The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1881-08-26
A Detectives Great Feat.

A great forgery having been com
mitted, whereby bank was robbed Of
e30, 600, the culprit succeeded in get
ting safely out of England, and escaped
to the Argentine Republic, where there
was no extradition treaty. He was be-
lieved to have taken the whole OF the
plunder with him, as his wife, who was
narrowly watched, certainly held no
portion of it, and no letter addressed to
him had passed through the postoilice !;
so private detective of great reputation
was employed by the bank authorities
to 60 out to the River Platte, and en-
deavor either to recover the money or 10
lure the forger into position where he
might be captured. This detective was
an educated man and we'll fitted to carry
sut the role he assumed-that OF Major
R, travelling for his health, and in,
tending to pay short visit to Buenos
Ayres before proceeding to Valparaiso
and Peru. Unlimited powers, official
and unofficial, were conferred on him !;
he was supplied with letters of introduc-
ton to the leading people in the Re
public; and of course there was to be
no question of expense. Thus furnished,
he set out.
On arrival in Buenos Ayres he discov-
cred that his man had gone some leagues
up the country. Following up the
track, he found him living in apparent
great poverty, employed as a shepherd
by an English cStdnciGo, to whom the
would-be Major R. happened to have
letter of introduction. In this way he
had no difficulty in making acquaint-
ance with his intended prey-gradually
and casually to avert suspicion, One
day he asked him openly whether his
position in life had not been very differ
ent from that in which he found him, as
his speech and manner were those of a
! gentleman; and, after little hesitation,
the shepherd confessed that such was
the case, presently telling a plausible
| tale of misfortune in business, etc. Pro-
Tossing pity for him, the kind-hearted
major lent him money, and took him
back into the city, where he entertained
him as his guest, having mentioned con-
fidentially to him that he wished to in
vest considerable sum in land out
there, and promising to install him as
manager of the estate. All this time
the thief was supposed to be carrying
the money hidden about his person and
it was to devise some strategy for OBJ
tanning this with certainty and safety
that the detective postponed the dcnoUe-
mcm of the plot so long. At length,
when he had excluded every other pos
sible place of concealment, and seemed
to have won the mans entire confidence,
he went to the captain of the British
man-of-war lying there and revealed
himself in his own character-for no.
body till then had the least inkling Of
the truth-and together they arranged
a very nice little trap. The officers of
the gUnboat were to give a grand picnic,
followed by dance on board and all
the best people in Buenos Ayres were
invited, Major R and his friend
among the rest. The "friend" was de-
lighted at the prospect, and drew largely
on the major for the whercwithal to pre-
sent beftting splendor of appearance
on the eventful day. As they strolled
down to the wharf, arm in arm, you may
be sure that Major Rs heart beat
high with the triumph already in his
grasp, one of the cleverest captures ever
planned by an emissary of Scotland
Yard. Hiring boat, they soon arrived
alongside the man-of-war, where the
poop was already crowded with ladies.
Jump up" said the Major, as the
gangway ladder was lowered "we're
just in time"
"Well, no, Mr.. c." returned the
forger, calling the detective by his real
name. 81 don't think I'll go on board
but I'll stay here in the boat and listen
to the music while you go upand dance"
If the officer did not feel sold at that
moment no man ever did. The best of
it was the audacious robber had not one
penny of his booty with him, and was
much too wary to trust the post, Both
he and his wife, who joined him soon
afterward, were obliged to work for their
bread until the arrival of their govern
ess, who had never been suspected of
completely, with the whole sum. But
how he discovered his adversary was
never known.
BY the way, this same detective is
said to have had another "sell" few
days later. He went on board the mail
steamer just come in from Brazil, as he
thought he might obtain an English
newspaper. If he got one he certainly
had time to read it, for the steamer hap.
pened to be in quarantine, and he had
to undergo the horrors of scclusion at
Ensenada for three weeks
A mans shocking behavior A lady
alighting from street car met an &C.