Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1870-09-14
HoW Brooklyn agency Tried 10 Bleed
&. z. Stewart.


very complicated scheme has been de
vised by Mr., Charles Baxter of the dealers
mutual protective ageneyvof Brooklyn. an,
b1ine eesoep eplices. 70 iavoigla alf. A. I
stewart INTO trouble. 4 Mr.. Benjamin, o
breOk'Tn was the first 20 discoyar the
scheme, who-s purpose VAS 10 kiJtliap AIr.
S.e~ura 3lr. Baajanlia liasStisclosed that
WAen ne went into the Office of the agency
n Court street, some days ago, Mr.. Baker
: INFORMED hlm that he and a few friends
had . good thing in hantl rom which they
would derive lit.ie profit Tha eonsni.
rators were to hire roonIsir some lonesome
quarter outside the city, where they were
oy some means or other TO allure or bring
III kidnapped condition. the lroryie per-
sofes Of A. L. Stewart. On that Gentleman
arriving at The above quarters, one OF the
party was to point pistol ut the old gen.
tieman S head, politely demanding his sign
atuTe TO certain checks. These were To he
eashed Immediately by one of the accom-
lpllces, MIR. Stewart remaining as q hostage
untIl the moneyMas forthcoming. when he
would be quietly dismissed, after making
a solemn oath not TO diyulge the circunl-
stanced OF his capture. Mr.. benjamin re-
garded this story ASH 9ignaiie hoax and dis
missed 1t after mile, by calling il cap
ltal joke. 4 few days after MIR. Benjamin
met Baxter again who assured him that he
ana and his men we're going to make a
'pile OF stamps out of the ''A..T [. Stewart
arrangement, " as he quantity dubbed it
MIR. Benjamin hardly remembered what he
referred to, as ne had regarded bis state
ments some days before as joeular and I'M
meaning.
When Mr. Benitnin insisted on calling
the matter hoax, Baxter showed him n
letter which he had wliEen to Mr.. Stewart,
III which he stated that, in assisting GER
| tain detective he overheard some fellows
remark that they had better hurry up with q.
their plan to kidnap Stewart. as their funds
were not up to the mark. This letter bore
Bakers signature, as superintendent of
the dealers mutual proteotive agency. He
sent that letter on a Saturday, and on the
following Monday he received an answer
from Mr.. Stewards counsel, stating that
hir. Stewart was not accustomed TO attach
any importance to such communications,
but, as MIR. Baxter's note seemed to have
come from reliable source, it was duly
acknowledged, The letter written by MIR.
Baxter also requested an interview with
MIR. a. T. Stewart, and in the letter writ
| ten by his counsel, Judge Hilton appoint
cd time and place for Baxter to commu-
nicate personally with him. A short time
after the above occurrence Mr. Benjamin
again encountered the mysterious Baxter,
who once more began to dilate on his pros
poets of mulcting the rich merchant. MIR.
Benjamin then asked the other MIR: B. how
he was prepared to act in case Mr.. Stewart
demanded whom he had heard speaking of
hIm MS the object of their proposed robbery,
whereupon Mr. Baxter named two very re-
spectacle young men, who have since been
arrested. Three months after this inter
view, Mr.. Benjamin again accosted his
friend, and inquired, with n ,jocose 1eer, OF
the result Of his negotiations with Mr.. A.
L. Stewart. Persevering, Mr.. Baxter was
still confident that something would turn
up" upon which Mr.. Benjamin grew SER
iously conspicuous, and thencefort absnd-
oned Mr.. Baxter's company.
The protective agency, of which institu-
ton Mr.. Baxter called himself snperintend-
ent, proves to have brought to grief four or
five wealthy individuals and several firms.
A further investigation of this romantic
story will develop circumstances of grave
interest. t.-Ne,o York Standard, Aug. l9h.
a Novel Gunboat
The famous gunboat invented by nj.
Farcy, naval lieutenant, has been sent from
Cherbourg to Strasbourg by way of the
Selae and the canals. This gunboat seems
to have solved the prollem of o craft pos
sessing very light draugft Of water, and
able TO carry single gun OF The largest
known calliber. 1t was built at ST. Denis,
near Paris, in the workshop of Gladarede
s. Co., and is nothing more than a floating
e17L-carriage. Its dimensions were Is me-
ters in length by 4 meters so centimeters In
breadth; and although it has q .displace-
men5 OF A tuns, it draws but three feet OF
water, This is duo TO the peculiar con-
struction Of the hall. which is grooved ion-
gitudiilally, to grooves so dividing the
water as 10 offer the least resistance, giving
at the same time great steadiness 10 the
vessel 1t is propelled by two small en-
gines of five nominal horse power, capable
OF working up 10 40, and connected with
| two independent screws. Its average speed
| is SIX knots and q half, abundantly sufficient
] for freighting purposes. By the help of
| its own screws it tarns with unusual quick
ness, and in the same. length Of
time, whether with the rudder alone or
with the two screws In either case not
| exceeding one minute and five seconds for
complete circle Bet the diameter 0
the circle varies, being abont 900 feet with
the rudder alone, while with The help of
the two screws acting in opposite diree-
tiong, the vessel turns literally in its own
length. It is needless to remark on the
Importance of the readiness with which
such q craft can be handled in action. In
this case the yeasei viii perform q reyolu-
ton in less time than the gun can be bad
ed. And notwithstanding her extreme
smallnese, she is nevertheless to certain
extent seaworthy, being fitted with
s9,s-ouant, ending in 81 prolonged spur Or
beaI When q waive strike this beak, it is
brok en-, and, dividing to starboard and
port. passes on either side, or falls HARM
less ON deck if it reaches SO high, ,r
STEAId NG GRAyE.-The conversation
turned en- 3 evening upon Che propensity to
steal (acc,,, eltlQte was the word n,ore often
used TO exp vss violation of The eighth
commandmel1t) which was much more
prevalent IN some commands than in 9th.
ers, one of the officers said that the most
singular theft thaS he had ever heard of
had been committed that day. Il was no
less than the stealing OF & grave.
Stealing grave = was echoed in aston
ishment from all sides. fImposgibIara
''Absurdf' sCan't be done !"
.'But it was DONE" insisted the officer.
''and I'll tell yop how. You know that the
--st Regulars, and the til OREGON
Volunteers are brjgaded together and
camped side by side. Each regiment had
a death yesterday, and to-day the regulars
made preparations to bury their man. They
sent out party TO dig grave beyond the
guard lines, and In the meantime they
were making their corpse ready. The vol.
unteers had theirs all ready over night;
and no sooner was the regulars working
party out of sight after the grave was dug,
than the volunteers started their escort,
marched-quick time, / guess straight to
the grave, buried their man and covered
him up; and when the regulars came
round with their funeral, they found that
the volunteers had actually stolen their
grave. Prom WAITS FROM FIELD, CAMP
AND GARRISON, IN Lippineotfs Magazine for
September.
A SWIMMING RACE BY YOUNG WoNEN.
The appearance of six young ladies at
Boston, last week, in an athletic display
heretofore attempted only by the men,
illustrates the rapid advancement of the
sex's independence. Six Charlestown
young women challenged an equal number
of Boston beauties to swimming race for .
prize of 500. The latter accepted, but,
when the appointed time came, did not
anupar on the 1rOund So the pruul-. Il