The New Orleans Democrat. (New Orleans, La.) 1875-1876, 1875-12-21
HUNTING TWEED.
THE twRoNG) LION BEARDED AND BALD
HEADED IN HIS MOUNTAIN DEN.

Ever since inc escape OF Tweed UOrid
detectives have been silently engaged
IN tracking the steps Of the fugitive,
and no expense has been spared 10 fol-
low out every clue and investigate each
ruinor. The main object OF this vigor-
ous search was to obtain the reward of
$4,000, and the secondary idea was to
gain everlasting fame. The officers Of
the Order Of Arrest Department. reeog-
nizing the vigilance and detective skill
Of the JporH reporters, have been in the
habit of consulting with them every
morning since the escape as to the latest
r,lmors, and action has been taken ac-
cordingly. At II o'clock last Thursday
night the following lctter-ono among
bushels-was received ut the Office Of
the UoyM:
Mourr Afro, Pa, Dec. 8. 1876.
Publishers New York World.
Dear Su's-A man answering your de
scription OF VIM. Tweed has been seen,
and In reality is at D cabin of one Bill
Conrad, on South Mountains. near
White Rock, seven miles from Mount
Alto, Franklin county, Pa. There is %
camp of hunters near that place and the
stranger is camping out with them. |
have given orders to have him watched,
and he cannot escape. He says his
namc IS John Henery, and that he is
from Baltimore. Md He intends stay
ing with rs u week. He has plenty Of
money. He bought rifle from one Of
our party, aud on paying for II cailght
n glimpse Of his money. He had n roll
Of $50 and $40 bills. In sleeping we saw
his shirt, aud it was marked "W. NJ T. /"
Please give description Of Tweed aud
his body. He asked us Ii we got the pa
pers lately, and | told him we had been
oht for one week, and had not seen any
other persons than our own party. lie
seemed relieved by our answer. ] have
gone down to Mount Alto TO write this.
We got The JForM of Tuesday from the
man that brought our provisions. ]
will not say anything to the police Of
our county or they will spoil all by their
cupidity. | must close now rs | must
go back TO camp SO that the man may
not suspect anything. Yours very
truly. CnAra MpDEwELL,
Chambersburg, Franklin Co., Pa
The first and journalistic thought was
to publish this letter and let the world
know what the JFo,id knew. The second
and detective conclusion was to find out
by the strong arm of persistent investi
gation why John Henry had 'W. NJ L"
on his shirt A trustworthy reporter
was summoned, into whose possession
the letter was given with many instruc-
tions us the secrecy and the proper
course to pursue with reference to the
investigation. Friday morning the re-
porter placed two letters on the desk OF
Sheriff Conner. One was statement
whereby Sheriff Conner agreed that, In
case the information revealed by the
other letter should be of importance, no
newspaper but the. IVoJid.should be put
int ,,,sfanunt1r ~ n fnhtst t1a AhntfT
readily agreed TO. He then slowly read
the letter from Cbambersburg. As he
finished reading, the reporter said
"Well, Sheriff, what do you think of
it?"
1T seems to be about as good clue
as any we have yet received as to
Tweed's whereabouts. replied the
Sheriff.
''The letter Is genuine, without doubt,
murmured the reporter.
Exactly" said the Sheriff 81 will
let Bangs and Major Quincey see it. -
When Mr.. Bangs, the head Of Pinker-
tons Detective Agency in this city, had
read the letter a couple of times and
Major Quincey had read it three times
more than Mr.. Bangs, they closed the
door of the private office and consulted
together At last the reporter was ad-
mitted and Mr. Bangs said in his finely
modulated voice. "My dear sir, were
you intending to investigate this mat
ter?'
The World most certainly, sir, will
investigate every clue Of this magni-
tude and as q representative of The
World | am thinking, sir, of leaving
New York this evening for Mount Alto. "
Thereupon Mr. Bangs read the letter
again and Major Quincy read it twice.
"Well, sir. atlength said Mr.. Bangs,
"all of our men are engaged In follow
ing other clues In this business, and
there is not spare officer in the
Sheriff's office, and this matter should
be looked into, SO II you have mind to
go to the South Mountains / will make
you a deputy sheriff."
The reporter signifled his willingness
to depart Sheriff Conner then gave
him a big document creating him an Of
ficer to preserve the public peace, and a
blessing. Mr.. Bangs. gave the reporter
instructions about telegraphing, and at
the conclusion he said: eff you get
Tweed or find he has been in that coln-
try telegraph to us at once, and we will
send hundred men II necessary to
bring him to New York. Tell the hun
ters in the cabin, il the man they des
cribe is Tweed, to hold him, and they
Will run no IlSkS VI eNtI DcluR puUl5u-
cd for OBTAINING him if Tweed should
demand his liberty under the laws Of
the State OF Pennsylvania.
So, at o'clock Friday night, the re-
porter-the detective, he mcans-took a
seat in passenger car OF the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad and went to Harrisburg,
arriving there at l o'clock Saturday
morning. At 8 a. IN. the World detec-
tive left Harrisburg and arrived in
Chambersburg two hours and a half
later. There he began the search after
Craig Mcdowell. The McDowells are
distinguished people, and the detective
had no difficulty in finding the Mellow
ell residence, q large low structure just
back Of that portion of Chapbersburg
that was destroyed by fire during the
war. A servant came to the door, and
in response to an inquiry for Craig Nc
Dowell, replied that he was hunting in
the South Mountains, near White Rock.
SO far everything indicated that the let
ter was q genuine document, and the
search was resumed with great interest.
Mount Alto is about twenty miles from
and single track rail
road used for carrying iron from the
Mount Alto mines and blast furnaces to
the Cumberland Valley Railroad takes
ito the South Mountains
twice q day. At S o'clock in the after
noon the reporter left Chambersburg
for Mount Alto, and arrived at o'clock.
The station is a wooden building about
twenty feet long and ten feet wide,