IN   TOP.ONTO. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  293 

current  was  turned  on  and  they  were  conveyed  to  the 
jail.  Upon  their  arival  there  the  jail  physician  as- 
sisted by  two  other  medical  men,  attended  them.  They 
found  that  Jones  was  mortally  wounded,  but  they  made 
him  as  comfortable  as  possible,  and  he  soon  went  to  sleep 
under  the  influence  of  opiates. 

They  dressed  the  wounds  which  Rice  had  received  on 
his  head,  and  also  the  scalp  wounds  which  Rutledge  bore. 
Rice  was  quite  calm  and  told  the  surgeon  to  be  sure  and 
remove  all  the  blood  from  his  hair. 

Constable  Boyd  was  driven  to  the  hospital  in  the  car- 
riage in  which  he  was  shot,  but  never  recovered  con- 
sciousness and  died  a  few  hours  afterwards. 

If  the  prisoners  had  not  lost  their  heads  when  they  first 
got  possession  of  the  pistols  in  the  carriage  they  could 
easily  have  escaped.  They  had  shot  and  mortally  wound- 
ed Constable  Boyd,  who  was  a  gray-haired  man,  sixty 
years  old.  The  only  other  constable  who  had  a  revolver 
was  Stewart,  and  Rice  and  Rutledge  had  him  covered 
with  their  guns.  In  his  pockets  were  the  keys  which  un- 
locked the  handcuffs.  They  could  easily  have  gotten 
these,  and  also  Stewart's  gun,  then  released  themselves 
from  the  handcuffs  and  have  been  masters  of  the  situa- 
tion. They  then  could  have  made  their  escape  in  the  car- 
riage which  was  taking  them  to  jail. 

But  in  the  excitement  they  overlooked  the  opportunity. 
It  was  a  fatal  mistake  for  them  and  one  which  greatly 
surprised  the  officers.  It  was  astonishing  that  three  as 
shrewd  and  desperate  men  as  Rice,  Rutledge  and  Jones 
were  could  lose  their  heads  in  such  a  crisis  as  this,  and 
it  caused  a  great  deal  of  comment  in  police  circles. 


294  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

The  prosecution  decided  that  the  trial  should  proceed 
against  Rice  and  Rutledge  whether  Jones  was  present  or 
not.  The  shooting  took  place  on  Tuesday  and  Jones  died 
on  Wednesday  morning.  The  trial  proceeded,  and  on 
Friday,  June  7,  the  jury  returned  a  verdict  of  guilty 
against  the  prisoners,  and  they  were  sentenced  to  twenty- 
one  years  each  in  the  penitentiary,  When  they  were  ar- 
raigned to  received  sentence,  the  judge  said  to  them : 

"Have  you  anything  to  say  why  the  sentence  should 
not  be  passed  upon  you?"'  They  stood  quietly,  never  re- 
moving their  eyes  from  the  judge's  face.  Rutledge's 
hands  rested  on  the  railing  in  front  of  him,  while  Rice 
stood  erect  with  his  arms  crossed  over  his  breast.  Thev 
never  flinched  and  did  not  move  a  muscle  while  the  heavy 
sentence  was  being  pronounced. 

In  answer  to  the  judge's  question,  Rice  simply  shook 
his  head,  while  Rutledge  replied,  "Nothing,  nothing." 
Then  the  sentence  was  delivered  as  follows : 

"This  is  a  peaceable  country,  but  you  came  here  bent 
upon  a. career  of  crime.  You  have  followed  your  unlaw- 
ful purposes  by  committing  three  serious  offenses  against 
the  law.  The  country  has  enough  of  trouble  and  expense 
to  take  care  of  its  own  criminals  and  cannot  do  anything 
to  encourage  criminals  from  foreign  countries,  to  come 
here  and  pursue  their  depredations.  The  sentence  of  the 
court  upon  you,  Frank  Rutledge,  and  upon  you,  Fred 
Lee  Rice,  is  that  each  of  you  be  confined  in  the  Kingston 
penitentiary  for  the  term  of  fourteen  years  for  the  rob- 
bery of  the  bank,  and  seven  years  for  stealing  the  horse, 
cart  and  harness ;  the  seven  years  to  be  consecutive  with 
the  fourteen  years ;  for  the  robbery  of  the  postofiice,  seven 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  295 

years  to  be  concurrent  with  the  stealing  sentence,  making 
for  each  of  you  a  sentence  of  twenty-one  years." 

Deathly  pale,  but  as  calm  apparently  as  if  they  had  not 
faced  the  court,  they  were  taken  to  the  jail  and  consigned 
to  their  cells.  Soon  after  dinner  they  were  taken  to  the 
corridor  on  the  first  floor  for  exercise  and  air.  After 
walking  for  a  short  time,  Rutledge  dashed  away  from  his 
guard,  up  the  stairway  to  the  second-story  balcony.  It 
was  thought  that  he  intended  to  make  an  effort  to  escape 
through  the  ventilator,  but  he  was  met  by  guards  and 
turned  back.  With  a  defiant  look  he  backed  toward  the 
railing  which  surrounded  the  balcony,  and  straightening 
himself  up,  leaped  backward  over  the  railing  and  fell  to 
the  stone-paved  floor  thirty-six  feet  below,  striking  on  his 
head  and  crushing  his  skull.  When  the  guard  reached 
him  he  was  unconscious  and  died  in  half  an  hour  without 
speaking. 

This  left  only  one  of  the  three  safe-blowers,  Fred  Lee 
Rice,  and  he  had  become  a  murderer,  as  Constable  Stew- 
art swore  that  it  was  Rice  who  shot  and  killed  Constable 
Boyd.  The  next  day  Rice  was  arraigned  on  a  charge  of 
murder  and  the  case  was  postponed  until  September.  In 
the  meantime  the  sentence  of  twenty-one  years  in  prison 
hung  over  him. 

Rutledge  first  came  into  prominence  in  the  cities  of 
Kingston,  Hamilton,  Brantford  and  Montreal,  Canada. 
He  was  a  burglar  and  a  particularly  daring  one.  He 
seemed  to  have  great  success  in  getting  away  with  the 
results  of  his  plundering,  and  until  June  15,  1889,  he  was 
never  brought  into  custody  with  a  definite  charge  against 
him.     On  that  day  he  was  arrested   for  burglary,   and 


290  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

after  a  trial  at  Kingston,  was  found  guilty  and  sentenced 
to  five  years  in  the  penitentiary. 

Rutledge  remained  in  prison  until  late  in  1894;  or  early 
in  1895.  On  gaining  his  freedom  he  visited  Colorado, 
and  while  in  that  state  was  arrested  for  larceny,  con- 
victed, and  in  November,  1895,  was  given  a  six  years' 
sentence  and  ordered  confined  at  Canon  City.  He  en- 
tered that  city  a  desperate  man,  a  criminal  posted  in  all 
the  technique  of  his  vocation. 

He  not  only  knew  how  to  live  well  without  labor  when 
not  in  prison,  but  how,  after  being  confined,  to  hold  free 
conversations  with  his  fellow  convicts  without  being  de- 
tected by  a  warden  or  guard.  This  latter  ability  is  what 
brought  him  in  contact  with  Jones.  Jones  graduated 
from  the  Chicago  circle  of  thieves  prominent  in  the  city 
between  1892  and  1893.  The  World's  Fair  brought  many 
of  them  in,  and  Jones  did  so  well  in  their  company  that 
he  became  bold. 

On  March  20,  1893,  in  company  with  "Jack"  Murphy, 
he  held  up  one  John  Howe  of  2810  Ninety-third  street. 
Jones  and  Murphy  were  both  armed  and  fired  shots  at 
Howe.  They  took  his  watch  and  chain,  but  were  cap- 
tured by  Officers  Brown  and  Peters,  locked  up  in  the 
county  jail,  kept  there  several  months,  and  then  tried  and 
acquitted.  The  county  official  and  police  official  who 
aided  them  in  escaping  punishment  are  still  living.  Jones 
is  supposed  to  have  paid  $5,000  for  his  freedom  at  this 
time. 

On  July  4,  1893,  Jones,  with  "Jim"  Kavanagh,  held  up 
Sylvester  Johnson  of  7944  Ontario  avenue,  and  stole  his 
watch,  chain  and  some  money.     The  same  day  they  en- 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  297 

terecl  the  Collins  home  on  Ontario  avenue,  near  Eight- 
eenth street,  and  choked  Collins,  but  did  not  rob  him. 
But  on  July  6  they  returned  to  the  same  house  with  burg- 
lars' tools  and  were  captured  by  Officer  Robinson  while 
in  the  act  of  robbing  the  house. 

The  case  against  them  was  finally  stricken  off  the  cal- 
endar, and  they  were  never  tried,  but  it  is  said  to  have 
cost  Jones  another  $5,000  to  "fix"  certain  officials  so  that 
he  might  have  his  freedom. 

Jones  now  found  Chicago  uncomfortable  for  him,  so  he 
journeyed  to  Colorado  and  allied  himself  with  the  Indian 
gang  in  Pueblo.  On  December  17,  1893,  he  was  arrested 
for  safe-blowing,  and  on  March  23,  1894,  was  sentenced 
to  nine  years  in  the  penitentiary  at  Canon  City.  There 
he  met  Rutledge,  and  in  convict  fashion,  they  held  many 
conversations  together  and  formed  an  alliance  for  oper- 
ation in  the  days  to  come  when  they  should  have  free- 
dom. 

While  they  were  so  planning  there  arrived  at  the  Col- 
orado penitentiary  Fred  Lee  Rice,  alias  Harris.  He  was 
sentenced  on  September  27,  1897,  ^or  f°r§*ery>  an<^  nac^ 
a  three  years'  term  to  serve.  He  was  only  twenty-one 
years  old  then,  but  bold  and  eager  for  criminal  adven- 
ture. Rutledge  and  Jones  took  him  into  their  prison 
brotherhood,  and  he  swore  fidelity  to  them,  when  they  all 
should  have  their  freedom  again.  Between  October, 
1899,  and  April,  1900,  the  trio  came  out  of  Canon  City 
penitentiary  free  men. 

As  each  man  gained  his  discharge  he  came  to  Chicago 
until  the  trio  were  together  and  were  joined  by  Frank 
Stewart,  alias  Gannon.     Gannon  took  agreeably  to  Rut- 


298  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

ledge  and  Rice,  and  the  four  took  rooms  on  Ashland 
avenue,  where  all  but  Gannon  "passed  as  artists,  photog- 
raphers and  literary  gentlemen. 

During  the  year  of  1900  Gannon  was  killed.  He  en- 
tered the  Garfield  Park  pavilion  at  Hamlin  avenue  and 
West  Madison  street,  and  in  an  attempt  to  hold  up  the 
bartender  and  Frank  Barum/an  attorney,  was  shot  dead. 
This  greatly  affected  Jones,  and  taking  Rice  and  Rut- 
ledge  with  him,  he  temporarily  abandoned  Chicago  and 
sought  the  East.  Rutledge  persuaded  him  to  visit  Can- 
ada with  him,  and  the  trio  entered  Ontario.  Among  the 
other  places,  they  visited  the  town  of  Aurora  and  robbed 
the  bank  there,  made  their  escape  to  this  country  and 
immediately  returned  to  Chicago. 

One  very  interesting  chapter  in  the  lives  of  Rutledge 
and  Jones  is  furnished  in  their  attempt  in  May,  1900,  to 
rob  the  Standard  Bank  in  Toronto.  At  two  o'clock  one 
morning  Officer  Wood,  of  the  Toronto  police  force,  saw 
two  men  standing  at  the  rear  of  the  bank  on  Elmwood 
Grove  avenue.  He  approached  the  men  and  asked  them 
what  they  were  doing  there  at  that  hour. 

Before  he  got  a  reply  a  revolver  was  placed  against 
the  back  of  his  head  by  a  third  man,  and  he  was  ordered 
to  throw  up  his  hands.  He  saw  that  it  would  be  folly 
to  resist  and  promptly  obeyed  the  command.  The  men 
then  took  the  officer's  revolver  and  bound  his  hands  with 
a  piece  of  wire.  He  was  then  taken  across  the  street  to 
a  stable,  where  one  man  stood  guard  over  him,  while  the 
other  two  forced  an  entrance  to  the  bank  and  were  pre- 
paring to  blow  open  the  safe,  but  were  frightened  away 
before  they  had  accomplish  ■,■  their  purpose. 


299 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 

T*e  Kjnd  of  "Holdup"  We  JVeedf 


300  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

After  the  arrest  of  Rice,  Rutledge  and  Jones  and  their 
removal  to  Toronto,  the  first  two  were  identified  by  Of- 
ficer -Wood  as  the  men  he  saw  trying  to  rob  the  Standard 
Bank. 

There  is  a  romantic  side  to  this  story  which  is  as  inter- 
esting as  the  criminal  side  of  it.  Rice,  Rutledge  and  Jones 
were  well  educated  men  and  had  many  accomplishments 
beside  those  of  safe-blowing  and  robbery.  Rice  is  a  na- 
tive of  Champaign,  Illinois ;  his  father  being  a  wealthy 
and  highly  respected  farmer  living  near  that  place  and  a 
heavy  stockholder  in  one  of  the  local  banks.  Young  Rice 
was  at  one  time  a  clerk  in  this  bank. 

Before  this  he  was  a  student  of  the  University  of  Illi- 
nois and  a  prominent  fraternity  man.  He  left  his  native 
town  in  1897,  and  has  been  there  only  once  since  on  a 
short  visit.  Rutledge  was  an  artist  and  a  poet.  He  could 
paint,  and  painted  well.  Jones  made  nearly  as  good  an 
impression  as  the  other  two  men,  although  to  the  trained 
eye  he  would  be  more  quickly  suspected  of  being  a  crim- 
inal than  either.  They  had  many  well-known  business 
men  in  Chicago  for  acquaintances. 

All  three  of  them  dressed  expensively.  They  wore  the 
most  fashionable  tailor-made  clothes  and  adorned  them- 
selves with  fine  and  expensive  jewelry.  They  rode  in 
automobiles,  gave  swell  dinners  to  their  friends  and  spent 
money  with  a  lavish  hand.  They  rented  rooms  on  Mich- 
igan avenue,  where  they  furnished  an  atelier  in  luxurious 
style  and  set  themselves  up  as  artists.  They  then  adver- 
tised for  models,  and  by  this  means  became  acquainted 
with  Myrtle  Norrie  and  Martha  Dwyer. 

The   former  lived   with   her   parents  on   Forty-second 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  301 

court  and  was  employed  at  that  time  by  the  Siemens  & 
Halske  Electric  Co.  Martha  Dwyer  lived  at  324  Morgan 
street  and  was  an  operator  in  the  main  office  of  the  Chi- 
cago Telephone  Company.  Both  were  attractive  and 
handsome  young  women.  They  visited  the  studio  of 
Rice,  Rutledge  and  Jones  and  posed  for  Rutledge,  who 
made  hundreds  of  drawings  that  would  do  credit  to  a 
professional  in  that  line.  Rutledge  and  Rice  became  very 
devoted  to  the  vpunsr  women  and  soon  won  their  hearts 
by  buying  for  them  many  valuable  presents  of  jewelry 
and  by  giving  them  untiring  and  devoted  attention.  A 
proposal  of  marriage  was  made  and  a  double  wedding, 
fashionable  in  every  detail,  was  planned,  the  girls  stating 
that  they  looked  forward  joyously  to  the  time  when  they 
would  no  longer  be  compelled  to  work  for  a  paltry  salary, 
but  instead  would  be  the  wives  of  prosperous  business 
men. 

These  two  girls,  however, '  were  not  the  only  female 
acquaintances  on  the  visiting  list  of  Rutledge  and  Rice. 
They  knew  many  Others  and  spent  most  of  their  time 
visiting,  driving  and  dining  with  their  lady  friends.  They 
played  the  society  game  to  the  limit  during  the  day  and 
early  part  of  the  evening  and  late  at  night  changed  their 
attire  and  committed  robbery  on  an  extensive  scale. 

Even  after  they  were  arrested  many  of  the  women 
whom  they  had  met  refused  to  believe  in  their  guilt,  and 
during  the  time  they  were  in  jail  in  Chicago  these  women 
sought  every  opportunity  they  could  invent  for  the  pur- 
pose of  seeing  the  men.  Once  when  the  robbers  were 
arraigned  in  the  commissioner's  court,  Myrtle  Norrie  en- 
tered dressed  in  deep  mourning  with  her  face  partly  cov- 


ft 


02  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 


ered  with  a  heavy  veil.  She  watched  every  movement  of 
Rutledge  as  he  sat  in  the  prisoner's  cage  with  Rice  and 
Jones. 

"Nothing  can  convince  me  that  Frank  is  guilty,"  said 
Miss  Morrie.  "I  love  him  yet  and  can  never  be  con- 
vinced that  he  is  as  black  as  he  is  painted.  They  lie  when 
they  say  that  he  served  a  sentence  in  Canon  City  for  safe- 
blowing.    I  know  that  he  never  lived  there." 

Then  she  wept  and  her  face  flushed  angrily.  She 
seemed  much  concerned  over  the  visit  of  two  other  mys- 
terious girls  who  had  called  to  see  the  prisoners.  She 
looked  daggers  at  them,  though  they  did  not  seem  to  be 
frightened  and  left  word  that  they  would  call  at  the 
county  jail  to  see  the  prisoners. 

During  the  time  the  bank  robbers  were  making  their 
efforts  to  escape  extradition,  they  were  in  the  custody  of 
the  Cook  county  authorities  and  extraordinary  precau- 
tions were  taken  to  prevent  their  escape.  They  had  many 
shrewd  friends,  who  were  continuously  planning  a 
method  for  their  escape.  They  watched  and  were  per- 
fectly familiar  with  every  move  made  by  the  authorities 
and  with  every  action  made  by  the  court.  Some  of  these 
friends  were  always  in  the  vicinity  of  the  jail  and  the 
court  room.  On  one  occasion  a  revolver  was  found  in 
a  bowl  of  soup,  which  had  been  sent  to  the  prisoners  by 
an  outsider.  After  this,  the  officers  searched  their  cells 
and  found  another  revolver.  This  was  prior  to  the  time 
when  they  were  to  be  taken  to  the  court  from  the  jail 
and  thence  to  Canada.  On  another  occasion  Jones  at- 
tempted to  take  from  the  pocket  of  a  United  States  Mar- 
shal, while  in  the  prisoner's  cage  in  the  United  States 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  303 

commissioner's  room,  a  revolver,  but  was  seen  just  in 
time  to  prevent  it.  At  another  time  an  effort  was  made, 
while  the  prisoners  were  being  taken  to  the  District  Fed- 
eral Court,  to  escape  from  one  of  the  elevators  in  the 
Monadnock  building.  A  strong  force  of  officers  was 
always  with  them,  however,  and  had  to  be  unusually 
watchful  at  all  times.  The  friends  of  these  desperate  men 
included  both  sexes.  Just  before  they  were  taken  to 
Canada,  a  woman  sent  them  a  box  of  the  finest  imported 
cigars  that  could  be  bought.  They  also  received  a  bottle 
of  fine  whiskey.  These  presents  were  confiscated  by  the 
officers  and  upon  analysis  were  found  to  contain  power- 
ful narcotics.  It  was  supposed  that  the  prisoners  in- 
tended to  treat  their  guards  while  on  the  way  to  Canada, 
with  the  cigars  and  whiskey,  and  if  they  had  induced 
them  to  partake  of  their  hospitality,  the  prisoners  would, 
while  their  guards  were  under  the  influence  of  the  nar- 
cotics, have  attempted  to  make  their  escape. 

On  the  very  day  of  their  departure  for  Canada  a  very 
exciting  incident  took  place  which  went  to  show  how 
thoroughly  posted  the  friends  of  these  prisoners  were. 
Early  that  morning  the  detectives  went  to  the  Cook 
county  jail  in  a  patrol  wagon  to  convey  the  robbers  to 
the  Federal  Court  for  the  purpose  of  getting  the  order 
for  their  transfer  to  the  Canadian  authorities.  Three 
cabs  stood  on  the  street  in  the  vicinity  of  the  jail,  and  in 
each  was  a  woman,  who  was  a  friend  of  the  prisoners. 
The  patrol  wagon  was  driven  as  rapidly  as  possible  to 
the  Monadnock  building  in  which  the  Federal  Court  was 
held,  yet  the  women  in  the  cabs  arrived  there  as  promptly 
as  the  wagon. 


«w 


304  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

While  the  order  was  being  obtained  the  detectives  gave 
it  out  that  the  men  would  be  taken  to  the  Michigan  Cen- 
tral depot  to  catch  the  train  at  1 1  o'clock  for  their  trip 
to  Canada,  while,  in  fact,  the  train  which  was  to  take 
them  away  did  not  leave  until  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 
This  did  not  deceive  the  women  friends  of  the  prisoners, 
however,  nor  did  they  get  lost  from  the  patrol  wagon  in 
the  circuitous  route  it  pursued  in  re-taking  the  prisoners 
to  the  Harrison  Street  Station.  They  were  driven 
through  several  streets  and  alleys,  the  wagon  winding 
about  and  turning  in  opposite  directions  a  number  of 
times ;  yet,  when  the  wagon  reached  the  Harrison  Street 
Station,  the  three  cabs  with  the  three  women  were  on 
hand. 

They  stayed  in  the  vicinity  of  the  station  all  day,  but 
were  closely  watched  by  the  police  officers  to  prevent 
them  from  communicating  with  the  prisoners.  Just  be- 
fore 4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  three  men  were 
brought  from  their  cells  to  be  taken  to  the  depot  on  Polk 
street.  Suddenly  the  three  women  appeared,  and  just  as 
they  were  going  to  make  an  attempt  to  reach  the  pris- 
oners, a  half  dozen  police  seized  them  and  held  them  at 
the  Harrison  Street  Station  until  the  men  were  safely 
aboard  the  train  and  far  away  from  Chicago. 

When  the  trunks  of  Rice,  Rutledge  and  Jones  were 
searched  the  officers  found  some  interesting  articles. 
There  were  several  letters  written  by  Miss  Norrie  to  Rut- 
ledge.  A  photograph  of  her  was  also  found  in  the  trunk, 
with  her  name  written  on  the  back  of  it.  Among  other 
contents  was  a  leather-bound  Bible,  on  the  title  page  of 
which  was  written,  "Presented  to  Fred  by  his  mother.'' 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  305 

The  officers  also  found  much  fine  wearing  apparel,  in- 
cluding a  full  dress  suit  of  London  make,  white  kid 
gloves,  silk  vests,  duck  suits,  silk  socks  and  a  dozen 
tailor-made  suits.  They  also  found  an  electrical  appli- 
ance which  is  a  modern  invention  for  the  opening  of  safes 
and  which  can  be  used  only  in  towns  where  electricity 
is  used  for  lighting. 

There  were  also  a  number  of  valuable  trinkets  of  va- 
rious descriptions  in  the  trunk,  which  was  supposed  to  be 
the  plunder  of  burglaries.  The  police  recovered  a  mem- 
oranda book  containing  the  names  of  fifty  Canadian 
towns  with  a  description  of  each  place,  naming  the  num- 
ber of  banks,  number  of  safes,  the  population  and  the 
times  of  the  arrival  and  departure  of  trains. 

When  Gannon,  one  of  the  members  of  the  gang,  was 
shot  and  killed  on  the  west  side,  the  police  found  on  him 
a  card  with  Rice's  name  on  it.  The  card  showed  that 
Rice  was  stopping  at  the  Great  Northern  Hotel,  and  when 
the  detectives  shadowed  him  there,  they  found  that  he 
was  in  company  with  some  of  the  best-known  business 
men  of  Chicago. 

When  he  was  questioned,  he  gave  references,  naming 
people  who  were  prominent  in  the  social  and  business 
world  of  Chicago  and  Champaign,  Illinois.  He  declared 
that  he  could  not  understand  how  Gannon  got  possession 
of  his  card.  The  references  he  gave  completely  con- 
vinced the  police,  for  a  time  at  least,  that  he  was  a  busi- 
ness man  with  good  connections  and  that  there  was  no 
reason  for  suspecting  him  of  having  any  relations  with 
Gannon,  the  dead  robber. 

While  the  detectives  were  shadowing  Rutledge,  he  fre- 


306  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

quently  acted  in  such  a  straightforward  way  that  they 
hesitated  to  arrest  him.  On  one  occasion  when  they  were 
following  him,  he  went  into  the  residence  of  a  prominent 
and  well-known  citizen,  where  it  was  found  that  he  was 
a  welcome  visitor  and  had  an  intimate  acquaintance  with 
members  of  the  family.  Both  would  be  frequently  seen 
around  the  most  prominent  hotels  of  Chicago  in  company 
with  Chicago  business  men  of  high  standing  in  the  finan- 
cial and  social  world.  They  were  for  a  long  time  a 
Chinese  puzzle  to  the  officers  of  the  law,  and  it  was  not 
until  they  had  been  captured  in  the  Ashland-avenue 
apartment  building  and  their  trunks  searched  that  the 
mystery  of  their  identity  was  disclosed. 

It  was  an  interesting  case  of  pursuit  and  capture  for 
the  detectives.  In  the  solution  of  what  seemed  at  one 
time  almost  an  impenetrable  barrier  as  to  the  identity 
and  occupation  of  these  three  clever  criminals,  the  detec- 
tives found  that  they  had  an  undertaking  of  more  than 
ordinary  importance. 

But  they  succeeded,  one  clew  following  another,  one 
event  in  the  lives  of  the  men  leading  to  another,  all  of 
which  made  a  complete  chain  of  evidence,  which  has 
finally  been  their  complete  undoing  and  has  ridden  the 
country  of  a  gang  of  the  cleverest  safe-blowers  and  bank- 
robbers  that  ever  operated  in  the  United  States  or  any 
other  country. 

With  their  unlimited  number  of  acquaintances  and 
friends,  they  had  formed,  an  almost  impassable  barrier  to 
the  assaults  of  officers  of  the  law.  Always  well  supplied 
with  money,  which  they  secured  by  robbery  and  theft, 
they  were  enabled  at  all  times  to  make  a  strong  fight 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  30? 

against  every  effort  that  was  made  to  convict  them  of 
their  crimes,  and  were  as  far  above  the  ordinary  criminal 
in  intelligence  and  shrewdness  as  the  "get-rich-quick" 
schemer  is  above  the  hold-up  man  of  the  levee. 

The  story  of  their  crimes,  their  arrest  and  conviction 
and  the  tragical  end  of  two  of  them  forms  a  chapter  in 
the  history  of  the  world  that  will  forever  furnish  to  the 
student  of  criminology  a  subject  of  deep  interest. 

Canadian  criminal  cases  are  conducted  very  differently 
from  similar  cases  in  the  United  States.  They  are  heard 
by  a  police  commissioner  who  sits  in  a  sanctum,  clothed 
in  somber  robes,  looking  as  austere  as  the  Chief  Justice 
of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court. 

This  august  authority  paid  a  very  high  compliment  to 
Detectives  Schubert  and  McGrath,  the  Chicago  officers, 
who  went  to  Toronto  to  testify  against  the  bank  robbers. 
During  the  progress  of  the  trial  he  called  them  to  the 
bench  and  personally  complimented  them  upon  the  work 
they  did  in  the  case.  After  this  he  called  them  into  his 
private  chamber  and  had  a  long  and  pleasant  talk  with 
them. 

He  made  many  inquiries  as  to  the  methods  employed 
in  Chicago  and  other  cities  in  the  prosecution  of  criminal 
cases.  He  again  complimented  them  on  their  work  in 
the  case  and  thanked  them  very  heartily  for  what  they 
did  in  bringing  the  criminals  to  justice.  This  was  con- 
sidered in  Toronto  a  very  high  mark  of  confidence  upon 
the  part  of  the  judge  who  conducted  the  case.  As  a  fur- 
ther evidence  of  appreciation  on  the  part  of  the  Canadian 
authorities  of  the  work  done  by  the  Chicago  Police  De- 
partment in  bringing  these  three  criminals  to  justice,  the 


308  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

following  letter  was  sent  to  the  General  Superintendent 
of  Police  in  Chicago  by  the  Crown  Attorney: 

NATIONAL  TRUST  BUILDING, 
20  King  Street. 
East  Toronto,  June  10,  1901. 
Francis  O'Neill,  Esq., 

Chief  of  Police,  Chicago. 
Dear  Sir: — I  desire  to  thank  you  for  the  exceedingly 
valuable  assistance  you  have  rendered  the  interests  of 
justice  in  the  arrest  of  Fred  Lee  Rice,  Frank  Rutledge 
and  Thomas  Jones,  and  in  allowing  Detectives  Schubert 
and  McGrath  to  come  to  Toronto  and  testify  on  the 
charges  against  these  men.  The  evidence  submitted  by 
your  detectives  was  very  material,  and  they  are  to  be 
congratulated,  not  only  upon  this  evidence,  but  the  splen- 
did impression  they  made  upon  the  court  and  jury.  The 
case  was  one  of  great  importance  to  us,  as  you  well  know, 
and  I  need  scarcely  assure  you  that,  apart  from  the  of- 
ficers of  our  police  court,  who  are  always  glad  to  recip- 
rocate favors,  I  shall  personally  be  only  too  glad  to  assist 
you  at  any  time  in  any  matter  in  which  we  can  be  of 
service  to  you.    Believe  me  to  be 

Yours  faithfully, 

H.  H.  Dewart, 
Crown  Attorney,  County  of  York. 

Fred  Lee  Rice  was  tried  for  the  murder  of  Constable 
Boyd.  The  first  jury  disagreed,  and  he  was  tried  the  sec- 
ond time  and  convicted  and  sentenced  to  be  hung,  which 
was  done  several  months  after  the  trial. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  309 


HONESTY  IS  NOT  MACHINE  MADE. 


Business-Men  Place  Little  Dependence  Upon  Modern 
Artificial  Devices. 

Honesty  in  the  young  man  who  is  making  a  start 
in  this  world  of  strenuous  living  is  just  as  much  an 
asset  as  ever  it  was  in  the  past. 

Surety  companies  are  acting  as  bondsmen  for  in- 
creasing thousands  of  young  men  every  year. 

The  cash  register  has  become  as  much  one  of  the 
fixtures  of  the  small  retail  house  as  ever  a  showcase 
was  or  is. 

Sales  inspectors  have  multiplied  into  legions  in  the 
great  retail  houses  and  department  stores  of  the  cities. 

Time  clocks  in  half  a  dozen  patterns  are  turned  cut 
of  factories  by  the  tens  of  thousands  every  year. 

"The  auditor,"  traveling  and  stationary,  is  one  of 
the  ogres  of  modern  business  life. 

NO    SUBSTITUTE    FOR    HONESTY. 

But  in  spite  of  all  precautionary  devices,  methods, 
and  systems,  honesty  still  is  the  best  policy  in  the 
young  man  who  is  searching  for  a  salaried  position  of 
trust.  No  substitute  has  been  found  for  the  virtue.  No 
mechanical  means  has  been  perfected  for  making  up  for 
the  lack  of  honesty  in  the  individual.  A  surety  company 
may  be  on  the  young  man's  bond ;  a  time  clock  may 
register  to  a  second  the  hours  of  his  coming  and  going; 
a  cash  register  may  account  for  his  sales,  or  an  in- 
spector or  auditor  may  be  always  at  his  elbow.     But 


310  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

if  the  face  on  the  man,  in  regard  to  openness  of  counte- 
nance, frankness,  and  general  good  features,  should  not 
come  up  to  the  standard  of  his  employer's  ideals,  his 
position  is  insecure  and  his  chances  in  the  struggle  for 
an  honest  existence  are  discounted. 

"Waiving  all  possibilities  of  bond  giving,"  said  one 
of  the  heads  of  the  Continental  National  Bank,  "the 
applicant  for  a  position  here  who  cannot  show  credentials 
in  his  face  and  manner  has  no  show.  We  have  some 
readers  of  character  here.  Bonds  in  a  surety  company 
mean  something,  but  a  young  man's  face  means  quite  as 
much.  As  between  two  young  men,  one  of  whom  is 
quick,  active,  shrewd,  and  adaptable,  yet  with  that  hid- 
den something  in  his  face  that  challenges  confidence, 
and  that  other  young  man  with  honesty  in  his  face, 
but  with  some  of  the  earmarks  of  the  plodder  in  him, 
we  have  no  hesitation  in  a  choice.  We  take  the  honest 
man.  No  surety  company  could  make  good  the  dis- 
crepancy that  exists  between  two  such  men." 

CASH    REGISTER    ONLY   AN    AID. 

"The  cash  register?"  repeated  the  proprietor  of  a 
retail  house  in  Madison  street. 

"One  half-sentence  in  the  Lord's  Prayer  defines  its 
sociological  position:     'Lead  us  not  into  temptation.' 

"I  believe  that  my  men  are  honest.  I  wouldn't  have 
hired  one  of  them  if  I  had  not  been  reasonably  sure 
of  the  belief.  But  there  is  a  great  measure  of  truth  in 
the  aphorism  that  'opportunity  makes  the  thief.'  A 
man  may  be  honest  and  yet  weak.  Why  should  I  leave 
an  unnecessary  temptation  in  the  way  of  any  man?     If 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  311 

a  man  who  is  honest  in  widest  measure  comes  to  me 
for  a  position  he  finds  a  cash  register  as  an  office 
fixture.  It  is  a  convenient  place  for  money.  It  is  here 
when  he  comes  and  it  is  no  reflection  upon  his  character. 
But  in  time  of  possible  temptation  it  becomes  a  stay 
to  his  instability." 

TIME    CLOCK    TOO    MECHANICAL. 

"As  to  the  time-clock,"  said  the  timekeeper  of  a  great 
wholesale  house  in  Adams  street,  which  numbers  its 
employes  by  hundreds,  "the  clock  has  a  feature  that  on 
the  face  of  it  is  bad.  If  a  man  comes  in  at  8  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  takes  one  hour  for  noon,  and  remains 
till  5  130  in  the  evening,  these  facts  cannot  show  whether 
in  those  hours  he  has  done  his  whole  duty.  And  just 
there  is  the  possibility  that  a  certain  class  of  men  who, 
left  to  themselves,  would  be  conscientiously  exact  in 
their  duties  are  impelled  to  shirk  when  occasion  offers. 

"But,  after  all,  timekeeping  is  a  recognized  necessity 
in  any  business.  If  an  employer  has  three  men  and  has 
a  fixed  number  of  hours  in  which  they  shall  work,  every 
man  so  employed  knows  that  he  is  under  the  super- 
vision of  his  employer.  However,  if  the  employer  has 
3,000  men  he  cannot  keep  track  of  the  time ;  his  heads 
of  departments  can't ;  no  reasonable  number  of  time- 
keepers can  do  so.  Not  only  a  time-clock  but  clocks 
by  the  dozen  are  necessary,  for  the  most  conscientious 
individual  knows  that  in  the  great  masses  of  men  is  a 
large  element  which  must  be  watched  and  supervised 
in  order  to  keep  it  up  to  the  scratch  of  effectiveness. 
Three  thousand  men  coming  to  work  on  an  average  of 


312  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

only  two  minutes  late  for  one  day  would  mean  the  loss 
of  more  than  twelve  working  days  to  the  employer. 

DOES  EVEN    JUSTICE  TO  ALL. 

"The  time-clock  has  been  accepted,  however.  When 
they  were  first  introduced  in  this  house  many  old  em- 
ployes protested.  The  facts  were  made  plain  to  them, 
however.  Employes  here  are  going  out  to  luncheon, 
for  instance,  from  n  130  a.  m.  to  1  30  p.  m.  No  reason- 
able number  of  timekeepers  could  keep  the  necessary 
check  on  these  people.  Everybody  but  the  heads  of 
the  departments  turns  the  clock  now.  But  even  with 
the  system's  temptation  to  'soldiering'  there  is  no  sub- 
stitute for  it.  The  clock  may  make  it  a  little  easier 
for  the  comparatively  untrustworthy  man  to  compete 
in  the  labor  market  with  the  honest  man,  but  the  clock 
can  go  no  further  than  to  record  comings  and  goings; 
all  the  rest  is  left  to  the  men,  and  the  square  man  al- 
ways has  the  bulge." 

As  to  the  honest  man  who  is  sure  of  himself  in  present, 
past,  and  future,  the  surety  company  and  the  surety 
bond  work  a  small  hardship  upon  him,  in  that  he  has 
to  give  the  same  bond  that  his  co-workers  give,  and 
has  *to  pay  the  same  yearly  premium  for  it.  Beyond 
this  he  is  not  affected. 

"In  no  possible  way  except  this  does  the  surety  com- 
pany militate  against  the  honest  man  in  favor  of  one 
who  has  more  lax  principles,"  said  William  B.  Joyce, 
agent  for  one  of  the  great  surety  companies  of  the 
country. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  313 

SEARCHING    INVESTIGATION    MADE. 

"When  it  comes  to  investigating  a  man's  character 
we  do  it  more  thoroughly  and  impartially  than  any  one 
employer  or  firm  could  do.  We  go  beyond  his  birth, 
even  asking  as  to  his  father,  mother,  and  antecedents 
generally.  We  know  where  he  was  born  and  when, 
how  far  he  is  educated,  where  and  how  long  he  has 
worked,  whether  or  not  he  is  married,  and  whether  or 
not  he  owns  his  own  home ;  his  habits  of  life  are  closely 
scheduled  and  he  must  give  us  five  references  as  to 
the  truth  of  these  general  statements. 

"Then  we  are  ready  to  investigate  thoroughly.  Just 
how  thoroughly  mav  be  indicated  in  the  fact  that  of 
the  240,000  persons  now  under  bond  by  this  company 
not  one-tenth  of  1  per  cent  of  them  go  wrong  in  a  cold- 
blooded, wilful  way. 

"Most  of  the  losses  which  we  have  to  make  good  come 
from  weak  men.  They  are  honest  in  their  own  hearts. 
But  some  emergency  arises  whereby  they  need  $50, 
perhaps.  Some  one  dear  to  them  may  be  sick.  Such 
a  man  takes  the  money  and  carries  a  cash  slip,  perhaps, 
looking  to  some  possibility  ahead  to  square  him.  That 
fails  him,  his  needs  increase,  and  he  takes  $50  or  $100 
or  $200  more  until  something  else  'turns  up.'  Mean- 
while, to  cover  this,  he  makes  a  false  entry  in  his 
books.  Suddenly  the  auditor  comes  in  on  him,  the 
'shortage'  is  discovered  and  the  man  is  held  up  as  a 
criminal. 

PERCENTAGE    OF   DISHONESTY    SMALL. 

"It  is  admitted  that  in  assuming  security  for  the 
honesty  of  ten  men  for  a  bank,  for  instance,  these  ten 


314  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

men,  after  being  accepted,  could  be  lined  up  and  a 
character  reader  be  able  to  put  a  finger,  in  a  moment, 
upon  the  most  and  least  trustworthy  of  these  eligibles. 
But  in  our  experience,  the  exceedingly  small  per  cent 
of  dishonesty  in  young  men  of  today  makes  the  value  of 
such  selection  hardly  more  than  nominal. 

"At  the  same  time,  'shortages'  in  accounts  form  a 
considerable  element  of  the  news  of  the  world,  and  yet 
not  half  of  these  shortages  are  discovered.  More  than 
half  of  these  delinquencies  are  made  good  before  they 
are  uncovered. 

"I  believe  that  the  world  generally  is  growing  better. 
If  men  should  be  found  showing  less  regard  for  honesty, 
however,  I  should  have  to  insist  that  nothing  in  the 
work   of   the   surety   companies   had   contributed   to   it." 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


315 


A  Bere  Escape. 


316  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 


WHERE  WOMAN  OUTSHINES  MAN. 


In  the  World  of  Graft  the  Gentler  Sex  Shows  Greater 
Polish  and  More  Far-sightedness — Fake  Charity 
Workers,  Fake  Nuns,  Fake  Female  Preach- 
ers and  Flighty  Financiers. — How 
They  Get  the  Money. 

When  the  subtle  intellect  of  woman  is  behind  a  scheme 
to  defraud  invariably  is  it  found  that  the  proposition  is 
a  deep  one ;  well  planned,  solid  looking,  plausible  in  the 
extreme  and  directed  with  an  attention  to  detail  more 
likely  to  deceive  persons  of  intelligence  than  the  coarse 
conspiracies  of  men. 

Seldom  does  the  feminine  grafter  travel  in  flocks.  Un- 
like her  brothers  in  crime,  the  woman  who  seeks  to  gull 
the  public  prefers  to  do  the  fine  work  herself ;  to  hazard 
her  body  and  soul  in  the  game  and  play  it  to  the  limit, 
even  though  the  strenuous  application  necessary  to  con- 
summate her  scheme  entails  physical  sacrifice. 

She  will  work  night  and  day  to  make  her  project  ap- 
pear righteous.  Her  intuitive  sense  that  the  accomplish- 
ment of  this  end  constitutes  the  very  corner  stone  of 
successful  swindling  leads  to  success.  Contrary  to  popu- 
lar impression  the  woman  swindler  does  not  defraud 
by  wiles  and  smiles,  coquetry  and  conquest. 

She  endeavors  to  surround  her  enterprise  with  a  man- 
tle of  righteousness,  guilelessness  and  noble  sincerity, 
which  excludes  skepticism  from  the  minds  of  those  with 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  317 

whom  she  deals.  Thus  at  the  start  she  rids  herself  of  the 
necessity,  faced  by  her  male  brethren  "from  the  jump," 
of  spending  the  major  portion  of  her  time  concocting 
blandishments  to  overcome  unbelief.  She  plays  upon 
the  finer  sensibilities  of  men  and  women,  appeals  to  the 
better  side  of  human  nature.  And  last  but  not  least, 
where  is  the  woman  swindler  who  has  not  "stood  pat" 
when  accused,  assuming  the  role  of  persecuted  inno- 
cence? Few  whose  deeds  have  sent  their  photographs 
to  the  engraving  rooms  of  newspapers  in  the  hour  of 
denouement  have  not  been  surrounded  by  at  least  a  por- 
tion of  their  dupes  who  characterized  the  prosecution  as 
"outrageous"  and  publicly  offered  moral  and  financial 
assistance  to  "the  ill-treated  lady." 

Many  such  women  have  felt  the  hand  of  the  law  in 
Chicago,  but  the  "neatest"  worker  of  them  all  was  Mrs. 
Violet  Jessie  Sherbondy,  of  "Sunnyside  Society"  fame, 
who,  in  the  name  of  God,  humanity  and  the  helpless 
children  of  the  tenements,  grafted  an  estimated  average 
of  $100  a  day  from  charitably  inclined  people  in  Chicago 
and  its  suburbs. 

Mrs.  Sherbondy  was  young  and  good  to  look  upon. 
Her  face  inspired  confidence,  her  manner  won  esteem. 
She  possessed  a  substitute  for  culture.  It  passed  for  the 
real  article.  She  was  a  ready  writer  and  her  children's 
stories  and  verses  were  marvels,  as  the  work  of  a  pro- 
fessional confidence  woman.  When  dilating  upon  her 
"life  work"  in  her  "chosen  field  of  charity"  Mrs.  Sher- 
bondy's  sweetly  innocent  face  was  illuminated  with  ma- 
ternal love.  Her  graceful  and  perfectly  proportioned 
figure  with  the  clothes  she  so  well  knew  how  to  put-'On 


318  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

it  added  to  the  other  attractions  of  the  handsome  young 
woman. 

"Such'1  was  the  Sunnyside  Society.  Mrs.  Sherbondy 
alone  was  the  Sunnyside  Society  and  the  Sunnyside 
Society  was  Mrs.  Sherbondy.  She  used  the  name 
of  her  mother,  Mrs.  E.  Stevens,  as  "National  president" 
of  the  organization,  and  that  of  her  sister,  Mrs.  B.  E. 
Buttles,  as  one  of  the  "State  organizers."  It  was  neces- 
sary to  have  a  list  of  patronesses. 

