The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1876-10-13
A DALMATIAN DETECTIVE.
The Wonderful Exploits of a Member O
the London Police.


| the London Police.
One of the most remarkable of the
London police is Druskowitz. No one
| looking at the short, blonde-mustached
and rather dandyfied young man would
suspect him of being the cleverest of de-
tectives. He is about thirty-four years
old, but looks less. His father was a
Dalmatian. He himself speaks any
number of languages, and is thus nearly
always sent abroad where any case occurs
in non-English speaking country need
ing the services of an English detective.
In London his special work is among the
foreigners. who 20 there as fugitives from
justice. 1t is generally found that such
persons betake themselves to special To-
calities. Usually they lie hiding for a
Jew days, but they soon ind it impossi-
BILE to remain indoors any longer and
| so, having shaved off their boards, if
they had one, or putting on a false
beard if they had formerly shaved, and
wearing wig and spectacles, they sally
forth at night, and, being in want of
amusement, they betake themselves to
the Alhambra. That is a favorite resort
of foreigners in London, and Drusko-
WITT is therefore frequent visitor there
He appears much interested by the per-
formance, but his thoughts are elsewhere.
He is watching some one individual in
the audience, follows nim when he
leaves, tracks him to his hiding place,
and then sets to work to find out who he
is. Woe to the man who really is
criminal if Druskowitz be on his trail.
There is little chance for him. Drusko-
witz has an extraordinary moral in
fluence over criminals; it is something
like that of the rattlesnaBe upon bird.
He carries no arms, yet he does not fear
to go up to an armed and desperate man
and arrest him ard, though armed and
desperate, he succumbs. DruskOwitZ was
engaged nine years ago in a remarkable
case. In 1866 Vital Douat, Bordeaux
wine merchant, went to Paris and insured
his life for a sum equal to $4,000.
Shortly afterward he went to London in
order to escape the consequences of a
fraudulent bankruptcy. Some time
later his wife, clad in widows weeds,
presented herself at the insurance office
with the necessary legal documents at
testing her husbands death. There was
nothing suspicious in the papers. Never
theless, the company determined to
make some inquiries before handing over
the amount of insurance. Druskowitz
was called in and he ascertained that on
December l, 1866 some one named Ber- |
nandi had called at the registers office in
Plaistow and registered the death of |
Douat, and it was entered as due to |
heart disease. Druskowitz found out !
the undertaken who had conducted the |
funeral, and learned that everything had |
been properly ordered and paid for, and |
that the funeral had been performed at |
LeytOnstOne by the Catholic priest. One |
thing seemed strange. The coffin had |
not been sent to any private house, but |
direct to the cemetery. Further in
quiry failed to discover any doctor of
the name attached to the certificate of |
death. The next step was to obtain an
order for eXhUmatiOn, anC the coffin be-
ing opened there was found, not the
body of Vital Douat, but a block of
lead. Further inquiry ELECTED the fact
that DOuat had been present at his OwE
funeral and afterwards gone to America,
whence he supplied his wife with the
documents intended for the insurance
company. Some time afterwards he re-
turned to Europe, went to Antwerp,
bought a ship, sent her to sea with lot
of rubbish, and having previously in
sured her for a large sum, had her
burned. Arrested and brought to trial,
he was visited by Druskowitz, who felt
sure that this was the man be wanted.
Douat was found guilty and condemned
to imprisonment with hard labor, but
the French government claimed him
under an eXtradition treaty, and he was
tried on the charge of fraudulent bank
ruptcy, found guilty, and sentenced to
penal servitude for comparatively
short period.