The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1882-05-23
The Queer Epistles Received
by the City Marshal.-All
Sorts of Requests, Re-
wards and In
quiries.
Husbands, Children, Thieves and
Scoundrels Generally,
Wanted.

! There are few who know any thing of the
letters and pOstals received by the head of
the police force in a city. Not day
passes but crime is committed somewhere
and the fight OF the criminal iol =
| lows as a corollary.
Then the mails and telegraph are brought
into use, to herald the deed over the
country and to secure the arrest OF the per
petrator. Descriptions are sent out, re-
wards are offered, aid is invoked, vigilance
aroused, and efforts To capture the fugitive
strenuously exerted. The chief becomes
the agent of distant authorities, every
policeman is turned into lynx-eyed de-
| tective.
| The incentive to reap the reward causes
them to sean the appearance OF every
stranger arriving in their city. They sus-
pect every man not personally known To
them. At the trains these star-wearers
eagerly wait and watch for the expected
victim, and when he lucklessly falls into
their net, he is sure Of a hearty hand clasp.
He is wanted, and wanted badly
The other night a BAZOO reporter sat
near Marshal Shy's desk in the police
station. An open drawer revealed a hetero-
geneOus collection of all sizes and shapes Of
letters and kilograms.
With a cultivated curiosity the reporter
began an examination of this mass, after
having received permission TO do SO from
the marshal. One by one the letters, pos
tails and dispatches were taken up, exam
ined and read. No two of them were re-
lated to each other in the remotest degree,
| Judging by the style of writing and the or
biography.
| Here was postal from the man whose
reputation Tor bravery and skill has be-
come national 1t is directed to the mar
shall of Sedalia, and is signed, -. T. Tim
berlake, sheriff of Clay county, Mo-
That name belongs to the man who has
long led the forces against Jesse James and
other bandits. 1t is famous one. Its
writing is Indicative of the man. 1t is
quick and nervy in appearance, as though
the writer was just on the eve of mounting
horse and Fastening away in hot pursuit
after band of train robbers.
Here is a letter from an eDterprising
detective down in Arkansas, asking if the
murderer OF the chief of police of this city
is wanted. AS no such deed was ever com
mitted in this city, his letter remains un-
answered.
billie 4 Co., of indianapolis, send
letter descriptive of one Price, their man.
ager and collector. He was a victim to the
wiles OF woman and wine, and fell by the
wayside. They promised handsome re-
ward. Mr.. Price never honored Sedalia
with visit, that anybody here knows Of
From Linn Creek there came a letter
telling OF the attempt to asSassinate some
one by II. III. Windes. He has not been
seen in this city. A cousin of the notOri-
Ous Bill Priest is also wanted at the same
place, though why was not stated.
All. here is the ubiquitous Harpers'
Bazaar man. He is here, there and every
where, and the New York 6rm have always
found him like the Irisaman's flea, not
present when the finger Of the law would
be laid on him. He may have visited here,
but he was not arrested.
Twelve hundred dollars are hereby
offered for the arrest of two Mercer boys, for
murder in Iowa. That was what the
letter said. The Sl,DO have not been
raked In by any Sedalia officer.
Byrne 4 Co, OF Buffalo, New York, re-
quested the arrest OF &. b. kingsbury, for
embezzlement. The request, so far as the
police here are concerned. has not been
complied with.
This letter, written in 8 delicate hand
and looking as if II was tear-stained, Is
from heart-broken wife, asking If some
tidings OF her husband, who has been lost
to her for a weary year, can be given. She
tells pitiful story, running all through
which there is evidedce oi her faith in the
consistency and love of the mourned for
husband. She believes he has been foulIy
dealt with, and does not even hint OF de-
sertiOn As the cause OF his absence. The
marshal could give her no tidings, and SO
wrote her.
A father writes. telling Of his missing
boy, and asks for help to find him. He is
prodigal, wanderer, Wild, reckless
youth, for whose fate the father trembles,
and the mother prays. Is he here in Soda
dalia?
MY daughter has lef. her home, is she
in your city 2" This from yearning
mother, who gives description of the err
ring girl and begs for some hint Of her
whereabouts. "She is not here" SD wrote
the marshal.
In this pile there are requests and de-
scriptions innumerable in one article.
They are for murderers, robbers, thiev Of
all kind, burglars, embezzlers, conf dence
men, stolen and strayed horses, lost prop
erty, bad women, lost children in fact
every conceivable revelation of crime, in
fanny and degradation, is to be met with
in this mixed mail.
1t is curious study and could easily be
made interesting and profitable. What
microcosm of the human heart, these
letters are How they portray the baser pas
sions and photograph the innate deviltry of
man: They are as potent ar argument
for the doctrine of total depravity as ever
used by the most skillful theolOgian. They
pronounce for the unity of the race, and
whisper to us that these criminals are of
our own flesh and blood.
Short Horn Convention.
I'm, ho TIL Of A.