It  might  come  in  handy,  she  thought,  to  have  some 
among  her  officials  who  were  not  mythical — persons  to 
whom  she  could  point  in  case  of  undue  questioning  from 
the  outside.  Of  course  there  were  other  "officers"  in 
the  literature  of  the  society,  but  Mrs.  Sherbondy 's  mother 
and  sister  were  the  only  revealed  flesh  and  blood  mem- 
bers  beside   herself. 

The  "Settlement  Home"  maintained  by  the  organiza- 
tion was  at  4614  Emerald  avenue.  It  was  advertised  as 
a  place  where  deserving  mothers  could  leave  children 
while  they  went  out  to  toil  for  subsistence.  It  was  said 
several  more  homes  would  be  opened.  But  so  far  as  the 
police  ever  learned  the  only  child  ever  left  at  the  Settle- 
ment Home  while  its  mother  went  forth  to  battle  with 
the  world  was  the  10-y ear-old  son  of  Mrs.  Violet  Sher- 
bondy, who,  by  the  way,  never  used  her  own  name  in 
connection  with  her  scheme. 

The  child's  grandmother,  the  national  president,  "pre- 
sided" over  little  Roy  Sherbondy.  She  spent  most  of 
her  time  dressing  the  handsome  lad  in  picturesque  cos- 
tumes and  taking  him  to  photograph  galleries,  where 
the  pictures  were  made  that  adorned  the  cover  of  "Sun- 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


319 


5^  OCTOBER 1904  3 


SUNNYSIDE 


\£    n£    v^    PUBLISHED  IN  AID  OF     n?    n^    ^ 
THE    CHILDREN    OF    THE    TENEMENTS 


?iiiiiiumiiiUiuuuuuimimuimuiuiiiiiiauiuuiuiiuuiUiiiiaiUiiuuuiiiiUiiiiiiauiiiUiiiiiii^ 


320  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

nyside,"  a  paper  purporting  to  be  published  in  the  in- 
terests of  the  dearly  beloved  poor.  This  publication 
furnished  Mrs.  Sherbondy  her  principal  instrument. 

The  sister,  Mrs.  Buttles,  spent  her  time  profitably  in 
the  field,  where  she  sold  cartloads  of  the  paper  Mrs. 
Sherbondy  compiled.  She  alone  of  the  small  army  of 
agents  which  Mrs.  Sherbondy  sent  forth  to  campaign 
against  the  philanthropic  knew  the  paper  was  a  fraud, 
the  organization  it  represented  fabulous  and  the  home 
it  was  supposed  to  maintain  a  dwelling  of  grafters. 

The  agents  were  well  received  at  the  homes  of  citi- 
zens. They  worked  hard,  as  they  were  allowed  fifty  per 
cent  of  the  money  acquired  by  the  sale  of  the  magazine. 
It  was  sold  for  ten  cents  a  copy  and  many  annual  sub- 
scriptions were  taken  at  one  dollar  in  advance.  Among 
the  names  on  Mrs.  Sherbondy's  books  were  those  of 
Former  Senator  William  E.  Mason,  S.  E.  Gross,  the 
millionaire  real  estate  dealer ;  Captain  John  Mersch,  of 
the  Evanston  police  force ;  Dr.  Charles  P.  Garnet,  of 
Evanston,  and  John  S.  Hahn. 

As  an  instrument  for  grafting  the  little  periodical  was 
a  w'ork  of  art.  It  was  the  most  cleverly  compiled  decep- 
tions in  "come  on"  literature  the  police  ever  encoun- 
tered. Fairly  breathing  of  goodness  and  child-love 
and  teeming  with  God-like  motives  it  was  the  false  self 
of  Violet  Sherbondy  transferred  to  paper. 

"Sunnyside"  was  neatly  gotten  up.  On  the  cover 
appeared  a  half-tone  picture  of  little  Roy  Sherbondy, 
attired  in  a  jaunty  outing  costume.  No  name  appeared 
beneath  the  cut  but  in  large  type  was  the  legend : 

"Published  in  aid  of  the  children  of  the  tenements." 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  321 

The  first  page  of  the  October  number  (1904)  con- 
tained a  story  entitled  "A  Deed  of  Kindness,"  supposed 
to  have  been  written  by  a  little  girl  in  Los  Angeles, 
whose  name  and  address  were  given  at  the  head  of  the 
article.  Following  it  was  a  treatise  setting  forth  the 
beauties  of  the  kindergarten  system  in  which  the  name 
of  the  Creator  and  the  words  of  the  Savior  appeared  pro- 
fusely. 

The  next  page  was  headed :  "The  Sunnyside  Society.'' 
Here  Violet  Sherbondy  shone  at  her  best.  To  repro- 
duce the  entire  contents  of  the  magazine  would  not  be 
tiresome,  but  space  restricts  to  brief  extracts.  First, 
Violet  told  in  verse  of  the  magic  wrought  by  kind  words, 
smiles  and  touches.  She  must  have  smiled  as  she  penned 
the  word  "touch."  One  may  imagine  Violet's  thoughts 
as  she  committed  the  following: 

"You  Never  Can  Tell/' 

You  never  can  tell  when  you  do  an  act 

Just  what  the  result  will  be ; 
But  with  every  deed  you  are  sowing  a  seed 

Though  'its  harvest  you  may  not  see. 
Every  kindly  act  is  an  acorn  dropped 

In  God's  productive  soil ; 
Though  you  may  not  know,  yet  the  tree  shall  grow, 

And  shelter  the  brow  that  toils. 

The  question  arises  whether  Mrs.  Sherbondy  foresaw 
what  the  "harvest  would  be"  in  her  case.  Farther  she 
wrote :  "It  costs  nothing  to  become  a  member  of  the 
Sunnyside  Society.  You  simply  promise  to  perform 
some  useful  act.    You  are  amply  repaid  by  the  happiness 


322  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

you  bestow."  Below  are  submitted  words  of  wisdom 
and  advice  that  are  interesting  as  coming  from  the  pen 
of  a  conscienceless  grafter: 

"One  of  the  finest  fruits  of  culture  is  the  power  to 
see  the  man  or  woman  whom  God  made  in  his  own  im- 
age, and  not  the  one  that  is  scarred  by  faults  and  de- 
ficiencies." 

"It  is  only  the  generous,  loving  soul  that  attains  this 
degree  of  culture." 

"Write  your  name  with  kindness,  love  and  mercy  on 
the  hearts  of  those  with  whom  you  associate  and  you 
will  never, be  forgotten." 

"What  a  good  old  world  this  would  be  if  there  were 
no  selfishness  in  it." 

"There  is  nothing  on  earth  so  wonderful  as  the  bud- 
ding soul  of  a  little  child." 

"It  is  only  the  broad,  charitable,  magnanimous,  great- 
hearted man  or  woman  who  is  blind  to  the  defects  of 
others  and  enlarges  their  good  qualities." 

"Every  one  in  this  great  big  world  can  do  something 
to  make  others  happier." 

"Scatter  Sunnyside — make  some  child's  life  happier — 
the  reward  is  bountiful  both  to  you  and  posterity." 

Violet  might  have  added  that  the  reward  for  the  scat- 
tering Sunnyside — or  rather  fifty  per  cent  of  it — came 
directly  to  her,  and  the  only  posterity  benefited  thereby 
was  her  own  dear  Roy,  who  in  his  singular  self  con- 
stituted the  supposedly  numerous  beneficiaries  of  the 
Sunnyside  Settlement  Home  on  Emerald  avenue. 

Her  two-column  appeal  for  aid  in  alleviating  the  con- 
dition of  "The  Alley  Child"  was  enough  to  bring  tears 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  323 

to  the  eyes  of  an  iron  lawn-dog.  This  bit  of  feeble 
levity  is  remindful  of  the  fact  there  was  a  lovely  story 
for  the  little  ones  entitled  "The  True  Story  of  a  Big 
Dog." 

It  was  on  the  editorial  page  that  Mrs.  Sherbondy  gets 
down  to  business  and  tells  us  that  Sunnyside  advocated 
"Better  Tenements,  Fresh  Air  Outings,  Public  Play- 
grounds and  Children's  Clubs."  Giving  the  "fake" 
names  of  the  society's  "tenement  house  visiting  board" 
and  "State  organizers,"  she  painted  in  vivid  rhetoric  the 
glorious  mission  in  which  they  engaged. 

After  describing  how  the  movement  was  inaugurated 
in  various  cities  and  spread  until  the  need  of  additional 
funds — a  steady  and  dependable  income — was  apparent, 
she  told  of  the  founding  of  the  "little  paper"  as  a  means 
of  support  for  this  great  charity.  She  told  of  the  won- 
derful settlement  home  and  of  the  summer  outings1  "pro- 
vided during  the  summer  months  for  the  wan  little  folk 
of  the  tenment  districts." 

The  Sunnyside  Society  nor  the  Sunnyside  paper  ever 
saw  a  summer  month  during  their  period  of  joint  ex- 
istence. This  was  in  October  and  the  graft  had  been 
on  about  two  months. 

Again  the  editor  said :  "At  Thanksgiving  and  Christ- 
mas we  provide  free  dinners  and  toys  for  children. 
Through  our  employment  bureau  we  secure  work  for 
hundreds  of  poor  women  free  of  charge." 

The  fact  the  Sunnyside  graft  had  not  been  on  during 
any  Thanksgiving  or  Christmas  didn't  bother  Mrs.  Sher- 
bondy. 


324  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

Immediately  after  the  last  mentioned  beautiful  lie  she 
wrote : 

"Our  work  is  non-restricted  by  denominational  lines. 
We  know  only  one  religion  and  that  we  teach :  Love 
thy  neighbor  as  thyself." 

On  the  other  pages  were  photographic  reproductions 
of  angelic  youngsters  and  full  directions  for  organizing 
clubs  subsidary  to  the  national  body.  The  principal  ob- 
ject of  these  clubs  was  to  send  in  subscriptions  to  the 
paper.  There  were  also  numerous  stories,  each  with  a 
moral  involving  love,  kindness  and  self-sacrifice,  and 
cleverly  arranged  fake  accounts  of  episodes  depicting  the 
progress  of  the  society's  labors  in  behalf  of  mankind. 

As  a  matter  of  record  neither  Mrs.  Sherbondy,  her 
mother  or  her  sister  could  have  given  the  location  of 
a  single  tenement  house  in  Chicago  had  the  price  of 
ten  thousand  subscriptions  to  Sunnyside  depended  on 
their  doing  so.  They  didn't  know  what  a  tenement 
house  looked  like.  The  graft  was  too  good  for  them  to 
go  "snooping"  around  tenements  and  it  would  have 
been  a  shame  for  Roy,  the  seraphic  model  for  pictures 
of  the  reformed  "alley  child,"  to  mix  with  dirty  little 
brats  in  the  slums. 

The  headquarters  of  Mrs.  Sherbondy  were  at  Room 
71,  119  La  Salle  street.  This  office  was  the  editorial 
sanctum  of  Sunnyside  and  the  national  fountain  head 
of  the  "organization."  It  was  where  Violet  Sherbondy 
counted  her  money. 

On  the  afternoon  of  October  28.  1904,  Detective  Clif- 
ton R.  Wooldridge  visited  Mrs.  Sherbondy  in  her  office. 
He  was  graciously  received.     In  fact  the  implacable  de- 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  325 

tective  almost  fell  under  the  spell  of  the  charming  swin- 
dler. He  recovered  himself,  accepted  a  chair  that  was 
graciously  offered  and  inquired : 

"Mrs.  Sherbondy,  how  long  have  you  been  in  busi- 
ness?" 

"Oh !  You  mean  how  long  have  I  been  publishing 
the  Sunnyside?    Why,  this  month's  is  the  first  issue." 

"How  long  has  the  Sunnyside  Society  been  in  exist- 
ence? 

"For  quite  a  while.  It  is  a  grand  work.  We  are 
doing  an  immense  amount  of  good  among  the  children 
of  the  tenements  and  our  home " 


"Yes,  I  have  seen  the  'home.'  " 

This  last  remark  by  the  detective  perturbed  Mrs. 
Sherbondy  not  a  little,  but  she  maintained  a  brave  front. 
Wooldridge  drew  forth  a  copy  of  "Sunnyside"  and 
opened  it  to  the  page  on  which  appeared  the  list  of 
officers. 

"Who  is  Mrs.  Stevens,  whom  you  have  listed  here  as 
the  'national  president'?"   asked  Wooldridge. 

"WThy,  she's  the  nicest  and  most  lovable  woman  I  ever 
met,"  gushed  Mrs.  Sherbondy.  "She  is  wealthy  and 
philanthropic  and  devotes  herself,  heart  and  soul,  to 
our  glorious  work.  She  is  the  matron  of  our  Settlement 
Home  out  on  Emerald  avenue." 

"Who  gave  her  the  job?"  asked  the  officer. 

"She  was  elected." 

"Elected  by  whom?" 

"By  the  board  of  directors  of  the  society." 

"Where  are  they?" 

"In  the  east." 


326  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

"Oh,  yes !  In  the  east.  Quite  a  place — the  east — 
isn't  it?" 

Wooldridge  waited,  but  the  woman  didn't  seem 
anxious  to  be  more  explicit,  so  he  continued : 

"How  long  have  you , known  Mrs.  Stevens?" 

"Let  me  see,"  said  Mrs.  Sherbondy,  musingly;  "I  met 
her  a  little  over  two  years  ago.  She  became  interested 
in  our  work  and  joined  us.  I  have  never  seen  a  woman 
more  enthusiastic  and  self-denying  in  the  cause  of  char- 
ity. Mrs.  Stevens  is  one  of  the  noblest  women  I  have 
ever  met." 

"Now,  Mrs.  Sherbondy,"  pursued  the  detective,  "isn't 
it  a  fact  you  have  known  Mrs.  Stevens  longer  than  two 
years?" 

"Why,  no,"  sweetly  responded  Mrs.  Sherbondy.  "If 
my  memory  serves  me  we  are  just  beginning  the  third 
year  of  our  acquaintanceship." 

"Mrs.  Sherbondy,  isn't  it  a  fact  Mrs.  Stevens  was  at 
your  house  the  night  you  were  born?"  (Symptoms  of 
heart  failure  on  the  part  of  Mrs.  Sherbondy.)  "And 
that  she  was  the  most  important  person  in  all  that  agi- 
tated household  next  to  yourself?"  (Wide-eyed  aston- 
ishment on  the  part  of  Mrs.  Sherbondy.) 

The  woman  gasped  and  stammered  something  in  re- 
ply, but  the  detective  pretended  not  to  notice  her  em- 
barrassment as  he  continued  mercilessly  : 

"Isn't  Mrs.  Stevens  your  nearest  relative,  Mrs.  Sher- 
bondy?    Isn't  she  your  mother?" 

The  woman  nodded  affirmatively  and  turned  her  eyes 
toward  the  floor.     But  Wooldridge  was  not  through. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  327 

"And  this  picture  on  the  cover  of  the  magazine,  Mrs. 
Sherbondy — whose  likeness  is  that?" 

"That's  taken  from  a  photograph  of  one  of  the  little 
boys  out  at  the  Home — one  of  the  inmates."  (Signs  of 
returning  nerve  in  Mrs.  Sherbondy.)     "Isn't  he  sweet?" 

"Yes,  I  must  say  he  is  awful  sweet,"  mused  the  de- 
tective, as  he  adjusted  his  eyeglasses  and  scanned  the 
picture  critically.  Then  he  bent  his  gaze  upon  the  wo- 
man's face  and  back  to  the  picture  again. 

"How  long  have  you  known  this  sweet  little  fellow?" 
he  asked. 

"About  two  years — ever  since  he  has  been  at  the  home 
— yes,  about  two  years  it  is." 

"If  you  were  to  jog  your  memory  good  and  hard,  Mrs. 
Sherbondy,  don't  you  think  you  could  remember  having 
seen  him  previously  to  two  years  ago?  In  fact,  weren't 
you  present  the  day  he  was  born?" 

The  woman  colored  deeply  and  looked  daggers  at  the 
detective,  who  sat  quietly  eyeing  her  and  awaiting  a 
reply.     When  the  silence  became  painful  he  broke  it. 

"Mrs.  Sherbondy,"  he  said,  looking  straight  into  her 
eyes  and  tapping  the  picture  of  the  boy  with  his  nose- 
glasses,  "do  you  disown  that  little  fellow  as  your  son? 
Do  you  deny  that  you  are  his  mother?" 

All  the  woman  in  her  came  to  the  surface  in  an  in- 
stant. She  leaped  to  her  feet,  and  glaring  defiantly  at 
the  officer,  cried: 

"Never!     I  am  his  mother!" 

The  woman's  shell  of  deceit  was  pierced.  She  sank 
limply  into  a  chair  while  the  detective  continued  to  pro- 
pound questions.     She  acknowledged  Mrs.  Buttles  was 


328  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

her  sister  and  that  she  had  seceded  from  the  National 
Sunshine  Legion,  of  which  she  was  the  Chicago  man- 
ager, and  started  the  Sunnyside  charity  on  her  own  ac- 
count. 

As  the  detective  called  attention  to  the  obviously  false 
statements  in  her  paper  relative  to  work  accomplished 
and  under  way  Mrs.  Sherbondy  gave  an  exhibition  of 
artistic  mendacity.  ''Misprints"  and  "mistakes  of  the 
printer,"  she  called  most  of  them.  Her  stories,  how- 
ever, would  not  hold  water  and  she  was  arrested. 

Next  day  she  was  fined  $100  in  the  Harrison  street 
police  court  and  sent  to  the  Bridewell  in  default  of  pay- 
ment. Later  she  was  rescued  from  the  House  of  Cor- 
rection by  friends. 

The  spirit  of  the  woman  was  completely  broken  by 
by  the  ignominy  of  the  trip  in  the  Black  Maria.  The 
true  hideousness  of  the  situation  dawned  upon  her  when 
she  was  led  from  the  court  room  and  lodged  in  the 
"bull  pen"  to  await  the  arrival  of  the  Bridewell  wagon. 
She  was  dressed  in  the  height  of  fashion  and  carried  her- 
self, as  always,  with  the  air  of  a  queen,  but  when  she 
was  escorted  into  the  gloomy,  ill-smelling  room  with 
barred  windows,  all  her  buoyancy  left  her. 

To  a  person  accustomed  to  decent  surroundings  the 
scene  of  which  the  woman  sharper  was  now  a  part  was 
peculiarly  revolting.  Coarse-mouthed  negresses,  painted 
women  of  the  street,  female  habitual  drunkards  and  the 
flotsam  and  jetsam  of  the  Chicago  levee  were  her  com- 
panions. Whatever  else  she  was  Violet  Sherbondy  was 
not  coarse. 

When  the  "2  o'clock  'bus,"  with  its  grated  sides  and 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


329 


.-    .^  ■— ^.  ,  .. .^^,  .,.^.m — -rrmninrti 


^X/&ft  >tsa2e:J*  '&z&&3a?teiyr- 


B30  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

barred  door,  drew  up  to  receive  its  daily  load  of  men 
and  women  destined  for  the  workhouse,  Mrs.  Sherbondy 
faltered.  As  she  was  led  with  the  others  from  the  "bull 
pen"  to  the  wagon  she  bent  her  gaze  upon  the  sidewalk. 
Her  cheeks  blazed  with  shame  and  there  was  the  sus- 
picion of  tears  in  her  eyes.  She'  was  a  picture  of  abject 
humiliation. 

Into  the  Black  Maria  she  climbed  as  the  usual  crowd 
of  court  room  hangers-on  and  levee  habitutes  clustered 
about  to  watch  the  loading  process.  As  her  silken  skirts 
rustled  down  the  double  file  of  onlookers  two  wags  be- 
gan to  sing,  to  the  tune  of  "Good-bye,  Little  Girl,  Good- 
bye," the  following  appropriate  improvisation: 

"Good-bye,  Violet,  good-bye; 
Don't  cry,  Violet,  don't  cry; 
We'll  look  for  you  back  some  day 
At  the  nursery  graft  so  gay, 

Good-bye,  Violet,  good-bye." 

But  Violet  was  thinking  of  other  things.  She  was 
thinking  of  revenge.  Not  revenge  upon  the  police. 
She  knew  the  business  in  which  she  engaged  was  ille- 
gitimate and  she  was  "game"  enough  to  realize  the  pun- 
ishment had  been  the  inevitable  result  of  discovery.  But 
she  felt  she  might  have  gone  on  for  a  few  more  profitable 
weeks  had  it  not  been  for  the  act  of  a  man  she  refused 
to  marry.  Under  the  impression  that  this  was  the  case, 
Mrs.  Sherbondy  confided  in  Detective  Wooldridge  with 
the  following  outburst : 

"It's  all  the  work  of  J.  W.  Floridy,  this  prosecution 
of  me.     He  has  been  bothering  me  to  death  with  offers 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  331 

of  marriage,  and  because  I  won't  have  him  he  is  taking 
this  means  of  getting  even." 

"Who  is  J.  W.  Floridy?"  inquired  the  detective. 

"Well,  I'll  tell  you  who  he  is,"  cried  the  angered 
woman.  "He's  the  editor  of  a  paper  called  the  'Sunshine 
Journal.'  If  you're  hunting  for  grafters  you  would  bet- 
ter look  up  the  National  Sunshine  Legion.  I  used  to  be 
their  manager  here,  and  Floridy  was  after  me  all  the 
time  to  marry  him  and  start  a  rival  paper.  I  don't  love 
him,  and  when  I  repeatedly  turned  him  down  he  acted 
like  a  piqued  schoolboy. 

"Finally  I  decided  to  start  a  paper  on  my  own  account 
and  call  it  the  Sunnyside.  I  modeled  it  after  the  Sun- 
shine Journal,  so  if  my  paper  was  bad  in  the  eyes  of  the 
law  you  ought  to  find  something  interesting  in  the  office 
of  the  National  Sunshine  Legion.  I  hope  you  can  reach 
Floridy  and  give  him  and  all  of  them  what's  coming  to 
them." 

This  information  was  welcome  to  Wooldridge.  He 
hastened  to  assure  Mrs.  Sherbondy  the  raid  upon  her 
business  had  been  instigated  by  persons  who  found  it  to 
be  a  fraud  and  not  by  the  amorous  Mr.  Floridy. 

The  detective  immediately  got  busy  and  found  that 
the  National  Sunshine  Legion  was  operating  a  supposed 
nursery  at  856  West  Lake  street.  He  discovered  agents 
had  sold  a  paper  called  the  "Sunshine  Journal"  since 
December,  1903,  on  the  representations  that  the  proceeds 
were  devoted  to  the  support  of  the  charitable  institution. 

Another  discovery  was  that  the  supposed  nursery  was 
not  opened  nntil  July,  1904,  although  funds  had  been 
solicited   on   the  understanding  that  they   were  applied 


332  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

directly  to  the  support  of  an  asylum  actually  in  existence 
and  in  need  of  money  for  daily  expenses. 

Wooldridge  located  the  Chicago  office  of  the  National 
Sunshine  Legion  at  134  Van  Buren  street  and  found  a 
Mrs.  Clark  in  charge.  Mrs.  Clark  claimed  to  have  re- 
cently arrived  from  Philadelphia,  having  been  sent  west 
hurriedly  by  the  "home  office"  at  Jersey  City,  N.  J.,  to 
take  charge  of  the  Chicago  branch  and  "straighten  mat- 
ters out." 

She  said  there  had  been  something  wrong  with  the 
management  at  this  end  and  a  controversy  over  the  funds 
of  the  "Legion"  between  the  home  office  and  Mrs.  Violet 
Sherbondy,  the  former  manager  and  principal  sales  agent 
of  the  Sunshine  Journal. 

The  officer  was  convinced  Mrs.  Clark  was  not  respon- 
sible for  conditions  he  found.  He  advised  her  to  com- 
municate with  the  Chicago  Bureau  of  Charities  or  secure 
responsible  persons  in  the  city  to  stand  sponsors  for  her 
organization  before  attempting  to  perpetuate  it. 

Accordingly  Mrs.  Clark  visited  Mr.  Ernest  P.  Bick- 
nell,  superintendent  of  the  Bureau  of  Charities,  carrying 
with  her  the  books  and  records  of  the  Sunshine  Legion 
as  she  had  found  them  on  her  arrival  at  the  Chicago 
office.  Mr.  Bicknell  gave  her  an  audience  and  went  over 
the  records  with  her  carefully.  The  result  of  this  inter- 
view was  that  Mr.  Bicknell  was  compelled  to  bulletin 
the  National  Sunshine  Legion  to  societies  in  other  cities, 
kindred  to  the  one  he  represented,  as  an  organization  he 
could  not  recommend. 

His  inspection  of  the  books  showed  him  the  average 
sales  of  the  Sunshine  Journal  were  over  4,000  a  month, 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


333 


^?^ 


IS 


m 


SUNSHINE 


PUBLISHED   IN  AID   OF 


THE  CHILDREN  OF  THE  TENEMENTS 


334 


THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 


BITING  OFF  MORE  THAN  HE  CAN  CHEW 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  335 

and  that  from  $50  to  $60  a  week  had  been  sent  to  Jersey 
City  from  funds  collected  in  Chicago.  Later  in  court 
Mr.  Bicknell  testified  that  the  National  Sunshine  Legion 
was  an  imitation  of  a  legitimate  organization  known  as 
the  "Sunshine  Society"  of  New  York,  which  published 
the  Sunshine  Bulletin.  He  said  there  was  also  a  paper 
known  as  "Sunlight/'  which  was  deserving  of  support 
by  philanthropic  persons.  Working  hand  in  hand,  Mr. 
Bicknell  and  Detective  Wooldridge  made  a  careful  in- 
vestigation of  the  "Legion"  and  its  methods. 

They  communicated  with  charitable  organizations  and 
the  police  of  various  cities  throughout  the  United  States 
and  received  unfavorable  reports  from  New  York,  Bal- 
timore, Jersey  City,  Buffalo,  Pittsburg,  Boston,  Hart- 
ford, Conn.,  Minneapolis,  Kansas  City,  St.  Louis  and 
Cincinnati. 

Wooldridge  learned  from  Mrs.  Sherbondy  that  the 
National  Sunshine  Legion  was  as  bad  a  piece  of  business 
as  her  own  defunct  Sunnyside  Society.  She  told  him 
that  when  in  charge  of  the  Sunshine  office  she  had  sent 
$200  a  week  east.  This  money  she  said,  went  for  the 
personal  use  of  a  Mrs.  Tibbetts,  owner  of  the  Sunshine 
Journal  and  president  of  the  National  Sunshine  Legion. 
She  said  J.  W.  Floridy  was  treasurer  of  the  organization 
and  editor  of  the  paper. 

Visits  by  several  investigators  to  the  alleged  nursery 
at  856  West  Lake  street  disclosed  the  fact  that  the  place 
was  a  little  more  than  a  mere  blind  and  the  cost  of  its 
maintenance  was  a  mere  drop  in  the  bucket  compared 
to  the  amount  of  cash  that  was  collected  for  that  purpose. 

It  was  also  discovered  that  several  young  women  who 


336  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

had  turned  in  from  $5  to  $10  a  day  from  the  £ale  of  the 
Sunshine  paper  and  from  voluntary  contributions  quit 
the  employment  of  the  paper  when  they  learned  the  in- 
stitution was  a  fake.  Their  observations  at  the  home 
convinced  these  girls  that  they  had  been  collecting  money 
under  false  pretenses,  and  they  hastened  to  put  an  end 
to  their  connection  with  the  society.  One  young  woman 
was  found  who  had  traveled  on  the  road  soliciting  sub- 
scriptions and  donations.  The  merits  of  the  enterprise 
as  presented  by  her  in  good  faith  appealed  to  business 
men  in  Omaha,  St.  Louis,  Kansas  City  and  other  cities 
and  she  had  turned  into  the  Chicago  office  large  amounts 
of  cash. 

All  this  time,  she  said,  she  was  given  to  understand 
the  institution  was  supporting  a  day  nursery  in  Archer 
avenue,  when  as  a  matter  of  fact  its  "bluff"  home  never 
was  located  at  any  place  other  than  in  West  Lake  street. 
When  she  discovered  the  real  character  of  the  Legion 
she  unceremoniously  resigned  and  refused  to  have  any- 
thing further  to  do  with  it.  Other  solicitors  who  gar- 
nered large  amounts  of  money  in  Chicago  and  its  en- 
virons told  similar  stories. 

One  young  woman  said :  "I  was  sent  to  Milwaukee 
and  the  work  up  there  progressed  magnificently.  As 
a  matter  of  fact  Milwaukee  is  easily  worked.  Rich  and 
poor  donated  to  the  cause  and  the  papers  sold  like  hot 
cakes.     The  money  rolled  in." 

The  Milwaukee  account  stood  for  hundreds  of  dollars 
when  the  Chicago  manager  decided  to  show  something 
in  return.  She  went  there  and  announced  there  would 
be  a  grand  "blowout"  in  the  woods  for  the  poor  children 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  337 

of  the  entire  city.  She  didn't  make  the  announcement' 
so  loudly  that  more  than  a  dozen  "wolf-at-the-door"  peo- 
ple could  hear  it,  however,  and  when  the  grand  picnic 
was  over  the  bank  roll  was  shy  just  exactly  two  dollars 
and  forty-one  cents. 

The  solicitors  were  given  a  large,  sixteen-page  paper 
to  sell  at  ten  cents  a  copy  or  one  dollar  a  year.  When 
they  took  annual  subscriptions  they  would,  according  to 
instructions,  add  to  their  "spiel"  that  $i  would  bring  the 
paper  to  the  home  of  the  subscriber  for  a  term  of  one 
year  and  also  would  provide  for  a  copy  to  be  sent  to  the 
"Home"  for  some  child  there. 

Sometimes  the  paper  was  sent  to  the  donor  of  the  dol- 
lar and  at  others  it  was  not.  When  it  was  sent  it  ar- 
rived in  the  form  of  an  eight-page  paper  of  smaller  size 
than  the  one  carried  by  the  solicitors,  and  generally 
insignificant  as  compared  with  it,  although  the  samples 
themselves  were  poor  enough  in  their  way. 

At  the  home  on  West  Lake  street  Detective  Wool- 
dridge  found  few  provisions  for  the  care  of  children  and 
few  children  to  enjoy  them  if  any  had  been  made.  Most 
of  the  comforts  provided  were  for  adults  and  slight  pre- 
tense was  made,  aside  from  the  sign  on  the  window, 
that  the  place  was  intended  as  a  haven  of  refuge  for  the 
"children  of  the  tenements." 

The  woman  in  charge  said  she  was  totally  inexperi- 
enced in  the  handling  of  children,  but  she  didn't  feel  that 
she  needed  any  experience  in  that  direction  as  children 
seldom  inflicted  themselves   on  the  institution. 

"The  main  thing  is  to  put  up  a  bluff  that  the  place  is 
a  day  nursery,"  she  said.     "I  have  received  instructions 


338  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

from  Jersey  City  to  keep  the  place  open  until  this  trouble 
with  the  police  blows  over.  They  telegraphed  they 
would  send  checks  to  meet  expenses  until  we  can  get 
back  to  selling  papers  and  soliciting  subscriptions  again." 

An  investigation  was  made  also  at  Jersey  City  whither 
the  money  collected  throughout  the  United  States  was 
sent.  No  evidence  could  be  found  in  its  supposed  head- 
quarters that  the  National  Sunshine  Legion  was  spend- 
ing any  of  its  thousands  of  dollars  in  charity  work.  In 
Boston  a  detective  found  a  small  bare  room  occupied 
by  a  woman  and  three  or  four  children.  The  principal 
article  of  furniture  was  a  box  of  blocks.  There  wiere 
no  signs  of  the  wonders  the  Legion  pretended  to  be 
working  among  the  poor  with  its  funds. 

The  Sunshine  Legion's  graft  was  so  good  that  it 
fought  hard  against  being  closed  up.  The  Chicago  office 
desisted  on  orders  from  Detective  Wooldridge  and  the 
postal  authorities,  but  application  was  made  ■'  •  the  Cir- 
cuit Court  for  an  injunction  restraining  the  officers  from 
further  interference.  The  suit  was  directed  against  the 
City  of  Chicago,  Chief  of  Police  O'Neill  and  Clifton 
R.  Wooldridge.  The  matter  was  referred  to  a  master 
in  chancery.  The  Legion  developed  surprising  financial 
resources  as  the  hearing  progressed,  the  court  having 
ruled  that  the  proceedings  should  be  at  the  expense  of  the 
applicant. 

The  legal  history  of  the  pious  fraud  in  the  east  is 
of  special   interest. 

The'  attorney  for  the  National  Sunshine  Legion  served 
notice  on  the  City  of  Chicago,  Chief  of  Police  O'Neill 
and  Detective  Wooldridge  that  on  June  19,  1905,  in  Jer- 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  339 

sey  City,  N.  J.,  the  Legion  would  take  the  depositions 
of  Ella  M.  Tibbetts,  F.  D.  McKechnie,  Joseph  Flaherty, 
Joseph  Floridy  and  Lillian  Clark,  and  procured  a  dedi- 
mus  from  the  clerk  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Cook  Coun- 
ty authorizing  and  directing  Frederick  H.  Spengeman, 
61  Sussex  street,  Jersey  City,  N.  J.,  to  act  as  commis- 
sioner in  taking  the  depositions. 

The  City  of  Chicago  and  the  above  mentioned  officers 
served  a  counter-notice  on  complainant's  solicitor  that 
they  would,  at  the  same  time  and  place,  before  the  same 
commissioner,  take  the  depositions  of  persons  who  were 
familiar  with  the  Legion's  methods  in  New  York  city, 
Jersey  City,  Philadelphia,  Boston,  Fall  River  and  other 
places  in  the  east. 

The  defendants  were  represented  by  Assistant  Corpo- 
ration Counsel  Michael  F.  Sullivan,  who  was  sent  to 
Jersey  City  at  the  time  appointed,  and  called  on  Chief 
of  Police  J,Iurphy  of  that  city,  who  assigned  Detective 
Sergeant  William  E.  Robinson  to  assist  Mr.  Sullivan. 
They  went  to  No.  61  Sussex  street,  and  found  it  was  not 
the  office  of  Mr.  Spengeman,  but  was  the  office  of  the 
Legion. 

The  only  person  in  authority  there  was  Mrs.  F.  D. 
McKechnie,  who  said  the  president,  Mrs.  Tibbetts,  was 
out  of  the  city  and  the  treasurer,  Mr.  Flaherty,  was  in  St. 
Louis,  and  that  none  of  the  officers  of  the  Legion  was  in 
the  city  at  that  time ;  that  there  were  to  be  no  depositions 
taken;  that  President  Tibbetts  might  be  in  the  city  the 
next  day. 

The  officer  and  attorney  then  looked  up  Mr.  Spenge- 
man.    They  found  him  in  his  office  at  No.  266  Wash- 


340  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

ington  street,  and  were  informed  he  had  never  heard 
of  any  depositions  to  be  taken ;  that  the  Legion  had  not 
acquainted  him  with  the  fact  they  had  authorized  a  com- 
mission to  be  forwarded  to  him  for  any  purpose. 

The  next  day  the  officer  and  attorney  again  visited 
61  Sussex  street  and  met  President  Tibbetts,  a  large, 
fleshy,  chemical  blonde,  who  proceeded  to  denounce  in 
violent  and  coarse  language  everybody  connected  with 
the  prosecution  of  the  Legion  in  Chicago. 

After  having  been  given  sufficient  rope  to  enable  her 
to  strangle  her  reputation  and  demonstrate  her  true 
character,  President  Tibbetts  was  promptly  muzzled  by 
Sergeant  Robinson.  She  refused  to  proceed  with  the 
depositions.  The  city's  solicitor  then  arranged  with  Mr. 
Spengeman  to  take  the  depositions  of  the  witnesses 
named  in  the  city's  notice. 

Mr.  Spengeman  at  first  refused  to  act,  saying  he  was 
informed  by  Mrs.  Tibbetts  and  her  attorney  he  would 
get  into  trouble  if  he  did.  On  being  assured  by  Chief 
Murphy  no  harm  would  come  to  him,  he  reluctantly 
consented  to  take  the  depositions. 

These  were  admitted  in  evidence,  and  the  application 
for  an  injunction  was  denied,  the  master  holding  the 
facts  presented  proved  the  Legion  was  not  a  bona  fide 
charity  organization,  but  the  coarsest  kind  of  a  subter- 
fuge for  enabling  unscrupulous  persons  to  make  an  easy 
living  in  the  name  of  charity. 

Thereupon  the  League  refused  to  pay  its  attorney, 
who  attached  its  property  in  Chicago  and  realized  a 
portion  of  his  fee  by  their  sale. 

On  the  refusal  of  the  Legion  to  pay  the   fee  of  the 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  341 

master  in  chancery  and  to  file  his  report  the  court  dis- 
missed the  suit  at  the  Legion's  cost. 

In  the  meantime,  Hamill  &  Egan,  attorneys  of  239 
Washington  street,  Jersey  City,  N.  J.,  endeavored  on 
behalf  of  the  Legion  to  patch  up  the  difficulty  in  Chi- 
cago, but  were  unsuccessful.  Mr.  James  C.  Cortelyou, 
postoffice  inspector,  Jersey  City,  rendered  valuable  aid 
to  the  police  department  of  Chicago. 

During  the  taking  of  the  depositions  it  was  revealed 
that  City  Marshal  Hilliard  of  Fall  River,  Mass.,  knew 
Flaherty  as  a  former  defendant  in  the  courts  of  that 
place  on  a  charge  of  failure  to  support  his  wife. 

A  full  account  of  the  entire  proceedings  appeared  in 
Hearst's  Chicago  American  as  follows : 

Depositions  attacking  the  National  Sunshine  League, 
a  reputed  charitable  organization,  and  attacking  its  or- 
ganizers and  principal  officers,  Mrs.  E.  M.  Tibbetts  and 
Joseph  W.  Floridy,  have  been  taken  in  New  York,  Bos- 
ton, Philadelphia  and  Jersey  City,  and  have  been  admit- 
ted in  evidence  by  Master  in  Chancery  Barber. 

He  is  taking  evidence  in  his  office  in  the  Chicago  Opera 
House  block,  and  will  report  to  the  Superior  Court,  to 
whom  the  Sunshine  League  made  application  some  time 
ago  for  an  injunction  to  restrain  the  City  of  Chicago 
and  its  police  from  annoying  the  officers  of  the  League 
and  preventing  the  solicitation  of  contributions  of  money 
by  the  League's  agents. 

Some  Caustic  Criticism. 

The  Rev.  Martha  C.  Aitken,  of  West  Upton,  Mass., 
testifies  she  served  as  manager  of  the  Philadelphia  branch 


342  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

for  four  weeks  in  the  place  of  Mrs.  Lillian  Clark,  who 
until  recently  was  the  Chicago  manager  of  the  League. 
She  speaks  lightly  of  Mrs.  Tibbetts,  and  of  Floridy  says : 

"Floridy  is  the  most  uncharitable  looking  man  I  ever 
saw.  He  has  not  a  benevolent  looking  feature  and  wears 
an  immense  diamond  on  his  finger." 

Of  the  couple,  Abraham  L.  Jacobsen,  a  Jersey  City 
manufacturer,  who  lived  for  twenty-three  years  at  61 
Sussex  street,  testifies :  "I  often  heard  them  quarreling 
and  beating  one  another.  I  have  frequently  seen  Mrs. 
Tibbetts  under  the  influence  of  liquor.  In  one  of  the 
quarrels  Floridy  injured  her  so  that  she  was  sick  in  bed 
for  two  weeks." 

The  testimony  of  these  two  witnesses,  of  Mrs.  Minnie 
L.  Farrand,  of  New  .York ;  of  Adelaide  Janssen,  a  vistor 
for  the  Charity  Organization  Society  of  New  York; 
of  Bessie  de  Koster,  another  visitor;  of  Christian  C. 
Carstens,  assistant  secretary ;  of  Archibald  A.  Hill  of 
New  York;  of  Howard  Brooke  Dinwiddie,  minor  chari- 
ties investigator ;  of  Mary  Breed,  of  Boston ;  of  Helen 
R.  Wilson,  once  agent  for  the  Philadelphia  branch  of 
the  League;  of  Marjory  Hall,  of  New  York;  of  Marion 
B.  Sheridan,  an  artist  of  New  York,  and  of  W.  E.  Rob- 
inson, a  detective  sergeant  of  Jersey  City,  N.  J.,  attack 
the  character  of  the  publication  of  the  League,  and  the 
alleged  fraudulent  nature  of  its  charities. 

Half  Retained  by  Solicitors. 

According  to  the  witnesses  fifty  per  cent  of  all  moneys 
was  paid  the  collectors,  cash  donations  were  preferred 
to  those  of  food  or  clothing. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  343 

The  Sunshine  Journal,  the  League's  organ,  earned 
in  Philadelphia  alone  from  $50  to  $60  a  week,  it  is  al- 
leged, yet,  according  to  the  Rev.  Martha  Aitken,  no  more 
than  $2  or  $3  a  week  was  spent  on  the  table  for  the  chil- 
dren and  matrons.       ' 

Mrs.  Tibbetts  and  Floridy  are  alleged  to  have  objected 
to  this  outlay  and  ordered  her  to  buy  cheaper  butter  and 
provisions.  The  witnesses  unite  in  characterizing  the 
alleged  homes  in  other  cities  as  not  proper  places  for 
children. 

Mrs.  Farrand,  speaking  of  the  New  York  establish- 
ment, 438  West  Fortieth  street,  alleges :  "The  food  was 
rancid,  full  with  maggots.  Still  they  cooked  it  and  gave 
it  to  the  children  at  Thanksgiving." 

At  another  time  Floridy  is  said  to  have  substituted 
for  a  dinner  for  the  children  a  reception  to-  a  "famous 
tenement  house  doll  named  Louise,"  when  the  children 
all  received  dolls  instead  of  the  dinners  they  needed. 

Secretary  Carstens  of  the  Charity  Organization  So- 
ciety of  New  York,  which  publishes  a  "Charity  Direct- 
ory," testifies  the  League  never  applied  for  enrollment. 
Detective  Sergeant  Robinson  of  Jersey  City  testifies  that 
Floridy  is  an  alias  and  Joseph  W.  Flaherty  is  the  real 
name  of  Mrs.   Tibbetts'  companion. 

Chicago  today  has  no  Sunnyshine  or  Sunshine 
Journals  run  for  Graft  and  the  promoters  and  owners 
of  the  Journals  have  concluded  to  avoid  Chicago,  111., 
and  give  it  a  wide  berth  while  Detective  Wooldridge 
is  on  watch. 


344  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 


A  CONSPIRACY  IS  DEFEATED. 


Efforts  to  Have  the  Detective  Discharged  From  the 
Police  Force  for  Doing  His  Duty  Fail. 

On  one  occasion  a  conspiracy  was  entered  into  to  get 
Detective  Wooldridge  discharged  from  the  police  force 
because  he  insisted  on  doing  his  duty.  The  conspiracy 
failed,  however,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  one  of  the 
conspirators  said  he  would  spend  $50,000  to  get  the 
detective  discharged.  But  when  his  superior  officers 
learned  of  the  circumstances  and  had  made  an  investiga- 
tion, the  man  who  sought  to  have  his  star  was  told  that 
if  he  spent  $100,000  Wooldridge  would  still  be  on  the 
police  force. 

This  conspiracy  was  brought  about  on  account  of  an 
arrest  which  Wooldridge  made  July  19,  1892.  He  saw 
a  crowd  of  some  300  people  assembled  at  the  corner  of 
Harrison  street  and  Wabash  avenue.  They  were  holding 
two  small  boys  named  Ike  Livingston  and  Herman 
Cramp,  the  latter  being  a  saloon  keeper's  son. 

