Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1879-04-05

: dDaEQOlSU NdSdDOuOs 0OutO AAtt ia
! hand against what is done for th'
general good. This is one reason
| why your visible police have mucl
easier time than ours.
HBat,u said /, ''do you not ap
prove of our secret police, or detect
. ives?'
"No,n said the Frenchman, 81
do not. | may be wrong, but they
,, don't appear to me to know the
| very commencement of their work
For instance, as your London de
tectiye goes along the street the
policemen on duty speak to him, or
give him nod of recognition, or,
if hr Is q superior, salute him. You
saw me a little while ago at BOu-
Iogne''-We were then in train on
our way to Paris -"pass number
of sergeants- when we dis
embarked. Did any of them make
me sign of recognition ?''
"No," said |, "they certainly did
not. / was close behind you, and
observed that not one of them APP
peared ever to have seen you before" /"
ssBon, ,"said the Frenchnan; s'and
yet they all knew me as we'll az l
. /
in fact, even you, monsieur" he
said, addressing me, ''have only my
word for it that [ have anything
whatever to do with the police; and
if you were 10 take off my clothes,
search all the pockets, and cut out
all the Innings, you would not find
one scrap of paper which would
show you that l have anything to
do with Rue de Jerusaleme."
"But," said l, ''after time peO-
pie must get to know your appear
ance, and mark you down as
! Monsieur So-and-So, of the police
force, in the same way that any
/ banker, merchant, or other private
individual would be noted down by
his neighbors."
"Ah, mon cher Monsieur" he
replied, show little you English
know of the working of our secret
| police, of what you call detectives f!
J LII my appearance and my vocation
were known, even to my landlord
and my concierge, | would be of no
more use to the secret police of Paris
| than pair of boots without soles
would be to an infantry soldier"
go about in the same costume! 1t
Is true that / leave my house every
morning i'm the same dress and if
you were to ask my concierge, or
any of my neighbors, who and what
! | am, you would he told that my
name was sO-and-sO-que .je suis
decOre, ct que .je Sais dams teS a6dires
which is equivalent to what you
English call something in the
city,"
''Do you ever, if may ask the
question, use disguises or dresses SO
as to make yourself pass for some
thing else than what you really are"
"Mais, comment ~ replied the
policeman, "that is one of our spe-
cial duties. A member of the
special police who could not pass
himself off for what he Is not would
not be worth twenty francs Il month
in the way of salary. have at diff
ferent times disguised myself as a
priest, as dragOOn, as an infantry
officer, as carpenter, as printer,
as a cocher de fiacre. | have waited
at table in restaurant as garcOn
of the establishment /; / have wheeled
truck with luggage on it from the
Chemin de Fer du Nurd to the
Grand Hotel; | have smuggled
cigars, passed myself off for a COM
missaire, and assisted in taking
tickets at a railway station. In
fact there are few situations and
fewer trades to which Ihave not for
a time belonged, and to whom
hope | have done certain amount
of honor"
"But," said I, ''surely in a large
city like Paris there must be some
body, and / should say not a few
people, who know you, and who
cannot be deceived by your differ
ent costumes"
|. "Look here" replied my COM
panion, "this is Thursday; we shall |
arrive in Paris about O'clock this
morning. If monsieur will make
me bet of a dinner tor four persons
at any restaurant the loser pleases,
/ will wager that before Sunday
night l will speak of threeseparate
occasions to monsieur, that he viii |
not on either occasion recognize who !
am until ! disclose myself, and !
that each time | viii speak to him
for at least five minutes"
Thinking it impossible that any
one person could by change of dress,
or what not, deceive me as to his !
identity three times in four days, / |
at once agreed to make the bet. In
due time we arrived at the station
of the Chenin de Fer du Nord / |
betaking myself to my hotel and
my companion to his own home.
After breakfast / set off to present |
my credentials to the Rue de Jeru-
saleme; which, as most people |
know, is the headquarters of the
Paris police. Upon sending up my /
letter and card, | was shown to the |
room of the sOlGS-cHgf de police cor
rectiolmelte; which, as l ave men
toned before, is a totally distinct |
department from that of the pOliti-
cal police. The gentleman into |
whose presence | was shown had |
very little the appearance which in !
England we perceive in our police |
inspectors. He was a well-dressed,
clean-shaven man of about 30 years |
of age, and looked more like the |
manager or head of a banking
establishment than as if he had any |
thing to do with the detective |
police. He was seated at large |
writing-table, upon which were a
multitude of letters and other pa |
pers, duly docketed. Within reach |
he had three or four handles Of elec-
trio bells, and halt dozen elastic !
speaking tubes, by which he could |
communicate in an instant with |
any part of the building. On one /,
side of the room was q large glass |
door, beyond which could percaive |
quite plainly some three or four
sergeants-de-ville were sitting, so |
that they could see all that passed |
in their chiefs room, and be ready |
to come In at a moments notice,
although they could not hear what
was said.
The sous-chef received me not |
only well, but courteously. He |
heard my story, and, without ex-
pressing an opinion as to whether
/ could carry out the views of my
employers, and recover the bonds,
said he thought he knew the man
who would suit me-qui JerG UOtee
nfdire. He then touched one of
the bell-handles, and Immediately
spoke through one of the tubes to
some person or persons in another
part OF the house. Having received
a ronIv tO his Queries he told me