Litchfield enquirer., 1878-12-19

II I and apparently fearless manner of the ''Nev Il York Butcher Boy" and must say tha I whenever have hadany intercourse with tha class 1, have found them manly, courageous and honest. Entering into conversation witt one of these individuals, I carelessly asked him if he knew by sight the young man wht lived in No ''Know him t? Of course do. He is fast one, he is. Him and Charley ] Long is lively pair of boys" ''Who is Char I ley Long ?".I asked. 'T don't know who h' I IS, but he and Charley Key are always togeth il CT. They are out on the road most of the l time in trotting- wagon" Supposing that 1 the young man had brought his tretting- g-horst to town, l regarded it as very natural cir constance that he should take a friend tC sl drive, but there was something in the look anG Il manner of my friendthe butcher that impressed
 Inc as unfavorable to the young men, although I he had not really said anything derogatory i about them. had absolutely no ground foI l suspicion, excepting my impressions. The
 rent had been duly paid. NIT. Boyd, the real 1 head Of the family, had been satisfactorily in dorsed. The names of the family relatives l were among the best in the City. All the out 4 ward circumstances were such as might ordi- l narily occur, and yet was still in condition of mental unrest. Do what might, 1 could not suppress it. In thinking ever the matter
 
 l to the house the next day, in spite of the evil dent annoyance. gave my tenant. I had brought with me the key to the room in which my. property was stored, and intended making
 the excuse that 1 wanted something 1 had
 placed there. On ringing the bell, it was an-
 swered by my young friend, Mir. Charles Rey
 The first thing 1 observed was that the gas fix
 ture was still absent. He said it had not been
 sent back. Having seen the wagon of prom inent gas filter and plumber from the Bowery drive away from the house as 1 approached,
 Ia man having deposited large bundle in the
 wagon, supposed he had been replacing the fixtures. I stated that l had come to get something put of the reserved room, which was the reception-roem, it being an English
 basement house. Unlocking the door, what
 was my amazement to find that the entire con- tents had been removed, with the exception of the heavier articles of furniture. l called to the young man, who had disappeared up stairs, and when he saw what had happened, he ap- peared more astounded than was, and went to tell his mother She, in her turn, was amazed that such thing could happen and they knowing about it. Here, at last, was the fullest confirmation of my worst suspicious.
 These suspicious, it is true, had been aroused by circumstances apparently trivial ln them selves, nor did they extend to the conception that wholesale robbery had taken place. But my conviction that something was wrong had been realized.
 I had absolutely nothing in my pos session to connect the family with the rob- bery; neverl heless, repaired at once to the nearest Police station, and, announcing the theft, proclaimed my belief that these eminent ly respectable people had committed it. Capt. Bilks heard my story with that profound con- tempt for every one in misfortune which is the privilege of such officials to exhibit more particularly did he ignore any possible knowl- edge on my part of the guilty parties. No one but Police Captain is supposed to be able to form any rational conclusions on such sub ject. However the Captain condescended to send with me slip-shod fellow in citizens clothes named Ramsey, who was called a ward detective" to investigate the matter Directing me, with mysterious, authoritative house, where he staid for about half an hour. On coming out, he informed me that ny sus- picions were all wrong, that there was no evi- dence of any kind whatever to authorize an arrest, and he so informed the Captain, who regarded me, apparently, as more an object of contempt and annoyance now than before. l then sat down and made out from memory a list of the stolen articles, with description of the paintings. This the Captain took, and said he would no Ify the pawn-brolers and keep a sharp lookout for the property. But l insisted wanted them searched for. There must be places where they could be found; they were not stolen to be destroyed. they had been sold cheaply to some one, who could be traced. This suggestion rather amused the Captain. The pictures, he said, were probably sent to Philadelphia as soon as they were removed from the house. Ramsey, the detective how ever suggested that he thought he could ''strike clue" if the Captain would authorize him ito take up the job" This was agreed to, and was notified to meet the detective that evening at 5 o'clock, and go with him to identify the property, if found. Thus began my experience as an amateur detective, which lasted for more than two months, with scarce ly any intermission, but with results far be- yond my expectations, attended, however, with circumstances so peculiar that they left upon my mind lasting impressions Of that network which seems to surround and interlace the his tory of crime and the lives of criminals, draw. ing within it's meshes andstainting with it's in- fuences all classes of society, revealing at the same time the manner in which persons of ap- parent responsibility aid, abet and counte- nance crime, and, above all, how the stupid Dogberries of the Police perform their func- tions, and how the detectives move abont like owls, their eyes wide open, seeing nothing. At 5 o'clock precisely 1 reported myself at the station house. The first suggestion of the de- tective was that we should take a drink" suiting the action to the word by entering the nearest liquor saloon, which in New YOrkis never very distant from any point. Having refreshed himself, he took it for granted that should pay, which hastened to do. We then sallied forth. The brilliant idea of the detec- tive was that these pictures would not be of fered to any one who would be likely to know fhor fr,1o uo1t yUhC bo concerning the character of the vender Hence, the most likely spot would be found among those places of resort where vice was made attractive to the vulgar by glare and tin sel, and which only those of ill-repute would frequent.
 Selecting certain streets and localities that were apparently very we'll known to himself. he led the way from house to house, where, leaving me to inspect the wretched daubs upon the walls he accosted the inmates with all the familiarity of an old acquaintance, who, in their turn, welcomed him with wonderful degree of elusive cordiality. In fact, Joe Ramsey soon established himself in my opin- ion, as the intimate friend of the largest num- Der of disreputable people that had ever seen. For more than two weeks ''traveled" with him. to use his own expression. Sometimes he would dive suddenly in cellar where pan- demonium seemed to reign, but where he al- ways found friends and acquaintances Oc- casionally he would allow me to enter some den alone suggesting that it was little dan gerous for him to go in. Rut from first to last did not discover that he exercised OF attempt cd to exercise, any aculnen or reserved force whatever. He went along as if he hoped to stumble upon something, but without any method or apparent purpose. beyond the fact that he had the power to seize whatever I might identify, or arrest whoever he might sus- pect. He did not attempt to work out any theory which is favorite occupation of his class. He merely wore out my patience, ex- hausted my energies, and wasted my time in a fruitiess ramble, apparently fer his personal qualification, for his tastes and inclnations were clearly exhibited from the beginning
 Disguised at length beyond endurance. re- ported to the Captain of the -Precinct that l would hereafter ''travef" alone without the aid of detective. and once more tried in vain to persuade him to arrest my tenants on suspi- cion. In setting out as an ameteur detective,
 adopted the regular orthodox method of
 true professional, namely, first to frame the ory, and then to seek clue. I studied over
 tht. maffnrE ha,s of