The  crowd  charged  these  boys  with  the  murder  of 
another  boy,  who,  they  said,  was  lying  on  the  sidewalk 
at  the  corner  of  Michigan  avenue  and  Eldridge  court.  A 
number  of  those  in  the  crowd  demanded  that  the  de- 
tective take  these  two  boys  into  custody,  which  he  did, 
and  accompanied  by  several  of  the  citizens  who  made 
the  complaint  against  the  two  boys,  went  to  the  place 
where  the  alleged  murder  was  supposed  to  have  been 
committed. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  345 

On  the  sidewalk  they  found  a  pool  of  blood,  but  were 
informed  that  the  wounded  boy  had  been  taken  to  State 
street  by  several  men  and  the  party  proceeded  there  to 
make  further  investigations.  They  had  reached  the  sa- 
loon at  347  State  street,  where  the  father  of  Herman 
Cramp  lived.  Here  the  boy  gave  a  scream,  and  Hattie 
Cramp,  his  mother,  sprang  out  and  demanded  that  the 
detective  at  once  release  her  son.  Wooldridge  told  her 
he  was  an  officer  and  that  the  boys  were  charged  with 
seriously  wounding  another  boy,  which  might  result  in 
death,  and  that  he  wanted  to  make  an  investigation. 

He  invited  the  woman  to  accompany  him,  but  instead 
of  doing  this,  she  flew  at  him  like  an  infuriated  animal, 
struck  him  a  stinging  blow  in  the  face,  snatched  a  hand- 
ful of  hair  from  his  head,  scratched  and  kicked  him 
and  fought  like  a  maniac.  Wooldridge  was  holding  a 
boy  with  each  hand  and  could  not  defend  himself  against 
her. 

At  that  moment  a  cab  driver,  William  Cook,  who  was 
a  friend  of  the  Cramp  family,  ran  up,  gave  the  officer 
the  "strong  arm,"  lifting  him  off  his  feet,  while  the 
woman  continued  to  rain  blow  after  blow  in  his  face,  and 
to  bite  his  wrists  in  an  effort  to  make  him  release  his 
hold  on  her  son.  Under  this  steady  and  continuous  as- 
sault Wooldridge  was  compelled  to  release  his  prisoners, 
but  the  cab  driver  still  held  him  from  behind,  and  con- 
tinued to  kick  him,  saying,  that  he  should  not  arrest  any- 
one belonging  to  that  saloon  in  his  presence. 

Wooldridge  finally  managed  to  work  one  hand  loose, 
and  drawing  his  revolver  dealt  the  cab  driver  a  blow  on 
the  head,  which  inflicted  a  wound  one  and  a  half  inches 


346  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

long,  and  sent  him  staggering  backwards.  The  man 
quickly  recovered  and  attempted  to  get  a  rock,  when 
Wooldridge  seized  him  and  placed  him  under  arrest. 
Then  Herman  Cramp,  father  of  the  boy  and  proprietor 
of  the  saloon,  came  running  out  to  Cook's  assistance  and 
attempted  to  prevent  the  officer  from  arresting  him.  Two 
other  officers  came  to  the  assistance  of  Wooldridge  just 
then  and  both  the  cab  driver  and  Cramp  were  locked  up 
at  the  Harrison  Street  Station.  On  the  following  morn- 
ing Hattie  Cramp  was  also  arrested.  The  trial  of  these 
three  prisoners  dragged  along  until  August  5,  when 
Justice  Glennon  fined  Herman  Cramp  and  William  Cook 
$10  each  and  costs  and  Hattie  Cramp  $5. 

The  day  after  these  arrests  Herman  Cramp  procured 
a  warrant  for  Wooldridge 's  arrest  and  openly  boasted 
that  he  would  spend  a  fortune  to  have  the  detective  dis- 
charged. Wooldridge  gave  bond  and  in  a  few  hours 
he  was  served  with  another  warrant  sworn  out  by  Cook, 
the  cab  driver,  and  the  next  morning  another  warrant 
was  served  on  him,  which  was  sworn  out  by  Hattie 
Cramp.  He  gave  bond  in  these  cases  also.  They  filed 
charges  against  him  with  the  Chief  of  Police  and  tried 
to  get  him  taken  before  the  trial  board. 

Wooldridge  answered  the  charges,  and  attached  to  his 
answers  the  affidavits  of  the  officers  who  assisted  him, 
the  parties  who  made  the  complaint  and  also  the  affi- 
davits of  a  street  railroad  man,  who  saw  the  attack  on 
him,  and  who  was  offered  $50  to  testify  in  favor  of  the 
ones  who  filed  these  charges  against  him. 

They  tried  every  way  they  could  think  of  to  get  evi- 
dence which  would  cause  the  Chief  of  Police  to  discharge 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  347 

Wooldridge,  but  made  a  miserable  failure,  for  as  before 
said,  when  the  superior  officers  made  investigations,  they 
stated  that  even  $100,000  spent  in  an  effort  to  get  Wool- 
dridge discharged  would  not  accomplish  that  result.  This 
was  the  last  heard  of  the  complaint  filed  against  Wool- 
dridge with  the  Chief  of  Police. 

When  the  trial  came  up  little  Ike  Livingston  was 
handed  up  to  the  witness  stand  and  gave  his  testimony. 
In  answer  to  a  question  he  said : 

"Mrs.  Cramp  told  me  before  I  came  here  that  if  I 
said  to  the  judge  that  she  had  struck  the  officer  she'd  get 
me  into  trouble." 

No  effort  of  the  cross-examining  attorney  bewildered 
him ;  on  the  contrary,  he  anticipated  questions,  and  when 
the  lawyer  got  rattled,  coolly  suggested  the  word  he 
wanted. 

"Did  the  officer  tell  you  to  say  that?" 

"No,  sir,"  answered  Ike. 

"Did  he  tell  you  anything  to  say?" 

"Yes,  sir." 

"Ah,  ha.    What  did  he  tell  you  to  say?" 

"He  told  me  to  tell  the  truth." 

"Anything  else?" 

"No,  sir." 

"Did  you  see  Mrs.  Cramp  strike  the  officer?" 

"Yes,   sir." 

"When?" 

"Just  after  he  had  told  her  he  was  a  police  officer." 

"Did  you  see  the  officer  strike  Cook?" 

"No,  sir." 

"Well,  you  were  there,  were  you  not?" 


348  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

"Yes,  sir." 

"Well,  how  did  you  come  to  miss  seeing  that  part  of 
the  trouble?" 

"I  was  not  as  big  as  the  men  in  the  crowd  around  me." 

"Did  you  see  him  strike  Mrs.  A -?" 

"Cramp?"  suggested  the  witness0 

"Yes." 

"No,  sir." 

Wooldridge  was  honorably  discharged,  and  the  justice 
took  pains  to  emphasize  that  the  detective  was  perfectly 
justified  in  everything  he  did.  Cramp  had  two*  attorneys 
and  a  stenographer  employed  during  the  trial  and  with 
the  fines,  witnesses,  etc.,  it  cost  over  $450  and  then  he 
dropped  the  case,  which  was  the  last  of  it. 


THE  FAKE  EMPLOYMENT  AGENT. 


Promises  any  Kind  of  a  Position  for  a  Dollar  and 

Dupes  Thousands  but  When  Office  is  Raided- no 

Record   of   a  Single   Job   Filled   is   Found — 

Saved  From  Mob  of  Angry  Victims. 

WANTED — Skilled  laborers,  tradesmen,  shopmen, 
mechanics,  clerical,  professional,  technical,  commercial 
men  for  positions  paying  from  $600  to  $10,000  yearly; 
some  positions  offer  transportation  to  Philippines,  Ha- 
waii, Mexico,  Cuba,  South  America,  Pacific  coast  and 
other  points.  For  application  blank  and  particulars  ad- 
dress M  158,  Record-Herald. 

The  above  advertisement,  printed  in  papers  through- 
out the  country,  was  the  "come-on"  by  which  hundreds 
of  persons  were  swindled  by  one  of  the  most  bare-faced 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  349 

steals  that  has  ever  come  to  the  notice  of  the  police.  The 
perpetrator  was  J.  H.  Livingston,  who  did  business 
under  the  name  of  the  Powell  Agency,  with  offices  in  the 
Continental  National  Bank  building.  Some  idea  of  the 
magnitude  of  this  man's  operations  may  be  gained  from 
the  fact  that  he  wore  an  overcoat  lined  with  $1,500  worth 
of  rare  furs.  He  lived  at  a  fashionable  south  side  hotel 
and  startled  even  people  of  millions  by  his  lavishness. 
Livingston  moved  in  high  society  and  his  wife's  diamonds 
and  elaborate  toilets  excited  comment  wherever  she 
went. 

When  the  end  came,  however,  there  were  few  who 
cared  to  own  acquaintance  with  the  Livingstons.  So 
disgraceful  was  the  denouement  that  the  blackest  rogue 
in  the  world  of  graft  would  have  longed  for  a  dark  hole 
if  placed  in  the  predicament  in  which  Livingston  found 
himself. 

The  system  upon  which  Livingston  worked  was  to 
promise  everything,  take  all  he  could  get  and  give  abso- 
lutely nothing  in  return.  He  didn't  even  bother  himself 
with  furnishing  him  victim  with  a  nice  assortment  of 
lithographed  bonds,  pamphlets  and  "con"  literature. 
Printing  costs  money  and  Mr.  Livingston  was  not  in  the 
business  to  spend.  He  was  there  to  receive.  The  name 
he  chose  was  one  used  by  one  of  the  most  widely  ad- 
vertised institutions  in  the  country — the  Powell  adver- 
tising school,  which  uses  entire  pages  in  every  magazine 
of  any  account  published  in  the  United  States. 

The  system  of  Livingston  may  be  best  understood  by 
a  perusal  of  his  letters.  When  a  victim  answered  his 
advertisement  the  next  mail  brought  him  this ; 


350  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

Enclosed  please  find  particulars,  application  blank  and 
conditions  under  which  an  applicant  secures  a  position 
through  our  registration  system.  Being  in  touch  with 
the  requirements  and  demands  of  hundreds  of  employers 
who  are  constantly  requiring  competent  men  for  all  dif- 
ferent classes  of  work,  in  the  mechanical,  clerical,  tech- 
nical, professional  and  commercial  lines,  we  are  thus  en- 
abled to  secure  for  those  who  register  through  us  many 
good  positions  in  different  localities. 

We  do  not  work  on  the  lines  of  an  employment  agency, 
as  we  deal  only  with  a  high  grade  of  employes.  We  do 
not  require  our  registered  applicants  to  pay  us  any  per- 
centage of  their  salary  or  wages  and  we  do  not  deduct 
any  from  our  standard  registration  fee,  which  is  One 
Dollar,  payable  when  you  file  your  application  with  us. 

And  it  is  also  positively  understood  that  under  no  cir- 
cumstances are  there  any  other  charges  except  the  regis- 
tration fee,  One  Dollar,  which  is  an  assurance  of  good 
faith  and  to  prevent  parties  from  taking  advantage  of 
free  services. 

By  a  system  of  advertising  and  correspondence  we  are 
enabled  to  place  an  application  before  hundreds  of  good 
employers  who  require  the  services  of  high  grade  em- 
ployes, competent  tradesmen,  shopmen,  mechanics,  and 
office  help,  besides  clerical,  technical  and  professional 
men. 

Our  business  with  employers  is  strictly  confidential, 
and  employers  who  place  opportunities  through  us  do  not 
find  it  necessary  to  correspond  with  a  miscellaneous  list 
of  applicants.  They  inform  us  of  the  positions  open  to 
employes,  their  requirements,  etc. 

After  satisfactory  references  are  given  and  the  appli- 
cant's name  is  placed  on  our  lists,  we  submit  a  list  of  suit- 
able men  to  all  important  employers  of  help  of  the  class 
we  register,  thus  enabling  them  to  correspond  directly 
with  us,  and  the  applicant  does  not  find  it  necessary  to 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  351 

answer  a  lot  of  correspondence.  We  do  all  that  for  them 
until  they  are  located  in  a  suitable  position. 

When  an  employer  submits  us  an  open  position  or  po- 
sitions, we  immediately  furnish  him  with  a  full  and  re- 
liable report  upon  all  applicants  whose  particular  quali- 
fications cover  the  position  which  he  wishes  filled.  We 
aim  to  carry  none  on  our  lists  who  cannot  furnish  the 
highest  references  as  to  character  and  ability  to  fulfill 
the  position  for  which  they  register. 

By  carefully  reading  our  application  blank  and  noting 
the  conditions  therein  you  can  observe  the  extremely 
liberal  terms  of  our  system,  which  enables  a  competent 
man  to  get  a  good  situation  with  no  deduction  from  his 
salary  or  wages. 

WTe  are  not  an  employment  agency,  we  simply  assist 
reliable  and  competent  men  to  obtain  good  situations  for 
a  fair  consideration  and  our  clients  are  of  the  highest 
standing.  POWELL  AGENCY. 

Accompanying'  the  above  beautiful  bundle  of  bun- 
combe was  a  "history  sheet,"  upon  which  the  applicant 
was  requested  to  register  everything  concerning  himself 
from  his  weight  at  birth  to  the  color  of  his  wife's  eyes. 
Invariably  the  "Application''  came  back  with  the  neces- 
sary dollar,  especially  as  a  green  slip  would  be  enclosed 
in  the  letter  announcing  a  few  hundred  choice  positions 
in  every  quarter  of  the  globe  which  must  be  filled  immedi- 
ately after  a  certain  date — the  date  always  being  put  a 
few  days  ahead  of  the  time  at  which  the  victim  became 
interested. 

To  be  brief,  the  sending  of  the  dollar  ended  the  trans- 
action. Livingston  never  had  a  bona  fide  position  to 
offer  anyone.  He  didn't  want  them  and  what  was  more 
he  didn't  need  them.     The  fact  that  there  were  suckers 


352  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

in  the  world  was  enough  for  him.  If  a  business  man  had 
applied  to  Livingston  for  a  man  he  would  undoubtedly 
have  found  that  worthy  too  busy  counting  money  to  ac- 
commodate him. 

Money  flowed  into  the  "Powell  Agency"  like  water 
through  a  mill  race.  But  that  was  not  fast  enough  for 
the  swift  Mr.  Livingston.  Society  life  on  the  south  side 
came  high.  One  day  Mr.  Livingston  paused  long  enough 
in  his  arduous  job  of  straightening  out  folded  one  dollar 
bills  to  reflect  upon  the  sad  circumstance  that  there  were 
in  the  city  of  Chicago  a  vast  number  of  gentlemen  who 
once  wore  the  blue  and  carried  the  hickory  as  guardians 
of  the  peace,  but  who  now,  by  the  fortunes  of  politics  and 
things,  were  out  of  employment.  It  was  a  happy  thought. 
The  Powell  Agency  promptly  advertised  for  former 
policemen.  The  one-time  coppers  answered  in  force, 
and  then  he  fired  this  at  them : 

Shortly  after  January  i,  1904,  there  will  be  organized 
in  this  city  a  Merchants'  and  Citizens'  Protective  System, 
which  will  cover  the  business,  financial  and  residence  dis- 
tricts. This  system  will  be  organized,  directed  and 
financed  by  several  of  the  most  prominent  business  men 
and  citizens  of  Chicago  and  suburbs. 

They  have  directed  us  to  secure  for  them  some  suitable 
men  who  possess  the  necessary  qualifications. 

Applicants  must  be  able-bodied,  have  good  health,  eye- 
sight, hearing,  etc.,  and  must  furnish  at  least  five  good 
reliable  references  as  to  their  honesty,  character,  etc.,  and 
in  cases  where  men  are  to  be  stationed  in  financial  insti- 
tutions they  must  furnish  surety  bonds.  Those  who  are 
accepted  will  be  furnished  necessary  uniforms  and  full 
equipment  without  charge.  This  organization  will  pay 
men  who  are  employed  by  them  ninety  dollars  a  month. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  353 

Suitable  men  who  desire  to  register  for  this  work  can 
do  so  by  carefully  filling  out  the  enclosed  blank  and  con- 
forming to  the  conditions  on  the  back  of  the  application 
blank.  Registration  fee,  One  Dollar.  Positively  no  other 
charges  or  deductions.  Registration  fee  positively  re- 
turned to  applicants  who  cannot  pass. 

No   strike  or  detective  work. 

POWELL  AGENCY. 

Where  is  the  ex-policeman  who  would  not  bite  at  a 
thing  like  that?  And  they  did  bite.  The  former  coppers 
took  the  bait,  hook,  line,  sinker,  pole  and  reel.  At  the 
finish  they  almost  took  the  man  who  held  the  pole  as  will 
later  be  seen.  For  a  one  man  graft,  Livingston  certainly 
had  a  winner,  until  George  W.  Geary,  state  employment 
agency  superintendent,  discovered  that  he  was  operating 
without  a  license  and  notified  Detective  Wooldridge.  The 
sleuth  discovered  that  Livingston  was  doing  worse  things 
to  the  community  than  operating  without  a  license  and  he 
uncermoniously  dragged  him  out  of  bed  in  his  luxurious 
south  side  apartments  one  night  and  carted  him  off  to 
the  Harrison  Street  police  lockup. 

His  office  was  raided  and  mail  confiscated  which 
showed  he  had  received  thousands  of  dollars  from  appli- 
cants for  positions  and  no  record  could  be  found- of  any 
agreement  he  had  ever  kept.  He  evidently  had  made  not 
the  slightest  pretense  of  delivering  the  goods  in  any 
way,  shape  or  form. 

As  might  be  supposed,  the  announcement  of  the  rascal's 
arrest  brought  an  army  of  his  victims  to  the  Harrison 
Street  police  court  when  he  was  arraigned  for  hearing. 
More  than  200  angry  men,  most  of  them  ex-policemen, 


354  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

thronged  the  court  room  and  overflowed  into  the  police 
station.  Livingston  grew  white  when  he  saw  the  crowd 
of  dupes.  After  he  had  been  held  to  the  criminal  court 
on  a  charge  of  operating  an  employment  agency  without 
a  license  and  an  additional  one  placed  against  him  by 
Wooldridge  of  obtaining  money  by  means  of  a  confi- 
dence game,  Livingston  turned  to  the  officer  and  begged 
for  protection  away  from  the  station. 

Wooldridge  took  pity  on  the  man's  physical  plight  and 
started  to  escort,  him  to  the  street.  Immediately  they  were 
the  center  of  a  surging  crowd  of  men. 

"Slug  him !  Shoot  him !  Drag  him  out  in  the  alley 
and  give  us  all  a  kick  at  his  face !  Give  us  our  money 
back !    Let's  take  it  out  of  his  hide !" 

These  were  some  of  the  exclamations  which  caused 
the  swindler  to  tremble  and  cling  to  the  officer's  arm. 
His  terror  was  increased  when  blows  were  aimed  at  him, 
but  he  was  too  frightened  to  fight  back  or  even  assist 
Wooldridge,  who  was  having  his'  hands  full  protecting 
the  man  from  blows  which  might  have  killed  him.  The 
sympathy  of  the  other  policemen  about  was  with  the  as- 
sailants, as  was  also  Wooldridge's,  but  he  had  undertaken 
a  job  and  must  see  it  through.  Finally  Wooldridge  man- 
aged to  shove  his  man  out  of  the  door  and  down  the 
stairs  to  the  street,  thus  giving  him  a  chance  to  run, 
which  he  promptly  accepted. 

The  experience  was  too  much  for  Livingston,  how- 
ever. When  beset  by  those  he  had  duped  he  had  shouted 
that  he  would  pay  them  all  back  tenfold,  but  he  forfeited 
his  bond  and  fled  the  city.  As  usual,  however,  the 
swindler  quit  winner  financially. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


355 


-.^  -  j  -/- 


There  will   be  a   Hot  Old  Time   in  this  Town   When    I   Catch 
the    Man    who    Vampoozilled    Dad, 


356  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

WOULD   HAVE   BLOWN   THE   SAFE. 


In  Performing  His  Duty  a  Detective  Comes  Near 
Playing  the  Role  of  Burglar. 

If  the  messenger  which  Detective  Wooldridge  sent  on 
July  13,  1901,  had  returned  earlier  with  a  kit  of  burglar's 
tools,  the  big  steel  safe  in  Powers' &  O'Brien's  saloon, 
170  Madison  street,  would  have  been  blown  open  and  the 
officer  would  have  had  another  accomplishment  placed 
to  his  credit — that  of  a  safe-blower. 

Two  days  before  that,  complaint  had  been  made  on 
oath  before  Justice  Prindeville,  that  there  were  concealed 
in  the  safe  of  Powers  &  O'Brien,  evidences  of  gambling, 
especially  book-making  on  the  races.  Upon  this  informa- 
tion the  justice  issued  search  warrants  and  sent  Detective 
Wooldridge  with  eight  assistants  to  raid  the  place  and 
confiscate  the  gambling  paraphernalia. 

Detective  Wooldridge  demanded  that  the  safe  be 
opened.  John  Powers,  who  was  in  charge  of  the  saioon, 
refused  to  comply  with  the  request,  saying  he  did  not 
know  the  combination.  He  declared  that  the  only  man 
who  could  open  the  safe  was  William  O'Brien,  his  part- 
ner. O'Brien  was  at  the  race  track  and  would  not  re- 
turn until  nearly  night. 

Powers  was  then  told  that  unless  the  safe  was  opened, 
an  expert  would  be  sent  for,  and  if  he  could  not  open  it 
the  detective  would  get  a  kit  of  tools  and  dynamite  and 
blow  it  open.  Tins  did  not  have  the  desired  effect,  and 
a  messenger  was  sent  at  once  to  the  Hall  Safe  &  Lock 
Company  for  an  expej  t, 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  357 

Upon  examining  the  safe,  it  was  found  that  it  could 
not  be  opened  by  ordinary  methods  and  Wooldridge  then 
resolved  to  use  more  desperate  means.  A  man  was  then 
sent  for  the  tools  necessary  to  open  the  safe  by  force, 
the  officers  remaining  in  the  place  while  the  messenger 
was  gone. 

In  the  meantime  Powers  &  O'Brien  hurriedly  sought 
their  attorney,  and,  going  before  Judge  Hanecy,  asked 
for  an  injunction  to  restrain  the  officer  from  blowing 
the  safe.  The  court  at  once  issued  the  injunction  and  it 
was  served  on  the  officers  while  they  were  waiting  for 
the  tools  with  which  to  open  the  alleged  repository  of 
the  evidence  of  pool  selling. 

The  tardiness  of  the  messenger  who  was  sent  for  the 
tools  and  the  injunction  issued  by  Judge  Hanecy,  are  the 
two  circumstances  which  prevented  Detective  Wooldridge 
from  playing  the  role  of  a  safe-blower. 

In  the  affidavit  upon  which  the  injunction  was  obtained, 
Powers  swore  that  the  officers  had  been  hanging  about 
his  place  of  business  and  making  threats  about  raiding, 
talking  in  a  loud  tone  of  voice,  which,  the  affidavit  said, 
was  ruining  his  business  and  keeping  away  his  custom- 
ers. 

The  injunction  was  in  force  until  dissolved  a  iew  days 
later  by  Judge  Hanecy  upon  affidavits  submitted  by  the 
officers.  In  their  answer,  they  denied  the  charges  of 
making  loud  threats,  or  of  conducting  themselves  in  any 
way  that  would  injure  the  business  of  the  firm.  The  an- 
swer further  stated  that  on  April  27  they  entered  the 
place  and  arrested  Ed.  Flannigan,  Joe  Woods  and  Harry 
Hughes.     They   were   charged  with   gambling    and    in- 


358  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

dieted  by  the  grand  jury.  On  May  25,  they  again  ar- 
rested Harry  Hughes,  at  the  same  place,  and  he  was 
held  to  the  grand  jury  two  days  later  in  bonds  of  $300, 
by  Justice  Prindiville. 

The  issuance  of  the  restraining  order  by  Judge  Hanecy 
created  a  great  deal  of  comment,  which  was  anything 
but  favorable  to  the  judge.  In  explanation  of  the  matter 
Judge  Hanecy  declared  he  did  not  read  the  bill  of  com- 
plaint. He  said  it  was  handed  to  him  for  his  signature 
while  he  was  holding  court. 

If  the  main  facts  in  the  complaint  were  read  to  him, 
he  said,  he  did  not  hear  them,  as  at  the  time  he  was 
listening  to  the  argument  of  counsel  in  a  case  on  trial. 
He  examined  the  document  to  see  if  it  bore  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  master  in  chancery.  Finding  that  it 
did,  he  signed  the  bill  without  making  any  inquiries. 

Perry  A.  Hull,  the  master  in  chancery  who  recom- 
mended the  injunction  against  the  police  to  be  issued, 
explained  his  connection  with  it  by  saying: 

"All  the  master  in  chancery  has  to  go  by  in  a  case  of 
this  kind  is  the  bill  of  complaint.  In  this  instance  the 
bill  set  forth  that  the  legal  business  of  the  complainants 
was  being  interfered  with,  and  that  as  the  offenders  were 
irresponsible  parties  in  a  legal  sense,  the  loss  to  the  busi- 
ness would  be  irreparable  if  the  injunction  did  not  issue.' 
On  the  face  of  the  bill  there  was  ample  ground  for  the 
recommendation." 

The  injunction  placed  the  police  department  in  one  of 
the  most  peculiar  positions  it  has  ever  occupied.  The  re- 
straining order  forbade  Chief  O'Neill  or  any  of  his  offi- 
cers, not  only  from  opening  the  safe,  but  from  entering 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  359 

the  saloon  for  any  purpose.  If  a  murder  had  been  com- 
mitted in  the  place,  any  officer,  from  the  chief  down  to 
patrolman,  would  have  violated  the  court's  order  in  en- 
tering to  arrest  the  murderer,  and  if  he  had  done  so  he 
would  have  been  in  contempt  of  court. 

The  dissolution  of  the  injunction  was  considered  a 
great  victory  for  the  police  department.  Of  course  there 
was  no  necessity  then  for  opening  the  safe  to  find  evi- 
dences of  pool  selling,  as  such  evidence  would  have 
been  removed  if  it  had  been  there.  No  further  com- 
plaint reached  the  police  concerning  the  place  and  it  was 
not  molested  again. 

WOMEN   NOT  GOOD   SLEUTHS. 


Women    Have  Poor   Ability   as   Detectives — Are 
More  Frequently  of  Value  as  Informers. 

There  may  be  a  female  Sherlock  Holmes  some  day — 
but  detectives  think  there  won't.  The  remoteness  of 
this  possibility,  however,  does  not  deter  numbers  of 
women  from  making  constant  application  to  the  heads  of 
large  detective  bureaus  for  employment.  Generally  they 
are  refused. 

Detectives  are  practically  unanimous  that  with  one  or 
two  exceptions  the  different  lines  of  detective  work  are 
closed  to  women  simply  because  they  are  women.  One 
of  these  exceptions  is  work  in  a  department  store.  There 
it  is  almost  necessary  that  the  detective  should  be  a 
woman.  A  man  loitering  about  the  store  to  detect  shop- 
lifters would  be  known  within  a  short  time.    His  would 


360  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

be  too  unnatural  a  position.     Men  do  not  wander  through 
department  stores  as  a  rule. 

'  In  other  lines  of  the  work  a  woman  is  at  a  natural 
handicap  which  makes  it  impossible  for  her  to  do  serv- 
iceable work,  and  which  makes  the  manager  of  a  de- 
tective agency  unwilling  to  give  her  employment.  For 
instance  a  woman  cannot  shadow  a  man.  She  cannot  loi- 
ter about  the  streets  without  attracting  as  much  attention 
as  the  man  would  in  a  department  store.  In  spite  of  these 
obstacles  the  number  of  women  who  desire  to  go  in  the 
business  is  always  large. 

A.  L.  Drummond,  who  was  chief  of  the  United  States 
■  secret  service  for  twenty  years,  being  John  Wilkie's  pred- 
ecessor, said  of  the  woman  detective : 

'They  don't  exist  in  a  legitimate  business— that  is,  a 
business  which  concerns  itself  with  the  pursuit  of  crime 
and   the  protection   of   commercial   interests.     We   have 
applicants,  of  course,  but  in  the  ten  years  that  I  have 
been  out  of  the  government  service  I  have  not  paid  out, 
all  told,  more  than  $30  for  the  services  of  women.     I 
keep  none  in  my  employment.  Once  in  a  while,  by  chance, 
I  need  one.     If  I  do  it  is  generally  some  private  individ- 
ual, perhaps  a  member  of  my  own  family,  that  I  employ. 
"  The  applicants  as  a  rule  are  not  a  desirable  class  of 
women.     Strange  to  say  they  are  not  young  girls,  smit- 
ten with  a  desire  for  a  life  adventure.    They  are  not  ro- 
mantic  dime-novel-reading  young  idiots  like    the    boys. 
We  never  have  an  office  boy  who  does  not  believe  him- 
self an  undeveloped  Sherlock  Holmes,  and  the  boys  who 
come  here  on  errands  from  other  places  generally  speak 
in  husky  voices  and  peer  around  for  trap  doors. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  361 

"Would-be  sleuths  among  the  women  are  Usually  be- 
yond thirty-five  years  of  age.  Most  generally  it  was  a 
divorced  woman  who  knows  how  she  was  caught  and 
thinks  she  could  improve  the  knowledge  she  gained  thus. 
Sometimes  the  widow  of  a  detective  tries  to  take  his 
place,  but  unless  she  confines  her  work  entirely  to  the 
management  of  the  office  she  will  make  a  failure  of  it  and 
soon  give  it  up. 

"In  fact,  the  only  woman  who  does  any  effective  de- 
tective work  is  the  distinctly  non-professional.  Once  the 
government  employed  a  woman  to  run  down  the  default- 
ing president  of  a  national  bank.  She  was  employed  for 
three  months  and  she  finally  got  the  man  in  Brazil.  That 
was  good  work.  Occasionally  in  counterfeiting  cases 
women  are  valuable,  but  it  is  nearly  always  as  informers 
and  not  as  detectives." 


WINNING   AND   TRIMMING   THE 
IMBECILES. 


How  Agencies  Play  Upon  the  Known  Deficiency  in 
Mental  Equipment  of  Their  Correspondents  by 
Selling  Them  Instructions  Guaranteed  to  Enable 
Them  to  Perform  the  Impossible  in  Many  Ways. 

Selections  are  made  at  random  from  advertisements 
found  on  a  single  page  of  "  CLIMAX,"  a  marriage  bu- 
reau publication  that  was  put  out  of  business  by  Detec- 
tive Wooldridge  while  it  was  enjoying  a  circulation  ap- 
proaching a  million  copies  monthly  in  the  United  States, 
Canada,  Mexico  and  Europe.    These  advertisements  were 


362  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

a  great  source  of  revenue  to  the  matrimonial  agency  peo- 
ple for  the  reason  that  their  patrons  in  the  "  marry 
wealthy  "  branch  of  the  business  were  of  the  kind  easily 
victimized  by  almost  any  means. 

Many  advertisements  similar  to  those  quoted  below 
will  still  be  found  in  cheap  "  mail  order  "  papers  with 
which  the  country  is  constantly  flooded.  These  papers 
are  seldom  circulated  in  the  cities,  but  may  be  seen  stuffed 
into  the  boxes  of  every  rural  postoffice  in  the  United 
States. 

Accompanied  by  a  picture  representing  a  beautiful 
woman  succumbing  to  slumber  at  the  beck  of  a  man  who 
stands  over  her.  the  following  weird  conglomeration  of 
promises  is  found. 

SECRETS  OF  CLAIRVOYANCE. 
And  How  to  Become  an  Operator. 

SECRETS  OF  MESMERISM  AND  HYPNOTISM. 

And  How  to   Become  a  Hypnotist  or  Mesmerist,  with 

Full  Instructions  How  to  Become  a  Spirit  Medium. 

This  book  opens  the  sealed  door  at  once  and  makes 
one  a  clairvoyant,  a  mesmerist,  a  hypnotist  and  a  spirit 
medium  without  spending  money  to  learn  from  those  al- 
ready skilled.  With  this  book  in  your  possession  all  mys- 
tery will  disappear  and  what  before  seemed  to  you  be- 
yond all  human  explanation  will  be  as  clear  as  the  light 
of  day.  It  should  be  sold  for  $100  instead  of  50  cents. 
Hypnotism  gives  one  power  over  their  acquaintances. 
Anyone  can  become  an  efficient  operator,  and  then  the 
advantages  are  very  great  and  the  benefits  enormous. 
Clairvoyance  teaches  your  future  destiny  and  the  final 
results  of  all  ventures  and  speculations,  and  gives  wis- 
dom to  the  unlearned.  Clairvoyance  teaches  how  to  get 
on  in  the  world  and  own  houses  and  lands  and  gold  and 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  363 

silver  mines,  and  where  to  find  treasures  hidden  or  buried, 
and  how  to  accumulate  money  very  rapidly.  It  enables 
any  one  to  discover,  locate  and  generally  cure  diseases 
and  discern  things  that  are  transpiring  in  other  places, 
though  thousands  of  miles  distant.  Clairvoyance  over- 
comes trouble  of  any  kind  and  enables  you  to  discover 
things  lost,  hidden  or  stolen.  It  enables  one  to  tell  what 
an  absent  one  is  doing  or  has  done  in  times  past.  Clair- 
voyance enables  a  person  to  know  whether  their  lover  is 
true  or  false — in  fact  all  their  movements  may  be  known. 
It  reveals  lucky  numbers  in  lotteries  and  enables  one  to 
know  which  horses  will  win  the  races  and  which  club 
will  win  the  game.  Clairvoyance  can  see  through  one's 
clothing  and  ascertain  whether  they  are  sound  and 
healthy ;  also  can  tell  whether  married  persons  are  true 
to  each  other..  MESMERISM  enables  one  to  stop  pain 
of  any  kind  almost  instantly.  Cures  neuralgia  and  nerv- 
ous headache.  See  through  brick  walls.  Produce  un- 
consciousness, leaving  no  remembrance  of  occurrences 
when  awakened.  Clairvoyance  puts  you  in  possession  of 
the  key  to  wealth.  It  reveals  the  location  of  minerals 
and  precious  stones,  and  brings  back  lost  friends.  It 
teaches  how  to  perform  miraculous  cures  of  diseases,  as 
done  by  the  prophets  and  healers,  by  seeing  through  every 
part  of  the  human  body  as  if  it  were  made  of  glass.  It 
enables  one  to  discover  and  win  their  future  husband  or 
wife.  Clairvoyance  determines  thousands  of  things  not 
named  here  for  lack  of  space.  Every  secret  of  any  value 
connected  with  Psychology,  Mesmerism,  Hypnotism  or 
Spiritualism  is  explained  so  accurately  and  simply  that 
any  person  owning  this  great  book  can  do  ANYTHING. 

The  advertisement  neglects  to  set  forth,  however,  the 
sad  but  interesting  circumstance  that  three  square  meals 
a  day  are  the  exception  and  not  the  rule  in  the  roosts 
inhabited  by  the  so-called  master  and  teachers  of  the 
things  set  forth.    Neither  do  the  meals  come  rhombic  nor 


364  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

rectangular  in  bunches  of  three.  The  experience  of  a 
detective  in  a  great  city  teaches  him  that  Ai  champion 
ground  and  lofty  mesmerists  and  clairvoyants  eat  occa- 
sionally and  only  when  some  city  sucker  or  country  vis- 
itor happens  to  fall  through  the  cement  sidewalk  or  up 
four  flights  of  stairs  to  their  laboratories  of  mystery. 

But,  as  if  the  accomplishments  as  set  forth  above  were 
not  enough  for  one  human  being  to  be  guilty  of  possess- 
ing, gaze  upon  the  .following  : 

THE  DEVIL'S  LEGACY 
To   Earth   Mortals,   being  the   Keynote   to   Black   Arts, 
"  Witchcraft,    Divinations,   Omens,    b  ore  warnings,    Ap- 
oaritions.  Sorcery,  Dreams,  Penology,  Predictions, 
Visions  and  COMPACTS  WITH  1  HE  DEV IL. 
A  book  so  strange  and  wonderful  that  the  human  mind 
can  barelv  grasp  its  mysteries.     The  belief  m  the  black 
art  and  its  practices  dates  back  thousands  of  years     All 
countries   and  nations  have  given  it  attention    and  the 
refined  and  rude,  the  ignorant  and  the  learned  have  been 
and  are  now  believing  in  it.     The  dark  night  of  super, 
s     ion  will  never  end  and   no   day   will  ever  break   so 
bright  as  to  drive  awav  mankind's  belief  in  the  mysteries 
that    his  book  strives  to  unravel.     It  gives  the  names 
fives  and  doings  of  all  the  noted  witches  of  ancient  and 
modern  times,  what  they  did  and  how  they  did  it,  and 
low  main-  were  hung  in  America  and  other  countries.  Lot- 
tery prizes,  how  won.   Forewarning*  and  what  they  mean. 
The  bloodcurdling  history  of  the  "  White  Lady.     Freaks 
of  nature   the  witches,  herbs  for  curing  all  kinds  of  dis- 
eases and  what  the  herbs  are.     Also  the  famous  ehxir 
of  life  that  restores  the  aged  to -the  buoyancy  of  youth. 
Serine  with  the  eves  closed.     Visions  of  those  we  knew 
The  divining  rid' and  bow  to  make  one   (a  writer  says 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  365 

that  with  this  divining  rod  he  discovered  a  coal  mine  and 
was  paid  $5,000  for  locating  it).  It  is  the  best  divining 
rod  for  locating"  gold  and  silver  mines  ever  known.  In 
the  hands  of  some  people  this  book  is  a  sure  fortune. 
The  philosopher's  secrets  of  changing  lead  into  precious 
metals.  To  tincture  silver  into  gold.  To  cure  diseases 
by  medical,  celestial  and  sympathetic  means.  How  ma- 
gicians call  forth  souls  of  the  dead.  Magic  crystals  and 
spirit  mirrors,  in  which  are  said  to  be  seen  forms,  ob- 
jects, visions  and  most  beautiful  scenes  of  the  world's 
unknown  to  earth  mortals,  and  the  forms  of  living  friends 
far  distant  from  you  are  seen  and  their  movements  known 
at  that  very  moment  although  miles  away.  We  are  living 
now7  in  an  age  of  mystery,  as  difficult  to  satisfactorily 
explain  as  the  mysteries  of  two  thousand  years  ago.  This 
book  teaches  how  to  summon  and  converse  with  the  spir- 
its and  how  the  demons  can  be  made  to  do  man's  bid- 
ding. 

Now,  if  you  please,  try  to  imagine  what  a  man  could 
accomplish  in  this  world  if,  after  having  read  the  above 
mentioned  books,  he  perused  this : 

DIABOLISM, 

Or  the  Dark  Wizard's  Own 

BOOK  OF  THE  BLACK  ARTS. 

The  wisest  and  best  of  men,  from  Samuel  to  the  Puri- 
tans, believed  in  the  almost  supernatural  power  of  the 
Spirit  of  Evil,  the  discoverer  of  the  tree  of  knowledge  : 
and  Eve's  daughters  as  well  as  sons  have  frequently 
sought  to  know  hidden  events  by  interviews  with  the 
master  demon. 

Roger  Bacon  and  the  most  ignorant  boor  alike  tremble 
and  believe.  Certain  it  is  that  this  long  suppressed  book 
startles  us  by  the  extraordinary  things  it  now7  makes 
known.     The  devil  or  some  one  close  to  his  elbow  could 


366  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

alone  tell  with  certainty  how  big  prizes  are  gained  in 
lotteries ;  .how  a  fresh  infusion  of  blood  can  be  made  to 
dance  in  the  veins  of  played-out  people ;  how  true  divin- 
ing rods  are  made  and  how  used  to  discover  gold,  cop- 
per and  other  metals ;  to  point  at  deep  down  water 
springs ;  and  to  show  the  nearness  of  diamonds  and  other 
precious  stones.  Can  unseen  spirits  be  made  visible? 
Did  not  Cotton  Mather  say  "  Yea  "  ?  If  then,  why  not 
now,  as  revealed  in  this  book  ?  There  are  enough  mys- 
teries made  known  in  this  book  to  give  any  man  the 
means  of  making  a  dozen  fortunes,  either  in  metal  find- 
ing, disease  curing,  in  part  by  conjurations,  by  know- 
ing how  to  read  forewarnings,  which,  often  clouded  in 
mysteries,  are  plain  as  daylight  to  any  who  have  the  key- 
note from  this  book.  Many  things  are  certainly  exceed- 
ing strange,  but  the  truth  cannot  hurt  anvbody.  So  read 
this  book  for  NOTHING  WILL  BE  KEPT  HIDDEN. 

If  by  this  time  the  student  does  not  deem  his  education 
complete,  there  are  a  dozen  volumes  by  which  he  can 
gain  a  college  education  in  two  weeks,  and'  speak  all  the 
languages ;  become  beautiful,  no  matter  how  unprepos- 
sessing nature  turned  him  out ;  become  a  mind-reader,  an 
accomplished  musician,  a  great  orator,  horse-trainer,  ven- 
triloquist, actor,  actress,  prize-fighter,  opera  singer,  tax- 
idermist, journalist,  detective  or  prestidigitator.  He  may 
learn  one  hundred  ways  to  kiss  a  girl,  and  in  the  "  Lover's 
Package  "  how  to  wed  anyone  he  desires.  There  is  ab- 
solutely no  chance  of  his  becoming  mediocre  in  any  of 
these  attainments.  Testimonials  are  given  to  prove  that 
every  person  who  reads  the  books  reaches  the  goal  of 
his  heart's  desire  in  any  line  of  endeavor,  human  or  su- 
pernatural, he  may  choose. 

He  may  purchase   automatons  that  will  do  the  bid- 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  367 

ding  of  his  voice,  and  he  may  defy  anyone  to  discover 
the  secret  of  his  ability  to  make  the  dummies  human,  no 
matter  how  closely  he  is  surrounded  by  his  audience, 
which  may  even  handle  the  wonderful  things. 

Of  course,  if  the  wonder-worker,  who  now  has  the 
world  at  his  feet  by  some  hundreds  of  different  methods, 
tires  of  forcing  beautiful  and  wealthy  women  to  adore 
him  by  any  occult  means,  he  can  vary  the  programme 
by  administering  "  love  pills,"  which  will  do  the  work 
for  him. 

No  less  a  personage  than  the  late  Mr.  Napoleon  Bona- 
parte, of  Corsica  and  elsewhere,  and  whose  name  and 
picture  have  appeared  in  the  papers  on  several  occasions, 
is  cited  as  an  example  of  what  one  of  the  firm's  fifteen- 
cent  volumes  will  accomplish.  Verily,  it's  a  wonderful 
"ad."    Read  it: 

NAPOLEON'S  ORACULUM. 

This  is  the  celebrated  Oracle  of  Human  Fate  consulted 
by  Napoleon  the  First,  previous  to  any  of  his  under- 
takings, and  by  which  he  was  so  successful  in  war,  busi- 
ness and  love.  It  is  the  only  authentic  and  complete 
copy  extant,  being  translated  into  English  from  a  Ger- 
man translation  of  an  ancient  Egyptian  manuscript,  found 
in  1801,  by  M.  Sonnini,  in  one  of  the  royal  tombs  near 
Mount  Lybicus,  in  upper  Egypt. 

Wow! 

Wow!  again. 
Double  wow! 

