Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1877-07-21
Alefan0rla 6ax&tte
SATURDAY EVENING. JULY q.
Detectives.

| Give tuis stuff back to that Engllshmau,"
wrote New York thief; hes no detective;
| he's duifer.' That EDglishman" was De-
| tcctvc Green, who mad traced tho Bank ct
| England !Orgcrs to this country aud cylradited
them. In making himself familiar with Amer
icln customs he had been doSed with morphine
and robbed by thief, whose admiration OF
home products would not permit him tr SEQ
foreign detective acquire greater rcputa;luu
than the native thief takcr. First, he robbed
him, and then coutcmptuously sent the trinkets
TO captain OF policc with the letter given
above, signed "One Of the Boys" The de-
tectivc only rccolcctcd having been in the COM
pany OF very gcntlemanly young fellow whc
treated him with much libcraIity and wine. and
in whose society he fell asleep, attcrWard wax
ing alone and watchless. The Inference is that
the American criminal considers the American
detective superior to his Euglish prototypc,a and
the American detective system has certainly ds
ycloped shrcwd set Of men.
Usually the detective, when a great robbery
has been committed, knows, after a few mo-
ments glance at the scene OF the crime, who the
perpetrators are. In his tours through the city
he meets the prominent thieves, tor no great
robbery is committed excepting after complete
premises to ascorlain the easiest methcd OF
entry, find the precise location of the valuablea
to be stolen, know the habits Of each person in
the place, study the method Of police snrvei
lance AID then await an opportunity. Such
predatory work is as mehodicalIy done as the
adjustment of the parts Of scent!iln lu9tru
rlcnt All this takes time, and gives the de
tectivc ample opportunity for knowing that the
thieves arc in the city. Hence he is often able
to capture the criminals and lock them up
while he gathers evidence to lAslGn the crime
on them.
A case illustrative Of this occurred in this
city in 1870. The safe Of the Beneficial Saw
ings Bank 1T Twelfth md Chestnut streets was
opened and money. hond: and diamonds, to
the value Of more than i million OF dollars.
taken. It was 2 crime committed hy accom-.
rIishcl thieves. Not less than SIX noted
thieves were engaged for more than month 10
planning it, and cGc al least was thoroughly &C
uueinted with the particular kind OF sale open
ed. When two OF the best detectives 10 tho
United States looked at the sale and saw the
delicate accuracy OF the measurements made To
guide the drill, aui the completeness witl
which the whole work was done they expressed
their admiration. Bat the moment they saw
the effect they knew the human causes. This
robbery was not even followed by an arrest.
The whole matter was arranged ln 40 interview
with tho thieves who retained an immense
amount Of money in consideration OF returning
the bonds and jewcry.
The private detective has more ?aricd duties
than The city officer, and to be 40 efficient work
or he should be man OF experience IN every
phase Of lie, for to him fall duties often OF an
extremely delicate character. The watching oil
wayward daughters and wild sons, and the
tracking OF wives and husbands not above sus
pcion is no small part Of their business. Dur
iug the Centennial Exposition young lady OF
New York met 40 attractive young man at the
PENNSYLVANIA Railroad depot and iel' h0pclcssy
in love. Her father, a wealthy gentleman, tried
to induce the girl TO forget the matter, and she
rcsoiutcly determined to marry her chance oh
icct Of alteration. The father pitlcd the daugh
ter and employed private detective OF thl4
city TO investigate The young mans character
and resources. The detective shadowed his
man for week, aud the only bad thing he
could score against him was that he iilrlcd wltf
a girl one night upon tho street. lie l. noW
the son.in. law Of respectfully wealthy parcni.
Nine tcnths Of the divorce suits OF the day
depend upon the vigilance and honesty ol tho
private detective, aud the pr0blag TO which
commercial circles arc subjected by him aEe as
founding. No large corporation IS complete
without its little Nldocq While the good
cashier knccls in his pew asking divine Tor
giycness for his pcccaiocs synthctlca..y, the
private detective is inquirlng from human
sources, and anaytically, what those peceadlI
locs arc The man at the head OF great cor
poration now n days knows the circles in which
his responsible employees move, what the lam,
lily expenses are, what tho private habits OF
the employees are, the places they frequent, 10
fact, the details Of their lives. If the fashion
able young man drives five thousand dollar
team on twelve hundred dollar salary, his ac
counts are speedily Investigated. Does his taste
incline 10 the pretty danseu3c. lnnumerablc
bouquets and little suppcr5 1T great price, ho
may reckon to certainty on the private dc
tcclivo taking the menu to the employer with a
faithful transcript Of the telnlzed bill oil costs
The taste for fast living breeds robbery OF the
treasury, and this in turn bcgcls espionage o'
| lie away from business.
Recent robberies al balls have made the pm
yatG detective L necessity oil the lashlonabl;
! German or dinner. At grand ball gwen not
| long ago in this city, al which diamonds were
worn in proiusion, frequent inquiries were made
| as TO the identity Of iiuc looking gontem "a IN
an irreproachable dress suit. Ills distinguished
appearauce was much admired aud ho 10 turn
guarded the diamonds Of his admirers. Not IA
guest iD the rooms but passed under his scru
| tiuv.-Ihiu. North AnlcricnM.
| EnIICSTIONAL