Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-02-25
4 AAckeTT CASE.
a sad stoTy-A YoUBg business Kan
Arrested and sent to 1aiI al
q Common Thaef.
Commentary upon che Popular s"Ereed
fer GOIds-HOney; Honestly,
aT You Can, but Money.


A csse Of embezsling, in which J. II.
Hackett figures as the principal actor, has
kept the corner of Main and Union streets
in q sort OF feverish excitement for three
or four days. II eliminated yesterday In
/ the sending of the suspected emhezzler
to Jail by Justice Winters in default of
finding $4,000 bail. Mr.. Hackett was
superintendent of the great dry goods
house on Main street known ss the
Southern Palace" and owned by D. @. q
n. M. ~Loewenstine, and the charge
against him is contained in the followin g
warrant:
State of Tennessee, Shelby county:
Before me personally appeared H. NJ. Loew-
| enstine, and made oath that John H.sEackett
did f~eloniously embezzle from aftiant, at vari-
! Gus times, a lot Of goods to the value of ten
thousand dollars, the property Old. g. & a. M.
Loewenstlne, against the peace and dignity of
the State, and contrary to law;
Subscribed and sworn to be ore me, this oath
February, 1872. P. Nj. WINTERS, J.P-
The exact value of the goods taken is
not known; but to the best of his knowl-
edge Mr.. L-oewenstine estimates them at
the above figures. When
THE PRoPRIEToRs OF THE HOUSE
began to suspect that they were losing
property, Mr.. Hackett never entered
their minds in connection with the thefls-
4 OIL kH6 COubIAEHs buOukAb GAA oACoduluKkY
reliable and trustworthy, q man OF great
probity, business talent, shrewd, ener-
getic and particularly close In money
matters; in fact, rather inclined to DO
misery. That was the mans natural
character. He never Equandered money,
lived in q frugal, u~npretentious style, and
merely dressed up to that degree Of respec
liability which the position he occupied re.
quired. he was eminently q money get
/ ter, He boarded at a little but very re-
spectacle clearinghouse, IS Monroe
/ street, and lodged in an unpretentiOus
room on Exchange street. In view of his
/ character in itself, and the responsible
and important position he occupied in the
house, he was the last man to be sus-
pected. The Loewenstines were, there
fore, the last people to suspect Sup
erintendent Hackett. The astoniHhment
was great on their part to find, after 8
period of unusually close observation, that
his actions were not above suspicion.
They employed
of the detective force, at the beginning
of the week to observe. This gentleman
observed to some purpose, He had his eye
on him during the week, and took note of
all his actions. By Friday after breakfast
he felt convinced that all was ready for a
coup de main. Acqusinting the Loewen-
shines with the nature of the case as it
then stood, 1t was decided to arrest Hack
cit, which wss done about moo on Fri
day. The primary object in view wss to
recover the missing property. The evening
was spent in an endesvOr to accomplish
this object, which failed in q great degree.
Hsckett had nothing in Memphis which
could be reached, except n box of
goods, or more properly, q trunk Of
goods, which Mr.. Cranmer found in
Hackett's room. The trunk was filed as
much as it could hold, the last articles
that were put in being two silk Ombrel-
las. Mr.. Crsnmer took Hackett out to
Messrs. LoeWenstine's house on Poplar
street, and had a private interview with
him in one of the psrlors, with the object
of procur ring, If possible, some knowledge
In regard to former suspected theGts, and
to procure the re dition of the property.
This failed. The detective discovered
that Hsckett was the owner of some
United States bonds, the exact value of
which could not be sscertained. They
are in New York and beyond the reach of
prosecutors. After figuring round for
several hours, during which time our re-
porter had his eye upon them, 1t was
finally settled that
NIB. HACKETT
should be locked up and the Messrs.
Loewenstine should prosecute him.
When he was turned over to the keeper
of the ststionhouse after twelve O'clock
that night, there were found upon his
person two hundred and fifty dollars in
gold and a very valuable watch.
These facts we're put In type in the AP-
PEAL office on Friday night and would
have appeared yesterday morning, but
they were kept out at the earnest aolicita-
ton OF Mr.. h. NJ. LoeWenstine and other
gentlemen, who thought that by keeping
the fact of the theft quiet a little longer
there might be further chance for recov-
ering more of the goods. In veri11cstion
of this fact, and as another proof thst the
APPEAL considers first and above all
things the welfare and best interests Of
our merchants and business men, we pub
fish the following;
To THE PUBLI
We called at the APPEAL office after one
o'clock Of the morning of Saturday, and got e
promise from the night editor that the AP-
PEAL would not publish any notice of the
resentstion that an editor Of the Avalanche
had made a solemn promise not to publish it
until Sunday morning, or until he should see
Us again. q. B CRANMER.
H. NJ. LOEWENSTINE.
We perceived the probsble value to the
Messrs, LoeWenstine of keeping the mat
ter quiet for a time, and when we had the
assurances of those gentlemen that the
circumstances would not appear In print
from any other quarter, as is our habit,
we consulted their interest rather than
our own. We felt in a manner bound to
prefer the interest of the business men to
our own, because it is the policy of the
APPEAL, as the leading commercial paper
of the Southwest.
HACKETT's D
When Mr.. Haekett was brought before
the recorder yesterday morniog, he was
represented by Colonel George r. Phelan,
who did not propose to go into b charges
preferred against his client just then. On
the affidavit of Mr.. L~oswenstine, the judge
demanded $4,000 bonds from Mr.. Hsckett
for his appearance Monday at noon. In
default of finding the bail, the prisoner
was mittimused 70 Jail. The deputy
sheriff took him from the s~tationhouse
shortly afterwards to the criminal court
to wait for q kqusd of prisoners