Now  wouldn't  that  jar  Josephine? 
But  there  is  one  book  that  truly  is  a  wonder.     By  its 
study  one  may  actually  become  versed  in  the  mysteries  of 


368  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

"Electrical  Psychology"  and  learn  how  to  "Biologize" 
another  into  performing  any  act  he  may  desire  him  to 
do.  If  the  volume  only  explained  the  meaning  of  the  two 
terms  in  the  connection  used  it  would  serve  a  purpose  to 
science  well  worth  the  outlay.  However,  it  does  not  stop 
with  little  things  like  that.  It  goes  on  farther  to  impart 
even  the  secret  of  "  putting  a  young  face  on  an  old  horse." 
After  hearing  all  of  which  we  are  compelled  to  believe 
that  the  insane  asylums  of  the  country  must  contain  at 
least  a  few  persons  who  are  engaged  in  taking  post- 
graduate courses  in  the  arts  and  sciences  indicated. 


"GET   RICH   QUICK"    ENTERPRISES 
PROSECUTED. 

Chicago,  December  31,  1904. 

Francis  O'Neill,  Esq.,  Genl.  Supt.  of  Police ; 

Sir— I  respectfully  submit  herewith  a  synopsis  of  the 
work  done  by  me  in  prosecuting  swindling  concerns  dur- 
ing the  year  1904: 

MARRIAGE  BUREAUS. 

Jan.  8th — Andrew  Lowe  &  Co.,  291  Clinton  street. 
Raided  and  literature  confiscated.     Fined  $20. 

Feb.  9th — J.  H.  Carlson — Woods  Advertising  Agency, 
62  Ada  street.     Goods  confiscated.     Fined  $25. 

March  9th — J.  H.  Carson — Mill's  Advertising  Agency, 
71  W.  Lake  street.     Fined  $15. 

March  9th — John  Wells — Mill's  Advertising  Agency, 
71  W.  Lake  street.     Fined  $100. 

May  4th — J.  H.  Carson,  alias  J.  H.  Flayes,  408  Ogden 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


369 


avenue.  Raided.  Literature  seized  and  destroyed  by 
order  of  court. 

May  4th— J.  H.  Carson,  alias  J.  H.  Hayes.,  255  Madi- 
son street.  Raided.  Literature  seized  and  destroyed  by 
order  of  court. 

July  19th — Allen  Lord,  200  Washington  street.  Raided. 
Literature  seized  and  destroyed  by  order  of  court.  Fined 
$25. 


370  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

Nov.  15th — J.  H.  Carson,  alias  J.  W.  Bessie,  480  Og- 
den  avenue.  Raided.  Arrested — released,  writ  of  habeas 
corpus. 

Nov.  15th — J.  H.  Carson,  alias  J.  W.  Bessie,  67  Flour- 
noy  street.  Raided.  Arrested — released,  writ  of  habeas 
corpus. 

Nov.  1 6th — Henry  Curren,  1242  Wabash  avenue. 
Raided.     Arrested  and  fined  $100. 

Dec.  7th — Oscar  Wells,  alias  J.  H.  Hunter,  164  Ran- 
dolph street,  corresponding  club.     Fined  $50. 

Dec.  7th — Isaac  Warren,  The  Warren  Directory,  697 
Fulton  street.    Fined  $25. 

LOTTERIES. 

Feb.  19th — W.  A.  Paulsen,  162-164  Washington  street. 
Goods  confiscated  and  ordered  destroyed  by  .court. 

May  1st— The  Montana  Bond  and  Investment  Co., 
225  Dearborn  street.  Closed  up  and  literature  seized  and 
ordered  destroyed  by  court. 

June  1st — Patrick  Bobenge,  933  N.  Lindell  avenue. 
The  Louisiana  Co.,  Lottery  Beneficiana  Publico,  Lottery 
Durkton — Germany,  Hessian  Thuringian  State  Lottery. 
Fined  $25. 

Aug.  17th — Edward  Harrison  and  E.  F.  Champlain, 
Pan-American  and  Italian  National  Lottery,  754  Fuller- 
ton  avenue.  Raided.  Tickets  and  literature  seized. 
Champlain  fined  $200  and  Harris  $100. 

Sept.  10th — Aaron  Nadkin  and  Frank  Hartwell,  Hon- 
duras Lottery,  Mexican  Lottery,  Beneficiana  Publico  Lot- 
tery, 475  Sangamon  street.     Both  fined  $50. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  371 

EMPLOYMENT  AGENCIES. 

Jan.  23rd — J.  H.  Lingstone,  Powell  Agency,  218  La 
Salle  street.    Literature  confiscated — jumped  his  bond. 

April  27th — World's  Fair  Employment  Board,  189 
Dearborn  street.    A.  Campbell  convicted.     Fined  $1,000. 

July  19th — The  World's  Fair  Distributing  Co.  and 
Employment  Agency,  1201  Wabash  avenue.  B.  M.  Ken- 
nedy and  B.  W.  Elliott.  Raided.  Goods  confiscated. 
Kennedy  and  Elliott  fined  $25  and  $50  respectively. 

Nov.  8th — Central  Railroad  Employment  Agency,  337 
Indiana  street.     Charles  Sturltz  arrested.     Fined  $25. 

Nov.  10th — Central  Railroad  Employment  Agency, 
337  Indiana  street.  Charles  Sturltz  arrested  and  turned 
over  to  Wm.  Farrell,  U.  S.  Inspector  of  Mail,  and  held 
in  $1,000  bond  to  Federal  Grand  Jury. 

TURF    COMMISSIONERS. 

April  1st — Wm.  H.  Emerson,  alias  A.  Fouchyer,  lit- 
erature seized  and  destroyed  by  order  of  court.     Fined 

$25. 

May  1st — Little,  Rown  &  Co.,  3977  Cottage  Grove 
avenue.  Literature  seized  and  destroyed  by  order  of 
court.    Closed. 

May  1st — Investors'  Protective  League,  91  Dearborn 
street.     Closed. 

May  5th — Optimore  System,  217-219  State  street. 
Raided  and  closed. 

May  6th — Marshall  Hamlin,  Room  402,  No.  250  S. 
Clark  street.  Literature  seized  and  destroyed  by  order 
of  court. 

May  14th — F.  A.  Church,  Room  907,   185  Dearborn 


372  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

street.    Literature  seized  and  destroyed  by  order  of  court. 
May  2 1st — Julius  Oppenheim,  No.  59  Dearborn  street. 
(Drake,  Dillon  &  Co.)     Fined  $100. 

May  2 1st — J.  H.  Oppenheim,  No.  81  Dearborn  street. 
(Drake,  Dillon  &  Co.)     Fined  $100. 

May  25th — Larry  Curtis,  226  La  Salle  street.  (Star 
&  Crescent.)     Raided  and  closed. 

Dec.  7th — Bartlett-Collins,  Bankers,  Brokers  and  Turf 
Commissioners.     Raided  and  closed. 

BOGUS  DRUGS. 

Nov.  20th— Arrested  Wm.  G.  Neys  and  wife,  1452 
Fulton  street;  Edward  A.  Kuehnsted  and  wife,  6323  In- 
gleside  avenue ;  Burtis  D.  McCarn,  61 13  Madison  ave- 
nue; J.  J.  Dean,  6125  Ellis  avenue.  These  people  were 
turned  over  to  the. federal  authorities  for  using  the  mails 
for  fraudulent  purposes.  Eleven  wagon  loads  of  drugs 
were  seized  and  also  turned  over.  Cases  awaiting  action 
of  Federal  Grand  Jury. 

FAKE    CHARITY    HOMES. 

Oct.  1 8th — Home  for  Epileptics,  502  Maplewood  ave- 
nue.    Raided  and  closed. 

Oct.  1 8th — Home  for  Epileptics,  91  Wisconsin  street. 
Raided  and  closed. 

Oct.  28th — Sunny  side  Home,  121  La  Salle  street.  Lit- 
erature destroyed.  Jessie  Sherbondy  arrested  and  fined 
$100. 

Oct.   28th — Sunnyside   Home,  4614   Emerald   avenue. 

Closed. 

Nov.  5th — Sunnyside  Home,  134  Van  Buren  street. 
Raided  and  closed. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  373 

Nov.  25th — Christian  Volunteer  Warriors,  449  Jack- 
son boulevard.  Conducted  by  General  O.  B.  Vail. 
Raided.    Closed  and  proprietors  ordered  to  leave  town. 

MISCELLANEOUS  "FAKE"    SCHEMES. 

March  21st — Baldwin  Cotton  Co.,  253  La  Salle  street. 
Raided  and  closed.  H.  E.  Emerst  and  Gerald  Eberman 
arrested  and  fined  $25  each. 

June  6th — Isbell  &  Co.,  6  Sherman  street.  Raided  and 
closed.  Irvin  J.  Isbell,  James  C.  Gavigan  and  Arthur  J. 
Wilbur  indicted  and  now  awaiting  trial. 

June  25th — The  Finance  Developing  Co.,.  84  La  Salle 
street.  F.  G.  Reynolds  arrested.  Raided  and  closed. 
Literature  confiscated. 

July  19th — J.  E.  Wilson  and  Charles  B.  Richman, 
bankers,  brokers  and  turf  commissioners,  225  Dearborn 
street.    Raided  and  closed.    Literature  confiscated. 

Aug.  1st— -Butler-Conway  Co.,  88  La  Salle  street. 
Raided  and  literature  confiscated. 

Aug.  1st — Columbia  Mercantile  Co.,  3955  Wabash  ave- 
nue.   Exposed  and  closed. 

Aug.  10th — United  States  Game  &  Novelty  Co.,  225 
Dearborn  street.  Raided  and  closed.  Evidence  turned 
over  to  Federal  authorities. 

Aug.  15th — The  World's  Fair  Registration  Club,  225 
Dearborn  street.     Raided  and  closed. 

Oct.  1 2th— National  Art  Co.  and  National  Art  & 
Crayon  Co.,  Sixty-third  street  and  Wentworth  avenue. 
Raided.     G.  J.  Martell  arrested  and  fined  $25. 

Oct.  20th — Aetna  Express  Co.,  Security  Building.  An- 
toni  R.  Silverton  arrested  and  fined  $100. 


374  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

Oct.  20th — Aetna  Express  Co.,  Baltimore  Building,  21 
Quincy  street.  Thomas  G.  Newbolt  arrested.  Dis- 
charged. 

Nov.  5th — The  Investors'  Guarantee  Grain  Club,  Room 
706-707  Atwood  Building.    Raided  and  closed. 

Nov.  6th — Home  Buying  Assurance  Co.,  315  Dearborn 
street.    Exposed  and  closed. 

Nov.  6th — Home  Finding  Assurance  Co.,  611  Unity 
Building.    Raided  and  closed. 

"wild  cat"  insurance. 

July  15th — S.  W.  Jacobs,  with  offices  at  152-154  East 
Lake  street,  president  of  the  Merchants'  Bank  and  the 
Chicago  Loan  &  Trust  Co.,  and  the  financial  backer  of 
the  "Wild  Cat"  insurance  companies  at  Chicago;  E.  A. 
Shanklin,  134  East  Monroe  street ;  Charles  J.  Van  An- 
den,  164  La  Salle  street,  and  Charles  J.  Russell,  177  La 
Salle  street,  all  owners  and  promoters  of  "wild  cat"  in- 
surance companies,  were  arrested  and  turned  over  to  the 
postal  authorities  for  using  the  mails  for  fraudulent  pur- 
poses. 

One  hundred  and  thirty-four  "wild  cat"  insurance 
companies  were  doing  business  in  Chicago  on  the  15th 
of  July,  1904,  when  the  crusade  against  them  was  started 
by  the  police. 

Five  wagon  loads  of  records,  books  and  a  variety  of 
literature  were  taken  from  S.  W.  Jacobs,  154  East  Lake 
street,  and  E.  A.  Shanklin,  134  East  Monroe  street,  which 
supplied  the  information  and  data  necessary  to  secure 
the  arrest  and  conviction  of  these  vultures  who  were 
preying  upon  the  public.     I  secured  some  clerical  help 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  375 

from  the  Chicago  Fire  Underwriters'  Association,  159 
La  Salle  street,  and  sent  out  2,800  letters  to  policy  hold- 
ers through  Wm.  Ketchum,  inspector  of  mails,  asking 
for  information  concerning  the  business  methods  of  these 
"wild  cat"  fire  insurance  companies. 

As  a  result  of  our  efforts,  S.  W.  Jacobs,  on  December 
28th,  was  sentenced  to  two  years  in  the  Joliet  Peniten- 
tiary and  fined  $1,000;  Charles  J.  Van  Anden,  Charles  J. 
Russell  and  E.  A.  Shanklin  were  each  sentenced  for  one 
year  to  the  House  of  Correction  and  fined  $500  by  Judge 
Kohlsaat  of  the  United  States  Court. 

Walter  M.  Cowell,  Wallace  A.  Lowell,  and  some  ten 
others  were  arrested  later,  indicted  and  now  await  trial. 

Aug.  23d — George  E.  Robbins,  No.  84  La  Salle  street, 
owner  and  promoter  of  "wild  cat"  insurance  company. 
Raided.  Literature  seized.  Evidence  impounded  by 
court.  Place  closed  up  and  evidence  turned  over  to  postal 
authorities  later. 

Tht  first  six  men  mentioned,  who  were  the  ringleaders 
of  thest  "wild  cat"  insurance  companies,  had  written  up 
over  $80,000,000  of  insurance  and  had  practically  paid 
no  losses. 

We  collected  evidence  to  warrant  the  arrest  and  con- 
viction of  over  three  hundred  men  in  other  states  for 
writing  "wild  cat"  insurance.  This  evidence  has  been 
forwarded  to  the  various  state  officers  of  the  different 
states  to  be  used  against  these  men  if  prosecuted. 

All  of  the  134  "wild  cat"  insurance  companies  doing 
business  in  this  city  on  July  15,  1904,  have  practically 
ceased  operation  at  present. 

During  the  past  year  I  have  made  several  hundred  in- 


376  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

vestigations  and  reports  of  letters  addressed  to  the  Gen- 
eral Superintendent  of  Police  making  complaints  or  in- 
quiries. I  have  also  arrested  the  owners  of  slot  machines 
and  candy-vending  prize  machines,  operated  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  the  public  schools  to  catch  the  pennies  of  the 
pupils.  Although  an  injunction  was  issued  restraining 
the  Police  Department  from  interfering  with  those  ma- 
chines, yet  on  hearing  the  injunction  was  dissolved  and 
the  judge  was  convinced  that  these  machines  were  gam- 
bling devices  in  fact  and  principle  and  should  be  sup- 
pressed. 

I  also  aided  in  the  suppression  of  the  sale  of  cigarettes 
to  minors ;  the  selling  of  liquors  in  "Chop  Suey"  restau- 
rants, and  in  breaking  up  many  so-called  "blind  pigs"  in 
prohibition  districts. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

Officer  Clifton  R.  Wooldridge. 


Francis  O'Neill,  general  superintendent  of  the  Chicago 
Police  Department,  says  in  his  annual  report  of  1905 : 

Mr.  Wooldridge,  "I  have  a  very  high  opinion  of  him 
and  of  his  general  efficiency.  I  do  not  know  of  any  man 
in  the  service  to-day  who  can  at  all  compare  with  him 
in  the  ferreting  out  of  swindling  and  so-called  'get-rich' 
concerns.  He  accomplished  more  in  the  last  twelve 
months  than  the  whole  department  has  in  a  lifetime  be- 
fore in  that  line  of  work." 

Never  in  the  history  of  the  city  has  such  a  successful 
and  relentless  war  been  waged  on  so-called  "get-rich- 
quick"  schemes,  such  as  matrimonial  agencies  or  mar- 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  377 

riage  bureaus,  lotteries,  fake  employment  agencies,  turf 
commissioners,  fake  charity  homes,  "wild  cat"  insurance 
companies,  adulterated  and  spurious  drug  enterprises, 
and  some  other  miscellaneous  swindles. 

Long  exemption  from  interference  by  postal  or  police 
officials  rendered  Chicago  a  fruitful  field  for  concerns  of 
the  character  named.  Alluring  advertisements  in  news- 
papers and  periodicals,  with  fascinating  "literature"  to 
beguile  the  greedy  and  credulous  caught  dupes  without 
number.  One  clever,  pertinacious  police  officer,  Clifton 
R.  Wooldrige  by  name,  working  under  my  instructions, 
played  havoc  with  their  operations,  and  notwithstanding 
the  pleadings  and  protests  of  the  schemers  and  their  at- 
torneys, the  law  was  found  to  be  practical  and  compre- 
hensive enough  to  put  them  out  of  business  and  into  jail. 

Again,  in  his  report  for  the  year  1903,  the  general 
superintendent  of  police  declares : 

"In  no  branch  of  police  effort  were  the  results  so  uni- 
formly satisfactory  as  in  the  suppression  of  so-called 
'get-rich-quick'  concerns.  The  year  1903  was  one  of 
uninterrupted  disaster  to  the  schemes  concocted  by  fer- 
tile brains  to  delude  the  credulous  and  unwary  of  both 
sexes.  The  special  detail  under  charge  of  Officer  Clifton 
R.  Wooldridge,  operating  from  the  office  of  the  general 
superintendent,  has  punished  and  put  out  of  business 
scores  of  matrimonial  bureaus  and  agencies,  turf  invest- 
ment concerns,  home  building  associations,  bucket  shops, 
lotteries,  wire  tappers,  fake  promoters,  book  agencies  and 
miscellaneous  concerns." 


378 


THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 


V'jpUNDKBD  10  TEN   THOUSAND." 

WIRE   TAPPING. 
Tapping  the  Wires  of  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  37'J 


WIRE  TAPPING. 


Of  all  the  grafts  wire  tapping  is  the  most  romantic. 
It  furnishes  situations  which  could  not  possibly  be 
brought  about  in  any  other  branch  of  business,  legitimate 
or  otherwise.  In  a  wire  tapping  gang  there  must  be 
men  of  brain,  men  of  education,  men  of  mechanical  ex- 
pertness  and  perhaps  a  woman  or  two.  The  game  re- 
quires tact,  business  foresight,  diplomacy,  nerve  and  a 
technical  knowledge  of  the  delicate  science  of  electricity 
and  the  ends  to  which  the  force  can  be  used. 

No  common,  ordinary  telegraph  operator ;  no  cheap 
grafter  of  the  marriage  bureau  type ;  no  weakling,  no 
rough-neck,  no  "mutt''  (which  is  short  for  mutton-head 
in  the  world  of  graft)  was  ever  captured  by  the  police  in 
a  wire  tapping  game.  Absolute  trustworthiness  is  one  of 
the  first  essentials  of  a  wire  tapper.  There  are  trips  across 
the  country  to  make,  there  are  men  of  money  and  more 
or  less  sense  to  deal  with  on  close  and  intimate  terms. 
Perhaps  there  is  some  crawling  in  sewers  to  be  done 
or  leaps  to  be  made  from  house-top  to  house-top. 

The  real  thing  is  bad  enough,  but  the  men  who  con- 
tract with  suckers  to  tap  and  do  not  tap  are  the  silk- 
stockings  of  the  profession.  It  is  they  who  get  the 
money  and  are  safe  from  prosecution  except  for  fraud 
or  operating  a  confidence  game.  It  is  one  of  the  safest 
swindles  in  the  world,  for  the  reason  that  the  victim 
places  himself  equally  liable  with  the  crook  when  he 
enters  into  what  he  supposes  is  a  bona  fide  wire  tapping 
scheme. 

A  few  years  ago  some  clever  electricians  conceived  the 
scheme  of  tapping  Western  Union  wires,  and  by  placing 
a   sounder  or   telegraph   instrument   in*  a   private    room 


380  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

would  take  off  racing  information  from  ten  to  fifteen 
minutes  before  it  would  reach  the  pool  rooms.  This 
would  give  the  swindlers  an  absolute  certainty  as  to  the 
names  of  the  winning  horses  in  the  different  cities,  and 
also  a  chance  to  place  their  money  on  long  odds  horses, 
from  five  to  ten  minutes  before  the  betting  closed,  with 
resulting  heavy  losses  to  the  pool  rooms.  This  scheme 
was  discovered  and  the  telegraph  companies  and  pool 
rooms  protected  themselves  in  such  a  manner  that  it  is 
no  longer  worked.  The  confidence  men,  however,  rec- 
ognized in  it  a  splendid  chance  to  skin  suckers,  and  the 
game  has  developed  into  large  proportions,  and  the  losses 
of  many  of  the  victims  total  very  large  sums.  The  first 
move  in  the  game  is  for  two  or  three  members  of  the 
gang  toi  open  up  swell  offices,  finely  furnished  and  appar- 
ently having  a  working  clerical  force.  The  glass  in  the 
office  doors  and  the  cards  issued  show  that  an  apparently 
high  tone  and  successful  broker's  office  has  been  estab- 
lished. The  gang  usually  consists  of  from  ten  to  twenty 
people,  including  men  and  women,  and  in  some  of  the 
cities  in  which  they  have  operated,  in  addition  to  their 
offices,  they  have  also  fitted  up  an  elegant  residence,  fur- 
nished most  expensively  and  containing  works  of  art  and 
virtu.  The  cappers  are  usually  well  dressed  and  good 
mixers,  living  at  the  best  hotels  and  gradually  becoming 
acquainted  with  the  habitues  of  the  hotels,  saloons  and 
public  places.  When  they  have  selected  a  victim,  and 
after  having  assured  themselves  that  he  has  ample  means 
in  the  shape  of  ready  cash,  they  gradually  work  up  the 
question  of  horse  racing,  and  finally  make  the  statement  to 
their  victim  that  they  have  inside  information  as  to  a  sure 
winner  at  one  of  the  outside  race  tracks.  Sometimes 
the  victim  will  agree  to  bet  a  large  amount  of  money 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  381 

on  the  tip  without  any  further  urging,  but  as  a  rule, 
he  is  only  allowed  to  make  a  small  bet  of  $10.00  to 
$20.00.  The  capper  and  the  victim  proceed  to  the  offices 
of  the  brokers,  where  a  bet  of  $20.00  is  placed.  Later 
in  the  day  the  victim  is  notified  that  his  horse  is  a  winner, 
that  for  his  $20.00  he  has  won  $80.00  to  $100.00,  and 
the  money  is  paid  over  to  him  promptly.  The  next  play 
is  for  a  very  large  stake  and  as  they  have  gained  the 
confidence  of  the  victim  by  one  or  more-  small  win- 
nings, they  have  but  little  difficulty  in  getting  him  to 
place  a  very  heavy  bet,  and  of  course  the  big  bet  al- 
ways loses.  Another  phase  of  the  "bogus  wire  tap- 
ping," or  "first  passed  the  post"  swindle,  is  the  com- 
plete telegraphic  outfit  in  the  possession  of  the  gang. 
Sometimes  the  victim,  becomes  skeptical  as  to  the  claim 
of  the  swindlers  that  they  have  advance  information 
over  their  own  private  wire  from  some  certain  race 
track,  and  it  becomes  necessary  in  order  to  convince 
him  to  show  him  the  "line"  in  operation,  so  as  to 
carry  out  the  deception  and  take  no  chances,  one  of  their 
number  is  usually  a  telegrapher  who  operates  the  in- 
struments. The  telegraphic  outfit  is  complete,  and  is 
usually  in  a  side  room  or  closet,  and  sometimes  is  con- 
cealed in  an  innocent  looking  trunk.  Of  course,  the 
instrument  is  not  connected  with  any  telegraph  wire  and 
the  whole  thing  is  a  fake.  We  do  not  know  what  the 
record  is  as  to  the  loss  of  money  by  any  one  individual, 
but  we  have  heard  of  an  amount  of  $85,000,  $40,000, 
$29,000,  and  it  is  supposed  that  the  smaller  amounts 
running  from  $500  to  $1,500,  are  like  the  leaves  of  the 
forest. 
This  club  is  very  frequently  held  over  the  head  of  the 


382 


THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 


''sucker"  by  the  wire  tapper  to  keep  him  from  prosecut- 
ing. The  criminal  stands  ready  to  go  into  court  and 
turn  state's  evidence  on  the  victim,  whom  he  will  en- 
deavor to  "stick"  for  conspiring  to  do  a  criminal  act.    If 


the  victim  who  has  been  fleeced  out  of  several  hundred 
or  several  thousands  of  dollars  has  the  audacity  to  "roar" 
the  head  of  the  wire  tapping  gang  says: 
"Very  well—we'll  both  go  down  together." 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


383 


It  is  this  threat  that  is  responsible  for  the  few  prosecu- 
tions in  so-called  wire  tapping  cases. 

The  most  picturesque  figures  in  the  wire  tapping  busi- 
ness,  as   Detective   Wooldridge   found   it,   were   O.    M. 
Stone  and  Archibald  Donaldson.     Both  were  solid-look- 
ing    fellows,     whose 
very   appearance  was 
enough      to      inspire 
confidence.       In     the 
language       o  f       the 
grafter,  they   "looked 
like  ready  money." 

Stone  was  the  man 
with  the  brain  and 
the  training  in  things 
telegraphic  and  Don- 
aldson was  the  man 
with  the  front.  An 
incident  concerning 
each  will  illustrate 
their  peculiarities. 
Once  when  Detective 
w  a  s 
for  evi- 
Stone 

his  clues  led  hi  minto  the  basement  of  the  Trades'  build- 
ing. The  detective  was  accompanied  by  three  expert  elec- 
tricians. Each  of  the  men  carried  a  candle  and  the  bur- 
rowed for  nearly  two  blocks  on  the  trail  of  a  wire  which 
they  had  reason  to  believe  had  been  laid  by  Stone.  Instead 
of  one  wire  they  found  three  and  they  were  entangled  with 


Wooldridge 
searching 
dence    against 


Oska  M.  Stone. 


334 


THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 


other  wires  in  such  an  intricate  manner  that  none  but  a 
clever  expert  could  discover  them.  At  places  the  wires 
seemed  to  stop  suddenly.  Then  they  would  appear  again, 
doubling  back  over  the  same  road  the  investigators  had 
trailed  them.    The  experts  who  accompanied  Wooidridge 

on  this  subterranean 
trip  declared  they  had 
never  seen  so  clever  a 
job  of  wiring. 

On  another  of  his 
raids  Wooidridge  en- 
tered the  fake  pool- 
room where  the  suck- 
er was  supposed  to 
invest  his  money  to 
find  Donaldson  sit- 
ting calmly  amid  his 
bunch  of  pluggers. 
While  these  men,  who 
are  in  reality  clever 
enough  as  actors  to 
hold  their  own  on  the 
dramatic  stage,  waved 
their  hands  frantic- 
ally, shouted  out  bets 
and  eddied  and  surged  about  the  man  who  was  recording 
their  bets,  old  man  Donaldson,  looking  for  all  the  world 
like  three  hundred  pounds  of  human  benevolence,  his 
cigars  ranged  alongside  of  him  and  a  fatherly  smile  upon 
his  white-bearded  countenance,  calmly  surveyed  the 
scene. 


Archie  Donaldson. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


B85 


so   good   at  his 


"His  very  front,  his  beaming  eye,  his  long  flowing- 
white  beard  and  his  monstrous  bulk  were  enough  to  in- 
spire confidence,"  said  Wooldridge.  "It  almost  seemed 
like  a  shame  to  arrest  him— he  was 
game." 

Not  always  in  or- 
der to  beat  the  races 
by  holding  up  the  re- 
sult until  the  conspir- 
ators can  get  their 
money  wagered  do 
the  wire  tappers  ap- 
ply  their  talents.  One 
of  the  most  elaborate 
systems  of  tapped 
wires  ever  found  by 
Wooldridge  and  his 
men  in  their  numer- 
ous raids  was  devised 
to  serve  Board  of 
Trade  quotations  to 
the  bucket  shops.  It 
was  early  in  Novem- 
ber, 1903,  that  Woold- 
ridge got  scent  of  the 

system,  which  he  at  once  recognized  as  the  work  of  O. 
M.  Stone. 

Five  offices  were  raided  in  one  day  and  one  of  the 
prisoners  held  as  an  associate  of  this  king  of  the  wire  tap- 
pers was  a  woman.  The  combination,-  which  was  proved 
to  be  an  extensive  scheme  to  defraud  the  Western  Union 


E.  B.  Myers. 


/    / 


386  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

Telegraph  Company,  had  been  in  operation  for  about 
three  weeks.  Apparatus  to  the  value  of  $10,000  was 
confiscated. 

Stone  called  his  scheme  the  Independent  Telegraph 
Company  and  it  certainly  was  ''independent"  to  an  ad- 
vanced degree.  It  was  so  terribly  independent  that  it 
didn't  need  wire  to  telegraph  with  and  it  wasn't  in  pos- 
session of  wireless  equipment,  either.  It  was  so  inde- 
pendent that  it  just  went  along  and  helped  itself  to  the 
service  of  the  greatest  telegraph  company  in  the  world. 

A  small  army  followed  the  detective  when  he  swooped 
down  on  the  wire  tappers.  With  him  on  this  particular 
day  were  thirteen  other  policemen,  ten  linemen  and  seven 
telegraph  operators. 

The  principal  office  of  the  sweetly  independent  Inde- 
pendent Company  was  found  in  Room  419.  Imperial 
building,  260  Clark  street.  Across  the  hall  in  Room  420 
was  the  workshop  and  central  switchboard,  and  in  408 
was  the  private  office  of  Stone  and  J.  O.  Lewis,  one  of 
his  confederates.  In  a  small  bedroom  in  the  Reynolds 
hotel  at  249  Clark  street,  was  found  another  set  of 
instruments  with  Mrs.  L.  Haynes  in  charge.  At  182 
State  street  and  at  Room  414  Rialto  building  were  dis- 
covered two  more  branches  of  Stone's  system. 

Immediately  upon  arresting  the  inmates  of  these  wire 
tapping  dens  Wooldridge  set  his  operators  down  to  the 
instruments  and  asked  them  to  see  what  they  could  get 
over  the  wires.  To  their  surprise  the  tickers  began  at 
once  to  tell  them  the  story  of  how  things  were  progress- 
ing over  in  the  Board  of  Trade  pits.  Again  they  were 
surprised  to  find  the  apparatus   so  arranged   that  this 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  387 

information  could  be  transmitted  to  scores  of  bucket 
shops  and  other  outlawed  establishments  throughout  the 
city. 

The  work  of  Stone  and  his  confederates  was  a  source 
of  wonderment  to  the  electricians  present.  They  said 
they  now  understood  how  he  acquired  his  title  of  being 
the  world's  most  expert  manipulator  of  telegraph  instru- 
ments. 

Ah  amusing  incident  of  the  raid  was  this : 

While  the  detectives  were  busy  gathering  evidence 
against  the  men  and  the  electricians  were  tracing  wires 
and  tearing  out  instruments,  the  telephone  was  kept  con- 
stantly ringing  by  persons  in  bucket  shops  and  other 
places  who  could  not  understand  why  the  service  had 
been  cut  off.  Men  from  "Red  Letter"  Sullivan's  shop, 
which  was  later  to  fall  before  an  onslaught  by  Wool- 
dridge,  called  in  person  to  see  what  wras  the  trouble. 

On  the  door  of  the  office  occupied  by  Stone  were  the 
words :  "John  O.  Martin  &  Co.,  Brokers."  As  Wool- 
dridge  entered  at  the  head  of  his  men  he  reached  quickly 
for  a  switch  on  one  of  the  sending  instruments,  thinking 
to  set  it  for  one  of  the  operators  to  experiment  before  the 
foxy  Stone  could  put  the  entire  system  out  of  service  by 
one  of  his  clever  tricks,  and  thus  spoil  the  chance  of  gath- 
ering evidence  to  convict  him  and  his  gang. 

Stone  leaped  forward  and,  divining  Wooldridge's  pur- 
pose, attempted  to  wrench  the  entire  instrument  from  its 
base.  Foiled  in  this  he  fought  the  detective  to  get  at 
the  switchboard  in  order  to  break  the  circuits,  but  his 
effort  was  a  failure.  On  the  roof  of  the  Imperial  build- 
ing the  race  wire  of  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Com- 


388  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

pany  was  found  tapped  and  the  wires  of  the  Cleveland 
Telegraph.  Company  were  connected  with  for  market 
news. 

As  usual  Stone  put  up  a  brave  front  when  arrested, 
and  sadly  told  the  newspaper  reporters  how  greatly  he 
was  being  abused. 

"I  am  unjustly  accused/'  the  wily  old  confidence  man 
said,  "I  organized  the  Independent  Telegraph  Company 
and  leased  my  wires  to  other  persons  for  less  money  than 
was  being  charged  by  the  larger  corporations.  What 
information  I  furnished  my  patrons  I  secured  from  the 
office  of  J.  Ryan,  a  speculator,  in  Room  420,  who  has  a 
leased  wire  from  the  Western  Union." 

Of  course,  it  didn't  bother  Stone  a  bit  when  Super- 
intendent Tubbs  of  the  Western  Union  denied  absolutely 
that  Ryan  received  any  service  whatever  from  the  com- 
pany's wires. 

Stone  himself  was  formerly  chief  operator  at  Chicago 
for  the  Western  Union  and  his  intimate  knowledge  of 
the  company's  system  gave  them  no  end  of  trouble.  Up 
to  this  time  the  wire  tapper  and  his  former  employers  had 
clashed  on  numerous  occasions  and  the  company  was 
now  determined  to  make  an  example  of  him. 

When  Stone,  Meyers,  Lewis  and  Shane  were  arraigned 
before  Justice  Prindiville  in  the  Harrison  street  police 
court  the  former  two  were  held  to  the  grand  jury  in 
bonds  of  $1,000  each.  J.  O.  Lewis  was  discharged  for 
want  of  evidence  to  convict  him  on  the  charges  of  wire 
tapping  and  conspiracy  to  defraud  the  Western  Union. 

In  the  meantime  other  ramifications  of  Stone's  swind- 
ling system  were  brought  to  light.     Letters  were  found 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


389 


addressed  to  Stone  which  caused  the  arrest  of  A.  J. 
Poindexter  at  his  home,  3600  Indiana  avenue.  These 
missives  disclosed  information  which  indicated  that  sev- 
eral successful  coups  had  been  executed  by  the  gang  and 
that  many  more  were  contemplated. 

Poolrooms  in  Texas 
and  Louisiana  were  to 
have  been  "cleaned 
out"  by  tapping  their 
wires.  Plans  were 
afoot  for  making 
hauls  at  San  Antonio, 
Waco,  Houston  and 
Dallas,  the  poolrooms 
at  these  places  being 
conducted  by  a  syndi- 
cate of  former  Chi- 
cago bookm  a  k  e  r  s. 
Outfits  were  shipped 
by  Stone  from  Chi- 
cago for  the  purpose 
of  tapping  the  wires. 

Following  are  sam- 
ples of  the  corre- 
spondence found  by 
Wooldridge  in  vast  volume. 

"Would  like  to  have  you  come  and  bring  a  man  with 
you  to  do  an  easy  piece  of  work  on  a  single  wire.  You 
can  cut  in  within  thirty  feet  of  the  poolroom  and  be  on 
the  inside  all  the  time ;  the  easiest  you  ever  heard  of  and 
*till  easier  to  get  the  money.     Would  like  you  to  come 


A.    J.    Poindexter. 


390  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

as  soon  as  you  can.  If  you  can  come  wire  me  under  the 
name  of  A.  F.  Ransom.  Don't  want  you  to  bring  Peck- 
ham  or  anyone  that  knows  me,  to  this  country,  as  I  am 
the  real  thing  here.  The  money  is  to  go  three  ways — 
yourself,  my  partner  and  myself.     Yours  truly, 

Frank  D.  Concannon." 

Concannon  was  said  to  be  none  other  than  Poindexter. 
Several  other  letters  told  of  "killings"  made  in  poolrooms 
where  the  wires  had  been  tapped.  At  the  time  of  his  ar- 
rest, Poindexter  was  planning  to  "hit"  the  poolroom  at 
Hot  Springs,  Ark.  Here  is  his  letter  to  Stone  on  the 
subject : 

"Here's  our  chance.  I  have  entire  access  to  W.  U. 
office  here.  I  am  in  electric  railroad  scheme  with  Ryan, 
the  manager  (to  float  the  bonds).  Now,  here's  our 
chance.  The  poolroom  cable  comes  out  of  the  office  in 
rear  of  building.  I  can  rent  office  so  we  can  reach  out 
of  window  and  handle  it.  We  can  cut  'em  off  for  one  or 
two  minutes  and  there  will  never  be  a  tumble.  Tb*» 
money  is  being  bet  like  wild-fire  here.  One  man,  Joe 
Yeager,  won  $63,000  yesterday  and  he  and  Arnold  are 
the  big  betters." 

Away  back  in  1897  Stone  was  arrested  in  the  Imperial 
building  where  he  had  tapped  the  gold  and  bond  ticker 
from  the  east.  He  was  supposed  to  be  operating  a  pri- 
vate service  system,  but  in  reality  rich  profits  were 
reaped,  according  to  the  police,  by  persons  whom  he  had 
stationed  at  the  other  ends  of  his  wires. 

Stone  set  up  a  strong  defense  to  the  charge,  claiming 
he  had  never  touched  the  wires  in  quest^n  and  the  tele- 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  391 

graph  company  was  given  a  lively  legal  battle  before  it 
secured  an  injunction  from  the  federal  court  restraining 
him  from  further  operations. 

Again,  on  January  3,  1900,  Stone  was  arrested — this 
time  also  in  the  Imperial  building.  With  him  were  ar- 
rested J.  W.  Turner  and  Louis  Hart. 

The  raid  was  the  result  of  information  that  several 
poolrooms  had  been  patronized  during  the  week  by  men 
with  advance  information  on  the  races.  In  two  instances 
the  poolrooms  were  compelled  to  close  up  shop  in  order 
to  guard  against  the  men  who  were  literally  taking  their 
money  from  them  in  bundles.  Despite  the  watchfulness 
of  some  of  the  larger  establishments,  who  employed  a 
small  army  of  private  detectives,  the  operators  were 
making  further  inroads  every  day. 

When  the  telegraph  company  made  complaint  to  the 
police  department  Detective  Wooldridge  was  assigned 
on  the  case.  He  assured  himself  that  the  advance  infor- 
mation being  used  in  an  effort  to  break  the  bookmakers 
was  being  furnished  by  wire  tappers.  And  where  there 
were  any  wire  tappers  he  felt  sure  that  there  in  charge 
of  the  gang  he  would  find  his  old  friend  Stone.  He 
ascertained  that  Stone  was  in  the  city  and  with  Detective 
Schubert  went  in  search  of  the  old  fox.  They  placed 
him  under  arrest  a  few  minutes  before  the  San  Francisco 
and  New  Orleans  races  came  in,  and  that  afternoon  there 
were  no  strangers  with  large  rolls  and  sure  tips  around 
the  Chicago  poolrooms. 

An  old-time  telegrapher,  who  had  known  Stone  for 
years,  said  to  Detective  Wooldridge  at  that  time : 

"Five  years  ago  I  saw  Stone  cleaning  up  $30,000  a 


392  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

week,  but  he  spent  his  money  like  water,  with  the  result 
that  the  race  track  people  and  the  telegraph  companies 
kept  sleepless  watch  on  him.  Then  he  turned  to  stock 
speculation.  I  don't  believe  that  man  ever  actually  cut 
a  wire.  He  is  the  inventor  of  numerous  appliances  for 
obtaining  results  by  induction.  Indeed,  his  inventions 
are  many,  and  he  has  a  reputation  of  being  a  wizard  with 
regard  to  electricity.  Any  of  the  big  news  agencies  or 
telegraph  companies  would  take  him  on  at  a  fancy  salary 
if  he  would  abandon  his  crooked  ways.  Why,  I  remem- 
ber when  you  could  walk  into  his  operating  room  where 
there  would  be  a  dozen  men  sending  and  receiving  and 
you  couldn't  hear  a  sound.  He  had  every  instrument 
deadened.  Once  he  got  it  into  his  head  that  he'd  like 
to  start  an  independent  telephone  company,  so  he  just 
strung  wires  all  over  the  down  town  district  or  borrowed 
some  already  standing  without  permission  of  the  owners. 
Such  a  thing  as  asking  the  city  for  a  permit  never  oc- 
curred to  Stone.  He  used  a  powerful  dynamo,  but  no- 
body ever  xould  find  out  where  it  was  located.  Stone 
refused  to  tell  where  his  feed  wire  started. " 

Louis  Hart,  who  was  arrested  with  Stone,  was  cred- 
ited with  being  the  original  "ringer"  man.  It  is  said 
that  Hart  was  the  first  man  to  enter  a  horse  under  a 
false  name  in  a  race  as  a  means  of  making  a  killing. 
Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  police  were  unable  to  find 
that  Stone  had  on  this  occasion  actually  connected  up 
any  of  his  wire  and  put  his  instruments  into  commission 
no  conviction  resulted  from  the  raid,  but  Stone  was  not 
out  of  trouble  long.     ' 

In  a  few  weeks  he  became  superintendent  and  general 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  393 

manager  of  an  elaborately  fitted  up  "bunco  den."  This 
unique  and  expensive  establishment  was  located  in  the 
building  at  No.  16  Pacific  avenue^  across  the  street  from 
the  board  of  Trade.  Stone  and  his  associates  had  rented 
two  offices,  No.  23  on  the  second  floor,  and  No.  53  on  the 
fifth  floor.  As  was  his  custom  when  making  such  raids 
Detective  Wooldridge  had  with  him  an  expert  electrician 
and  telegrapher.  They  went  to  work  on  the  telegraph 
and  telephone  instruments  found  in  Room  23,  but  could 
discover  nothing  wrong  Until  Wooldridge  went  up 
through  the  building  and  pounded  on  the  door  of  Room 
53,  which  was  located  immediately  above  the  other,  but 
two  floors  removed.  No  response  came  from  the  room 
and  the  detective  turned  to  Stone,  saying: 

"Open  that  door  or  we  will  get  an  ax  and  chop  it  open." 

"It's  not  my  office,"  responded  Stone,  "My  office  is 
down  stairs  whefe  you  were  a  moment  ago/' 

"All  right,"  said  Wooldridge.  "Borrow  an  ax  from 
the  engineer,  boys,  and  we'll  pay  a  call  here." 

With  the  prospect  before  him  of  the  havoc  that  might 
be  wrought  inside  if  the  detective  entered  in  'anger,  and 
with  an  ax  in  hand,  Stone  acknowledged  ownership  of  the 
office  and  unlocked  the  door. 

This  upper  office  was  found  to  be  fitted  up  similarly 
to  the  one  below.  It  was  the  "other  end"  of  Stone's 
lines  of  telegraph  and  telephone  wires.  Two  wires  ran 
out  of  the  window.  One  was  traced  to  the  roof  where  it 
was  merely  "grounded"  and  the  other  ran  to  the  office 
below. 

While  this  investigation  was  under  way  Detective  Wool- 
dridge  discovered   a   vault   in   one   corner  of  the   room, 


394 


THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 


After  much  parleying  it  was  unlocked,  but  not  before 
threats  were  used  on  Stone  in  place  of  argument.  The 
sight  that  met  the  officers'  gaze  astonished  them.  The 
iron  strong  box  contained  several  telegraph  instruments, 

a  public  telephone  and 
WBiXM  a  ticker.  The  officers 
summoned  the  own- 
ers of  the  ticker  and 
compelled  them  to  re- 
move their  machine 
and  the  telephone 
company  was  asked 
to  remove  its  instru- 
ment, the  explanation 
of  Detective  Wool- 
dridge  being  that 
both  instruments 
were  being  used  in  a 
confidence  game. 

While    the    investi- 
gation of  the  den  was 
under  way  the  swin- 
dlers    made     one     of 
their  stage  plays.     A 
short,  heavy-set  man  rushed  into  the  office  and,  assum- 
ing a   highly   important   and  business-like   air,   said   to 
Stone : 
"Send  over  my  telephones  to-day — I  need  them." 
Then  he  quickly  left  the  office,  but  not  before  he  had 
been  recognized  by  Wooldridge  as  Eddie  Dunne,  one  of 
the  smoothest  and  nerviest  wire-tappers  in  the  business. 


