The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1879-01-25
A DETECTIVES STORY.

My name is-no matter / am called
Tony. L have never been member of
the regular police, and hope my vanity
will be pardoned when | say that | con-
sIder my occupation grade or two above
it; since it must be evident to every one
tina, g dull person may be and often is a
serviceable policeman, while detective
has no chance of success without a ready
perception ard d close study of human
nature. | am intuitively possessed of a
faculty Of imitation, which have Guilt
waited TO be of great service in nv BUSH
ness, as it enables me to assume. in q
very deceptive manner, the disguise of
any character please; indeed, so many
different parts have Iplayed, and in such
various company have / mixed, that it
seems TO nae serious problem, at times
where my proper position in society lays.
| have partner in business whose
real name / have no right to make pub
lie. lie Is cOarSe-teatured person, and
Is capable of converting himself by means
OF dress into one Of the most rough look
ing and repuisive of men. While in one
OF the meanest of his DISCUSSES, some one
gave him the name of " SLOUGH" and this
rather repulsive sObriquet attached to
him at first In the spirit of pleasantly, is
now about the only name by which /
address him. He is q good hearted fell
low; muscular and courageous. and he
has, In more than one instance, saved me
from great peril, if not actually my life.
Siouch has remarkable faculty Of read
ing crime IN the face. His conclusions
q a Y Of h. H.,
at them has always been a mystery to
me. My own suspicious are the result
of some theory, and | freely confess that
my imagination has often led me astray.
tits different with SLOUGH. A single Look
at the suspected person seems enough
Tor him. He has often upset a nicely
woven tissue of apparently corroboratiye
incidents for me by glance at the party
suspected, shake of the head and a
grutf and provoking dissent Only one
instance occurred where | was right and
he was absolutely wrong, but as its re-
cital would be dispersion, | shall re-
serve it for another.
We were sometimes together, and at
other times widely separated. There is
not railroad, canal, or steamboat line
In the United States that one or the
other of us had not travelled over in the
pursuit of our calling. Recently we
have been sojourning in San Francisco.
Some time since the officers of the
p" bank in the city of New York
gave information to the police that their
notes had been extensively counter
feited In manner so alarmingly pc feet
that many of the spurious bills had
passed through their own hands without
detection; in fact, the first intimation
OF the crime was the perceptible infa- |
ton OF their paper in circulation. |
Every line and shade of the original bill |
was reproduced in the counterfeit in |
such perfect manner, that without the |
aid of microscope, detection was utter |
ly impossible. Once discovered, it was
plain that no other cOunterfeiting pro.
cess could SO completely initiate the |
genuine but the art of photography, and |
IN that science the manipulators must
have been skilled.
SLOUGH and | went to work at once. led |
by the incentive of a very large condi- !
tional reward. We labored MANY weeks |
without success. There was not a single |
Photographic establishment in that large
city that escaped our visits in disguise. |
and in my zeal to succeed in the under
taking, | studied the process of the art
from beginning to end Nearly three |
months had been fruitlessly spent in this |
way, when one evening a messenger was
sent to us from the cashier of the bank. |
requesting us to hurry to his room. He |
informed us that two passenger tickets |
bad been purchased that day at the Cal |
lfornia steamship Office, every dollar for
which had been paid in the spurious
bills. he had made some inquiries him
self IN the matter, and informed US that |
the ticket agent had no recollection of
the persons from whom he had received
the money, and that the steamer would
sail at O'Clock the following morning.
SLOUGH and | took the matter into CON
slderation, and urged by the advice and
counsel OF the bank officers, we deter
mined to take passage on the same boat
A trunk was hastily packed with our
motley wardrobe, and after agreeing
upon our dlsguises, we sailed ont the |,
next morning, taking different routes
and proceeded without any show of haste +,
70 the vessel. | hesitate to saw that
was much disguised on this trip. because
my appearance, as near as | could make
1t up, was that of well-dressed gentle
man OF fortune travelling for pleasure |;
and, OF course, the first cabin was chosen h
tor my quarters. SLOUGH had seized
very repulsiye disguise, and might have \
been seen, as the vessel left the pier
awkwardly striding among the STRANGE
passengers, the most perfect semblance of
a sneak-thitf ] ever saw. As nracan-
ton, we bore a letter of introduction tn
the master of the vessel, Endorsed by the
chief of the New York police. SLOUGH b
and ! were, of course, apparent strangers, h
and were as widely as possible separated
on shipboard.
Only few days of our voyage had h
passed before had succeeded in winning
the good opinion of my companions in
the cabin, while my partner, in the same
time, by his manner and appearance, /.
has made himself an object of suspicion
and dlstrust to the whole steerage. There ]
was 81 unusually small number of Us in I
the cabin, and among them not single
person whose demeanor could create a {
suspicion Of crime. The women with. !
9ut exception, Were extremely ladylike
md entertaining, and | was inclined in 8
heir society to forget the grand purpose /
II my voyage; but SLOUGH got me coca.