Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1877-06-20

to the telegram she attempted to
leave on train, but was arrested
and held, and soon after the reply
came that the draft was a forgery.
knowing that she had accomplices in
the crime, an effort to induce her
to reveal them resulted in her charg-
ing a half-dozen innocent men with
the crime. They were successfully
arrested and discharged. Finally
she was held to bail in the extremely
low sum Of $500. and this ended
chapter l.
Thus matters stood until last Tues
day, when c., B. Il @. telegraph OPP
orator reported that the
COMMERCIAL LINE HAD OPENED
very suddenly and unaccountably,
been located between Charlton and
Lucas, but could not be found
Again and again the section men
went slowly over the track, scruti-
nizing every foot of the wires, but
they were all up, and there was no
break visible. Finally, after repeat
led examinations, the section men
came in and reported that they could
see nothing, except as one remark
cd in a humorous way, "some cob
webs hanging from the WIRE" They
were ordered to go back and exam
inc the cobwebs, which they did, and
behold the cobwebs were
FINE COPPER WIRES!
The telegraph wire had been cut
and spliced, an undertaking that had
been accomplished without the aid of
the instruments ordinarily used to
stretch the wire. 1t had been accom-
plished in this manner: The tele-
graph wire had been carefully wrap
ped with leather in two places not
more than an inch apart, the leather
being an inch wide. A separate piece
of telegraph wire, some eight or ten
inches long, being bent double, one
end was wrapped around each piece
of leather, and between them the
line was cut and the ends bent back
over the ends of the splice. Leather
being a non-conductor no current
could pass through from the genuine
line through the leather to the splice,
and thus the circuit was broken.
The rascals then deliberately pro-
ceeded to erect
PRIVATE OFFICE.
To do this two long fine copper
wires were attached to the telegraph
wire, one on each side of the break,
and were carried down to the ground
and connected with an instrument
and battery there concealed. Here
then was discovered telegraph Of
flee which only lacked an operator to
receive and transmit dispatches as &C
curately as any regular Office.
| THE sIREwD INGENUITY
of the perpetrators of this outrag.
cous villainy is we'll shown by the
means which they took to get up te
the wire to cut it. They needed q
ladder and they made one. They
made il of boards knocked from the
fence, but do not think they took a
whole panel Of fence at once. That
would have attracted attention. They
passed along and knocked off the
bottom boards here and there, the alb
sence of which would be discovered
Gonly he examination.
i THEIR OBJECT
: will be readily understood when it is
considered that they tapped the com.
mercial wire which is used for the
transmission of ordinary and bust
ness dispatches. They were intend
ed to intercept Mr.. Coles dispatch t.
the Cynthiana bank, and after /,
proper interval to transmit him re
ply that the draft was all right. HI
would then pay the draft and til,
thievish trio would then depart til,
country. This explains why the wo
. . man was SO exact about the houl
at which the draft should be present
ed. 1t was part of the agreed pro
, gramme,
HOW 1T WAS DISCOVERED.
AS long as the wires and connec
lions through the clandestine instru
8 ment were complete the current pass
: ed through it and on to its destina
E ton, the circuit being complete. o
course the rascals would leave the in
: strument thus In order to avoid de
0 lection, and as long as 1t remained
intact messages would come and q
as usual, and nothing would be sus
pected at any of the regular offices
E But at last knife, which had beer
! stuck into the fence to hold som,
strings in place, fell down, and thu
a circuit was broken. At once bushes
was interrupted, and the investiga
: ton followed.
THE SEQUEL.
As soon as this private Office wa
= discovered Superintendent Potter
! placed the matter in the hands O
: = Maj. Wood, the chief of the polio,
department of the road, and to-day
the whole party are in custody and il
fair way to 60 where they belong
The arrest of the woman took plac,
at Osceola as narrated above. TIL,
arrest Of Wilson, one of her confed
: crates, was detailed in yesterday
HaWk-Eye. He was undoubtedly
raising money with which to liberatt
the woman. Yesterday Ball wal
taken by Major Wood who was close
on Wilson's heels when he was cap
tured here, having notified tho police
of his presence and having arrived
here in person.
The speedy arrest Of these three
, arch-criminals is matter of gratula.
ton to the Major who has no superi.
OF as detective in the west. This il
by no means the first time he has been
rewarded by similar successes. The
managers of the G. b. & @. know the
value of good officers and have rea.
son to congratulate themselves upon
: having secured the services of sc
prompt and efficient an officer in hi:
peculiar department as the Major has
shown himself to be. His service in
this case extends beyond the corpora.
ton in whose immediate employ he
is to the general public, whose inter.
ests are subserved by it.
We may be permitted to say from a
long acquaintance with Major Wood
that more successful detective OF
worthy officer is not to be found in
this country and if forgers, thieves
and confidence operators wish to keep
out of the clutches of the law, they
had better emigrate from the Majors
district.
IN THE SWEET BY-AND-BX.
Cannot but be the happy thought as
the fortunate recipient Of the "RocKY
MOUNTAIN TOURIST" scans its wonder
fully attractive pages and peruses its
fascinating descriptions. Most beau
tifully embellished with new and
highly artistic engrsvings, its letter.
press model of typographical rich.
ness, and the arrangement throughout
simply superb, the ROCKY MOUNTAIN
TOURIST is worthy of comparison with
Picturesque America or The Aldsne.
: 1t is written in gossipy, graphic style,
covering details Of the tour through
} the garden of the Southwest {the Ar
kansas Valley, southern Kansas), to
the very heart of the Alps Of America
| 4La Ronkr Mannkaiaa Ia..I..~