The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1874-12-10
LAFAYETFE's WATCH.
Testing Test ms-BaelE-TraeISInR
ROgues Over Half n Century.
Washington Cor n Y Globe

y
On Friday, 10Th June last, my veneer
able friend, Sam Hooper, of Massachu
sets, introduced into the house of rep
resentatives a joint resolution (unani-
mously passed) appropriatiDg $500 for
the purchase and restoration TO the
family of the Marquis de Lafayette Of
the watch presented TO him by General
Washington, and lost by General Lafay-
cite during his last visit to this country.
In connection with the resolution was a
statement that the watch was in posses
sion Of John r. Ward, Esq, of Texas,
who had purchased it four years ago at
a pawnbroker's sale in Louisville for
the sum of S75. It bears the inscrip.
ton, ." G. Washington to Gilbert Mot
tiers de Lafayette, Lord Corvallis
capitulation, Yorktown, October, II,
1871" The watch is of the shape known
as bulls eye" which was the fashion
able one at that period, and is heavily
double-cased with gold of high purity.
The exterior ID ornamented with classic
devices in high relief an armed and
helmeted warrior presents a crown to
throned female. The watch bears the
| name of the maker, sc. Halifax, Lon
don, 1853. According to the state
ment of General Rogers, of Tennessee,
of General Lafayette during his visit to
| Nashville in 1925, this watch was stolen
| from its owner at that time and its fate
was unknown, although large reward
was offered for its return, until it turned
| up In the way above described" This
statement was vouched for by Congress-
man Horace Maynard as being histori-
cally true the genuiueness of the relic
was vouched for by treasury experts.
the only doubt being created by the in
| correct spelling of Lafayette's patro-
nymic, Motier"-doubt quickly dis
PEELED by Messrs. q. F. Hoar and Gar
| field, who said that Washington's ortho-
graphy was none of the best, and that
even Ben. Franklin used to spell soap
"sope."
1 no sooner read the account of this
in the Congressional Record than I was
seized with an irresistible desire to dis
| cover the history of the watch from the
time 1t was stolen, fully persuaded that
quite romance awaited me. After the
| adjournment Of congress I proceeded to
/ accomplish my purpose. The first
thing to do was to get temporary pos
session Ct the watch, which was in
the custody of the state department.
l found that it would require me to get
through more red tape than I could I'M
tangle in year TO reach it by regular
appro aches and, as I only wanted II
for a week, I determined to cut the
Gordian knot. But it is a secret too
dead to reveal even to the world how,
by an ingenious combination of huRger
mugger, influence" and trick, I at
last found the venerable Jewel in my
hands. Venerable, indeed It had
rested in Ct. WIS fob, over his epigas-
tZ1um, in those sulphur-colored breeches,
with all his beloved seals dangling be-
low it. 1t had been preserved by La
| faYette through all the trials and perils
of the French revolution. Even the
jailers of Olmutz had spared ito be
cabbaged at last by vulgar Nashville
thief But was it taken by any vulgar
thief? was determined to settle that
question at'once.
But how? Tennessee had risen in 1926
in pursuit of the saciilegiOus thief and
failed to catch him. Rewards had been
lavishly offered-all in vain. What could
an amateur detective do fifty years later?
II was easy to find John r. Ward. ESQ.
OF Texas and through him, the Louis
vile pawnbroker; but how much nearer
would that bring me to the thief of two
generations back? Not a step. I knew
an old German wizard in Baltimore with
a remarkably happy knack of revealing
the hiding-places of stolen goods for a
consideration. But here the goods were
in hand, and it was the thief wanted ;
and it is part of the business of finders
of stolen goods to give immunity to
thieves-and share the swag with them.
In short, the business was very com.
plicated, yet, as proposed to deal with
1t, as simple as could be. In short, I
was persuaded that by resorting to the
processes of modern thaumaturgy, 7
could easily make a dark way plain
ODlne fgnotstDl pro 0lirifcO. I had
never dealt in person with clairvovants,
the spiritists, the mediums, but I had
read much of their wonders, and I was
prepared to believe that all I had 10 do
WIS to consult a genuine clairvoyant
medium in state of ecstasis to get a
clear and graphic retrovision over all
| the events which was seeking to bring
to light. It was for this end that 1
obtained temporary possession Of the
watch.
Now began a bootless perquisition
among the "test" mediums, as they call
themselves, probably on the principle
of t1tcUs non lltcendO, because they
/ will not bear testing. Mr.. Gregory, in
his credulous book on Animal Magne-
one Alexis, a medium of this sort, when
he at once identified it as having be-
longed to Mary Queen of Scots (whose
history the medium was totally ignorant
| ot), and as having been given to Rizzio,
whose murder WIS graphically describ-
| ed. This was precisely the sort of me-
| dium / was in search of, but have not
| yet found. This was not my fault
either, for have consulted all the best
spiritistic and clsirvoyant authorities in
this CITY, New York, Boston, and Chi
cago. What 1 got was mere emptiness,
coupled indeed with some appearance of
plausibility, suca as might deceive a
credulous or an inexpsrt person. All
the mediums gave me voluble descrip-
/ tions of the thisf, which I took down
| with great APPEARANCE of earnestness
and satisfaction. The trouble was no
two descriptions tailed in any essential
/ particular, and e was hardly possible
that this number of various individuals,
old and young, male and female, rich
and poor, handsome and ugly, tall aud
short, fair and dark, had conspired for
| the larceny of one poor watch. Some of
/ the clsirvoyants who had read the le-
! gend on the watch gave nue. huent de
/ scriptions of scenes in Lafayette's life
/ such as they had read about. Two or
/ three indicated but very faintly)
slender faculty of thought reading, by
seeming TO anticipate in outline some of
my own hazv coniectures in regard to
the theft. But, beyond these things,
and an oracular solemnity and infinity
/ of assurance common to all the trade,
mono of them went; and, after full trial,
1 gave mp the medium business IN dis
! gust, returned the watch TO the depart
/ ment, and sought another way OF en-
! trance into the secret.
1 wrote to Mr.. John Il. Ward, of
Texas, for information in regard u the
paWnbreller at whose sale he had Bought
the relic, and, pending the receipt of
this, paid brief visit to NASHVILLE, ard