Frank  Dunn,  alias  Eddie  Dunn. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  395 

Here  again  the  police  had  to  content  themselves  with 
putting  a  confidence  parlor  out  of  business,  because 
their  visit  had  netted  them  nothing  in  the  way  of  direct 
evidence  that  anybody  had  been  swindled. 

The  favorite  method  of  getting  suckers  for  the  fake 
wire  tapping  game  is  to  advertise  for  a  man  with  $1,000 
or  some  other  special  amount  to  invest.  The  advertise- 
ment informs  that  he  will  have  full  control  of  his  money. 
A  typical  experience  by  a  man  who  answered  one  of 
these  ''ads,"  was  that  of  S.  L.  Seabrook,  4750  Lake  ave- 
nue. Mr.  Seabrook  was  attracted  by  the  "ad"  June  3, 
1901,  and  he  replied  to  it.  A  meeting  was  arranged  be- 
tween him  and  Frank  Cain  at  the  Grand  Pacific  hotel. 

At  this  conference  Cain  unfolded  to  Seabrook  the  de- 
tails of  his  scheme  to  get  rich  suddenly.  It  was  the  same 
old  story  of  tapping  the  wire  leading  into  a  poolroom, 
holding  up  the  result  until  the  $1,000  could  be  placed  at 
long  odds  and  then  sending  the  result  along  to  the  un- 
suspecting bookmakers,  who  would  pay  the  bet  without 
a  murmur,  unless  for  wonderment  at  the  sagacity  of  the 
man  with  the  $1,000. 

Seabrook  was  induced  to  visit  the  eighth  floor  of  the 
Western  Union  building,  where  he  was  told  by  Cain  to 
wait  while  he-  went  to  the  floor  above.  Soon  he  returned 
with  a  man  who  wore  no  hat  nor  coat  and  who  supposedly 
was  one  of  the  hundreds  of  operators  employed  by  the 
company  on  the  floor  from  which  he  came. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  Detective  Wooldridge  discovered 
after  taking  up  the  case  that  the  man  was  merely  a 
member  of  the  gang  of  conspirators,  who  had  left  his 


396  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

hat  and  coat  in  the  wash  room  on  the  ninth  floor  in  order 
to  deceive  the  intended  victim. 

But  Seabrook  pretended  to  be  not  in  the  least  suspic- 
ious and  listened  with  great  interest  while  the  bogus 
operator  explained  that,  with  the  assistance  of  an  oper- 
ator friend  and  confederate  in  New  York  he  could  hold 
up  the  race  returns  from  Gotham  to  Chicago,  signal  the 
winners  so  that  the  bets  could  be  recorded  in  time  and 
then  start  his  end  of  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  sys- 
tem to  plugging  along  again  in  the  same  old  rut. 

His  scheme  was  a  beautiful  one.  It  was  so  beautiful 
and  the  story  so  interesting  that  Mr.  Seabrook  told  it 
to  the  police  and  the  officials  of  the  telegraph  com- 
pany. An  investigation  proved  that  the  coatless  and  hat- 
less  man  was  not  an  employe  of  the  company,  so  Detect- 
ive Wooldridge,  who  was  assigned  on  the  case,  concluded 
that  it  was  a  case  of  fake  pool  room,  Seabrook  was 
instructed  to  keep  an  appointment  with  the  man  Cain 
that  he  had  made  for  the  next  day  to  test  the  scheme. 
He  was  led  to  a  room  in  the  rear  of  John  Sheehan's  sa- 
loon, 2918  Cottage  Grove  avenue.  Twelve  men  lounged 
about  the  place  and,  evidently  familiar  with  the  plans, 
moved  briskly  about  when  Seabrook  and  Cain  entered. 
They  began  to  make  large  bets  at  a  little  window  at  one 
end  of  the  room,  leading  to  another  apartment.  From 
this  second  room  could  be  heard  the  click  of  telegraph 
instruments,  while  an  operator  called  off  the  results.  The 
signal  was  given,  as  indicated  by  Cain,  and  although 
Seabrook  did  not  bet  the  horse  named  won.  What  really 
was  the  case  was  that  there  was  no  such  beast  as  Cain 
named  running  anywhere  on  any  track,     Suckers  are 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  397 

not  habitually  familiar  with  the  names  of  race  horses, 
and  after  you  get  them  as  far  as  they  had  Seabrook  you 
might  as  well  yell  macaroni  at  them  as  McChesney— 
so  long  as  you  don't  howl  loud  enough  to  bring  them  out 
of  their  trance.  At  any  rate  they  told  Seabrook  that 
"The"  horse  had  won  and  at  odds  of  60  to  1. 

All  of  which  was  enough  to  give  heart  palpitations  to 
almost  any  sucker.  But  Seabrook  was  not  a  sucker  any 
more,  now,  he  was  an  assistant  policeman,  so  he  grew  en- 
thusiastic over  the  chance  to  make  $60,000  so  easily,  and 
promised  to  return  next  day  with  the  necessary  thousand 
to  bet.  His  friend  Cain  was  simply  delighted.  He  even 
thought  it  might  be  fixed  up  with  the  boys  in  New  York 
to  have  the  same  horse  run  the  next  day  and  have  the 
same  odds  on  him  too.  Which  Mr.  Seabrook  commented 
would  be  "  right  down  lovely  "  of  Mr.  Cain. 

At  the  appointed  hour  on  the  following  day  Seabrook 
and  Cain  appeared.  The  room  was  filled  with  men  study- 
ing the  list  of  entries  posted  about  the  room,  and  in 
figuring  on  the  margins  of  their' dope  sheets. 

Seabrook,  on  the  advice  of  the  detective,  had  gone  to 
the  pool-room  and  had  told  the  promoter  of  the  game 
that  he  was  ready  to  put  up  the  $1,000.  When  he 
entered,  he  saw  a  dozen  or  more  men  clamoring  for  an 
opportunity  to  place  their  money  on  a  race,  while  tel- 
egraph instruments  were  clicking  and  clerks  in  their 
shirt  sleeves  were  busily  taking  down  advance  tips  from 
every  race  track  in  the  country.  The  appearance  of  the 
place  indicated  that  a  regular  pool-room  was  running  in 
full  blast.  The  names  of  horses  running  at  the  eastern 
tracks,  and  also  at  the  local  tracks,  with  the  odds  on 


398  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

each,  were  conspicuously  posted .  on  the  walls,  and  the 
official  announcer  was  calling  off  the  results. 

Detective  Wooldridge  was  accompanied  by  Detectives 
Dubach,  Herts,  Breternitz,  Sederberg,  Walley,  Schubert 
and  McGrath.  They  appeared  at  the  alleged  pool-room 
promptly  at  the  hour  previously  arranged  with  Seabrook. 
They  made  their  way  tx>  the  interior,  and  just  as  Archie 
Donaldson,  who  was  announcing  the  results,  cried  out, 
"The  horses  are  at  the  post!"  Wooldridge  bounded  in 
and  said  ''Stop  a  minute !    Put  $5,000  on  Sidney  Lucas." 

Instantly  there  was  wild  excitement,  and  every  one 
tried  to  escape.  This  was  impossible,  however,  as  all 
the  exits  were  barred  by  officers  who  notified  the  inmates 
that  they  were  under  arrest.  Twenty-five  men  were 
taken  into  custody  and  conveyed  to  the  Harrison  Street 
Station  in  patrol  wagons. 

Among  those  taken  in  the  raid  were  Frank  Dubois, 
who  was  well  known  to  the  police  as  a  swindler,  and 
whoi  was  then  under  bonds  for  perpetrating  a  confidence 
game  on  a  La  Salle  street  broker,  in  which  he  secured 
$20,000,  it  is  said,  by  means  of  a  bogus  mining  deal. 
Ed.  Dunne,  a  notorious  wire  tapper  and  confidence  man, 
who  had  been  arrested  once  before  on  a  charge  of 
swindling  a  woman  out  of  $1,500,  was  also  among  them, 
as  well  as  George  Moore,  promoter  of  the  game;  Harry 
Nelson,  cashier,  and  J.  E.  Murray,  alias  Eugene  Munger. 

The  twenty-five  men  were  taken  to  the  Harrison  Street 
Station  and  booked  on  twelve  charges  each,  making  a 
total  of  three  hundred  charges.  The  police  made  a 
thorough  examination  oi  the  premises,  where  the  alleged 
pool-room  was  in  operation,  and  found  that  the  telegraph 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  399 

instruments  were  not  connected  with  any  wires  that  ran 
outside  of  the  building,  and  that  the  tickers  were 
operated  by  hand,  showing  it  to  be  one  of  the  boldest  and 
most  barefaced  swindles  unearthed  in  a  long  time,  and 
that  the  whole  scheme  was  but  a  conspiracy  to  swindle 
innocent  people  out  of  their  money. 

When  the  officers  reached  the  Harrison  Street  Station 
with  the  prisoners,  there  was  no  court  in  session  and 
only  one  desk  sergeant  on  duty,  and  they  were  held  until 
the  next  morning  when  formal  complaints  were  made 
and  their  names  were  registered  on  the  arrest  book, 
while  the  warrant  clerk  was  busily  making  out  the  proper 
papers. 

At  eleven  o'clock  the  Chief  of  Police  and  Detective 
Wooldridge  were  served  with  a  notice  that  a  writ  of 
habeas  corpus  in  behalf  of  the  prisoners  had  been  sued 
out  by  Attorney  Richard  Wade,  and  they  were  sum- 
moned to  appear  with  the  men  before  Judge  Brentano  at 
two  o'clock.  Promptly  at  the  hour  all  were  present, 
the  state  being  represented  by  A.  J.  Barnett  of  the 
state's  attorney's  office.  There  were  also  two-  attorneys 
present  from  the  city  prosecutor's  office.  Judge  Bren- 
tano asked  what  the  charges  were,  and  was  told  that  the 
prisoners  were  charged  with  conspiracy  to  defraud,  con- 
ducting a  confidence  game,  keeping  a  pool-room,  being 
inmates  of  a  gaming  room,  being  decoys  and  runners  of 
a  pool-room,  keeping  a  gambling  house,  vagrancy. 
These  were  the  state  charges.  The  city  charges  were  as 
follows  :  keepers  of  a  pool-room  and  being  inmates  there- 
of, gaming  and  keeping  gaming  devices,  visitors  of  a 
gaming  house,  vagrancy  and  disorderly  conduct. 


400  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

The  court  then  asked  for  the  complaints,  and  was  told 
that  the  warrant  clerk  had  not  had  time  to  make  them  out., 
but  that  they  were  being  drawn  as  rapidly  as  possible. 
Then  the  judge  wanted  to  know  whether  the  men  were 
booked,  and  was  told  that  they  were.  The  court,  who 
was  seeking  this  information  from  Detective  Wooldridge, 
then  told  the  officer  that  he  would  give  him  three  minutes 
to  get  the  arrest  book  from  the  Harrison  Street  Station. 
He  increased  the  time  to  five  minutes,  and  then  to  ten 
minutes,  but  being  told  that  the  book  probably  was  in 
use  in  some  other  court,  the  judge  then  said  he  would 
give  the  officer  until  three  o'clock  to  produce  it. 

At  that  hour  the  book  was  brought  into  court  by  Desk 
Sergeant  Primm,  who  testified  to  the  booking  of  the 
men.  Judge  Brentano  became  irate  when  he  heard  that 
the  men  were  not  booked  the  evening  before,  and  scored 
th  police  quite  severely,  declaring  they  had  no  right  to 
lock  up  and  keep  all  night  respectable  citizens  whose 
families  were  worrying  over  their  absence.  The  officer 
and .  the  State's  Attorney  attempted  to  explain  to  the 
court  that  the  men  were  caught  in  the  act  of  conducting 
a  conspiracy  and  swindling  game,  and  that  many  of 
them  were  well  known  to  the  police  as  crooks,  some  being 
ex-convicts  and  others  swindlers  who  were  then  under 
bonds  to  the  criminal  court,  and  that  their  arrest  was 
considered  by  the  police  officials  to  be  one  of  the  most 
important  captures  of  a  gang  of  thieves  and  swindlers 
that  had  been  made  in  a  long  time. 

This,  however,  would  not  appease  the  court,  and  he 
refused  to  hear  any  more  explanations  on  the  subject. 
The  State's  Attorney  tried  to  explain  that  the  court  was 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  401 

sitting  as  an  examining  magistrate  and  that  the  only  ques- 
tion was  as  to  the  legality  of  the  arrest.  The  judge  re- 
fused to  listen  any  further,  and  ordered  the  men  released 
on  their  own  recognizance  under  bonds  of  $100  each  to 
appear  in  court  the  following  Tuesday  at  2  p.  m.  He 
also  ordered  that  $64  in  currency,  which  had  been  seized 
in  the  fake  pool-room  and  taken  from  Harry  Nelson, 
the  cashier,  to  be  held  as  part  of  the  evidence  against 
the  men,  be  returned. 

Sunday  intervened,  and  on  Monday  at  eleven  o'clock 
none  of  the  prisoners  appeared  at  the  Harrison  Street 
Station,  and  consequently  no  action  could  be  taken 
against  them.  On  the  next  day  at  two  o'clock  all  the 
men  were  present  in  Judge  Brentano's  court  again. 
In  the  meantime  the  judge  had  become  more  conversant 
with  the  facts,  and  decided,  after  hearing  the  charges 
made  by  Detective  Wooldridge  and  the  other  officers, 
to  hold  the  men  under  bonds  to  appear  in  the  Harrison 
Street  Police  Court,  June  20.  In  order  to  be  sure  that 
they  would  appear  on  that  day  before  the  police  justice, 
he  caused  them  to  give  bonds  to  him  to  appear  in  his 
court  on  June  21. 

In  the  meantime  the  officers  went  before  the  grand 
jury  with  the  evidence  they  had  in  their  possession 
and  secured  indictments  against  all  the  men  they  had 
arrested,  on  charges  of  conducting  a  pool-room  and 
keeping  a  common  gaming  house. 

When  the  men  again  appeared  in  Judge  Brentano's 
court,  deputy  sheriffs  with  capiases  invaded  the  court 
room  and  arrested  everv  one  of  them.     Thev  all  g^ave 

J  J  CD 


402  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

bond  for  their  appearance,  and  on  July  13  they  were 
arraigned   in  Judge   Tuley's  court  for  trial. 

They  were  represented  by  four  able  attorneys.  After 
an  hour  spent  in  wrangling  over  an  effort  to  quash 
the  indictments,  the  cases  were  submitted  to  the  court, 
and  four  of  the  promoters  and  leaders  were  adjudged 
guilty,  and  they  were  fined  $100  each.  These  were: 
Archibald  Donaldson,  John  J.  Sheehan,  George  Moore 
and  Harry  Nelson. 

This  disposed  of  the  charges  of  keeping  a  common 
gaming  house  under  which  the  twenty-five  men  were 
indicted. 

This  case  will  go  down  in  history  as  one  of  the 
most  unique  and  remarkable  in  police  and  criminal  an- 
nals. Here  were  twenty-five  men  arrested  and  held 
under  three  hundred  charges,  and  every  one  indicted, 
something  unknown  before  in  Chicago.  It  had  the 
effect  of  breaking  up  one  of  the  boldest  gangs  of  swin- 
dlers that  ever  infested  the  city. 


i Measurement  Of 

;-  IfrE  Stretgpt  •:• 


404  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 


THE   BERTILLON   SYSTEM   OF   IDENTIFICA- 
TION. 

If  any  one  had  been  so  bold  as  to  affirm  a  few  years 
ago  that  it  would  be  possible  to  give  such  a  description 
of  any  individual  that  he  could  be  positively  identified 
among  all  the  millions  of  people  in  the  world,  his  state- 
ments would  have  been  met  with  ridicule.  To-day,  how- 
ever, thanks  to  the  researches  of  Queletet,  the  Belgian 
scientist,  and  the  subsequent  labors  of  Dr.  Alphonso  Ber- 
tillon,  a  celebrated  French  anthropologist,  we  are  able  to 
give  such  a  detailed  description  of  any  given  individual 
that  his  identification  becomes  a  matter  of  absolute  cer- 
tainty. 

Although  it  is  true  that  the  Bertillon  system  of  an- 
thropometric identification,  as  it  is  called,  is  primarily 
intended  for  the  prevention  of  crime,  this  is  only  one  of 
the  objects  of  the  system.  In  every  case  where  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  identity  of  an  individual  is  desirable, 
whether  for  his  own  benefit  or  that  of  his  family,  or  the 
State,  this  ingenious  and  scientific  system  may  be  applied. 
The  victims  of  the  cable  car  or  the  railroad  accident,  the 
slain  upon  the  battle  field,  the  unclaimed  bodies  at  the 
city  morgue,  all  present  cases  for  which  Bertillon  has 
made  full  provision. 

In  instances  where  the  body  has  been  mutilated  be- 
yond all  possibility  of  recognition  by  the  usual  methods 
of  identification,  the  system  would  be  simply  invaluable. 
Further  instances  of  its  possible  usefulness  would  have 
been  the  prevention  of  frauds  on  the  United  States  Pen- 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  405 

sion  Bureau  by  parties  who  have  assumed  the  name  and 
conditions  of  others,  the  detection  of  false  claimants  to 
estates,  the  prevention  of  the  landing  of  the  Chinese  who 
come  to  this  country  bearing  the  name  and  papers  of 
others  of  their  countrymen  who  have  returned  to  China. 
It  requires  a  long  acquaintance  with  this  race  to  be  able 
to  distinguish  one  celestial  from  another,  and  by  the 
present  methods  of  identification  it  is  almost  impossible 
for  the  government  officials  to  detect  a  fraud  of  this 
kind. 

Perhaps  there  is  no  sphere  in  which  the  benefits  of  the 
system  would  be  more  immediately  felt  than  in  the  army, 
where  it  would  act  as  a  check  upon  desertion  from  the 
very  first  day  of  its  introduction.  In  time  of  war,  more- 
over, it  would  serve  as  an  infallible  identification  of  the 
killed  and  the  wounded,  and  in  subsequent  years,  as  sug- 
gested above,  it  would  prevent  fraud  upon  the  Pension 
Bureau  of  the  country.  The  question  of  introduction  into 
the  army  is  being  actively  urged  by  Dr.  Paul  R.  Brown 
of  the  United  States  army. 

The  Bertillon  system  of  measuring  criminals  has  re- 
ceived its  most  extensive  trial  in  France,  where  it  has 
been  carried  out  over  ten  years  with  thoroughness  for 
which  the  police  of  the  country  is  famous.  It  is  in  gen- 
eral use  in  Belgium,  Switzerland,  Russia,  and  several 
South  American  republics,  and  is  being  tested  in  Eng- 
land. It  was  introduced  into  the  United  States  by  Major 
R.  W.  McLaughry  in  1887,  and  is  now  in  operation  in 
Illinois,  Michigan,  Wisconsin  and  the  state  of  Massachu- 
setts. It  was  adopted  by  the  Police  Department  of  the 
City  of  New  York  on  March  6,  1896,  and  in  May  of  the 


406'  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

same  year  its  use  was  made  obligatory  in  all  the  prisons 
and  penitentiaries  of  the  State  of  New  York. 

The  accompanying  illustrations  show  the  practical  op- 
eration of  the  Bertillon  system  at  police  headquarters  in 
Chicago.  It  varies  in  no  essential  particulars  from  that 
of  the  countries  and  states  above  mentioned,  only  such 
slight  modifications  as  were  suggested  by  local  conditions 
having  been  made  in  minor  details.  The  system  is  made 
of  three  distinct  parts.  First,  the  measure  of  certain  un- 
changeable "bony  lengths"  of  the  body ;  second,  a  careful 
description  of  the  features  of  the  face ;  third,  a  careful 
localization  of  all  the  scars  and  marks  upon  the  body. 
Of  these  three  the  first  records  are  by  far  the  most  im- 
portant, because  the  most  permanent  and  unalterable. 

Bertillon  states  that  the  experience  of  ten  years  has 
shown  the  "almost  absolute  immutability"  of  the  human 
frame  after  the  twentieth  year  is  past.  The  great  di- 
versify of  dimensions  of  which  the  skeleton  shows  in  dif- 
ferent objects,  and  the  facility  and  precision  with  which 
it  may  be  measured,  render  this  means  of  identification 
by  far  the  most  reliable  that  could  be  adopted.  Increas- 
ing age  and  mutilation  will  produce  changes  in  the  feat- 
ures, but  they  cannot  affect  the  measurement  of  the 
frame.  The  analysis  of  the  features  of  the  face,  and  the 
description  and  localization  of  scars  upon  the  body,  add 
their  accumulated  testimony  to  the  unchanging  records 
of  the  measuring  apparatus. 

The  bony  or  skeleton  lengths  adopted  by  the  police  de- 
partment as  admitting  of  easy  measurements  and  descrip- 
tions are  as  follows :  The  length  and  width  of  the  head ; 
the  cheek  width ;  the  length  of  the  foot,  the  middle  finger, 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  407 

the  little  finger  and  the  cubit,  that  is,  from  the  elbow 
to  the  tip  of  the  middle  finger;  the  height  standing; 
the  height  seated ;  and  the  stretch ;  and  in  addition  to  this 
the  right  ear  length,  which,  while  not  a  skeleton  measure, 
remains  virtually  through  life. 

The  apparatus  which  is  used  for  taking  these  dimen- 
sions is  very  simple,  as  will  be  seen  by  reference  to  the 
illustrations.  In  taking  the  height  the  criminal  is  made  to 
stand  barefooted  with  his  back  to  the  wall  and  his  back- 
bone to  the  left  of  the  graduated  scale.  The  square  is 
then  brought  down  with  its  vertical  edge  in  contact  with 
the  vertical  edge  of  the  scale  and  the  height  read  off. 
About  three  feet  left  to  the  scale  is  a  vertical  strip  which 
projects  about  an  inch  from  the  wall,  and  opposite  side 
of  the  scale  is  a  horizontal  scale  with  long  graduation 
lines,  as  shown  in  the  illustration.  The  criminal,  with 
his  back  still  to  the  wall,  is  made  to  extend  his  -arms  and 
move  to  the  right  or  left  until  the  tip  of  the  middle  finger 
of  the  right  hand  touches  the  vertical  strip. 

The  measurer  then  presses  the  arms  of  the  subject 
lightly  against  the  wall  and  reads  off  the  "stretch"  as  in- 
dicated by  the  middle  finger  tip  at  the  left  hand.  The 
trunk  measurement  is  taken,  or  the  height  of  a  man  when 
seated,  is  taken  by  placing  a  stool  against  the  wall,  seat- 
ing the  criminal  squarely  upon  it  with  his  back  to  the 
wall,  and  taking  the  height  as  before  with  the  portable 
square. 

The  measurements  of  the  head  are  taken  while  the  sub- 
ject is  still  seated  and  are  read  off  on  a  pair  of  calipers 
provided  with  a  graduated  arc.  In  taking'  the  length  the 
left  point  of  the  calipers  is  held  at  the  root  of  the  nose, 


408  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

and  the  right  point  is  brought  down  Over  the  back  of 
the  head.  The  thumbscrew  is  then  tightened  and  the  meas- 
urement checked  by  passing  the  instrument  again  over 
the  head.  The  width  of  the  head  over  the  cheeks  is  taken 
in  the  same  way. 

The  measurement  of  the  foot  is  taken  with  a  caliper 
rule  somewhat  similar  to  that  used  by  the  shoemaker. 
The  subject  is  placed  on  the  stool,  standing  oh  his  left 
foot  and  steadying  himself.  The  graduated  stem  is 
placed  against  the  inside  of  the  foot  with  the  arm  fixed 
in  contact  of  the  heel,  and  the  sliding  arm  is  then  brought 
in  lightly  against  the  toe.  Care  is  taken  as  before  t& 
check  the  reading. 

In  measuring  the  left  little  and  middle  fingers,  the  back 
of  the  caliper  rule  is  used,  two  small  projections  being 
provided  on  the  fixed  and  sliding  arms.  The  finger  to  be 
measured  is  bent  at  right  angles  to  the  back  of  the  hand, 
and  the  measurement  is  taken  from  the  finger  to  the 
knuckle. 

The  cubit  measurement  is  taken  from  the  elbow  to  the 
tip  of  the  middle  finger.  The  forearms  and  hand  are 
placed,  with  the  palm  of  the  hand  downwards,  upon  the 
surface  of  the  trestle  on  which  is  a  caliper  rule  \  the  edges 
of  the  table,  the  axis  of  the  forearm  and  the  hand,  and 
the  graduated  stem  of  the  ruler  all  being  parallel.  The 
elbow  is  placed  against  the  fixed  arm  of  the  rule,  and  the 
loose  arm  is  then  brought  up  to  the  middle  finger  arid 
the  measurement  read  off  on  the  scale. 

The  measurement  of  the  right  ear  is  taken  with  a 
caliper  rule,  which  has  a  flat  fixed  branch  which  is 
steadied  by  pressing  it  against  the  head,  and  is  brought 


410  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

down  until  it  grazes  the  upper  border  of  the  ear.  The 
stem  is  held  parallel  with  the  axis  of  the  ear,  and  the 
loose  arm  is  pushed  up  until  it  just  reaches  the  lobe  of 
the  ear. 

It  will  be  apparent  to  the  reader  from  this  description 
that  this  system  will  give  a  series  of  very  accurate  meas- 
urements. As  each  one  is  read  off  it  is  written  down  on 
a  printed  card. 

The  measurements  being  all  taken,  the  next  analyses 
are  the  features  of  the  face.    As  these  are  liable  to  change 
from  age  or  disfigurement,  no  measurements  are  taken, 
but  instead,  an  elaborate  exhaustive  description  is  given. 
Taking  the  nose  as  an  example,  the  profile  of  the  bridge 
may  be  rectilinear,  convex  or  concave,  and  the  term  sinu- 
ous might  be  aplied  to  qualify  each  of  the  above  descrip- 
tions.    Thus  a   nose  might  be  convex  sinuous,  that  is, 
might  be  generally  convex  and  also  somewhat  undulatinr 
in  contour.     Then  again  each  of  these  types  might  vary 
so  far  as  its  base  was  concerned,  this  being  either  ele- 
vated, horizontal  or  depressed.     The  subdivision   might 
be  carried  still  further  by  certain  arbitrary  marks  as  fol- 
lows:     (Concave),  concave.     Concave,  where  in  brackets 
the  word  would  mean  slightly  concave,  without  brackets 
or  underlining  it  would  mean  moderately  concave,  and 
underlined  it  would  mean  extremely  concave.     This  sys- 
tem of  seriation  could  be  applied  to  any  feature  of  the 
face.    The  eyes  will  vary  from  the  pale  blue  of  the  Scan- 
dinavian to  the  very  dark  brown  of  the  Negro.     In  the 
Bertillon  system  there  are  seven  distinct  classes  of  eyes 
enumerated,  with  nine  subdivisions.     The  mouth,   chin, 
the  brow,  have  all  been  analytically  classified,  divided  and 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  4ll 

subdivided — even  the  complexion  being  noted  in  respect 
to  its  coloration,  which  may  vary  from  the  sanguineous 
coloration  of  the  florid  Englishman  to  the  pigmentary 
coloration  of  a  dark  Italian,  with  all  its  intermediate 
graduations  between  the  two  extremes. 

The  third  step  in  registering  a  criminal  is  to  make  an 
exact  record  of  all  scars,  marks  or  deformities.  To  assist 
in  locating  these  on  the  body,  certain  anatomical  points, 
known  as  "guiding  points,"  are  employed,  and  the  par- 
ticular mark  is  described  as  being  such  a  distance  from 
one  of  these  points. 

Finally  the  subject  is  placed  before  the  camera,  two 
negatives,  a  full  face  and  profile,  being  taken,  the  pho- 
tographs are  mounted  in  the  centre  of  the  identification 
card. 

We  produce  a  fac-simile  of  the  style  of  cards  used.  In 
addition  to  the  data  recorded  on  the  face  of  the  card, 
there  is  provision  on  the  reverse  side  for  recording  the 
particulars  of  the  names,  aliases,  crime,  date  of  sentence, 
peculiarities  of  habit,  criminal  history,  etc.,  and  there 
are  six  ruled  spaces  for  inserting  details  regarding  the 
marks,  scars,  etc.,  upon  the  body.  After  each  card  has 
been  made  out  in  duplicate  and  filed,  the  examination  is 
complete,  and  the  department  is  in  possession  of  a  means 
of  future  identification  which  may  be  said  to  be  absolutely 
infallible. 

The  method  of  filing  the  cards  adopted  at  the  identi- 
fication bureau  in  Paris,  over  which  Dr.  Bertillon  still 
presides,  is  as  follows : 

The  cards  are  filed  in  two  large  cases,  in  one  of  which 
they  are  classified  alphabetically,  and  in  the  other  accord- 


412  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

ing  to  measurements  or  anthropometrically.     The  latter 
case   is   divided   horizontally   into,  three   equal   compart- 
ments for  lengths  of  head,  and  there  are  three  other  sub- 
divisions for  the  three  classes  of  fingers,'  foot  and  cubit 
lengths.     The  cards  are  filed  in  boxes  numbered  I  to  3 
according  to  the  above  leading  measurements.     If  the 
police  desire  to  know  whether  a  criminal  has  been  pre- 
viously measured,  he  is  identified  or  otherwise  by  looking 
in  the  alphabetical  collection ;  that  is,  if  he  gives  his  right 
name.    If  the  prisoner  claims  he  has  never  been  arrested 
before,  he  is  measured  and  search  is  made  in  the  measure- 
ment collection.     The  head  is,  say  187  millimeters;  the 
medium  head  measures  from  180  to  190  millimeters,  so 
that  the  card  is  put  in  the  medium  class.    This  eliminates 
100,000  cards  from  150,000  in  the  collection.  The  breadth 
of  the  head  now  being  medium,  two-thirds  of  the  50,000 
are  eliminated,  leaving  the  remainder  16,666.     The  mid- 
dle finger  eliminated  some  thousands  more,  bringing  the 
remainder  down  to  5,555.     The  length  of  the  foot  re- 
duces the  number  to  1,850,  and  the  cubit  length  brings 
it  down  to  620.     Following  out  the  process  in  respect  to 
heights,  little  finger,  ear,  trunk  and  stretch,  the  remainder 
is  represented  by  a  dozen  cards  which  are  classified  by 
the  color  of  the  eye.     The  card  is  now  located,  and  the 
photographs  and  facial  description  place  identity  of  the 
two  cards  beyond  the  possibility  of  a  doubt. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  413 


THE  FINGER  PRINTS— SYSTEM  OF  IDENTI- 
FICATION. 

In  1899  a  paper  entitled  "Finger  Prints  and  the  De- 
tection of  Crime  in  India,"  was  read  before  the  British 
Association  meeting  at  Dover.  This  paper  attracted  a 
great  deal  of  attention,  as  it  was  then  learned  that  the 
employment  of  the  Finger  Print  System  of  Identification 
was  not  only  used  in  police  departments,  but  also  in 
many  other  lines  of  public  business.  In  order  to 
show'  the  many  ways  in  which  identification  by  finger 
tips  may  be  applied,  we  produce  herewith  form  or  record 
sheet  taken  of  the  finger  tips  of  the  right  and  left  hands 
of  a  professional  criminal.  If  you  will  take  a  magnify- 
ing glass  and  look  at  the  under  side  of  the  tips  of 
your  fingers,  you  will  discover  a  number  of  well  de- 
fined lines,  and  that  while  each  finger  may  seem  to 
closely  resemble  the  others,  with  a  little  study  you  will 
note  that  each  has  a  distinct  individuality,  as  to  the 
ridges  or  lines,  so  much  so  that  Mr.  E.  R.  Henry,  C. 
S.  I.  (Asst.  Commissioner  of  Metropolitan  Police),  of 
London,  England,  has  succeeded  in  classifying  them  so 
that  they  can  be  placed  into  four  types  or  divisions 
known  as  arches,  loops,  whorls  and  composites.  Each 
division  is  then  subdivided  into  thirty-two  different 
classifications  known  as  primary  classifications,  with  the 
result  that  an  expert  after  taking  a  record  of  a  criminal, 
can  at  a  glance  determine  the  particular  type  and  be 
able  to  file  it  away  in  its  proper  drawer.  Should  the 
criminal  at  any  time  subsequent,  have  his  finger  prints 


416 


THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 


its  great  superiority,  and  it  is  being  taken  up  in  this 
country  by  the  larger  cities  and  penitentiaries.  Through 
the  courtesy  of  Mrs.  Phil  C.  Holland,  Asst.  Manager, 
"THE  DETECTIVE,"  the  official  organ  of  the  police 


Mrs.  Phil  C.  Holland. 


and  sheriffs,  and  who  is  the  greatest  expert  in  this  line 
of  work  in  this  country,  we  are  able  to  present  a  few 
interesting  details  of  the  application  of  this  system  in' 
criminal  work,  etc.  Mrs.  Holland  is  a  pupil  of  John 
Kenneth    Ferrier,   finger   print   expert   of   the   Criminal 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  417 

Investigation  Department,  New  Scotland  Yard,  London, 
England,  and  after  one  year's  thorough  study,  which 
included  the  actual  taking  of  finger  prints  of  many 
noted  criminals  and  the  practical  work  of  classification 
at  the  "Four  Courts''  of  the  St.  Louis  Police  Depart- 
ment, she  was  pronounced  by  Air.  Ferrier,  thoroughly 
competent  to  instruct,  classify  and  install  the  system, 
and  to  apply  it  in  all  ways  to  high-grade  scientific  de- 
tective investigations,  requiring  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  the  application  of  certain  powders  and  photographic 
reproductions   and   enlargements. 

In  one  of  our  prisons  recently,  a  man  who  had  just 
been  sentenced  was  brought  up  and  while  he  made  no 
opposition  to  being  measured  by  the  Bertillon  System, 
he  objected  strongly  to  having  his  finger  impressions 
recorded.  This  caused  the  identification  expert  to  be 
suspicious  and  he  submitted  a  duplicate  record  to  the 
Scotland  Yard  Police  in  London,  with  the  result  that 
the  man  was  at  once  identified  as  a  murderer  who  had 
escaped  from  a  prison  in  England,  and  who  will  be 
taken  back  there.  When  confronted  with  the  English 
record,  the  convict  at  once  admitted  his   identity. 

An  express  company  lost  a  large  sum  of  money  which 
was  being  sent  from  one  point  to  another  in  a  sealed 
package.  During  transmission  the  seals  were  broken, 
the  money  abstracted  and  the  package  resealed  with 
wax.  At  first  the  express  company  were  absolutely 
unable  to  locate  the  thief,  but  later  on  it  was  discovered 
that  in  resealing  the  package,  the  thief  had  wet  his 
finger  and  pressed  it  on  the  warm  wax,  leaving  a  dis- 
tinct imprint.     The  finger  impressions  of  all  the  agents 


418  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

whose  hands  the  package  passed  through  were  taken, 
with  the  result  that  the  thief  was  easily  identified,  a 
confession  obtained  and  the  money  recovered. 

A  jewelry  store  was  entered  and  valuable  diamonds 
that  were  on  display  on  glass  trays  in  the  windows  were 
stolen..  In  doing  this  the  thieves  left  the  imprints  of 
their  fingers  on  the  glass.  An  expert  on  making  in- 
vestigation with  a  powerful  magnifier,  discovered  the 
imprints,  and  by  a  careful  photographic  process  was 
able  to  reproduce  them  on  paper.  A  research  being 
made  among  a  collection  of  20,000  finger  print  records 
revealed  the  fact  that  the  prints  left  on  the  glass  tray 
were  those  of  a  well-known  professional  burglar,  whose 
record  had  been  taken  some  two  years  previously,  while 
undergoing  sentence  in  state  prison.  As  a  result  the 
man  was  arrested  and  through  him,  his  partner  in  the 
crime,  resulting  in  a  conviction  and  the  recovery  of  most 
of  the  goods. 

The  London  police  in  investigating  a  burglary  dis- 
covered in  the  pantry  of  a  house,  a  partly  empty  bottle 
of  ale,  which  had  been  full  the  previous  day.  There 
were  finger  prints  on  the  bottle,  which  was  protected  by 
a  cardboard  shield  and  taken  to  Scotland  Yard,  where 
the  prints  of  the  photograph,  afterwards,  were  found  to 
correspond  with  those  of  McAllister,  who  had  just 
previously  been  released  from  jail.  McAllister  on  his 
arrest,  in  some  way  learned  that  they  had  his  finger 
prints,  and  realizing  their  value  as  evidence,  made  a 
circumstantial  admission,  which  led  to  the  recovery  of 
the  goods,  and  the  conviction  of  his  partner  Alexander 
Harley,  on  whose  premises  the  property  was  found. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


419 


The  above  is  an  enlarged  print  of  a  right  index  ringer, 
which  we  classify  as  an  Ulnar  Loop.  Loops  on  different 
fingers  are  not  all  alike,  but  vary  in  many  important  char- 
acteristics, so  it  is  a  very  easy  matter  to  distinguish  one 
from  another. 


420  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

A  half  empty  bottle  of  wine  was  discovered  in  the 
room  of  an  old  woman  at  Asineres,  France,  she  having 
been  murdered.  A  close  examination  of  the  bottle  re- 
vealed finger  prints,  which  were  submitted  to  M.  Ber- 
tillon,  the  great  identification  expert,  who  caused  large 
photographs  to  be  made,  and  who  after  research  de- 
clared they  were  the  imprints  of  a  hospital  attendant 
named  Gale,  who  has  since  been .  arrested  charged  with 
the  murder- 
Recently  in  London  a  murder  was- committed  and  in 
order  to  destroy  any  chance  of  detection,  the  murderer 
took  the  tin  of  his  shoe  lace  and  cut  the  tips  of  his  fing- 
ers in  all  directions.  He  was  suspected  of  the  crime  and 
arrested.  The  officers  found  blood  prints  on  the  fur- 
niture and  other  things  in  the  house,  where  the  murder 
was  committed,  and  when  the  man's  fingers  healed,  his 
prints  were  taken  and  corresponded  exactly  with  those 
discovered  by   the  officers ;   conviction   followed. 

Air.  Wm.  A.  Pinkerton,  of  the  famous  Pinkertons 
National  Detective  Agency,  and  without  doubt  one  of 
the  greatest  criminal  experts,  on  his  return  from  Europe, 
in  an  interview  published  recently,  says :  "During  my 
visit  at  New  Scotland  Yard,  London,  I  was  greatly  in- 
terested in  the  high  state  of  efficiency  which  the  Finger 
Print  System  of  Identification  has  reached  in  the  police 
service  of  London.  The  Bureau  of  Finger  Prints 
there  is  one  of  the  most  marvelous  departments  I  ever 
examined.  Identification  of  criminals  lias  been  reduced 
practically  to  a  matter  of  bookkeeping.  You  get  the 
finger  print  and  then  simply  turn  up  your  indexes  and 
vou  know  vour  man  at  once.     A  criminal  may  shave  or 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


421 


grow  his  beard,  become  stout  or  thin,  alter  his  appear- 
ance to  a  considerable  extent,  but  the  one  constant  fea- 
ture of  his  make-up  is  his  finger  prints.  The  only  safe 
way  for  criminals  nowadays  is  to  wear  gloves  when 
they  go  out  on  a  job,  for  the  impressions  they  leave 
of  the  fingers  are  found  by  detectives  on  glasses,  news- 
papers, dusty  tables  and  the  slightest  impression  of  the 
fingers  on  a  damp  table  or  paper  can  by  the  process  in 


LEFT    HAND. 


7. — L.  Fore  Finger. 


8.— L.  Middle  Finger. 


9. — L.  Ring  Finger. 


10— L.  Little  Finger. 


^Pold.) 


(Fold.) 


LEFT    HAND. 

Plain  impressions  of  tho  four  fingers  taken  simultaneously. 


RIGHT    HAND. 

Plain  impressions  of  the  four  6ngera  taken  simultaneously. 


-^ 


£    u( trCca^z^yf '&»« 


Fmpressi&np  taken  by 


■'«  Signature 


Classified  at  H.C,   Rogiaa^by__      &Z        ^      ^/  - 
T .-;ied  at  H.O    JS-egistry  by 


422  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

use  at  the  Yard,  serve  as  an  adequate  means  of  identi- 
fication." 

Where  large  bodies  of  Chinese  or  negroes  are  employed 
on  government  or  public  work,  it  is  often  difficult  to  stop 
men  from  representing  themselves  as  being  other  men, 
and  signing  the  pay  roll  to  obtain  the  wages  due  others. 
Nowadays  the  thumb  print  of  each  employee  is  taken 
and  when  he  comes  up  to  draw  his  money  and  there  is 
any  doubt  as  to  his  identity,  he  makes  a  fresh  imprint, 
which  easily  disposes  of  the  matter.  Rich  men  dispos- 
ing of  their  property  by  will,  in  addition  to  their  regular 
signature,  also  place  the  finger  prints  of  both  hands  on 
the  paper,  thereby  insuring  the  authenticity  of  the  docu- 
ment. An  easy  way  to  protect  a  check,  is  to  put  the 
thumb  print  where  the  figures  are  written  in. 

Mrs.  Holland  believes  that  within  a  few  years  all  spe- 
cial transportation  sold  at  low  conditional  rates  by  rail- 
roads, will  be  impressed  with  the  finger  print  of  the  pur- 
chaser, thereby  preventing  the  sale  or  the  disposal  of 
the  ticket  to  a  scalper. 

Professor  Galton,  the  great  expert,  calculates  that  the 
chances  of  any  two  sets  of  finger  prints  being  alike  is 
one  in  - 16,400,000,000.  As  it  is  estimated  there  are  not 
2,000,000,000  people  in  the  world,  it  looks  as  if  this 
system  is  practically  infallible. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  423 


FAKE   DOCTORS. 

For  every  ailment  known  to  medicine  there  are  a 
thousand  "cures,"  and  for  all  the  victims  of  disease 
fakirs  exist  who  would  brutally  send  them  to  certain 
death  to  get  their  small  hoardings. 

The  conscienceless  scoundrelism  of  the  fake  doctor 
is  made  more  cruel  by  his  methods  of  holding  out  the 
most  cheering  hopes  for  the  recovery  of  his  "patients" 
while  he  is  depriving  them  of  their  money. 

Emboldened  by  success  until  he  himself  almost  be- 
lieves the  lying  advertisements  his  tainted  money  pro- 
cures the  fake  doctor  occupies  richly  furnished  suites 
of  offices  in  the  big  sky-scrapers,  or  limited  by  his  own 
ignorance  and  a  lack  of  funds  he  has  his  "office"  in 
some  dirty  little  shop  in  a  dark  alley. 

Wherever  he  is  and  whatever  the  extent  of  his  opera- 
tions, his  methods  are  the  same.  Some  newspapers  are 
almost  supported  by  his  advertisements.  Flaring  bills 
and  painted  signs  announce  to  the  public  from  bill- 
boards, house-tops,  rocks  on  the  hills,  railroad  tanks  and 
other  conspicuous  spots  that  "Dr.  Cure-All,  the  eminent 
specialist,  guarantees  to  cure  all  persons  of  every  malady 
with  which  they  are  afflicted,  or  failing  to  do  so,  will 
return  their  money." 

If  the  signs  are  to  be  believed  the  learned  doctor  is 
prompted  solely  by  benevolence.  He  wishes  to  cure 
poor,  suffering  humanity  because  love  wells  from  his 
noble  heart  and  the  pain  of  a  sick  child  moves  his  tender 
soul  to  deep  compassion, 


424  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

He  advertises  "cordials,"  "red  drops,"  "rejuvenators/' 
"elixirs,"  "Repuna,"  "Cataract  pills,  for  the  vest  pocket," 
and  infallible  remedies  for  ill  that  flesh  is  heir  to. 

