National Republican., 1873-12-06
PROFESSIONAL THIEVES.

An Inpsrtant Arrest How the Guests OF
Hotel were Saved from being Rlesced-
A Hotel Gun with Ills Implements Cap
turea-OG for the East.
The detectives, while attending TO the various
Il ,sses OF work that come under their supervl'
slon, at times come across curious cases, many
OF them requiring qnlcknes OF thousht and
really action to insure success 10 securing the
,afty for whom they are 10 search. While ont
on a iout Of observation In qlest of som, par.
ticular person, their knowledge OF professionals
lad Keen scent for thieves frequently places
hem on trail Masn least ,s,, ssnspsct,as snt .nas
criminals arc detected and brought 70
Justice. A csse Of this kind occurred
on Thursdy night last; p,tscuye .,.sn.S MeDeS, Sni
pennsylvania avenue, about II o'clock, when a
Young man OF prepossessing appearance, neatly
and iastefully dressed, passed along. He Was
quiet In his conduct, apparently uninterested in
what was transpiring around him. For some
unexplained reason, perhaps, 20 stranger, but
satisfactory TO himself, McDeyitt was convinced
that the young man was not all right, and con-
cluded that he would see more Of him. As q
starting step, he gave him signal. well kuown
aud understood among thieves, which was i'm
Tnis wsssnnlcient ground. work for the detec.
I've to proceed, and he followed in the footsteps
Of the young man, which carried him 70 the Ma
sional hotel; While the man was standing % alone
With the air OF an old friend. said: "How ar,
you; how long have you been In the town. The
thief, not suspectlng any trap, replied! 81 can't
this morning. Why, don't know you. VINO arr
your The detective then gave his name, ant
hls friend, In turn, said: 81 am here, stopping a
the metropolitan, room III. This is gooi towt
10 work; what say you, can remain:" This las
remark forcibiy showed that the thief knew tn,
man with whom he was conyerslns an on what
| nsrrow ground he stool to ply his ayocation.
McDevltt, with that accustomed coolness ioi
| which he Is proverblal, very frankly and point.
| edly said: ayes you ca1 stay here, but al
police headquarters This Information OF coursI
vas not very thankfully receivei-still, seems
| 40 alternative, the young man was forced tC
| ceeded to headquarters, where he changed hi
comfortable bed at the Metropolitan for tue sof
i side of pine board and quietly bunkei for tn,
ulght In recording his name at this well-p ttron
ized establishment he registered as NV Mason
from Pnlladelpha. Seeing that HIS man wa
hotel and searched his baggage, 10 which wa
found q complete set Of tools for working no
TEL all In complete orler, aud which would un
ioubtedly have been brought Into early use hi
it not been for the foresight and promptness o
the detective, who by his action perhaps save
| Yesterday morning the thief was ship2e
toward the East, there being no charge TO detail
him on which he could be held. There is no la'
In this District on which suspected thief ca
be arrested and held or committed TO plac
that will insure safety TO the yaluables and prop
| erty OF our citizens from his grasp. Conse
1uentiy the detective officers can only arres
| these suspected parties, and after securing thci
photographs transport them elsewhere, wher,
they will be at liberty to ply their avocition wit
that a law will be speedily enacted covering thi
class OF cases ant making our town Create
dread for thieves than the detective corps hi
now made II.