The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1875-06-10
BATTLING DETECTIVES.
lie style. e'est rhomme."

Monsieur Button invented the phrase,
it is something more than a naot,-and
the police furnished practical applca-
ton of it. The identity of all the leading
criminals is measurably arrived at by the
police knowing the style in which they
operate. This style is the key to which
would otherwise be an impenetrable
cypher. The instructed experts of the
Paris police are able to determine, with
a precision and certainty which seem
marvellous to the uninitiated, whe9a ha:.i
it was committed q certain robbery, or
violated the law IL any crucial way.
Saoul Surian, a criminal of distin-
guished eminence, had a style of his own
that, while very successful in its pecuni-
ary results, was very troublesome in its
consequences to him, since it was SO
plainly marked as to be Immediately re-
cognized by the police. Hence, each
time he Operated" he was sure to be
arrested, and not always safe to escape
conviction. AS his operations were nu-
merous and extensive he was often con-
victed, and at the age of forty had pass
ed fifteen of the last twenty years of his
life in prison.
Raoul Surian, called Freluquet, was
the son of an optician and instrument
maker of MarseilIes, and followed the
trade of his father until his 10Th year,
when he came up to Paris to seek his
fortune He first became known TO the
police through rapid succession of
swindling operations, very successfully
contrived, for the delivery of goods
which he did not possess and the appro-
priation of money which was not his own.
Finally convicted, he was sentenced to
close confinement for three years, and
graduated from prison a very accom-
plished cheUalieJ d'indtst1ie. His op-
erations now assumed holder character,
and he worked in a larger field. He
was again convicted of deceiving a
wealthy bourgeois and obtaining sloan"
from him of 100, 1000 francs. This time
he served five years. A third conviction
insured close confinement of five years
more.
At the expiration of this last sentence
Raoul Surian returned to Paris and an
nounced his intentions to "reform." He
had saved little money by extra labor
in prison, his father was dead, and he
set up small shop at Belleville for the
sale of spectacles, e-glasses, and math-
ematical instruments. He was closely
observed by the police, but seemed to
conduct himself in the most exemplary
manner. His passport at this time de-
scribed man of ordinary height and
figure, modest but manly courage, face
rather pale, blonde hair, no beard, and
large, liquid blue eyes. The face, so
the sig7l0lenleat declared, was ingenu-
Gus, frank, open, with rather engaging
smile, but none of the features were
striking, unless it were the eyes. He
was great favorite of the police, who
had necessarily great soicitude on his
behalf, for, instead of avoiding them, he
assiduously cultivated their acquaint-
ance, made them little presents, and
gave few francs now and then to the
funds for the support of the INDECENT
criminals, and for the burial of the de-
ceased sergents de vile. He admitted
with many shrugs of the shoulders, that
he had been bad subject, but claimed
that he was shrewd enough to under
stand that In any contest betwixt him
and the law he was certain to fall under
meath. He had tried it several times,
and was quite well satisfied with the
punishment he had received. In short,
his reformation was definite and COM
plete.
After few months shop-keeping at
Belleville, Sulrian sold out his establish
ment. He had made a good deal of
money, he said, specializing in shares at
the Bourse, and did not need any longer
to continue the drudgery of shop-keep-
ing. lie now rented a modest apart
ment on the third floor of a handsome
house in a street not far from the Boule-
ward des Itahens-a drawing-room dress
ing-room, breakfast-parlor, two bed
rooms, room for servants, and small
room which he called the labratory.-
Here he installed MADAME" Surian, a
very handsome and vivacious brunette,
understood to have been a certain Mile.
Cytheree, not unknown to frequenters
of the coulisses of the opera. In his
sslabratory" Srrian had stock of fur
naces, ,crucibles, wheels and various other
instruments, and cast anu ground glasses
for optical and other instruments. for
which he received many orders, being
accounted skillful and ingenius work
man. He had an assistant, stoful-
looking Alsatian, named Jules Gochen.
His principal work, however, seemed to
be at the Bourse, where he speedily be-
came known as daring operator, who
would carry the heaviest load of shares
in the face of the most arduous difficult
ties, who always accepted his successes
with modesty, and paid his losses prompt
ly at maturity. As the police kept the
secret of his past life faithfully, and he
himself of course did not disclose it, it
came generally to be admitted that Raoul
Surian was very wealthy person, who
had made his money by following civil
engineering in South America, and re-
turned to Paris to spend it like gentle
man.
In 1869 there was tremendous effort
made at the Bourse to "corner" the
shares of the Scribe Moldavian Railway
The ''corner" was broken prematurely,
and great slaughter ensrled among the
'sbulls. Among those punished most
severely was M. Raoul Surian, whose
net losses, it was whispered, exceeded
$50, 900 francs. He came up gallantiy,
however, paid every centime, and, as if
to show he was not hurt, set up coupe
of his own. Madame" had already
long been in the habit of driving to the
Bois in very handsome turnout, but
that, it was understood, was only hired
Simultaneously an operation of anoth-
attracted the undivided attention of the
police. Bills on American ccount ag-
gregating over 5000, 600 fr,ncs were
sold in London, Paris, Amste dam and
Hamburg, which were found to be for
geries- The police after long consulta-
ton and comparison of data, found no
room to doubt that all these operations
were the work of one man, and that the
''styie" was that of the once eminent but
now reformed confidence man, III. Raoul
Surian.
A couple of the most trusty agents
were detailed to ''work up" the case,
ana, at the end of three weeks, SuriRn