To  make  his  claim   "strong"   the   doctor   warns  invalids 
against   imitators   and   impostors   who    try    to    humbug 
the   public   by   offering   substitutes     for    his    marvel' 
remedy. 

His  stock  claims  are:  "Cure  in  three  (fays,"  "without 
change  of  diet  or  habits,"  "after  all  others  have  failed," 
"youth  restored,"  "without  mercury  or  other  injurious 
drugs  used  by  •  regular  practitioners."  Rely  upon  this 
certainty,  that  all  who  advertise  are  fakers.  There  are 
no  exceptions.  The)-  are  all  quacks.  Sometimes  they 
accidentally  effect  cures.  If  they  do  no  one  is  more 
surprised  than  themselves. 

The  favorite  bait  tor  catching  the  sufferers  is  a  catalog 
of  symptoms.  "Head-ache,  back-ache,  depressed  feel- 
ing, the  blues,"  and  a  hundred  other  slight  irregularities 
that  every,  person,  no  matter  how  healthy,  occasionally 
is  subject  to,  are  described  as  "symptoms"  of  the  malady 
the  "Doctor's"     remedy  cures. 

Nearly  every  "symptom"  of  every  known  disease  and 
of  health  itself,  is  included  in  the  list,  so  that  whatever 
feelings  one  may  have  he  will  find  them  included.  Some 
applicants  reciuire  only  the  simplest  kind  of  treatment, 
such  as  any  medical  student  could  prescribe.  It  is  not 
surprising  that  such  are  cured. 

When  a  patient  presents  himself,  it  is  not  the  policy 
of  these  men  to  sav  there  is  nothing  or  little  the  matter. 
The  doctor  puts  on  a  grave  expression  on  first  seeing 
the  applicant,    and    with    anxiety   and   commiseration    in 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  425 

his  voice,  to  say:  "Ah!  you  needn't  tell  me  what  ails 
you  ;  I  see  at  a  glance ;  but  it's  fortunate  you  called  on 
me  even  though  it  is  so  bad  a  case.  I've  treated  patients 
as  far  gone  as  you,  and  I  can  cure  you ;  but  it's  lucky 
you  came."  And  so  it  is  lucky — for  the  doctor!  The 
applicant's  fears  are  worked  upon,  and  before  he  leaves 
the  office  he  fancies  himself  on  the  brink  of  the  grave, 
and  is  ready  to  submit  to  a  thorough  fleecing. 

If  "no  charge  for  advice"  is  the  plan  of  operation, 
the  patient  is  given  a  bottle  of  medicine  for  which  he 
is  asked  from  one  to  ten  dollars — the  price  is  usually 
varied  according  to  the  amount  the  victim  can  afford — 
one  "doctor"  expressed  it  in  a  non-professional  conver- 
sation as  "sizing  the  man's  pile," — and  advice  given  to 
call  when  that  is  used  up.  The  stuff  has  little,  if  any, 
medicinal  property. 

Detective  Wooldrige  has  known  the  statement  to  be 
made  that  a  deleterious  compound  is  actually  administered 
with  the  .intention  of  producing  a  debilitating  influence. 
Doubtless  this  is  in  rare  instances,  but  it  would  be  done 
bv  most  of  them  if  necessary  to  retain  the  patient.  His 
own  terrors,  however,  are  a  sufficient  guarantee  of  his 
remaining  in  the  doctor's  power.  On  the  second  visit 
the  patient  is  either  told  that  the  medicine  is  having  a 
f  favorable  effect  or  that  he  needs  a  more  powerful  and 
proportionately  more  costly  remedy.  The  plan  is  to 
extort  the  largest  possible  sum  from  the  victim.  In 
some  cases,  when  his  ready  money  Hit,  he  is  cau- 

tiously told  that  lie  must  procure  more  in  some  wa\ 
his  case  be  given  up. 

When   a   person   has   no   more   mone)    and    feels   that 


426  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

death  stares  him  in  the  face,  if  he  cannot  procure  it,  he 
is  apt  to  resort  to  criminal  means  to  do  so.  Parents  or 
employers  have  been  robbed  for  this  purpose.  This  is 
the  very  thing  the  victim  is  expected  to  do,  though  the 
quack,  of  course  never  says  so.  When  nothing  further 
can  be  extorted  the  patient  is  either  cured  or  told  he  is — 
or  turned  adrift.  Then  he  may  in  sheer  despair,  consult 
some  reputable  physician,  or  end  his  life  by  suicide. 

Where  there  is  really  need  for  treatment  originally, 
the  plan  is  substantially  the  same.  All  is  grist  that 
comes  to  these  mills.  There  is  a  plan  sometimes  pursued 
of  getting  rid  of  patients  who  persist  in  "annoying"  the 
doctors  after  their  funds  have  become  exhausted.  They 
are  told  to  seek  a  change  of  climate,  go  to  Colorado, 
make  a  change  in  their  habits  or  to  get  married. 

In  the  disease  which  these  quacks  claim  to  cure  with- 
out mercury,  this  dangerous  mineral  is  really  the  article 
used,  and  it  is  administered  by  them  all.  In  their  hands, 
too,  it  is  more  dangerous  than  in  those  of  ordinary  phy- 
sicians. They  use  it  more  lavishly  and  with  no  consid- 
eration for  variation  of  constitutional  powers.  This  is 
also  the  chief  ingredient  in  the  various  "specifics"  for 
the  disease. 

Avoid  advertising  doctors  under  all  circumstances. 
They  are  mainly  men  without  medical  knowledge,  or  a 
mere  smattering  picked  up  casually ;  often  drunken  vaga- 
bonds, brutal  and  devoid  of  conscience;  sometimes 
ashamed  of  their  miserable  calling,  and  practicing  it  un- 
der assumed  names ;  or  in  some  cases  the  outcasts  of  the 
regular  profession — men  whose  want  of  ability  or  dissi- 
pated habits  left  them  without  legitimate  practice,  who, 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  427 

caring  only  to  make  money,  adopted  this  disgraceful 
trade. 

There  is  an  occasional  man  of  this  kind  whose  diploma 
is  genuine,  though  the  majority  of  diplomas  are  second 
hand  ones,  with  the  original  name  altered  to  the  new 
owner,  or  the  old  name  adopted  by  the  new  owner. 
Where  the  diploma  is  genuine,  it  only  proves  the  man  to 
be  less  qualified"  than  the  vast  majority  of  the  most  ob- 
scure legitimate  practitioners. 

There  is  no  advertising  doctor  who  can  treat  these 
diseases  better  than  the  regular  physicians ;  there  is  no 
valuable  knowledge  possessed  '#•  them  that  is  not  taught 
every  medical  student ;  their  vaunted  discoveries  are 
bosh ;  their  "long  experience''  amounts  to  nothing,  for 
their  operations  are  so  reckless  and  without  judgment 
that  their  treatment  seldom  improves. 

There  is  only  one  excuse  for  patronizing  them.  Most 
persons  are  reluctant  to  confide  to  physicians  who  are 
acquainted  with  them.  They  feel  disgraced  and  prefer  to 
trust  their  secret  to  strangers.  This  excuse  is  an  error ; 
the  secret  is  sometimes  used  by  quacks,  to  extort  money 
by  threats  of  exposure  to  his  friends,  while  a  family  phy- 
sician would,  without  doubt,  have  held  the  secret  sacred. 

Do  not  neglect  the  aid  of  a  man  known  and  respected 
to  trust  to  the  uncertainty  of  strangers. 

In  the  country,  local  practitioners  may  insert  a  mere 
card  in  the  local  papers — if  more  than  this  they  are  liable 
to  be  judged  as  quacks,  and  we  should  so  judge  them.  So 
long  as  reputable  doctors  do  not  advertise  it  is  safe  to 
apply  this  test,  and  it  is  considered  a  point  of  honor  in 
the  profession. 


428  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

"CURES"   BY   MAIL. 

The  best  physicians  do  not,  and  will  not  prescribe  by 
mail.  Persons  who  offer  to  do  so  are  generally  not  reg- 
ularly educated  physicians,  but  "merely  turn  their  hands 
to  doctoring"  because  the}-  believe  it  is  profitable.  One 
complaint  made  to  Detective  Wooldridge  was  about  a 
chap  who  failed  at  everything  else,  then  got  another  man 
to  write  him  a  medical  book,  dubbed  himself  "doctor," 
and  offered  to  treat  all  real  and  imaginary  diseases, 
"after  all  other  physicians  had  failed." 

Those  of  the  advertising  doctors  who  have  any  legal 
right  to  the  title  are  the  scum  and  dolts  of  the  universi- 
ties, or  have  got  through  by  paying  large  fees,  sometimes 
without  any  real  study  or  preparation  other  than  enough 
to  give  the  medical  college  a  decent  excuse  for  graduat- 
ing them.  Good  city  physicians  have  all  the  practice 
they  want  without  drumming  up  patients. 

Patients  cannot  be  treated  by  strangers  at  a  distance, 
though  those  strangers  possess  the  greatest  medical 
knowledge.  With  the  patient  before  him,  and  every  op- 
portunity to  examine  each  symptom,  even  the  best 
medical  men  are  often  in  doubt  as  to  the  exact  nature 
of  the  disease  and  the  best  treatment.  Symptoms  re- 
quiring directly  opposite  treatment  are  often  so  nearly 
alike  that  they  cannot  be  distinguished  by  ordinary  ob- 
servers. Able  physicians  usually  refrain  from  attend- 
ing members  of  their  own  family,  merely  because  they 
fear  their  feelings  may  prevent  the  coolness  and  nicety 
of  judgment  they  deem  necessary. 

All  physicians  know  how  important  is  a  long  acquaint- 
ance   with    the    patient's    constitution,    habits,    inherited 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  429 

predisposition  to  sickness,  and  other  things ;  how  dif- 
ferent!}' the  same  medicine  may  affect  different  patients, 
and  how  medicine  and  treatment  should  he  carefully 
adjusted  to  each  individual!  Yet  unprincipled  ignor- 
amuses will  urge  you  to  let  them  cure  you  without  see- 
ing you,  merely  from  a  description  of  your  symptoms 
given  by  you — the  last  person  in  the  world  to  give  them 
cor  recti}". 

Xo  honest  physician  would  trust  himself  to  treat  you 
for  any  serious  disorder  on  your  guess  of  symptoms. 
Xo  physician  would  trust  the  greatest  or  wisest  doctor 
to  treat  him  on  his  own  description  of  his  symptoms. 
This  is  the  universal  verdict  of  the  medical  profession. 
If  you  think  the  statements  of  any  trumpeter  of  his  own 
merits  as  a  doctor  more  worth}-  of  confidence,  you  are 
sure  to  be  robbed  and  may  be  poisoned. 

^'here  the  whole  system  of  treatment  has  a  wrong 
foundation  every  one  adopting  that  system  must  be  in- 
cluded in  Detective  Wooldridge's  denunciation. 

The  plan  of  treating  diseases  by  mail,  as  those  adver- 
tising doctors  propose  to  do  is  criminal  malpractice, 
Anv  man  offering;  to  treat  serious  diseases  in  this  man- 
ner  is  proved  by  that  one  fact  alone  to  be  either  too 
ignorant  or  too  reckless  to  be  trusted  to  treat  you. 

The  mode  of  operating  is  much  the  same  with  these 
advertisers,  whether  they  spend  thousands  of  dollars  in 
a  single  week  for  advertising,  and  have  a  large  number 
of  clerks  to  attend  to  affairs  while  they  air  themselves 
in  the  city  parks,  or  more  humbly  invest  a  Tew  dollars 
in  advertising  and  circulars,  and  mix  "doctoring"  with 


430  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

the  sale  of  swindling  playing  cards,  obscene  books  and 
recipes  for  artificial  honey,  or  burning  fluid. 

The  dodge  is  to  write  a  letter  in  reply  to  applicants 
who  forward  "symptoms,"  to  the  effect  that  the  symp- 
toms indicate  the  need  of  immediate  attention,  or  death 
may  soon  result,  and  the  fact  that  the  "doctor"  can  posi- 
tively cure  you  if  the  case  is  immediately  placed  in  his 
hands.  The  disease  is  usually  stated  by  him  to  be  can- 
cer, or  disease  of  the  lungs,  liver,  or  some  other  vital 
organ. 

With  all  advertising  doctors  the  first  fee  is  but  the 
beginning  of  the  expense.  When  the  first  supply  of 
medicine  is  used  up,  if  no  benefit  is  experienced,  the 
patient  writes  for  further  assistance,  and  is  told  to  send 
more  money  for  stronger  medicines.  This  is  continued 
until  the  victim  will  not  pay  any  more.  As  to  getting 
money  back,  should  he  be  dissatisfied  with  the  results 
of  treatment,  that  is  impossible.  Even  when  advertis- 
ers promise  that  "cures  shall  be  legally  guaranteed," 
the  only  way  to  recover  money  is  by  a  suit  at  law,  and 
few  care  to  adopt  this  method  of  recovery ;  which  would 
be  defeated  in  nearly  ninety  cases  out  of  a  hundred  by 
some  clever  quibble  on  the  defendant's  part. 

The  Traveling  Quack. 

It  would  be  amusing,  were  it  not  sorrowful,  to  see  the 
swarms  of  poor  nervous  mortals  that  flock  in  companies 
and  regiments  after  every  self-dubbed  peripatetic  "doc- 
tor" who  wanders  through  the  country,  especially  in  the 
South  and  West,  sticking  up  his  sign  at  a  hotel,  tem- 
porarily, and  scattering  huge  bills — proclaiming  his  su- 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  431 

perhuman  skill,  his  great  reputation  in  New  York  and 
London,  and  professing  to  have  made  wonderful  discov- 
eries by  means  of  which  he  is  able  to  cure  every  disease 
in  the  medical  books. 

As  a  rule  this  class  feed  up  their  patients  on  stimu- 
lants, and  keep  up  their  hopes  and  faith,  until  their 
money  is  gone,  and  then  the  doctor  moves  on  to  "fresh 
fields  and  pastures  new."  Every  such  traveling  doctor 
is  positively  a  quack  and  a  swindler. 

Fake  Eye  and  Ear  "Doctors/" 

At  times  but  little  is  heard  of  these,  but  now  and  then 
one  of  the  fraternity  makes  a  great  splurge  in  the  ad- 
vertising columns  of  the  newspapers,  at  an  expense  of 
thousands  of  dollars.  There  are  dozens  of  these  em- 
pirics who  print  columns  each  week  in  all  the  big  daily 
papers.  It  is  needless  to  specify  these  advertisers  by 
name,  none  possessed  the  skill  which  they  so  brazenly 
claimed,  and  their  treatment  in  many  cases  resulted  in 
serious  injury  to  the  patient.  Whatever  cures  they  made 
were  in  trifling  complaints,  but  usually  such  ailments 
are  aggravated  by  their  unskillful  management  into 
really  bad  disorders. 

The  whole  system  is  one  of  ignorant  pretense  and 
barefaced  extortion.  The  charges  are  extravagant,  and 
fee  after  fee  is  demanded  as  long  as  the  patient  will  sub- 
mit. To  show  the  sliding  scale  upon  which  the  quack 
estimated  the  value  of  his  own  services,  let  us  give  an 
incident  within  the  knowledge  of  Detective  Wooldridge. 

A  friend  of  the  detective,  a  Mr.  C,  applied  to  one  of 
the  "most  prominent  of  the  eye  and  ear  'doctors,'  "  in 


432  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

reference  to  treating  his  father  for  some  trouble  of  the 
eye. 

"Well,  sir,"  said  the  doctor,  after  hearing  the  case 
described,  "my  charge  will  be  $300." 

"Ah,  urn !  I'm  afraid  that's  a  little  too  high  for  me." 

"I  assure  you,  it's  a  case  needing  my  best  skill,  and 
the  price  is  really  not  high;  but  I  will  be  liberal — say 
$250." 

"Well,  my  father  is  somewhat  troubled  with  his  sight, 
but  after  all  perhaps  you  couldn't  benefit  him,  and  there 
would  be  the  $250  gone." 

"Oh,  I'm  certain  I  could  promise  a  permanent  cure. 
I  admire  your  kindness  toward  your  parent,  and  will 
treat  him  for  $200." 

"But  I  think  tliat  too  much." 

"You  surely  do  not  weigh  a  few  paltry  dollars  against 
your  father's  welfare;  but  we'll  call  it  $150." 

"No,  not  at  present,  I  guess." 

"Come,  now;  as  I* am  particularly  interested  in  this 
case,  I  am  willing  to  take  hold  of  it  for  a  merely  nomi- 
nal sum,  $100." 

Mr.  C.  didn't  engage  the  doctor's  services  even  at  the 
very  reduced  price  be  finally  came  down' to — we  believe 
either  $50  or  $25. 

Eye  cups,  eye  sharpeners,  and  other  instruments  for 
improving  the  sight  are  extensively  advertised.  That 
some  of  these  are  offered  in  good  faith  is  possible, 
though  most  of  the  makers  probably  know  little  and  care 
less  about  their  real  merits.  The  theories  on  which 
some  of  these  instruments  are  constructed  sound  plaus- 
ible, but  the  best  and  most  experienced  authorities  doubt 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  433 

their  effectiveness.  Their  indiscriminate  use  by  the 
public  without  doubt  leads  to  much  injury,  and  no  bene- 
fit has  ever  been  derived  from  any  of  them. 

The  devotion  of  some  of  these  quacks  to  the  cause  of 
fraud  and  the  ingeniousness  employed  by  them  to  de- 
ceive is  deserving'  of  a  worthier  cause.  Detective  Wool- 
dridge  dealt  with  one  empiric  known  to  many  victims 
as  Dr.  Wilbur,  who  traveled  from  town  to  town  in  the 
South,  advertising  marvelous  cures.  He  owned  a  large 
Newfoundland  dog.  This  beautiful  and  affectionate 
animal  was  a  living  illustration  of  the  soulless  extremes 
to  which  quacks  go  to  deceive  their  victims.  Dr.  Wil- 
bur had  some  surgeon  remove  part  of  the  abdominal 
wall  of  the  dog  and  connect  his  stomach  to  a  silver  plate 
which  was  plugged  with  a  cork. 

The  dog  was  given  milk  to  drink,  always,  as  if  inad- 
vertently, in  the  presence  of  employes  of  hotels  and  pros- 
pective victims.  The  animal  lapped  up  the  milk  and  an 
attendant  withdrew  the  cork  in  the  plate.  The  milk  ran 
out  into  a  vessel  through  the  hole  in  the  plate.  The 
dog  whined  and  protested,  but  was  made  to  submit  to 
the  unpleasant  process.  The  cork  was  then  replaced  and 
the  dog  was  permitted  to  drink  •  the  milk  again.  The 
second  time  the  milk  was  allowed  to  pass  the  hole  in  the 
plate  and  find  lodgment  in  the  dog's  stomach. 

A  second  withdrawal  of  the  cork  resulted  in  an  ab- 
sence of  the  loss  of  the  milk.  The  attendant,  trained 
in  his  part,  during  the  exhibition  would  descant  on  the 
"doctor's"  wonderful  surgical  skill.  Through  the  aid 
of  societies  for  the  prevention  of  cruelty  to  animals  De- 
tective Wooldridge  prevented  other  quacks  from  causing 


434  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

similar  butchery  of  dogs  to  furnish  living  advertise- 
ments for  their  supposed  skill.  This  doctor's  "specialty" 
was  tape-worms.  He  would  drug  a  victim  and  then 
pretend  to  extract  the  worm.  The  worms  were  imita- 
tions of  the  real  article  made  by  a  rubber  goods  dealer. 

Another  faker,  a  "Dr.  Woodman,"  who  employed  an 
equally  ingenious  method,  was  put  out  of  business  by 
Detective  Wooldridge.  This  shrewd  confidence  man 
had  a  delicate,  highly  sensitized  electrical  instrument 
which  could  be  operated  at  will  by  a  magnet  sewed  in 
sleeve  of  his  coat.  He  traveled  through  rural  districts 
from  house  to  house  in  a  stylish  buggy  drawn  by  two 
high  stepping  horses,  and  driven  by  a  valet  wearing  a 
regulation  uniform  of  brass  buttons  and  a  long  coat. 

At  every  house  he  inquired  about  the  health  of  the 
residents  of  that  locality.  Each  unsuspecting  person 
described  the  ailments  of  "old  Mrs.  Soandso,"  "old  Mr. 
Smith"  and  other  stricken  neighbors.  The  faker  sought 
out  the  victims  and  described  their  symptoms  to  them 
as  the  symptoms  had  been  described  to  him.  For  in- 
stance he  would  say :  "Let  me  see  your  tongue.  Give 
me  your  pulse.  Ah,  I  see,  during  rainy  weather  you 
have  pains  in  the  back.  At  times  your  memory  fails 
you.  You  cannot  eat  without  having  a  'distressed'  feel- 
ing. You  don't  sleep  well  at  times,  and  about  once  a 
month  you  are  confined  to  bed  for  several  days.  I  will 
see  if  your  case  is  curable.  This  instrument  I  have  in- 
dicates the  exact  state  of  your  health.  If  the  indicator 
stops  in  the  center  the  case  is  bad  but  curable;  if  it  goes 
all  the  way  around  there  is  no  hope." 

Then  would  follow  use  of  the  "indicator."     The  little 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  435 

electrical  instrument  innocently  loaned  itself  to  the 
fraud. 

Dr.  Woodman  applied  it  and  caused  the  hand  to  turn 
to  any  point  he  desired.  He  caused  it  to  stop  at  where 
he  wished  so  he  could  work  upon  the  fears  of  his  victims 
and  then  "bled"  them  for  as  much  money  as  they  could 
procure. 

In  many  instances  he  obtained  hundreds  of  dollars  in 
cash  or  promissory  notes.  If  notes  were  given  they 
were  made  out  upon  a  contract  which  provided  that  un- 
less a  cure  was  had  the  notes  would  not  be  collected. 

The  innocent  country  people  were  too  ignorant  of 
legal  methods  to  know  their  notes  were  negotiable. 
After  procuring  them  the  "doctor"  discounted  the  notes 
at  the  nearest  bank.  When  they  became  due  the  victims 
were  forced  to  pay  the  amounts  promised  regardless  of 
the  disappearance  of  "Dr.  Woodman"  and  the  failure  of 
his  medicines  to  cure  them.  This  swindler  made  enough 
money  to  buy  a  $50,000  home.  He  is  now  a  wealthy 
and  respected  resident  of  Cincinnati,  but  has  adopted 
another  name.  His  sons  and  daughters  are  prominent 
in  "society." 

Humbug  Nostrums. 

Procure  from  the  medical  dispensatories,  or  elsewhere, 
any  simple  stimulating  compound  or  tonic,  or  take  cheap 
whiskey  and  color  it,  adding  any  cheap  stuff  to  give  it  a 
medicinal  taste;  adopt  any  name  you  choose,  the  more 
nonsensical  or  mysterious  the  better — one  having  an 
Indian,  Japanese  or  Turkish  sound  will  be  all  the  better; 
employ  the  glass-blower  and  printer  to  get  up   fanciful 


436  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

bottles  and  boxes  and  labels  and  you  have  a  stock  ready 
for  the  "patent  medicine  business/' 

Be  sure  that  the  package,  contents  included,  don't  cost 
over  five  to  eight  cents,  assume  a  name,  as  near  that  of 
some  noted  physician  as  you  dare  and  add  to  the  end  of 
it  M.  D.,  F.  R.  S.,  or  D.  M.  D. ;  write  a  long  story  about 
your  great  age,  experience,  success  abroad,  and  how  you 
effected  1,000  wonderful  cures  by  your  medicines,  giving 
names  in  full,  with  residences,  date,  etc.,  but  be  careful 
to  not  blunder  into  giving  any  real  name  of  any  person 
living  in  the  same  place,  and  you  are  ready  to  offer  your 
wares  to  a  guillible  public. 

If  you  connect  with  your  medicine  a  touching  story 
about  some  old  mythical  person,  or  Indian  or  South 
American,  all  the  better. 

These  matters  arranged,  advertise  your  medicines 
largely.  Print  and  scatter  circulars,  pamphlets,  and  pic- 
tures by  the  ton,  procure  agents,  and  let  them  give  away 
samples  of  your  medicine.  You  may  begin  in  a  small 
way  with  a  few  hundred  dollars,  but  five  to  ten  thousand 
dollars  or  more  will  make  a  more  brilliant  show,  and  pro- 
duce larger  returns. 

You  will  then  reach  a  multitude  of  weak,  nervous,  ig- 
norant people  who  are  slightly  ailing,  or  think'  they  are. 
They  will  take  your  stimulating  tonic  preparations,  and 
"feel  better"  right  away.  They  will  believe  they  have 
escaped  or  been  cured  of  some  terrible  disease,  the  symp- 
toms of  which  you  should  take  good  care  to  set  forth 
vividly  in  your  circulars.  Henceforth,  you  have  not 
only  regular  customers  but  those  who  will  sign  indorse- 
ments as   strong  as  you  can  write  them,  and  who  will 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  437 

talk  up  the  wonderful  virtues  of  your  medicines  to 
others. 

A  dozen  bottles  or  packages,  costing  less  than  a  dol- 
lar, if  given  away  in  any  neighborhood,  will  find  one  or 
two  regular  customers,  and  thenceforth  you  may  depend 
upon  the  annual  sale  of  a  hundred  bottles  or  parcels,  at 
$i,  $2,  or  $3  each.  The  price  depends  upon  the  skill  you 
use  in  writing  up  the  medicines.  The  druggist  of  the 
town,  as  your  "agent,"  will  help  scatter  the  medicine  if 
you  give  a  liberal  profit.  If  you  set  aside  three-quarters 
of  the  receipts  to  cover  cost  of  bottles,  advertising,  com- 
missions to  retailers  or  agents,  etc.,  you  may  have  a  net 
profit  of  say  $50  a  year  from  each  town  where  your 
medicine  is  well  introduced.  If  you  only  secure  1,000 
such  towns  in  the  whole  country,  you  will  get  the  modest 
income  of  $50,000  a  year ! 

Do  you  ask,  "Is  this  all  true?"  We  answer,  that  this 
is  a  fair  history  of  the  patent-medicine  business — with 
the  variations  of  pills  which  give  relief  to  some  cases, 
and  opiates,  which  under  the  name  of  soothing  syrups, 
give  quiet  to  young  and  old  babies  at  the  expense  of 
future  health. 

The  amount  of  quack  medicine  literature  distributed 
throughout  the  country  is  immense.  In  writing  these 
circulars  the  ingenuity  displayed  in  working  upon  the 
feelings  of  the  readers  and  gradually  leading  them  up 
to  the  point  where  they  may  decide  to  take  the  stuff,  or 
die,  is  truly  wonderful. 

Not  less  ingenious  are  the  various  inventions  to  ac- 
count for  the  discovery  of  the  medicine.  In  one  case 
it  is  Old  Mother  Noble  who  confers  a  boon  upon  the 


438  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

world ;  beloved  Father  John  Apply  accidentally  chews 
the  leaves  of  a  bush  and  discovers  his  pancea,  Israel 
Goodspeed  goes  to  England,  becomes  a  gipsy,  and  one 
day  while  upon  the  beach  finds  a  bottle  drifting  ashore 
which  he  picked  up,  etc.,  etc. 

Anything  and  everything  to  gull  poor  weak-minded 
human  nature  into  buying  and  swallowing  Indian  Blood 
Syrup,  Mrs.  Brown's  Metaphysical  Remedy,  the  Eclectic 
Health  Restorer,  and  the  hundreds  of  other  fancifully 
named  preparations  that  are  warranted  to  cure  every 
disease  known. 

Our  opinion  of  all  patented  and  non-patented  nostrums 
is  this :  If  you  have  a  mean,  sheep-killing  dog,  which 
you  are  too  tender-hearted  to  get  rid  of  by  cutting  his 
tail  off  close  behind  his  ears,  make  believe  he  is  sick  and 
dose  him  with  any  one  of  these  advertised  medicines. 
Caution..  Keep  the  bottles,  boxes,  or  packages  in  a  safe 
place  where  no  human  being  can,  by  any  possible  mis- 
take, swallow  any  of  the  stuff. 

This  includes  each  and  every  advertised  medicine, 
lotion,  bitters,  soothing  syrup,  nerve  antidote,  electri- 
cal sure-cure,  etc.,  etc.,  etc.,  etc.,  etc.,  etc.,  etc.,  etc., 
etc., — no  matter  how  finely  put  up  in  glass  or  gilt  par- 
cels. In  this  you  have  the  opinion  of  Detective  Wool- 
dridge,  founded  on  much  study  and  observation,  and  he 
has  looked  into  medical  science  as  much  as  most  of  the 
quacks  in  the  country. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


439 


PROFESSIONAL  SAFE-BLOWING  AND  THEIR 
METHODS  OF  WORK. 

As  with  other  waves  of  crime,  safe-blowing  became 
epidemic,  as  it  were,  because  of  the  notoriety  and  pub- 
licity given  such  matters  by  the  press,  and  on  account  of 
the  rich  booty  secured,  together  with  the  fact  that  the 
operators  escaped. 


The  principal  incentive  to  rob  a  safe  is  found  in  the 
fact  that  it  is  generally  known  to  be  the  repository  of 
valuables,  usually  money,  the  booty  most  coveted  by 
thieves.  Money  has  a  current  value  the  world  over,  so 
that  the  thief  who  has  money,  no  matter  where  he  is,  has 
a  commodity  that  will  find  a  market  at  any  time.  An- 
other reason  for  a  thief  preferring  mone*y  to  any  other 
kind  of  booty  is  because  there  is  little  or  no  chance  of  its 
identification  if  found  in  his  possession. 

PLUNDER    NOT    EASILY    IDENTIFIED. 

Silver  dollars,  like  coons,  look  alike.  It  is  so  with  gold 
coin;  there  is  nothing  on  any  of  them,  gold  or  silver, 
peculiar  in  their  respective  denominations  to  themselves 


440  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

— they  are  all  alike?  and  a  positive  identification,  without 
some  private  mark,  is  impossible. 

Paper  money  may  be  identified  by  number  and  series 
letter,  but  persons  handling  enough  money  to  warrant 
them  in  having  a  safe  to  place  it  in  pay  little  or  no  atten- 
tion to  letters  and  numbers,  and  therefore  are  scarcely 
ever  able  to  identify  the  money  stolen  from  them.  Con- 
sequently the  safe-blower  does  not  run  the  same  risk  of 
detection  as  the  pickpocket,  the  burglar,  or  other  thief 
whose  booty  consists  of  jewelry,  clothing  and  so  forth, 
which,  if  found  on  his  person  or  in  his  possession,  en- 
genders strong  circumstantial  evidence  against  him. 

Again  the  vocation  of  a  safe-blower  is  not  necessarily 
a  hazardous  one.  They  operate  in  gangs,  usually  late  at 
night  or  early  in  the  morning  when  banks,  offices  and  fac- 
tories are  deserted  save  perhaps  for  the  presence  of  a 
solitary  watchman  who  is  soon  overpowered  and  silenced. 
They  meet  so  few  people  during  their  operations  that  un- 
less they  are  caught  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  crime 
it  is  difficult  to  connect  them  with  it. 

Safe-blowing,  like  legitimate  industry,  has  advanced 
rapidly  with  the  progress  of  civilization,  and  the  safe- 
blower  of  to-day  is  totally  unlike  his  professional  brother 
of  twenty  years  ago.  The  manufacture  of  chilled  steel 
safes  and  other  *  improvements,  supposed  to  baffle  the 
crafty  cracksman,  has  made  it  necessary  for  them  to 
adopt  other  methods  and  appliances  from  those  used  by 
the  "peter"  men  of  a  few  years  ago. 

The  rapid  strides  made  in  the  manufacture  of  dyna- 
mite and  nitroglycerine,  with  their  compact  form  and 
high  explosive  qualities,  have  found  favor  with  the  safe- 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  441 


blower  of  to-day,  and  his  "kit"  is  much  smaller  and  his 
tools  fewer  than  those  carried  by  the  professional  cracks- 
man of  previous  years. 

MODERN    SAFE-BLOWER   AN    EXPERT. 

The  professional  "kit"  of  early  years  was  an  expensive 
and  cumbersome  outfit.  It  consisted  of  highly  temp: 
drills,  taps,  set  screws,  punches,  clamps,  together  with  an 
improved  brace,  and  these  tools  had  to  be  made  by  a 
trusty  tool-maker,  who  commanded  a  price  for  his  silence 
as  well  as  for  his  labor.  There  was  also  the  necessary 
candle,  fuse,  oil  and  powder  horn  which  made  a  weigl 
as  well  as  bulky  package,  and  in  addition  it  was  likely 
to  attract  attention. 

The   outfit  of  the   up-to-date   cracksman,   however,    is 
different.     All  he  requires   is  a  bar,  or  a  piece  of  iron 


442  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

of  any  kind,  commonly  called  a  jimmy,  a  drill  and  brace, 
a  fuse,  a  four-ounce  vial  of  nitroglycerine  "soup,"  a  ful- 
minating cap,  a  little  soap  or  wax,  and  a  few  matches, 
then  he  is  prepared  to  tackle  the  most  improved  "burglar- 
proof"  safe  with  the  chances  in  his  favor,  of  getting  into 
the  interior. 

Safe-blowers  never  operate  singly,  but  usually  travel 
in  gangs  of  three  or  more.  Their  reasons  for  doing  so 
are,  that  one  must  devote  his  entire  time  and  attention  to 
the  "box,"  another  stands  guard  to  prevent  surprise,  and 
the  third,  if  nothing  more  pressing  demands  his  attention, 
assists  the  operator,  passing  necessary  tools  as  required, 
or  putting  in  the  "filling." 

As  in  almost  every  other  kind  of  crime,  they  never  go 
at  the  "mark"  blind.  One  at  least  of  the  gang  looks  the 
ground  over  carefully — sometimes  before  it  is  intended 
to  do  the  job.  He  notes  the  location  and  surroundings 
of  the  ''peter,"  the  position  of  lights,  the  location  of  doors 
and  windows,  and  the  nature  of  their  fastenings,  the  cus- 
toms and  habits  of  employes,  the  time  the  watchman  or 
policemen  make  their  rounds,  the  arrival  and  departure 
of  trains,  nearest  car-line,  and,  in  fact,  everything  and 
anything  that  has  bearing  on  the  place  or  people  in  the 
vicinity.  Particular  attention  is  also  given  to  the  day  of 
the  week  or  month  the  largest  business  is  done,  such  as 
pay  days,  tax  collections,  etc. 

PLANS   CAREFULLY   LAID. 

With  all  this  minute  information,  they  get  together, 
stud}-  the  lay  of  the  land  as  deliberately  and  carefully  as 
a  general  on  a  field  of  battle.  They  lay  their  plans.   First, 


OP  A  DETECTIVE 


443 


M 


£5&&pi®«£gg£3 


to  detail,  as  closely  as  possible,  the  modus  operandi  of 
the  most  opportune  time  is  set.  Next,  ways  and  means 
of  getting  to  the  scene  of  action  are  considered.  The 
train  to  take,  what  station  they  are  to<  board  it  at,  the 
car,  and  even  the  position  in  it  each  of  the  members  of 
the  gang  is  to  occupy  is  settled,  it  being  understood,  of 
course,  that  they  do  not  travel  together.  On  their  arrival 
they  know  just  what  side  of  the  car  to  get  off  at,  what 
direction  to  take,  and  where  a  conveyance,  if  one  is  nec- 
essary, can  be  found.  Arriving  at  their  destination,  the 
pickets  are  distributed,  the  dangerous  points  guarded,  and 
the  handy  man  with  the  jimmy  effects  an  entrance.  Then 
the  real  work  of  the  safe-blower  begins. 

As  previously  stated  the  mode  of  procedure  will  de- 
pend whether  the  operator  is  an  expert  in  the  "old  line" 


444  THE  'ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

or  has  adopted  "modern"  methods,  so  it  will  be  necessary 
both. 

The  old-line  cracksman  opens  up  his  "kit,"  selects  a 
sharp-pointed  punch  and,  applying  it  to  the  safe,  gives 
it  a  few  blows  of  a  hammer  to  make  an  indenture  for 
the.  drill  to  get  a  hold.  He  next  selects  a  drill,  usually 
operated  by  a  shoulder  brace  of  rotary  action,  and  with 
a  little  hard  work  and  plenty  of  oil  a  hole,  usually  from 
>>{;  to  ys  inches  in  diameter,  is  made.  If  it  is  the  inten- 
tion to  blow  open  the  safe  one  or  more  holes  are  made 
around  the  combination,  powder  blown  into  them  through 
a  powder-horn  or  funnel  by  inserting  the  small  end  in 
the  holes  and  blowing  in  the  large  end  with  the  mouth. 

This  forces  the  powder  into  the  crevices,  a  fuse  is  in- 
serted, the  operators  retire  to  a  safe  distance  and  "touch 
it  off."  The  effect  is  usually  to  force  the  door  from  its 
hinges,    or   destroy    the    combination    so    that    it    can    be 

O  J 

manipulated  and  the  safe  opened. 

WHEN   AN    EXPLOSIVE   IS    NOT   USED. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  door  is  to  be  forced  without 
the  use  of  explosives,  a  tap  is  inserted  in  the  hole  made 
and  a  thread  turned  on  the  rim..  A  set  screw  is  then 
fitted,  and  by  means  of  a  double-purchase  wrench,  usu- 
ally made 'from  a  piece  of  heavy  iron  with  a  square  hole 
in  the  middle  to  fit  the  end  of  the  set  screw,  and  turned 
with  both  hands,  or,  if  need  be,  by  two  operators,  the 
inner  sheet  of  the  door  is  forced  off.  Sometimes  a  clamp 
is  placed  on  the  knob  for  the  purpose  of  holding  the  drills 
more  firmly  than  a  shoulder  brace.  This  is  generally 
called  the  "safe-blowers'  friend." 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  445 

The  fellow  with  modern  appliances  knocks  off  the  com- 
bination knob,  drills  a  hole  or  two  and  stops. up  all  the 
cracks  with  a  combination  of  soap  and  wax  of  about  the 
consistency  of  putty.  This  is  used  to  make  the  safe  air- 
tight, so  as  to  get  a  proper  concussion  and  prevent  the 
explosive  escaping.  The  explosive  is  forced  into  the 
opening  prepared  with  a  syringe,  or  allowed  to  soak  in. 
This  "soup''  is  made  by  taking  a  quantity  of  dynamite 
and  placing  it  in  hot  water  to  thaw  and  then  abstracting 
the  nitroglycerine,  after  allowing  the  water  to  cool  and 
settle:  The  high  explosive  qualities,  in  some  instances, 
of  this  "soup"  do  not  seem  to  be  thoroughly  understood 
by  the  cracksmen,  as  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  on 
several  occasions  recently  buildings  have  been  wrecked, 
ofnces  shattered  and  safe  doors  blown  across  rooms,  de- 
stroying furniture  and  windows.  This,  of  course,  the 
safe-blower  tries  to  avoid,  because  when  a  very  loud  ex- 
plosion occurs  it  arouses  the  people  in  the  vicinity  and 
makes  escape  more  perilous,  not  to  speak  of  the  chances 
of  not  being  able  to  get  at  the  treasure  box  or  to  secure 
all  the  booty  in  the  hurry  to  get  away.  . 

The  "get  away,"  as  well  as  the  other  features,  has  been 
carefully  planned,  and  provisions  are  made  for  horses 
and  vehicles  close  by.  In  several  instances  a  hand-car 
has  been  used  to  get  away  from  the  scene  of  the  robbery. 

Once  away  from  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  crime, 
the  safe-blowers  "split  out"  and  separate,  taking  the 
same  precautions  in  getting  away  from  the  place  as  were 
employed  in  reaching  it. 

Safe-blowers,  when  not  actually  engaged  in  their  voca- 
tion, have  about  the  same  habits  as  other  thieves.     Ti 


446  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

are  not  as  a  rule  drinking  people,  however,  but  dress  well 
and  to  all  appearances  do  not  differ  much  from  the  aver- 
age business  man  engaged  in  legitimate  pursuits. 

THE   USE   OF   ELECTRICITY   BY   BURGLARS. 

In  this  age  of  science  and  progress  many  wonderful 
things  have  been  accomplished,  and  nothing  has  advanced 
faster  or  more  steadily  than  electricity.  Within  the  past 
twenty  years  it  has  given  us  the  telephone,  the  automo- 
bile, and  has  been  generally  adopted  for  street  railroads 
and  other  transportation  lines,  furnishing  heat,  light,  and 
power. 

Of  late  much  has  been  said  and  written  in  regard  to 
the  use  of  electricity  by  burglars.  Many  sensational  ar- 
ticles have  been  published  in  the  newspapers  throughout 
the  country,  tending  to  show  how  dangerous  a  factor 
electricity  is  in  the  hands  of  an  expert  burglar.  Bankers 
have  been  called  upon  to  witness  steel  safe  and  vault 
doors  pierced  in  a  few  moments  with  an  electrode,  shat- 
tering their  confidence  and  alarming  them  in  regard  to 
the  safety  of  the  securities  and  valuables  intrusted  to 
them.  However,  there  are  always  two  sides  to  an  ex- 
periment of  this  kind. 

STEEL   CAN  BE   MELTED  BY  ELECTRICITY. 

The  fact  that  steel  can  be  melted  by  electricity  is  noth- 
ing new,  and  burglars  have  studied  the  question.  Some 
twelve  years  ago  a  noted  criminal,  convicted  of  robbing 
a  Southern  postoffice,  was  serving  a  sentence  of  seven 
years  in  the  penitentiary  at  Chester,  111.  This  man  was 
known  as  one  of  the  shrewdest,  most  daring,  and  success- 
ful safe  burglars  in  the  United  States.     He  was  of  stu- 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


447 


dious  habits,  and  while  in  prison  spent  much  of  his  time 
reading  up  scientific  papers  and  studying  the  uses  of 
electricity. 

When  liberated  from  prison  he  went  to  a  city  where 
he  was  unknown,  and  obtained  employment  in  the  office 
of  the  city  electrician,  and  while  there  he  had  ample  op- 
portunity to  experiment  with  electricity.  Some  months 
after  his  employment  a  party  showed  me  a  specimen  of 
his  work,  consisting  of  two-inch  pieces  of  steel  melted 
in  two.  He  left  his  employment  and  returned  to  his  old 
life,  and  was  operating  with  a  gang  of  burglars.  Ever 
since  that  time  a  careful  watch  has  been  kept  for  a  bur- 
glary to'  be  committed  in  which  electricity  would  be  used 
for  boring  into  safes  or  vaults,  but  that  burglary  has 
never  occurred. 


443  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

I  do  not  wish  to  state  that  burglars  could  not  make 
use  of  electricity,  but  it  would  require  the  use  of  a  very 

..re  ston  ttery,  and  it  would  be  necessary  to  have 

a  wagon  and  team  haul,  same  to  a  bank.  This  would 
not  fail  to  attract  attention.     An  expert  electrician  has 

ted  to  me  that  it  is  impossible  to  bore  through  more 
tharMialf  an  inch  of  steel  with  an  ordinary  storage  bat- 
tery, as  the  current  instead  of  penetrating  is  diffused  in 
the  steel.  It  requires  an  expert  to  handle  same ;  expert 
electricians  are  not  found  in  the  rank  and  file  of  bank 
burglars, 


FIRST  EXPERIMENT  OF  BLOWING  UP  A  SAFE 

MADE    AT    PULLMAN,    ILLINOIS. 

February  2nd,  1894. 

