Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1881-08-20

yours. When q man has the law on his
side and attempts to arrest q criminal
there is not much danger. Criminals
are very often towards, especially our
Eastern thieves and burglars. Occa.
sionally young and reckless thief will
attempt to shoot, but such men are of
the lower order Of criminals. Burglars,
counterfeiters, forgers, and the like take
the chance OF being arrested as one Of
the chances of their business. If you
have the law on your side and go at
them in proper manner, you'll win
every time. There is everything in
going strong enough. If detective is
foolish enough to go single handed into
a thieves resort, he's bound to have
trouble, no matter who the criminal is.
But in the West and South a detective
takes his life in his hand The detect
ives who are sent into Arkansas, Texas,
Missouri, western Tennessee, Mississip-
pi, Alabama, the Indian Territory, and
into the great South and West general
ly, run tremendous risk. We lost five
men in Missouri in eight months in
looking up the James and Younger
brothers. Our men were working for
the Adams Express Company at the
time. The men who go out after such
criminals earn their money every time,
/ can assure you"
"That suggests the question of pay"
well, the pay runs all the way from
S15 and $40 week to 50, 500 a year.
The man that goes on dangerous mis-
sion doesn't necessarily get higher
wages. In fact, he does not get them.
a 10 fnY. IL.
he is ordered to do. But at the same
time man is not asked to do danger
ous piece of work against his will. If
he hesitates he need not go. To sue
ceed, man must go willingly. OF
course the fact that man succeeds in a
dangerous piece of work is often the
means of an increase of his salary.
Why, it's like any other business, ex-
actly. Each man has his value. It
won't do to work for reward. Human
nature is human nature, and when a
man sees big pile of money coming as
the result of fixing a crime on some man
well, it's often dangerous for that
man, guilty or innocent. The work
should be done for so much, whatever
the result"
"What is the average life of de-
tective ?"
Well, don't know as to that. /
think, though, they stick to the work
on an average, say fifteen years. Then
they get tired of travelling, and want to
settle down. They get situations in
banks, hotels, and other institutions"
care female detectives much en-
ployed or depended upon?"
GGTt 10 1t0fouIf 10 a al,
woman to do detective work. There are
lots OF them that claim to be detectives,
but they must be employed with eau
tion. They are occasionally useful to
work up a case against woman. In
such cases we usually employ female
relative of some one of our men-a
woman who knows what detective work
is, and who is respectable. But we
have to be very careful always in en-
ploying women.
As rule, detectives are jealous of
each other. It's human nature, I sup
pose, especially where areward is offered.
A reward stirs up every man that thinks
he is a detective. The Charley Ross
case is a striking example. We had
turn at it, and we had a very curious
experience. We thought surely we were
on the track of q woman with the boy.
We followed her to Montreal, then to
Quebec, then across the Atlantic to En-
gland, then to Aberdeen, Scotland, then
back through London and Liverpool,
and then back again to Quebec; and
when at last we caught up with her, we
found that she was waman who was
trying to get her boy away from her
husband. 1t is very frequently the case
that in working up one crime we run
across the perpetrators of another.
This is natural, since all classes of pro-
fessional criminals work in gangs. Each
gang usually bears the name of its lead
er. You would be surprised to know
how exclusively each class attends to its
own line of work. There are the 'iron
men, who do nothing but safe burglary.
There are the store burglars, who de-
vote their entire attention to silks, kid
gloves, and laces. There are the house
robbers, who begin in the fall and work
through the winter. They are also
known as 'second-story men, or climb
ers. They spend their summers robbing
hotels. Then there are the higher class,
the counterfeiters and forgers. Some of
them make plenty of money, but it goes
as fast as it comes, and none of them
dies rich.
"There is one exception that comes to
my mind as I speak, Max Shinbourne.
He was the best safe burglar that ever
operated, and he made some tremen-
dous hauls. He went into the safes of
the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Com
pany in Whitehaven, Pa, three times;
twice as preliminary steps, just looking
over the ground, you know. The last
time he found SAT, 900, and then he took
it. He robbed the Westmoreland Bank
of Maryland, and he broke the Ocean
Bank in N. Y. City. He and George
Miles educated the best class of bank
burglars. Shinbourne took $500, 600
out of this country, and to-day is said
to be successful business man in Bel
GUM, employing 500 men,"
"Do detectives marry ?'
Sometimes. But man with fam
lily cannot in the nature of the case be
as good detective, as daring, as ready
to go anywhere at moments notice as
an unmarried man. But of course O
good MANY of them marry "