L'pon  invitation  of  Mr.  George  M.  Pullman,  the  fol- 
lowing party  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  accompanied  him, 
in  his  private  car  at  3  o'clock  this  p.  in.,  to  witness  the 
burglarious  opening  of  a  so-called  burglar-proof  safe, 
by  Air.  William  Corliss : 

Air.  George  M.  Pullman,  Pullman  Palace  Car  Com- 
pany, Miss  Florence  Pullman,  Miss  Alger  (daughter  of 
Gen.  Russell  A.  Alger,  of  Detroit),  Miss  Swift,  of  De- 
troit, Air.  J.  J.  P.  Odell,  President  of  Union  National 
Bank  of  Chicago,  Mr.  Byron  L.  Smith,  President  North- 
ern Trust  Company,  of  Chicago,  Mr.  F.  W.  Crosby, 
-President  Merchants  National  Bank,  of  Chicago, 
Mr.  E.  F.  Bryant,  Sec'y  Pullman  Loan  &  Savings  Bank, 
Pullman,  111.,  Mr.  Thos.  H.  WTickes,  2nd  Vice-President 


OF  A  DETECTIVE 


449 


tj 


450  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

Pullman  Palace  Car  Company,  Mr.  Sweet,  Private  Sec- 
retary of  Mr.  George  M.  Pullman,  Mr.  Harvey  Middle- 
ton,  Manager  of  Pullman  Palace  Car  Company,  Mr. 
Parent,  Ass't  Manager  of  Pullman  Palace  Car  Com- 
pany, Mr.  Hornbeek,  Superintendent  of  Town  of  Pull- 
man, Mr.  Bushman,  Mechanical  Foreman  of  Pullman 
Palace  Car  Company,  Baron  von  Fritsch,  Florence  Hotel, 
Pullman. 

The  experimental  station  is  a  small  model  bank  build- 
ing about  22  feet  wide  and  55  feet  long,  built  of  pressed 
brick  and  in  conformity  with  the  usual  Pullman  con- 
struction. The  interior  is  fitted  up  just  as  if  it  were  to 
be  used  as  a  bank,  except  that  there  are  no  counters. 
In  the  rear  portion  there  is  a  regular  bank  vault  con- 
structed in  the  most  approved  style,  the  interior  of  which 
is  8  feet  wide,  10  feet  long,  and  8  feet  high  in  the  clear. 
This  vault  is  provided  with  Corliss  Patent  Doors  which 
open  into  the  banking-room.  y 

When  the  party  arrived  at  the  Station  the  door  was 
found  to  be  locked  and  the  building  deserted.  One  of 
the  enterprising  burglars  was  on  hand,  however,  and 
allowed  the  guests  to  enter. 

In  a  few  words  Mr.  Corliss  indicated  the  object  of  the 
visit,  and  introduced  Prof.  Charles  E.  Munroe,  of  the 
Columbian  University,  Washington,  D.  C,  whom  he  in- 
vited to  act  as  master  of  ceremonies. 

Professor  Munroe  then  read  a  description  of  the  safe 
to  be  experimented  upon  as  follows : 

"The  safe  to  be  attacked  is  a  Diebold  Safe  made  for  a 
bank  and  called  Burglar-Proof.     This  safe  has  all  the 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  451 

modern  attachments,  such  as  Crane  Hinge,  Pressure  Bar, 
Tongue  and  Groove,  and  three  packed  joints. 

"The  safe  is  an  excellent  specimen  of  the  laminated 
construction  made  of  welded  steel  and  iron  throughout, 
with  walls  3  inches  thick  and  door  3J  inches  thick,  pro- 
vided with  combination  locks  governed  by  Sargent  & 
Greenleaf's  double  movement  time-lock. 

The  lower  half  of  the  interior  of  the  safe  is  occupied 
by  a  steel  chest  of  the  usual  construction,  governed  by  a 
combination  lock  in  the  usual  manner." 

Professor  Munroe  then  proceeded  to  state  that  it  was 
proposed  to  illustrate  how  burglars  attack  a  safe,  and  to 
demonstrate  that  the  prevailing  system  of  laminated  con- 
struction so  long  in  use  affords  no  adequate  security 
when  attacked  with  modern  high  explosives. 

In  making  this  experiment  the  force  to  be  employed 
will  consist  of  four  persons : 

One  explosive  expert, 
One  expert  mechanic, 
Two  assistants. 

The  expert  in  explosives  and  the  expert  mechanic  were 
then  introduced  to  the  party  by  the  professor,  with  the 
remark  that  the  two  assistants  were  assumed  to  be  on  the 
outside,  guarding  against  any  surprise.  The  Professor 
then  explained  that  it  was  usual  for  burglars  to  steal 
certain  implements,  therefore  it  would  be  assumed  that 
a  neighboring  blacksmith  shop  has  been  broken  open  and 

*  at  two  sledges, 

one  jack, 
a  few  wedges, 
one  monkey-wrench, 


452  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

have  been  stolen;  and  from  some  stable  nearby  have 
been  stolen 

four  horse-blankets, 

a  coil  of  rope, 

and  from  a  neighboring  wood-pile  has  been  taken  a  half- 
dozen  blocks  of  wood  about  a  foot  in  length. 

These  several  articles  were  exhibited  to  the  guests, 
and  embraced  all  the  apparatus  to  be  used  in  making  the 
test,  save  such  as  were  carried  upon  the  person  of  the 
explosive  expert. 

The  Professor  then  asked  Lieutenant  Rodman,  the 
explosive  expert,  if  he  had  all  of  his  apparatus  about  his 
person.  Receiving  an  affirmative  reply,  he  asked  in  de- 
tail: 

"Have  you  the  sealing  wax?" 

Lieutenant  takes  it  from  his  pocket  and  lays  it  upon  the 
table. 

"Have  you  the  brush  for  applying  the  sealing  wax?" 

Lieutenant  takes  it  from  his  pocket  and  lays  it  upon 
the  table. 

"Have  you  the  dish  for  melting  the  sealing  wax? 

"Have  you  the  alcohol  lamp  for  melting  the  sealing 
wax? 

"Have  you  the  matches? 

"Have  you  the  corks? 

"Have  you  the  detonating  tubes? 

"Have  you  the  funnel  tube? 

"Have  you  the  leading  wires  ? 

"Have  you  the  detonators? 

"Have  you  the  dynamite? 

"Have  you  the  nitro-glycerine  ?" 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  453 

In  answer  to  each  of  these  questions  the  Lieutenant 
look  the  articles  from  his  pockets  and  laid  them  upon  the 
table.  A  perceptible  sensation  was  produced  in  the 
audience  as  the  nitro-glycerine  was  placed  before  them. 

The  battery  for  firing  the  explosive  was  carried  by  the 
Lieutenant  in  his  hand,  and  was  the  only  thing  observ- 
able, everything  else  was  concealed  about  his  person. 

Professor  Munroe  then  stated  that  a  small  charge  of 
dynamite  would  be  fired  in  the  vault,  simply  to  illustrate 
the  process  of  firing  and  to  show  how  quickly  it  was 
done.  The  charge  being  placed  in  the  vault — the  vault 
doors  closed  but  not  locked — the  leading  wires  were  car- 
ried  to  Miss  Pullman,  who  touched  the  button  and  fired 
the  charge.  The  report  was  inconsiderable,  the  effect 
upon  the  vault  door,  by  the  expansion  of  the  gases  and 
air,  was  imperceptible. 

The  visitors  were  invited  by  the  Professor  to  tho- 
roughly inspect  the  safe,  after  which  it  was  stated  that 
they  could  witness  the  process  of  charging  the  safe  with 
nitro-glycerine  and  would  then  be  expected  to  retire  to 
the  sidewTalk,  so  as  to  be  in  the  same  relative  position  as 
to  the  operation  as  passers-by  might  be  in  case  of  an 
actual  burglary,  thus  giving  them  a  correct  knowledge 
of  the  noise  produced  by  the  explosion  and  enabling 
them  to  judge  whether  or  not  it  would  be  likely  to  at- 
tract attention. 

L^pon  the  outside  of  the  safe  was  printed  the  words 
"Anti-Dynamite  Devices,"  practically  defying  the  bur- 
glars to  make  use  of  these  means  in  attempting  to  open  it. 
ntion  was  attracted  to  the  series  of  three  packed 
joints — which   in   the  builder's  opinion  evidently  consti- 


454  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

tuted  an  embargo  against  explosives — and  to  the  un- 
usually close  fitting  door,  into  the  joint  of  which  one  of 
the  spectators  tried  to  introduce  the  edge  of  a  blank 
check  but  found  it  impossible. 

The  examination  of  the  safe  being  completed,  it  was 
closed  and  locked  in  the  presence  of  the  guests,  and  the 
process  of  charging  and  wrapping  it  in  blankets,  to 
muffle  the  sound  of  the  explosion,  was  watched  with 
intense  interest.  The  charge  having  been  introduced, 
all  retired  from  the  vault  and  banking  room,  the  vault 
doors  were  closed— but  not  bolted — and  the  charge  was 
fired. 

Although  everybody  was  waiting  intently  for  the  ex- 
plosion, all  were  astonished  that  the  report  was  so  in- 
considerable; the  noise  was  no  greater  than  would  have 
been  heard  had  someone  within  the  building  slammed 
a  door;  indeed,  it  was  so  slight  that  all  agreed  it  would 
not  have  attracted  attention,  much  less  revealed  the  fact 
that  an  explosion  had  occurred. 

Upon  entering  the  vault  the  safe  was  found  to  be 
thrown  upon  its  side  by  the  force  of  the  explosion,  three 
of  its  wheels  were  knocked  off,  and  the  two  outside 
la}'ers  of  the  door  were  torn  off  bodily  and  thrown 
against  the  side  of  the  vault ;  the  outside  layer  was 
found  to  be  composed  of  5-ply  welded  steel  and  iron 
one  inch  thick, — this  plate  was  broken  into  half  a  cozen 
pieces.  The  jamb  of  the  door  was  thoroughly  disin- 
tegrated, the  outside — at  bottom  and  for  about  half  way 
up  the  side  of  the  door — was  torn  off  completely.  The 
bottom  of  the  safe  was  almost  blown  out,  and  upon 
examination  it  was  thought  that  in  a  few  minutes'  time 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  455 

it  could  be  entirely  removed  by  the  use  of  wedges; 
work  was  therefore  commenced  upon  it  with  a  view 
to  stripping  it  off.  After  a  few  minutes'  work  a  second 
charge,  this  time  a  very  small  one,  was  introduced  and 
fired.  This  charge  consisted  of  about  half  an  ounce  of 
dynamite.  The  bottom  of  the  safe  and  the  bottom  of  the 
inner  steel  chest  were  entirely  removed  in  less  than  an 
hour's  time. 

From  the  commencement  of  operations  until  the  first 
charge  was  fired,  30  minutes  elapsed. 

From  the  commencement  of  operations  until  the  bot- 
tom was  entirely  removed,  one  hour  and  27  minutes 
elapsed. 

This  includes  all  the  time  consumed  in  performing 
the  operation  and  making  explanations,  etc.,  to  spec- 
tators. 

The  opinion  was  expressed  by  many  that  "just  a  little 
more  nitro-glycerine"  would  have  opened  the  safe  com- 
pletely with  the  first  charge. 

Undoubtedly  this  is  true,  but  it  should  be  remem- 
bered that  in  making  this  attack  we  were  doing  it  in  the 
presence  of  an  august  assemblage,  and  it  was  much 
more  necessary  that  we  should  do  the  work  practically 
and  neatly  than  that  we  should  knock  a  safe  to  pieces 
at  once,  and  perhaps  create  a  noise  or  cause  destruction 
that  might  place  the  operation — in  the  opinion  of  some 
of  our  guests — beyond  the  limits  of  practicability. 

The  effect  upon  those  who  witnessed  the  operation 
was  not  only  convincing  but  astounding ;  they  all  seemed 
to  appreciate  the  fact  that  the  absolute  insecurity  of  all 


E 
O 

"w 
_o 

a, 
x 
yj 

V 

x: 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  457 

laminated  structures  was  indisputably  demonstrated. 
The  ease,  quickness,  and  noiselessness  of  the  whole 
operation  created  a  profound  impression. 

SUPPLEMENTAL  EXPERIMENT. 

FEBRUARY    8tII,     1 894. 

In  the  first  experiment,  above  described,  it  will  be  re- 
membered that  the  two  outer  plates  of  the  door  were 
torn  off  by  the  first  explosion  and  that  the  balance  of 
the  door  remained  in  place.  It  will  also  be  remembered 
that  instead  of  continuing  the  attack  on  the  door,  the 
bottom  of  the  safe — having  been  practically  knocked 
out — was  removed.  In  order  to  demonstrate  how  easily 
the  remaining  portion  of  the  door  could  have  been  re- 
moved the  second  experiment  was  made. 

The  tearing  off  of  the  outer  plates,  left — as  it  always 
must  in  this  built  up  construction — numerous  screw- 
holes  and  projecting  screws  or  bolts.  Selecting  two  of 
these,  wells  of  putty  were  made  and  about  a  tablespoon- 
ful  of  nitro-glycerine  poured  in,  the  charge  was  fired  and 
the  plates  instantly  removed.  Time  consumed — 9  min- 
utes.    A  similar  charge  removed  the  succeeding  layers. 

Time  occupied  in  removing  all  of  the  door  that  re- 
mained after  the  first  charge  (February  2nd),  25 
minutes. 

Mr.  E.  F.  Bryant,  Secretary  of  the  Pullman  Loan  & 
Savings  Bank,  who  was  present  kept  the  time. 

The  operation  was  also  witnessed  by  Mr.  Bushman 
and  Mr.  Walker  of  the  Pullman  Company. 

It  thus   appears  that  had  the  door  been  attacked  by 


458  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

light  explosives,  as  above,  instead  of  attacking  the  bot- 
tom of  the  safe,  the  whole  operation  would  have  been 
performed  with  explosives,  practically  speaking,  noise- 
lessly, in  an  hour's  time. 

The  accompanying  photographs  show  the  safe  before 
and  after  the  demonstration. 


RECORDS     FAIL     TO     DEMONSTRATE     SUCCESS     WITH     ELEC- 
TRICITY. 

It  is  a  matter  of  record  that  up  to  the  present  time  no 
bank  robbery  has  occurred  by  means  of  the  door  of  the 
vault  or  safe  having  been  burned,  bored  or  melted  through 
the  use  of  electricity,  and  I  challenge  anybody  to  show 
one  case  where  electricity  so  far  has  aided  in  committing 
a  bank  robbery.  The  whole  thing  is  a  deception  worked 
upon  the  public  for  the  purpose  of  alarming  bankers  into 
buying  a  new  burglar-alarm  system.  In  this  connection 
I  do  not  wish  to  say  that  electricity  has  not  been  a  great 
protective  agent  against  burglars;  in  fact  it  is  the  com- 
ing night  watchman  of  the  world.  Mercantile  houses, 
residences,  banks,  offices,  etc.,  can  be  furnished  with  a 
burglar-alarm  service  operated  so  as  to  make  it  absolutely 
impossible  for  a  burglar  to  enter  the  premises  protected, 
but  these  appliances  are  not  what  are  termed  insulated 
or  independent  plants,  which  simply  ring  a  gong  in  case 
the  plant  is  tampered  with.  There  must  be  a  central 
office  connection,  with  expert  electricians  in  attendance, 
whose  sole  duty  is  to  watch  a  switchboard  for  signals, 
and  a  corps  of  officers  ready  to  respond  to  any  signal  of 
trouble  coming  in  on  one  of  the  lines.    In  a  country  town 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  459 

the  line  is  connected  with  the  city  marshal's,  constable's, 
or  sheriff's  office  or  residence. 

Electricity  may  be  said  to  be  in  its  infancy  at  present 
and  somebody  may  not  bring  it  to  such  a  state  of  perfec- 
tion that  it  can  be  used  to  advantage  by  burglars,  but  I  do 
that  it  can  be  used  to  advantage  by  burglars,  but  I  do 
say  that  up  to  the  present  time  no  one  has  done  so,  and 
no  one  in  the  rank  and  file  of  burglars  at  present  is  ca- 
pable of  doing  it ;  it  can  only  be  done  by  an  expert  elec- 
trician with  the  necessary  paraphernalia  and  a  high-ten- 
sion current  of  sufficient  voltage  to  accomplish  the  pur- 
pose, and  not  with  an  ordinary  storage  battery.  To  suc- 
cessfully carry  out  the  project  it  is  necessary  to  make 
arrangements  with  the  engineer  of  a  building,  an  electric 
light  or  power  plant,  or  the  trolley  wires  of  the  street 
railway  company,  as  was  done  in  Minneapolis  some  time 
ago. 

SUGGESTIONS   TO  OWNERS  OF   SAFES. 

While  dealing  with  the  subject  of  safe-blowers  and 
their  habits,  I  would  deem  my  efforts  incomplete  did  I 
not  mention  some  ways  of  preventing  the  successful  issue 
of  their  operations. 

I  am  a  firm  believer  in  the  old  adage,  "That  an  ounce 
of  prevention  is  better  than  a  pound  of  cure,"  and,  there- 
fore, I  would  make  the  following  suggestions  to  owners 
of  safes : 

i.  Do  not  have  too  much  confidence  in  a  safe — re- 
member that  the  best  of  them  can  be  blown  to  pieces  in 
a  very  few  minutes. 

2.  Do  not  keep  large  sums  of  money  in  it. 

3.  If  you  must  have  a  safe  and  keep  large  sums  of 


460  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

money  in  it,  place  it  where  it  can  be  seen  from  the  street, 
leaving  a  light  burning  in  front  of  it  all  night.  Inform 
the  local  police  or  patrol  service  that  snch  a  light  is  there, 
and  it  is  intended  to  be  kept  burning.  Instruct  them  to 
investigate  when  such  is  not  the  case.  Such  a  light  will 
enable  the  watch  to  see  at  a  glance  if  anyone  is  tamper- 
ing with  the  safe. 

4.  If  you  are  in  a  city  where  burglar  alarm  connec- 
tions can  be  had  have  them  by  all  means.  And  do  NOT 
leave  memoranda  of  the  combination  of  your  safe  lying 
around,  nor  do  not  let  more  than  two  persons  know  your 
combination.     In  any  event  change  it  often. 

Owing  to  their  secretiveness  and  cunning,  safe-blowers 
are  one  of  the  hardest  class  of  criminals  to  get  "right," 
and  unless  they  are  caught  in  the  act,  or  with  the  goods 
on  them,  it  is  very  difficult  to  secure  their  conviction. 

SECRET    SERVICE    FUND    NECESSARY. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  every  chief  of  police,  or  head 
of  a  police  department,  has  not  at  his  disposal  a  good 
liberal  secret  service  fund,  from  which  he  could  pay  for 
information  regarding  this  class  of  criminals.  Of  course, 
such  information  can  only  come  from  someone  in  close 
touch  with  them,  or  belonging  to  the  same  calling,  and 
my  notion  is  that  a  good  "stool-pigeon"  of  this  kind  is  a 
source  of  valuable  information  and  should  be  well  paid 
for  his  services.  A  grave  mistake  is  made  by  a  great 
number  of  police  officials  in  paying  for  information  be- 
fore they  get  it.  Never  pay  a  "pigeon"  until  he  delivers 
the  goods  and  then  you  are  certain  he  will  not  "throw" 
you. 


OF' A  DETECTIVE  461 

In  addition  to  what  I  have  said  in  reference  to  appre- 
hending this  class  of  criminals,  I  would  add  that  in  all 
large  cities  where  safe-blowers  sometimes  operate,  to  my 
mind  the  best  methods  to  be  adopted  are  these :    In  every 

ice  station  there  are  always  a  number  of  good,  careful, 
hard-working,  vigilant  officers,  well  known  to  the  lieu- 
tenant or  captain  of  the  precinct.  Detail  these  men  in 
citizen's  clothes,  with  proper  instructions  how  to  act  in 
looking  out  for  this  class  of  criminals  going  to  and  from 
the  scene  of  their  operations,  and  it  will  be  only  a  ques- 
tion of  time  until  they  are  apprehended.  In  dealing  with 
this  class  of  people  I  would  always  advise  a  police  officer 
to  have  his  revolver  ready,  and  in  good  shape,  as  an  op- 
erator will  never  hesitate  to  "get  the  drop"  on  a  copper 
if  he  can. 

Safe-breaking  is  covered  in  most  states  by  statute, 
under  the  classification  of  burglary,  or  entering  a  build- 
ing with  felonious  intent,  the  punishment  being  that 
provided  for  burglary.  Nearly  every  state  has  a  law 
relative  to  the  possession  of  burglar's  tools. 


462  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 


TWICE  STOLEN. 

September  23,  1893. 

John  Brown,  a  stockman  from  Vinton,  Iowa,  came  to 
Chicago  with  stock  Sept.  20,  1893,  and  after  disposing 
of  it  he  concluded  to  take  in  the  World's  Fair  and  see 
the  sights  of  the  city.  He  was  accompanied  by  a  neigh- 
bor named  Ralph  Tuener. 

Having  completed  their  mission  the  men  were  ready 
to  start  home  on  the  night  of  the  22nd.  On  the  way  to 
the  depot  they  passed  along  Plymouth  Place,  between 
Polk  and  Taylor  streets,  where  they  met  Hattie  Washing- 
ton and  Josie  Williams  (Miss  Washington  was  no  rela- 
tion to  the  great  George  Washington).  Both  women 
were  colored,  as  smooth  a  pair  of  pickpockets  as  ever 
went  down  the  plank  road. 

The  women  drew  the  men  into  conversation  and 
picked  their  pockets.  Brown  lost  notes,  mortgages, 
money  and  his  railroad  ticket  home,  which  all  together 
amounted  to  $1,379.70.  Turner  lost  his  ticket  to  Vin- 
ton and  $10  in  money.  Their  loss  was  immediately  dis- 
covered, and  they  grabbed  hold  of  the  women,  who  were 
making  every  effort  to  get  away  while  the  men  were 
trying  to  recover  their  property. 

Detectives  Wooldridge  and  McNulty,  who  were  in  the 
Polk  street  depot,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street,  wTere 
attracted  by  the  loud  talking  and  effort  of  the  women  to 
get  away  from  the  strangers,  and  knowing  the  character 
of  the  women  crossed  over  the  street  just  as  the  women 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  463 

had  succeeded  in  getting  away  fsQm  their  captors  and 
had  started  to  run.  Both  were  overtaken  and  the  prop- 
erty recovered.  The  women  were  placed  under  arrest, 
and  taken  to  the  lock-up.  Sept.  26  they  had  a  hearing 
before  Justice  Foster,  who  bound  both  to  the  grand  jury 
in  bonds  of  $500  each.  The  grand  jury  heard  all  the 
evidence  Sept.  2J,  and  voted  a  true  bill. 

The  state's  attorney,  through  a  mistake,  neglected  to 
keep  the  notes  and  papers  to  aid  him  in  drawing  the  in- 
dictments. 

Wooldridge  and  McNulty  took  the  property,  which 
was  held  as  evidence,  to  the  Harrison  street  station,  and 
turned  it  over  to  the  desk  sergeant,  Dan  Hogan,  and  saw 
him  place  the  same  in  the  iron  safe  kept  in  the  station  for 
that  purpose.  The  state's  attorney  called  the  following 
evening  to  get  the  papers  to  aid  him  in  drawing  up  an 
indictment,  and  upon  search  they  were  found  missing 
from  the  safe.  The  envelope  containing  the  property 
was  sealed  up  and  marked  $1,379.70,  notes,  papers,  etc., 
and  was  of  no  commercial  value  to  any  one  except  the 
owner ;  a  fact  known  to  both  detectives  and  the  sergeant. 

It  has  always  been  supposed  that  some  one  seeing  the 
$1,379.50  marked  on  the  envelope  took  it,  thinking  it 
was  money,  and  never  had  an  opportunity  to  return  it. 
There  were  several  men  who  had  access  to  the  safe  the 
day  the  package  was  missed,  and  it  was  thought  some 
one  of  them  took  it.  The  matter  drifted  along  for  six 
months,  and  no  indictment  had  been  drawn,  and  Mr. 
Brown  was  pressing  the  detectives  to  know  what  had 
become  of  the  papers.  The  matter  was  laid  before  Chief 
of  Police  Michael  Brennan,  who  called  for  a  full  report, 


464  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

which  was  made.  The  chief  wrrote  to  Mr.  Brown. 
He  had  had  his  paper  duplicated  and  dropped  the 
whole  matter. 


CHARITY  VULTURES. 


How  Professional  Beggars  Live  Upon  the  Bounty  of 
the  City's  Toilers. 

Within  the  deep  canyons  formed  by  the  high  build- 
ings of  Chicago  winds  from  the  lake,  chilled  from  con- 
tact with  its  cold  waters,  whipped  with  stinging  force' 
in  the  faces  of  pedestrians,  fur-coated  men  and  women 
drew  warm  wraps  about  their  throats  and  bent  their 
heads  to  avoid  showers  of  sleet  that  were  swept  up  from 
the  street  surface  and  down  from  the  house-tops. 

Huddled  on  the  sidewalk  in  a  shapeless  heap  was  a 
man.  He  seemed  to  be  a  poor,  unfortunate  cripple,  leg- 
less and  bent  with  rheumatism.  Groups  of  pedestrians 
hurrying  by  the  building  could  not  avoid  seeing  the 
cripple.  Had  the  sleet  blinded  them  until  they  were 
opposite  the  man  they  could  not  avoid  hearing  him. 

"A  penny,  please,"  he  whined,  "I  want  to  get  some- 
thing to  eat." 

A  laboring  man  heeded  the  piteous  appeal.  "A 
penny,  is  it?  Is  that  all  ye  want?"  exclaimed  the  grimy 
handed  toiler.  "Well,  here's  a  dime.  Get  something  to 
warm  you  up." 

The  laborer  made  headway  in  the  storm,  holding  a 
naked  hand  at  his  throat  to  keep  the  folds  of  a  shabby 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  465 

coat  between  his  roughened  skin  and  the  piercing  wind. 
At  his  home  were  small  children  who  might  have  had 
a  bowl  of  soup  for  the  dime.  There  may  have  been  a 
passing  regret  in  the  worker's  mind  as  he  thought 
the  food  value  he  gave  the  beggar  at  the  expense  of 
his  children,  but  it  was  expelled  by  the  reflection  that 
he  had  bestowed  charity  on  one  more  needy  than  they. 

"A  penny,  please,  only  a  penny/'  again  whined  the 
beggar.  His.  palsied  hand  held  forth  a  tattered  cap.  A 
3'oung  woman  in  furs,  on  whose  hands  were  later  seen 
to  gleam  diamonds,  stopped  before  the  cripple.  Her 
escort,  a  fashionably  clad  young  man,  was  brought  to 
a  stop  by  a  pull  on  his  arm. 

"Ah,  Charlie,  look  at  the  poor  fellow,  sitting  here  in 
the  snow.  Isn't  that  a  shame?"  cried  out  the  impulsive 
girl.     "Give  him  something. " 

"Come  on,  the  streets  are  full  of  such  people,"  im- 
patiently exclaimed  the  young  man. 

"Give  him  something,"  commanded  the  girl  with  a 
pretty  pout.  "Don't  you  know  it  is  unlucky  to  pass  a 
beggar  without  giving  him  something." 

"How  much?"  inquired  the  youth  opening  a  pocket- 
book  and  putting  his  fingers  on  a  twenty-five  cent  coin. 

"Stingy !''  playfully  ejaculated  the  girl.  She  took  a 
larger  coin  from  the  purse  and  dropped  it  into  the  cap 
of  the  beggar,  whose  eyes  gleamed  with  the  pleasure  of 
satisfied  greed. 

An  unseen  witness  watched  the  young  woman  and 
her  escort  depart  towards  the  dazzling  lights  of  a  near- 
by theater ;  then  turned  his  gaze  to  the  crouching  form 
expecting   to   see   the   cripple   struggle   over   the   snow- 


m  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

covered  walk  to  the  door  of  a  restaurant  wherein  he 
might  feed  his  famished  body.  The  watcher  saw  noth- 
ing of  the  kind.  Instead  the  beggar  put  the  money  in 
his  pocket  and  again  extended  his  palsied  hand,  its  skinny 
fingers  extending  the  cap  for  further  contributions. 

"A  penny,  please,  only  a  penny,"  was  the  tremulous 
plea  the  cripple  made  to  each  passerby.  A  portly  man 
emerged  through  the  stone  arch  of  the  Stock  Exchange, 
drew  his  Melton  overcoat  with  its  fur  collar  about  his 
round  form  and  stepped  into  a  waiting  automobile,  whose 
transparent  partitions  enclosed  the  heat  of  electric  stoves 
and  permitted  the  occupant  to  gaze  out  at  those  who 
battled  with  the  storm. 

As  the  door  of  the  tonneau  closed  the  beggar  snarled : 
"A  pennly — only  a  penny — please."  "Snarled"  de- 
scribes the  vocal  tone  of  the  beggar's  expression.  It  was 
the  snarl  of  the  envious,  the  bitter  cry  of  the  unfortunate 
who  bears  the  stings  of  storms,  the  ills  of  poverty,  the 
pangs  of  hunger,  and  witnesses  the  bestowals  of  favors 
upon  others — stronger,  hardier,  more  capable  of  sus- 
taining life  under  hardship — favors  bestowed  by  the  soft, 
caressing  hand  of  luxury.  The  door  of  the  tonneau 
snapped  viciously  as  if  the  chauffeur  resented  the  in- 
trusion of  vulgar  poverty  on  the  affairs  of  his  master. 
The  auto  steamed  through  the  storm,  its  wheels  raising 
clouds  of  feathery  snow-dust  that  were  borne  by  the 
winds  like  clouds  steaming  up  from  some  subterranean 
fire. 

The  keen  gusts  sought  entrance  through  the  tattered 
garments  of  the  beggar  and  stung  him  as  the  lash  of 
a  whip.     A  file  of  shop  girls  fought  the  wind,  their  thin 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  467 

skirts  flirting  helplessly  about  their  ankles  as  they  turned 
the  corner.  Two  of  them,  with  fingers  blue  with  cold, 
opened  worn  purses ;  took  pennies  therefrom  and  dropped 
them  into  the  cap.  The  eyes  of  the  beggar  had  hardened 
as  the  automobile  sped  away.  As  they  filled  with  the 
picture  of  honest  poverty  sharing  its  meager  store  they 
softened  and  a  hearty  "thank  you"  fell  from  the  cripple's 
lips. 

The  appeals  of  the  supplicant  for  alms  sounded  above 
the  storm  for  an  hour.  The  stream  of  humanity  that 
flowed  past  deflected  at  times  and  hands  naked  and 
gloved,  withered  and  old,  young  and  muscular,  jeweled 
and  begrimed,  soft,  fat  and  white,  representing  many 
conditions  of  life  from  the  half-starved  to  the  glutted 
voluptuary  whose  donation  was  made  out  of  a  supersti- 
tious regard  for  "luck,"  descended  till  within  a  few 

inches  above  the  cap  and  pennies,  nickles  and  dimes 
fell  into  the  cap. 

The  unseen  watcher  stamped  his-  feet  to  keep  the 
blood  in  them  warm.  He  wondered  how  the  attenuated 
body  of  the  cripple  kept  its  thin  fluids  from  freezing. 
The  beggar  glanced  about  furtively  and  then  shifted  his 
position.  The  watcher  started.  "So,  that's  the  game," 
exclaimed  the  watcher.  His  words  were  half-audible 
and  one  of  his  acquaintances  who  happened  to  pass  him 
greeted  him:  "Hello,  Wooldridge!  What  are  you 
doing  there;  watching  some  Get-Rich-Quick  man?" 

Detective  Wooldridge — for  this  was  the  identity  of 
the  watcher — clutched  his  acquaintance  by  the  arm  and 
pointed  to  the  beggar. 

"See   that   fellow?"   he   exclaimed.     "If   he   had   an 


468  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

education  unless  it  developed  his  moral  side  he  would 
be  a  high  financier." 

"What!     You  don't  mean  that  poor  cripple?" 

That  the  detective  did  mean  the  beggar  was  plain  by 
the  revelation  of  the  next  moment. 

There  was  a  break  in  the  line  of  pedestrians.  The 
absence  of  recording  eyes  and  a  necessity  for  seeking  a 
warmer  atmosphere  prompted  the  beggar  to  extend  a 
pair  of  cramped  legs  from  under  his  crouched  body. 
With  a  quick  spring  he  was  on  his  feet.  In  another 
moment  he  thrust  his  own  form  among  those  that  pushed 
forward  against  the  storm.  He  crossed  the  street  and 
passed  into  a  flood  of  light  from  a  store  in  front  of  which 
Wooldridge  had  been  standing  in  a  darkened  doorway. 
The  'detective  advanced  to  meet  the  man.  When  the 
impostor  brushed  into  the  detective,  Wooldridge  grasped 
him  by  the  arm.  The  man  sprang  back  as  far  as  the 
length  of  the  detective's  arm  permitted,  but  was  jerked 
into  submission  by  "due  process  of  the  law." 

"Here,  what  are  you  doing  ?"  demanded  the  man  with 
assumed  indignation. 

"Holding  a  rascal,"  retorted  the  officer,  "and  I'm 
going  to  see  that  he  gets  a  taste  of  police  court  justice." 

"Now  say,  boss,  let  me  go,  won't  you?"  whined  the 
beggar.     "I  won't  get  on  your  beat  any  more." 

"No,  but  you  will  ply  your  swindle  somewhere  else," 
replied  the  detective. 

The  impostor  pleaded,  whined  and  abused  his  captor 
without  avail.  He  was  held  till  a  patrol  wagon  arrived 
and  wheeled  him  away  to  the  Harrison  street  station. 
In  the  police  court  next  day   the  impostor,  who   regis- 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  469 

tered  as  James  Maloney,  was  fined  $10  and  costs.  The 
fine  was  not  as  much  as  the  circumstances  warranted, 
but  the  beggar's  "graft"  was  spoiled,  which  was  far 
more  important. 

There  are  many  Maloneys  in  every  big  city.  When 
men  of  their  character  are  cultured  they  become  higher 
grade  crooks.  As  long  as  they  remain  illiterate  and  un- 
polished they  "graft", as  beggars  and  petit  "con"  men. 

Maloney  learned  he  had  been  watched  -during  the 
hour  he  begged  in  front  of  the  building".  "Did  you  see 
the  guy  with  the  automobile?"  he  asked  the  detective. 
"Dat  fellow's  got  a  bigger  graft  dan  mine.  I  know  a 
widow  he  skinned  out  of  $2,000  by  selling  her  worthless 
mining  stock.  He  sells  stocks  and  bonds  to  suckers  and 
trims  them  for  their  life-time  savings.  I  cadjre  a  few 
dimes.  He  rides  in  his  automobile  and  I  ride  in  a  patrol 
wagon." 

Maloney  did  not  "go  to  jail"  but  paid  his  fine. 


INGENIOUS   DIAMOND    SWINDLES. 


"Instalment  Dealers"  Enrich  Themselves  by  "Selling" 
Gems   on  Easy  Payments. 

One  of  the  most  celebrated  of  the  many  get-rich-quick 
schemes  that  ever  flourished  in  Chicago  during  recent 
years  was  the  Interstate  Mercantile  Company,  later  known 
as  the  Keystone  Commission  Company.  The  head  office 
of  the  company  was  in  Buffalo,  New  York.  The  com- 
pany then  moved  to  Danville,  Pennsylvania  and  later  to 
East  St.  Louis, 


470  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

A  branch  office  of  this  company  was  opened  in  Chi- 
cago in  June,  1903,  by  William  T.  McKee.  McKee  was 
a  young  man  about  35  years  of  age,  clever,  resourceful 
and  of  good  address.  He  came  from  Carthage,  Illinois, 
where  his  parents,  who  were  highly  respectable  people, 
lived.  After  working  for  various  firms,  including  nine 
months  in  the  life  insurance  business,  he  met  Mr.  Samp- 
son, who  was  the  head  of  the  Interstate  Mercantile  Com- 
pany, Buffalo.  After  some  conversation  with  him,  Mc- 
Kee decided  to  open  an  office  of  the  company  in  Chicago. 
The  method  of  operation  was  as  follows : 

McKee  or  one  of  his  agents  would  go  to  a  person 
who  they  thought  would  be  a  good  subject  and  say  that 
he  had  a  plan  by  which  diamonds  could  be  obtained  at 
less  than  wholesale  rates  by  means  of  small  weekly  pay- 
ments. By  paying  $1.25  a  week  until  $100  was  paid 
in,  the  victim  would  be  entitled  to  receive  a  two  carat, 
flawless  diamond,  worth  $200.  After  the  victim  was 
sufficiently  interested  to'  decide  to  go  into  the  scheme, 
he  was  then  told  that  he  must  pay  $5  down  and  $1.25 
a  week  until  the  amount  was  paid.  After  this  amount 
was  paid,  then  he  was  presented  with  a  unilateral  con- 
tract "fearfully  and  wonderfully"  made.  It  provided 
that  if  he  failed  to  make  one  weekly  payment  he  was 
to  be  fined  25  cents  and  if  he  became  delinquent  for  two 
weeks,  he  was  to  forfeit  all  the  money  that  had  been 
paid  in.  When  the  entire  amount  of  money  was  paid 
in  he  was  then  entitled  to  a  diamond  when  the  number 
of  his  contract  was  reached.  These  contracts  were . 
issued  in  series  and  were  supposed  to  be  numbered  ac- 
cording  to   the   time    when   they   were    received    at   the 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  4?i 

home  office  in  rotation  and  to  be  paid  when  the  amount 
of  money  taken  in  by  the  company  was  sufficient  to  ma- 
ture all  fully  paid  up  contracts  in  their  order,  up  to  and 
including  the  one  in  question.  As  the  number  of  the 
contract  was  left  entirely  to  the  company,  they  could 
arrange  the  time  of  maturity  to  suit  themselves,  so  under 
this  contract  the  person  who  paid  in  the  money  never 
had  any  specific  time  on  which  he  could  demand  the  per- 
formance of  the  contract.  After  a  person  had  been  in- 
duced to  invest  in  this  scheme,  he  was  told  that  the 
greater  number  of  contracts  the  company  took  the  larger 
would  be  the  amount  paid  in  and  the  sooner  the  older 
contracts  would  be  matured.  They  then  urged  every- 
body to  get  their  friends  to  go  into  the  scheme.  This 
resulted  in  turning  every  contract  holder  into  an  agent 
and  soon  a  golden  stream  was  pouring  into  the  coffers 
of  the  company.  Small  business  people,  barbers,  tailors, 
laundry  girls  and  dress-makers  were  going  weekly  to  the 
office  of  the  company  and  leaving  their  money. 

There  was  a  provision  in  the  contracts  by  which 
they  could  mature  at  an  earlier  period  than  the  usual 
one,  which  was  seventy-six  weeks.  The  company 
judiciously  matured  a  number  of  these  contracts  at  short 
periods  of  16,  32  and  48  weeks  as  a  bait  for  "suckers" 
and  to  help  push  the  business  along. 

By  the  terms  of  the  contract  they  would  not  mature 
for  74  and  some  of  them  94  weeks,  thus  giving  the  com- 
pany about  a  year  and  a  half  to  work,  and  at  the  end  of 
that  ti  they  could  tell  the  contract  holders  that  their 
contracts  had  not  matured,  and  thus  gain  more  time. 
During  all  of  the    time    they    would    be    reaping    their 


472  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

golden  harvest.  It  seems  that  they  calculated  on  about 
this  length  of  time  to  exhaust  the  field. 

McKee  remained  at  the  head  of  the  company  until 
about  as  much  money  as  could  be  obtained  was  paid  in 
and  the  contract  holders  would  be  beginning  to  demand 
their  money.  When  it  was  about  time  for  the  storm  to 
break,  he  and  a  confederate  that  had  been  taken  with  him 
in  the  business  put  an  advertisement  in  the  papers  of- 
fering a  lucrative  'office  business  for  sale  and  secured 
$125  from  another  "sucker"  who  bought  the  business 
at  that  price  and  left  him  to  "hold  the  bag."  The  con- 
tract holders  continued  to  pay  to  him  and  to  demand 
their  money  on  maturity  until  it  finally  came  into  the 
hands  of  the  law  and  was  closed,  a  notice  being  posted 
on  the  door  which  said,  "You  are  all  suckers." 

Before  McKee  left  the  office,  Officer  Clifton  R. 
Wooldridge  had  been  watching  him  closely.  He  had 
repeatedly  told  McKee  that  he  saw  through  the  whole 
scheme  and  advised  him  to  quit,  but  inasmuch  as  none 
of  the  victims  were  yet  ready  to  take  action,  believing 
that  they  would  be  paid  upon  maturity,  he  kept  on,  but 
when  this  sucker  notice  was  posted  on  the  door  then 
everybody  was  ready  to  come  and  make  complaints  and 
to  testify  against  McKee.  A  warrant  was  taken  out 
and  McKee  was  arrested  and  indicted  for  obtaining 
money  by  means  and  by  use  of  the  confidence  game  and 
for  conspiracy  to  obtain  money  by  means  and  by  use  of 
the  confidence  game.  The  case  came  on  for  trial  before 
his  Honor,  Judge  Windes,  on  the  1 8th  day  of  December, 
1905,  and  was  prosecuted  by  Fletcher  Dobyns,  Assistant 
State's   Attorney.     The   defendant,   was    represented   by 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  473 

the  firm  of  Baily,  Hall  &  Spvmner.  The  trial  lasted  a 
week  and  was  very  hotly  contested  at  every  point.  It 
was  shown  on  behalf  of  the  prosecution  that  Mr.  McKee 
and  his  confederates  had  represented  themselves  as  men 
well  connected,  as  men  of  property  and  under  bonds. 
They  had  stated  that  the  company  was  wealthy  and 
owned  more  diamonds  than  Tiffany ;  that  the  company 
owned  a  building  in  which  their  head  office  was  located 
in  Buffalo,  New  York,  and  that  the  diamonds  were  kept 
there,  that  the  scheme  had  been  presented  to  the  State's 
Attorney's  office  and  to  others  in  authority  and  had 
been  pronounced  lawful  and  safe.  Many  other  roseate 
representations  had  been  made  which  were  shown  at 
the  trial.  In  addition  to  the  complaining  witness  named 
in  the  indictment,  a  large  number  of  other  victims  were 
put  on  the  stand  to  show  the  method  and  scheme  of 
operation.  The  defendant  after  placing  on  the  witness 
stand  some  of  the  most  prominent  men  in  Chicago  and 
Illinois  as  to .  his  previous  good  character,  took  the 
witness  stand  and  declared  that  if  it  was  a  fraud  he  did 
not  know  it,  that  he  thought  it  was  a  good  scheme  and 
would  work  out.  The  jury  found  the  defendant  guilty 
in  manner  and  form  as  charged  in  the  indictment. 

There  were  several  interesting  features  connected 
with  the  trial.  The  defendant  claimed  thai  the  company 
could  have  and  would  have  met  its  obligations  had  it  not 
been  interfered  with  by  the  police,  and  stated  that  this 
was  possible  from  new  business  and  from  lapses,  He 
had  stated  to  the  complaining  witness  that  experience 
showed  there  would  be  at  least  56  per  cent  of  lapses.  H 
S.  Vail,  an  expert  actuary  of  wide  experience,   vva 


474  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

upon  the  stand  by  the  state  and  showed  that  figuring 
from  the  history  of  insurance  companies  and  other  com- 
panies organized  on  the  same  principle  that  the  percent- 
age of  lapses  would  be  very  small,  and  that  it  was  an 
absolute  impossibility  for  the  business  to  work  out,  the 
effect  of  his  testimony  being  that  the  scheme  was  a  fraud 
on  the  face  of  it  to  one  who  knew  anything  about  the 
business. 

The  defendant  had  stated  to  the  complaining  witness 
after  having  secured  her  contract  that  the  company  did 
not  have  diamonds  and  that  the  diamond  was  mentioned 
in  the  contract  only  for  the  purpose  of  avoiding  the  law 
as  to  lotteries,  and  that  the  real  intention  of  the  company 
was  to  pay  money  and  not  diamonds.  The  defendant  on 
the  stand  stated  that  the  purpose  of  mentioning  the  dia- 
mond in  the  contract  was  to  make  it  a  mercantile  prop- 
osition. The  court,  however,  instructed  the  jury  that 
if  the  holder  of  the  contract  did  not  become  entitled  to 
its  performance  upon  maturity  or  at  some  definite  time, 
it  was  a  lottery,  and  that  if  the  contract  was  to  be  per- 
formed when  a  number  was  reached  and  that  the  num- 
ber depended  upon  the  time  that  it  was  received  at  the 
home  office  or  upon  any  other  uncertain  contingency 
then  the  same  was  a  lottery,  whether  the  contract  called 
for  a  diamond  or  for  money. 

As  showing  the  position  that  the  courts  have  taken 
in  regard  to  schemes  of  this  kind,  many  cases  were  read 
by  the  State's  Attorney  to  the  jury.     Among  them  were  : 

United  States  v.  McDonald,  59  Fed.  Rep.,  563. 

State  v.  Nebraska  Home  Company,  92  N.  W.,  764. 

Public  Clearing  House  v.  Coyne,  121  Fed.  Rep.,  929. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  475 

State  v.  Interstate  Saving  &  Investment  Company, 
60  N.  E.,  232. 

The  case  that  seemed  to  have  the  greatest  effect  on 
the  jury  was  the  case  of  Public  Clearing  House  v.  Coyne, 
which  was  a  scheme  similar  to  that  of  the  Interstate 
Mercantile  Company.     In  that  case  Judge  Kohlsaat  said  : 

"The  only  source  of  increase  upon  the  money  paid 
in  consists  of  money  paid  by  new  members.  Thus,  if 
the  present  membership  is  5,000  and  during  the  next 
five  years  5,000  more  members  shall  be  secured,  the 
realization  fund  will  consist  of  what  the  present  mem- 
bership has  paid  in,  plus  what  the  additional  members 
have  paid  in,  less  10  per  cent.  This  would  be  equally 
divided  among  the  original  5,000,  while  the  new  5,000 
would  have  to  realize  from  the  new  members  thereafter 
secured  at  the  end  of  another  five  years.  Thus,  the 
first  5,000  get  nine-tenths  of  their  own  money  back  and 
in  addition  nine-tenths  of  the  funds  paid  in  by  the  new 
members  at  the  end  of  the  five  year  period.  Should 
any  of  the  members  drop  out,  their  money  goes  to  those 
who  remain.  The  first  class  feeds  upon  the  second,  the 
second  upon  the  third,  and  so  on  to  the  collapse,  a  literal 
demonstration  of  the  old  saying,  'The  devil  take  the 
hindmost/  It  seems  strange  that  material  can  be  found 
to  keep  such  a  scheme  going." 

Great  credit  is  due  Assistant  State's  Attorney  Fletcher 
Dobyns,  who  tried  the  case,  John  M.  Collins,  the  gen- 
eral superintendent  of  the  Chicago  Police  Department, 
sent  John  J.  Healy,  State's  Attorney,  a  very  compliment- 
ary letter  upon  the  good  work  from  his  office  and  paid 
Assistant  State's  Attorney  Fletcher  Dobyns  a  very  high 
compliment. 


476  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 


HUMBUG  IN  BUSINESS. 

Our  American  business  methods  are  in  a  state  of  fer- 
mentation, the  "humbug  microbe"  has  been  developed 
during  the  last  quarter  of  a  century  to  such  proportions, 
that  the  reaction  is  bound  to  come ;  the  scales  are  drop- 
ping already  from  the  eyes  of  the  public.  The  humbug 
I  refer  to  is  that  method  of  promises  of  gifts,  premi- 
ums, etc.,  to  purchasers  of  all  kinds  of  wares.  The 
greatest  humbug  of  all  is  the  scheme  known  as  trading 
stamps.  One  of  these  firms  has  gone  to  the  wall  al- 
ready, others  will  follow — and  it  will  be  a  good  thing 
for  the  people  generally  if  American  business  men  will 
refrain  from  applying  such  questionable  tactics  t6  catch 
the  unsophisticated.  The  people  have  to  pay  for  what 
they  get,  the  premiums  included.  Business  men  can 
not  afford  to  make  presents  to  their  customers ;  they 
charge  them  up  for  it  in  the  long  run.  The  purchaser 
pays  dearly.  For  instance,  the  trading  stamp  humbug 
— many  housewives,  who,  by  reason  of  their  husbands' 
limited  income,  cannot  afford  to  exceed  the  expenditure 
0'f  a  certain  sum  weekly  or  monthly,  go  beyond  the 
limit  to  be  enabled  to  fill  their  books  with  trading 
stamps  within  a  shorter  period  than  what  their  pocket- 
books  permit,  simply  to  come  in  possession  of  the  pre- 
mium. 

A  vase,  a  rocking  chair,  or  some  bric-a-brac,  which 
can  probably  be  purchased  for  half  of  the  price  in  cash 
than  what  the  fictitious  valuation  amounts  to,  placed 
on   the  •  article   by   unscrupulous    or    "up-to-date"   mer- 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  477 

chants.  This  practice  serves  to  catch  suckers,  particu- 
larly our  better  halves  who  do  the  shopping,  look  for 
bargains  .and  come  home  with  an  empty  pocketbook, 
but  who  think  they  have  made  good  investments,  where, 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  more  money  has  been  expended  for 
certain  things  than  the  particular  family  can  afford. 
A  waste  of  money  is  the  result  of  this  gift  enterprise, 
money  which  could  be  applied  to>  more  material  ad- 
vantage by  people  with  small  means.  This  holding  out 
of  promises  of  gifts  on  part  of  the  merchants  induces 
the  average  man  or  woman  to  purchase  more  than  they 
need,  and  as  a  consequence,  workingmen,  clerks,  and 
frequently  city  employes,  run  short  in  their  calculations 
and  fall  victims  to  the  professional  money  lender ;  they 
run  in  debt. 

All  their  trouble  not  infrequently  results  from  too 
great  expenditures  induced  by  the  premium  humbug. 
"Yes,  but  look  at  the  beautiful  vase"  (charged  up  with 
$3.75),  says  the  dear  housewife,  an  article  which,  no 
doubt,  could  be  bought  for  $1.50  cash. 

On  an  average  it  may  be  figured,  that  for  the  pur- 
pose of  obtaining  a  gift  in  the  value  of  one  dollar, 
one  hundred  dollars  has  to  be  expended  by  the  purchaser. 

Such  is  life — the  world  wants  to  be  humbugged  and 
as  long  as  American  merchants  will  resort  to  such  meth- 
ods they  will  probably  find  victims,  or  in  a  little  milder 
term,  suckers.  The  species  of  the  unsophisticated  is 
not  extinct;  they  will  live  forever,  at  least  as  long  as 
unscrupulous  business  methods  will  be  as  general  in 
this  country  as  at  present. 

This  trading  stamp  evil  has  assumed  still  more  alarm- 


478  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

ing  proportions  among  men  than  among  the  weaker  sex, 
particularly  among  consumers  of  tobacco  in  all  shapes 
and  forms.  The  American  Tobacco  Trust,  that  octopus 
among  the  other  trusts,  has  stretched  its  tentacles  and 
with  them  it  has  a  hold  on  the  suckers  that  seems  to  be 
ironbound. 


COUNTERFEIT  MONEY  AND  SAWDUST 
SWINDLERS. 

Sawdust  swindlers  pretend  to  have  counterfeit  money 
so  perfect,  that  no  one  can  tell  it  from  the  genuine. 
They  are  so  called  because  in  return  for  money  privately 
sent  for  C.  O.  D.  boxes  of  first-class  counterfeit  bills, 
the  senders  receive  neatly  put  up  parcels  of  sawdust 
or  other  trash.  The  thousands  of  victims  of  this  swindle 
are  not  deserving  of  sympathy,  for  none  but  dishonest 
persons  who  wish  to  defraud  their  neighbors  or  the 
government  by  circulating  what  they  believe  to  be  per- 
fect facsimiles  or  imitations  of  real  money,  would  ever 
send  their  money  for  this  "queer"  stuff.  The  money 
so  lost  is  merely  transferred  from  one  swindler's  pocket 
to  that  of  another — and  millions  in  the  aggregate  have 
been  so  transferred  within  a  few  years  past.  No 
counterfeit  money  has  gone  out.  The  operators  escape 
free  because  their  victims  cannot  appear  against  their. 
without  convicting  themselves  of  an  attempt  to  cir- 
culate counterfeit  money.  For  the  $10  to  $100  remit- ' 
tances  forwarded,  nothing  is  ever  returned,  except  the 
C.  O.  D.  sawdust-boxes,  to  be  paid  for  before  delivery. 
Those  who  call  at  the  dens  of  the  operators  are  fleeced 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  479 

by  bogus  policemen,  who  nab  them  as  counterfeiters, 
and  let  them  off  after  taking  all  they  have,  even  to 
watches,  etc.,  as  hush-money ;  or  they  pay  for  packages 
of  good  money,  which  are  dexterously  changed  for  the 
sawdust. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  readers  to  have  a  specimen  of 
the  unblushing  audacity  of  these  counterfeit  money 
dealers.  The  circulars  sent  out  are,  for  the  most  part, 
the  same ;  these  are  accompanied  by  a  lithographic  cir- 
cular or  a  loose  slip  of  paper  upon  which  is  given  a 
name  and  address.  The  names  show  a  wonderful 
variety,  but  they  are  for  the  most  part  written  in  the 
same  hand,  and  sent  out  with  the  same  circular.  Here 
is  the  bait : 

"In  the  first  place,  I  wish  to  inform  you  that  I  am  an 
engraver,  and  said  to  be,  by  those  who  are  competent 
of  judging,  the  most  expert  one  in  America.  I  have 
been  employed  by  the  U.  S.  Government  for  twelve 
years.  I  superintended  the  engraving  of  all  the  plates 
for  the  United  States  money.  When  the  Government 
ceased  to  issue  greenbacks  my  services  were  no  longer 
required,  and  as  soon  as  I  found  that  my  time  was  my 
own  I  conceived  the  idea  of  engraving  a  few  plates 
for  myself  and  for  my  benefit,  as  I  am  well  aware  a 
man  cannot  become  rich  by  working  for  a  salary.  I 
have  just  finished  the  work  that  I  began  almost  three 
years  since ;  that  is,  the  engraving  of  seven  plates,  which 
are  exact  duplicates  of  the  Government's,  namely :  the 
One,  Two,  Five,  Ten,  and  Twenty  Dollar,  and 
Twenty-Five,  and  Fifty  Cent  Fractional  Currency 
plates.      I   have   taken   the   greatest   care   in   engraving 


480  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

these  plates;  and  I  defy  any  one  to  detect  my  counter- 
feits from  the  genuine.  I  use  the  same  paper  as  the 
Government  uses,  as  well  as  the  same  identical  ink, 
and  all  my  notes  are  correctly  numbered  and  properly 
signed,  all  ready  for  immediate  use.  I  assure  you  the 
goods  are  perfect  in  every  respect  and  cannot  be  de- 
tected from  the  genuine.  They  have  in  several  instances 
been  passed  over  bank  counters  without  exciting  the 
least  suspicion ;  it  is  therefore  improbable  that  you  will 
ever  get  in  any  trouble  or  ever  meet  any  one  who  can 
distinguish  them  from  the  e'enuine. 

"I  guarantee  every  note  to  be  perfect,  for  every  note 
is  examined  carefully  by  myself  as  soon  as  finished, 
and  if  not  strictly  perfect  is  immediately  destroyed. 
Of  course,  it  would  be  foolishness  for  me  to  send  poor 
work,  as  it  would  not  only  get  my  customers  in  trouble, 
but  would  break  up  my  business  and  ruin  me.  So,  for 
personal  safety,  I  am  compelled  to  issue  nothing  that 
will  not  compare  with  the  genuine  money. 

"I  can  furnish  you  with  goods  in  any  quantity,  at 
the  following  prices,  which  will  be  found  as  reasonable 
as  the  nature  kof  the  business  will  allow. 

"For  a  $1,000  in  my  goods,  assorted  as  you  desire,  I 
charge  $100. 

"For  a  $2,500  in  my  goods,  assorted  as  you  desire,  I 
charge  $200. 

"For  a  $5,000  in  my  goods,  assorted  as  you  desire,  I 
charge  $350. 

"For  a  $10,000  in  my  goods,  assorted  as  you  desire, 
I  charge  $600. 

"You  can  see  from  the  above  price-list  the  advantage 

r 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  481 

of  buying  largely.  You  cannot  make  money  as  rapidly 
in  any  other  business,  and  there  is  not  the  slightest 
danger  in  using  my  goods,  one  of  the  best  proofs  being 
that  not  a  person  doing  business  with  me  has  ever  beea 
in  any  trouble,  but,  on  the  contrary,  all  are  making 
money.  I  have  no  connection  with  any  other  firm  in 
this  country,  and  every  dollar  of  my  money  is  manu- 
factured under  my  own  personal  supervision — so  in  deal- 
ing with  me  you  get  the  goods  from  first  hands." 

Then  follow  various  details,  cautions,  etc.  Formerly 
these  circulars  insisted  on  transacting  their  business  by 
express;  later  they  gave  directions  to  the  victim  for 
finding  the  trap,  but  the  latest  dodge  is  to  accompany 
the  tempting  circular  with  something  like  the  following: 

"READ  THIS  CAREFULLY! 

"If  you  want  to  be  sure  and  see  me,  and  not  be 
disappointed,  follow  these  instructions :  Two  or  three 
days  before  you  leave  home,  write  me  when  you  will 
fee  here,  and  say  what  hotel  you  will  stop  at.  Be  sure 
to  write  me  from  home;  do  not  wait  until  you  arrive 
in  this  city  and  then  drop  me  a  letter,  for  you  will  save 
time  by  doing  as  I  ask  you.  On  your  arrival  in  this 
eity,  go  directly  to  the  hotel  named  on  the  inclosed 
card,  take  a  room  and  register  your  name;  go  up  to 
your  room  and  remain  in  until  I  call.  Remember,  I  do 
sot  know  you  by  sight,  so  if  you  are  around  the  hotel 
it  will  be  impossible  for  me  to  recognize  you,  and  I  can 
only  find  you  by  calling  on  you  up  in  your  room. 

"When  you  arrive  at  the  depot  here  there  is  no 
doubt  but  that  you  will  be  spoken  to  by  strangers,  who 
will  try  to  make  your  acquaintance.  Some  will  repre- 
sent themselves  to  be  the  party  you  are  looking  for, 
others   will   ask   you   what  hotel   yon  are   looking  for, 


482  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

and  when  you  tell  them  they  will  try  and  persuade  you 
to  go  to  some  other ;  and  other  men  may  ask  you  if 
you  have  received  a  confidential  letter — but  remember, 
not  one  of  those  men  are  the  party  you  are  looking  for. 
Even  if  I  knew  you,  and  met  you  on  the  street,  I 
would  not  speak  to  you  except  up  in  your  room  at  the 
hotel ;  and  as  I  will  know  from  the  letter  you  write 
me,  before  yon  leave  home,  when  you  will  be  here,  of 
course  I  will  be  on  the  lookout  for  you,  and  will  be 
waiting  your  arrival  at  the  hotel.  Any  one  who  speaks 
to  you,  have  nothing  whatever  to  say  to  theim  When 
I  call  on  you  in  your  room,  I  will  immediately  hand 
you  your  letter,  and  when  you  see  your  own  handwrit- 
ing then  you  will  know  you  are  dealing  with  the  right 
party.  Be  sure  to  remember  that  any  one  who  can- 
not show  you  yo'iir  last  letter  has  no  right  to  speak  to 
you. 

"I  have  put  you  on  your  guard,  and  if  you  obey 
these  instructions,  you  cannot  fail  to  see  me." 

If  you  have  an  atom  of  common  sense  you  will  avoid 
being  "roped  in"  by  these  sawdust  swindlers.  If  you 
are  an  honest  man,  there  is  no  need  to  warn  you. 


WITNESS  ASTONISHES  THE  COURT. 


Colored  Man  Tells  Judge  and  Jury  the  Thrilling  Story 

of  His  Life. 

A  case  was  tried  before  Judge  Waterman,  October 
29,  1898,  the  feature  of  which  was  the  testimony  given  by 
a  colored  witness  named  John  Hanna.  Through  the  as- 
sistance of  Hanna,  Detective  Wooldridge  was  on 
August  23rd  of  the  same  year  enabled  to  capture  Will- 
iam Watson,  who  was  charged  with  bmglary. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  483 

Watson  had  tried  to  get  Hanna  to  assist  him  in  rob- 
bing a  store.  He  borrowed  a  knife  from  Hanna  and 
when  arrested,  the  knife  served  to  identify  him  fully. 
Watson  showed  Hanna  the  place  he  robbed  of  clothing, 
jewelry  and  money,  which  was  the  store  of  Julius  Salk, 
419  Clark  street.  He  also  told  Hanna  that  he  took 
watches  and  other  jewelry  to  Juskey's  pawn-shop  at 
the  corner  of  Clark  and  Harrison  streets,  where  he  sold 
them. 

While  on  the  witness  stand,  Hanna  testified  to  all 
these  facts.  Before  this  he  had  made  an  affidavit  telling 
of  everything  Watson  did  and  what  he  told  him  after 
the  robbery.  Hanna  is  a  large  colored  man  about  thirty 
years  old.  He  has  a  bright,  intelligent  face  and  talks 
fluently  and  with  ease. 

While  he  was  giving  his  testimony,  the  attorney  for 
the  defendant  made  every  effort  possible  to  break  down 
the  evidence  he  was  offering.  It  seems  that  they  had 
looked  up  his  record  and  discovered  that  he  had  killed 
a  man  in  Mississippi,  when  he  was  sixteen  years  old, 
was  convicted  and  sentenced  to  a  term  in  the  peni- 
tentiary. 

When  the  attorney  asked  Hanna  if  this  was  not  true, 
the  witness  turned  to  the  court  and  in  a  dramatic  and 
forcible  manner  begged  of  the  judge  the  privilege  of 
telling  the  story  of  his  life  in  his  own  words.  He  was 
given  permission  to  do  so  and  during  the  relation,  the 
court,  lawyers  and  jury  listened  attentively  to  every 
word  he  uttered.  Astonishment  and  supprise  was  fixed 
en  every  face  in  the  court  room  as  the  boy  continued  the 
story,  which  was  as  follows : 


484  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

"I  was  born  in  Mississippi  and  at  the  age  of  sixteen, 
was  an  employe  on  the  railroad  at  Canton.  One  day, 
after  all  the  hands  had  been  paid  off,  several  of  us  en- 
gaged in  a  game  of  craps.  Everybody  knows,  Judge, 
that  a  negro  will  play  craps.  It  is  his  own  game  and 
nothing  can  prevent  him  from  shooting  the  dice  when 
he  gets  possession  of  a  little  money.  So  it  was  on  this 
occasion.  Four  of  us  went  to  the  platform  at  the  rail- 
road station  and  began  our  game.  We  played  for  some 
time,  the  tide  of  luck  shifting  from  one  to  the  other 
until  finally  it  came  my  way  and  I  won  all  the  money 
one  of  the  players  had. 

"This  so  enraged  him,  that  he  drew  a  razor  from  his 
pocket  and  declared  he  would  kill  me  or  get  his  money 
back.  I  then  had  the  money  covered  with  my  left  hand. 
He  quickly  opened  the  razor  and  made  a  slash  at  my 
hand,  cutting  a  long  gash  across  the  back  of  it.  I  held 
on  to  the  money  and  started  to  run  away.  He  picked 
up  a  coupling  pin  and  started  in  pursuit  of  me.  I 
dodged  under  a  flat  car  a  few  yards  away  and  my 
pursuer  jumped  on  top  of  the  car  expecting  to  get  me 
as  I  ran  out  on  the  other  side. 

"I  turned,  however,  and  went  back  in  the  otiher 
direction.  He  still  followed  me  with  the  razor  in  one 
hand  and  the  coupling  pin  in  the  other.  I  saw  that 
I  was  going  to  be  caught  and  realized  that  unless  I 
defended  myself,  I  would  be  killed.  I  then  turned  and 
drew  my  revolver  and  fired  five  times.  My  pursuer 
fed  dead  and  I  was  soon  after  arrested  and  locked  up, 
charged  with  murder. 

"Being  only  an  ignorant  boy,  unable  to  read  or  write 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  485 

and  without  friends  or  influence,  I  was  quickly  con- 
victed. I  had  no  lawyer  to  defend  me  and  no  friends 
at  this  place  who  would  give  me  advice  or  assistance, 
but  soon  after  my  father,  Bishop  Hanna,  who  is  at  the 
bead  of  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  that 
section  of  the  south,  heard  of  the  trouble  I  was  in  and 
at  once  began  to  devise  some  way  of  seeing  that  I 
got  justice  instead  of  being  railroaded  to  the  peniten- 
tiary, without  any  chance  to  state  the  facts  in  the  case  or 
to  present  and  prove  them  and  save  myself  from  life 
imprisonment.  My  father  had  a  great  many  warm  and 
influential  friends.  They  also  came  to  my  assistance 
and  employed  the  best  lawyers  that  could  be  had.  After 
a  short  time,  they  succeeded  in  getting  me  a  new  trial 
and  after  presenting  all  the  evidence  they  could  get  in 
my  behalf,  the  trial  proceeded  and  although  I  was  con- 
victed again,  the  penalty  was  not  a  severe  one  and  in  a 
short  time,  my  father  and  friends  succeeded  in  getting 
me  released. 

"That  is  the  true  story  of  my  trouble  in  my  youth. 
I  killed  a  man  in  self  defense  and  there  is  no'  charge 
against  me  in  my  old  state  to-day.  I  have  been  in  Chi- 
cago a  long  time  and  never  had  trouble  but  once  here. 
That  was  a  small  matter  and  I  paid  the  penalty  which 
the  court  gave  me." 

In  relating  his  story  the  witness  made  such  a  pro- 
found impression  on  the  court  and  jury  that  his  evi- 
dence was  accepted  without  further  question  and  Wat- 
son was  convicted  and  sent  to  the  House  of  Correction 
for  one  year. 

Hanna  still  lives  in  Chicago  and  is  always  engaged  in 


486  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

some  kind  of  work  and  makes  a  good  living.  He  is 
very  shrewd  and  keen  sighted  and  seems  to  have  much 
native  detective  talent.  He  has  often  rendered  Detect- 
ive Wooldridge  valuable  assistance  in  running  down 
and  catching  crooks.  He  has  no  education,  but  has  a 
bright  mind  and  always  makes  his  way  in  the  world 
without  the  assistance  of  charitable  institutions. 


FORGERY  AS  A  PROFESSION. 

Professional  forgers  usually  make  their  homes  in  large 
cities.  They  are  constantly  studying  schemes  and  or- 
ganizing gangs  of  men  to  defraud  banks,  trust  com- 
panies and  money  lenders  by  means  of  forged  checks, 
notes,  drafts,  bills  of  exchange,  letters  of  credit,  and 
in  some  instances  altering  registered  government  and 
other  bonds,  and  counterfeiting  the  bonds  of  corpora- 
tions. These  bonds  are  disposed  of  or  hypothecated  to 
obtain  loans  on. 

A  professional  forgery  gang  consists  of:  First,  a 
capitalist  or  backer;  second,  the  actual  forger,  who  is 
known  among  his  associates  as  the  "scratcher ;"  third, 
the  man  who  acts  as  confidential  agent  for  the  forger, 
who  is  known  as  the  "middleman"  or  "go-between ;" 
fourth,  the  man  who  presents  the  forged  paper  at  the 
bank  for  payment,  who  is  known  as  the  "layer-down" 
or  "presenter." 

When  it  is  necessary  to  have  a  capitalist  or  backer 
connected  with  a  gang,  he  furnishes  the  funds  for  or- 
ganization, frequently  lays  out  the  plans  of  work  and 
obtains  the  genuine  paper  from  which  the  forgeries  are 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  487 

made.  He  will,  when  necessary,  find  the  engraver, 
lithographer,  and,  most  important  of  all,  the  "profes- 
sional" forger,  who  will  do  the  actual  forgery  work. 

The  professional  forger  has,  as  a  rule,  considerable 
knowledge  of  chemicals,  which  enables  him  to  alter 
checks,  drafts,  bills  of  exchange,  letters  of  credit,  or 
to  change  the  names  on  registered  bonds.  He  is  some- 
thing of  an  artist,  too,  for  with  a  fine  camel's-hair  brush 
he  can  restore  the  most  delicate  tints  in  bank  safety 
paper,  where  the  tints  have  been  destroyed  by  the  use 
of  acids ;  in  fact,  no  bank  safety  paper  is  a  protection 
against  him.  When  the  amount  of  the  genuine  draft 
or  check  is  perforated  in  the  paper,  certain  professional 
forgers  have  reached  that  point  in  their  work  where 
they  fill  up  the  perforations  with  paper  pulp,  then  with 
a  hot  iron  press  it  out  so  that  it  is  a  very  difficult 
matter  to  detect  the  alterations  even  with  the  use  of 
the  finest  microscope.  This  done  and  the  writing 
cleaned  off  the  face  of  the  draft,  check,  letter  of  credit, 
or  bill  of  exchange,  with  only  the  genuine  signature 
left  and  the  tints  on  the  paper  restored,  the  forger  is 
prepared  to  fill  up  the  paper  for  any  amount  decided 
on. 

The  backer  or  capitalist  is  rarely  known  to  any  mem- 
ber of  the  gang  outside  of  the  "go-between,"  whom 
he  makes  use  of  to  find  the  forger.  He  very  rarely 
allows  himself  to  become  known  to  the  men  who  "pre- 
sent" the  forged  paper  at  the  banks.  If  the  forgery 
scheme  is  successful,  the  backer  receives  back  the  money 
paid  out  for  the  preparation  of  the  work,  as  well  as 
any  amount  he  may  have  loaned  the  "band"  to  enable 


488  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

them  to  open  accounts  at  banks  where  they  propose 
placing  the  forged  paper.  He  is  also  allowed  a  certain 
percentage  on  all  successful  forgeries.  This  percentage 
will  run  from  20  to  30  per  cent.,  but  where  the  backer 
and  forger  are  working  together,  their  joint  percentage 
is  never  less  than  50  per  cent. 

The  duties  of  the  "middleman"  or  "go-between"  are 
to  receive  from  the  forger  or  his  confidential  agent  the 
altered  or  forged  paper.  He  finds  the  man  to  "present" 
the  same,  accompanies  his  confederates  on  their  forgery 
trips  throughout  the  country,  acts  as  the  agent  of  the 
backer  in  dealing  out  money  for  expenses,  sees  that 
their  plan  of  operations  is  carried  out,  and,  in  fact,  be- 
comes the  general  manager  of  the  band.  He  is  in  full 
control  of  the  men  who  act  as  "presenters"  of  the 
forged  paper.  If  there  be  more  than  one  man  to  "pre- 
sent" the  paper,  the  middleman,  as  a  rule,  will  not 
allow  them  to  become  known  to  each  other.  He  meets 
them  in  secluded  places,  generally  in  little  out-of-the- 
way  saloons.  In  summertime  a  favorite  meeting  place 
is  some  secluded  spot  in  the  public  parks.  At  one  meet- 
ing he  makes  an  appointment  for  the  next  meeting. 
He  uses  great  care  in  making  these  appointments,  so 
that  the  different  "presenters"  do  not  come  together 
and  thereby  become  known  to  each  other.  The  middle- 
man is  usually  selected  for  his  firmness  of  character. 
He  must  be  a  man  known  among  criminals  as  a  "staunch** 
man,  one  who  cannot  be  easily  fnghtened  by  detectives 
when  arrested,  no  matter  what  pressure  may  be  brought 
to  bear  upon  him.  He  must  have  such  an  acquaintance- 
ship among  criminals  as  will  enable  him  to  select  other 


1 


^ 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  489 

men  who  arc  "staunch"  and  who  are  not  apt  to  talk  and 
tell  their  business,  whether  sober  or  under  the  influence 
of  liquor.  It  is  from  among  this  class  of  acquaintances 
that  he  selects  the  men  to  "present"  the  forged  paper. 
It  is  an  invariable  rule  followed  by  the  backer  and  forger 
that  in  selecting  a  middleman  they  select  one  who  not 
only  has  the  reputation  of  being  a  "staunch"  man,  but 
he  must  also  be  a  man  who  has  at  least  one  record  of 
conviction  standing  against  him.  This  is  for  the  addi- 
tional protection  of  the  backer  and  forger,  as  they  know 
that  in  law  the  testimony  of  an  accomplice  who  is  also 
an  ex-convict,  should  he  conclude  to  become  a  state's 
witness,  would  have  to  be  strongly  corroborated  before 
a  court  or  jury  in  order  to  be  believed. 

As  the  capitalist  and  forger,  for  self-protection,  use 
great  care  in  selecting  a  "middleman,"  the  middleman  to 
protect  himself  also  uses  the  same  care  in  the  selection 
of  men  to  "present"  the  forged  paper.  He  endeavors, 
like  the  backer  and  forger,  to  throw  as  much  protection 
around  himself  as  possible,  and  for  the  same  reasons  he 
also  uses  ex-convicts  as  the  men  to  "present"  the  forged 
paper  at  the  banks.  The  "presenters"  are  of  all  ages  ancW 
appearances,  from  the  party  who  will  pass  as  an  errand 
boy,  messenger,  porter  or  clerk  to  the  prosperous  busi- 
ness man,  horse  trader,  stock  buyer  or  farmer.  When 
a  presenter  enters  a  bank  to  "lay  down"  a  forged  paper, 
the  "go-between"  will  sometimes  enter  the  bank  with 
him,  and  stand  outside  the  counter  noting  carefully  if 
there  is  any  suspicious  action  on  the  part  of  the  paying 
teller  when  the  forged  paper  is  presented  to  him;  and 
whether  the  "presenter"  carries  himself  properly  and  does 


490  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK 

his  part  well.  But  usually  the  middleman  prefers  waiting 
outside  the  bank  for  the  "presenter,"  possibly  watching 
him  through  the  window  from  the  street.  If  the  "pre- 
senter" is  successful  and  gets  the  money  on  the  forged 
paper,  the  "middleman"  will  follow  him  when  he  leaves 
the  bank  to  some  convenient  spot  where,  without  attract- 
ing attention  he  receives  the  money.  He  then  gives  the 
presenter  another  piece  of  forged  paper  drawn  on  some 
other  bank  in  the  immediate  neighborhood,  accompanying 
him  also  to  this  bank,  usually  victimizing  from  three  to 
five  banks  in  each  city,  their  work  being  completed  in 
less  than  an  hour's  time.  All  money  obtained  from  the 
various  banks  on  the  forged  paper  is  immediately  turned 
over  to  the  middleman,  who  furnishes  all  the  money  for 
current  expenses.  After  the  work  is  completed,  the  pre- 
senters leave  the  city  by  different  routes,  first  having 
agreed  on  a  meeting  point  in  some  neighboring  city. 
The  "presenters"  frequently  walk  out  of  the  city  to  some 
outlying  station  on  the  line  of  the  road  they  propose  to 
take  to  their  next  destination.  This  precaution  is  taken 
to  avoid  arrest  at  the  depot  in  case  the  forgery  is  discov- 
red  before  they  can  leave  the  city.  At  the  next  meet- 
ing-point the  middleman,  having  deducted  the  expenses 
advanced,  pays  the  "presenters"  their  percentage  of  the 
money  obtained  on  the  forged  paper. 

A  band  of  professional  forgers  before  starting  out  al- 
ways agree  on  a  basis  of  division  of  all  moneys  obtained 
on  their  forgery  paper.  This  division  might  be  as  fol- 
lows :  For  a  presenter  where  the  amount  to  be  drawn 
does  not  exceed  $2,000,  15  to  25  per  cent. ;  but  where  the 
amount  to  be  drawn  is  from  $3,000  to  $5,000  and  up- 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  491 

wards,  the  "presenter"  receives  from  35  to  45  per  cent. 
The  price  is  raised  as  the  risk  increases,  and  it  is  general- 
ly considered  a  greater  risk  to  attempt  to  pass  a  check  or 
draft  of  a  large  denomination  than  a  smaller  one.  The 
middleman  gets  from  15  to  25  per  cent.  His  work  is 
more,  and  his  responsibility  is  greater,  but  the  risk  is 
less.  There  are  plenty  of  middlemen  to  be  had,  but  the 
"presenters"  are  scarce.  The  "shadow,"  when  one  ac- 
companies the  band,  is  sometimes  paid  a  salary  by  the 
middleman  and  his  expenses,  but  at  other  times  he  is 
allowed  a  small  percentage,  not  to  exceed  5  per  cent., 
and  his  expenses,  as  with  ordinary  care  his  risk  is  very 
slight.  The  backer  and  forger  get  the  balance,  which 
usually  amounts  to  from  58  to  60  per  cent.  The  ex- 
penses that  have  been  advanced  the  men  who  go  out  on 
the  road  are  usually  deducted  at  the  final  division. 

In  case  of  arrest  of  one  of  the  "presenters"  in  the 
act  of  "laying  down"  forged  paper,  the  middleman  or 
shadow  immediately  notifies  other  members  of  the  band 
who  may  be  in  the  city.  All  attempts  to  get  money  from 
the  other  banks  are  stopped,  and  the  other  members  of 
the  band  leave  the  city  as  best  they  can  to  meet  at  som;. 
designated  point  in  a  near-by  city.  Out  of  their  fi^^^W 
successful  forgeries  a  certain  sum  for  each  man's  share  is 
^  held  by  the  "middleman,"  to  be  used  in  the  defense  of 
any  member  of  the  band  who  may  be  arrested  on  the  trip. 
This  money  is  called  "fall  money,"  and  is  used  to  em- 
ploy counsel  for  the  men  under  arrest,  or  to  do  anything 
for  them  that  may  be  for  their  interest.  Any  part  of  this 
money  not  used  is  paid  back  in  proportion  to  the  amount 
advanced  to  the  various  members  of  the  band  from  whose 


f- 


492  THE  ADVENTURES  AND  WORK: 

share  it  has  been  retained.  Sometimes,  however,  in 
forming  a  band  of  forgers  there  is  an  understanding  or 
agreement  entered  into  at  the  outset,  that  each  man 
"stand  on  his  own  bottom,"  that  is,  if  arrested,  take  care 
of  himself.  When  this  is  agreed  to,  the  men  arrested^ 
must  get  out  as  best  they  can.  Under  these  circum- 
stances there  is  no  assessment  for  "fall  money,"  but 
usually  the  men  who  present  the  paper  insist  on  "fall 
money"  being  put  up,  as  it  assures  them  the  aid  of  some 
one  of  the  band  working  earnestly  in  their  behalf  and 
watching  their  interests,  outside  of  the  attorney  retained. 
When  a  "middleman"  is  exceedingly  cautious  and  not 
entirely  satisfied  with  the  "presenters,"  he  will  sometimes 
have  an  assistant.  This  is  where  the  "shadow"  comes 
in.  This  shadow  will,  under  the  directions  of  the  "mid- 
dleman," follow  the  presenter  into  the  bank  and  report 
fully  on  his  actions.  He  sometimes  catches  the  "pre- 
senter" in  an  attempt  to  swindle  his  companions  by 
claiming  that  he  did  not  get  the  money,  but  had  to  get 
out  of  the  bank  in  a  hurry  and  leave  the  check  or  draft, 
the  paying  teller  was  suspicious.  A  "presenter" 
ight  at  this  trick  is  sometimes  sent  into  a  bank  to  pre- 
sent a  forged  check  where  the  bank  has  been  previously 
warned  of  his  coming  by  an  anonymous  letter,  written 
by  or  at  the  instigation  of  one  of  the  leaders.  This  is 
done  as  a  punishment  for  his  dishonesty,  and  as  a  warn- 
ing to  the  other  "presenters"  not  to  attempt  this 
treachery.  Usually,  however,  a  dishonest  member  is 
quietly  dropped.  The  "shadow"  will  follow  the  "pre- 
senters" from  the  time  they  get  the  forged  paper  from 
the  middleman  until  they  hand  the  money  over  to  him. 


OF  A  DETECTIVE  49^ 

A  good  "shadow"  is  always  useful  to  the  middleman, 
who  does  not  allow  him  to  become  known  to  his  confed- 
erates. 

When  one  of  the  party  is  arrested,  an  attorney  is  at 
once  sent  to  him.  As  a  rule,  in  selecting  an  attorney, 
one  is  employed  who  is  known  as  a  good  criminal  lawyer. 
It  is  also  preferred  that  he  should  be  a  lawyer  who  has 
some  political  weight.  The  middleman  employs  the  at- 
torney, and  pays  him  out  of  the  "fall  money."  The  ar- 
rested man  is  strictly  instructed  by  the  attorney  to  do 
no  talking,  and  is  usually  encouraged  by  the  promise 
that  they  will  have  him  out  in  a  short  time.  In  order  to 
keep  him  quiet,  this  promise  is  frequently  renewed  by 
the  attorney  acting  for  the  "middleman."  This  is  done 
to  prevent  a  confession  being  made  in  case  the  arrested 
man  should  show  signs  of  weakening.  Finally,  when  he 
is  forced  to  stand  trial,  if  the  case  is  one  certain  of  con- 
viction, the  attorney  will  get  him  to  plead  guilty,  with 
the  promise  of  a  short  sentence,  and  will  then  bargain  to 
this  end  with  the  court  or  prosecutor.  Thus  guided  by 
the  attorney  selected  and  acting  for  the  "middleman"  and 
his  associates,  the  prisoner  pleads  guilty,  and  frequently 
discovers,  when  it  is  too  late,  that  he  has  been  tricked  into 
keeping  his  mouth  shut  in  the  interests  of  his  associates. 
It  is  but  fair  to  state,  however,  that  if  money  can  save 
an  arrested  party,  and  if  his  associates  have  it,  they  will 
ase  it  freely  among  attorneys  or  "jury  fixers,"  where  the 
latter  can  be  made  use  of,  and  frequently  it  is  paid  to 
politicians  who  make  a  practice  of  having  a  "pull"  with 
the  prosecuting  officers  or  the  court. 


w 

WW 

HAVE    YOU    READ 


"HANDS  UP" 

IN  THE  WORLD  OF 

CRIME 


A  Complete  History  of 

Chicago's  Famous 

Detective 


CLIFTON  R. 

WOOLDRIDGE 


A   BOOK  OK 

Thrilling  descriptions  about  the  capture  of  Bank  Robbers, 

Panel  House  Workers,  Confidence  Men  and  hundreds 

of  other  Criminals  of  all  kinds. 


Tells  in  Graphic  Manner  how  Criminals  of  all  classes  operate, 

illustrations  showing  arrests  of  Murderers,  Safe 

Blowers,  Diamond  Thieves,  Procuresses 

of  Young  Girls,  etc.,  etc. 


The  contents  of  this  book  is  a  narrative  of  the  author's  twelve 
years'  experience  on  the  Chicago  police  force.  His  long  and 
successful  experience  with  the  criminal  classes  justly  fits  him 
for  the  work  of  bringing  before  the  public  in  presentable  form 
the  many  and  interesting  features  of  a  detective's  life. 

In  detail  he  tells  the  story  of  his  life,  and  without  coloring 
of  any  kind  produces  an  accurate  account  of  his  twelve  years' 
experience,  many  times  under  fire;  his  famous  efforts  to  appre- 
hend criminals,  who,  by  means  of  revolvers  and  other  conceivable 
methods,  tried  to  fight  their  way  to  liberty. 

THE  BOOK  CONTAINS  OVER  500  PAGES, 

is  profusely  illustrated  from  specially  drawn  pictures  and  pho- 
tographs of  desperate  criminals  and  law-breakers,  such  as  mur- 
derers, highway-men,  safe  blowers,  bank  robbers,  diamond 
thieves,  burglars,  porch  climbers,  shop  lifters,  bicycle  thieves, 
box  car  thieves,  lottery  swindlers,  gamblers,  women  footpads, 
panel-house  thieves,  confidence  men,  pickpockets,  procuresses  of 
young  girls  for  immoral  purposes,  women  gamblers,  levee  char- 
acters, etc. 

Many  thrilling  and  interesting  descriptions  are  given  of  ar- 
rests and  raids  of  pool  rooms,  bucket  shops,  crap  games,  policy 
shops,  gambling  houses,  opium  joints,  panel  houses  and  many 
other  dens  of  vice. 

This  great  production  is  not  a  ponderous  volume  filled  with 
dry  statistics,  but  made  up  of  thrilling  accounts  which  depict 
the  most  noteworthy  incidents  in  the  lives  of  criminals  in  large 
cities. 

During  Detective  Wooldridge's  service  on  the  force  he  has  made 
17,000  arrests,  secured  125  penitentiary  convictions,  recovered 
$75,000  worth  of  lost  and  stolen  property,  which  was  returned  to 
its  rightful  owners;  seventy-five  girls  under  age  were  rescued 
by  him  from  houses  of  ill-fame  and  a  life  of  shame,  and  re- 
turned to  their  parents  or  guardians  or  sent  to  the  Juvenile 
School  or  House  of  the  Good  Shepherd. 

It  is  well  known  in  police  circles  that  Detective  Wooldridge 
has  refused  at  many  different  times,  bribes  of  from  $500  to 
$4,000 ;  $10,000  was   offered   for  his   discharge  or  transfer  from 


the  levee  district  by  criminals  against  whom  he  had  waged  a 
warfare  in  1893. 

He  has  a  scrap-book  containing  clippings  from  the  news- 
papers and  police  bulletins,  giving  him  credit  for  criminal  arrests 
and  convictions,  recovery  of  stolen  property  and  meritorious 
conduct,  which  would  cover  a  space  of  130  square  feet. 

He  has  letters  from  Charles  Deneen,  governor  of  Illinois; 
Carter  H.  Harrison,  the  mayor;  three  state's  attorneys,  eight 
chiefs  of  police,  three  assistant  chiefs,  six  inspectors,  nine  lieu- 
tenants, six  police  justices  and  others  too  numerous  to  mention, 
which  testimonials  are  printed  in  the  book,  together  with  their 
autographs.  The  book  contains  all  the  General  Superintendents 
of  Police  of  Chicago  from  1855  to  1901. 

Detective  Wooldridge  has  a  wonderful  record  in  police  annals. 


THE  BOOK  CONTAINS  OVER  25  VIVID    ILLUSTRA- 
TIONS, OVER  125  CHAPTERS,  OVER 
500  PAGES. 

This  book  should  be  in  the  hands  of  every  student,  clergyman, 
teacher,  farmer,  doctor,  lawyer,  merchant.  All,  whether  male 
or  female,  can  make  money  rapidly  by  selling  this  book,  as  it  is 
the  liveliest  and  best  selling  book  on  the  market  to-day.  It  is 
absolutely  original  from  cover  to  cover,  and  is  one  of  the  most 
reliable  and  up-to-date  books  of  its  kind  in  the  field.  You  wiH 
make  the  mistake  of  your  life  if  you  do  not  order  one  or  more 
by  return  mail.    It  is  the  book  the  people  want. 

PRICE  PER  COPY,  POSTPAID. 

Hands  Up  in  the  World  of  Crime  -   Cloth  Bound,  lilts.    $1.00 

"  «  "  Paper  .25 

The  Detectives'  Guide  to  Success      Paper  .50 

MONARCH  BOOK  COMPANY,  Publishers, 
Chicago. 


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