The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1883-10-25
REMARKAtBLE DETECTIYg
wORfS on RRHEigsATE q ei;oRSsR uRspy
~ s., BANGS,

s. BANGS,
81 9sl-+FT- &. PF N,
soY OF ass Rrlbe,pe, casss ybiSsss 4, ,
Sscccssf,iily 90 adae.ed and .ihe ThieSs SsS
Whom ue Captarod.
George Henry Bangs, ,aRci b3, the
General Superintendent of Pinkerton's
Agencies, at Dhicago, Pfflssl
delphia, and New York, died sttddenIv
at lteselle, N. j., where he was spending
the summer The career of Mr.. Bangs
!s one OF tho most remarkable of AmefS
lcan detectives. He rose from tho ranks
10 the highest position in Pinkerton's
lorce, and forever quarter of aIceptury
ne either planned or personally worked
every important case int1usted to the
tinkcrton agencies. He was q tall, fine.
looking man. of commanding presence
and a close student of human nature
and was rarely deceived. The record of
his cases during the war and later in the
Mollie Mcclure conspiracies in hennsyl-
vanla is part of his history. Mr.. Banps
took his first lessons in life in q news
paper office, beginning on the Era.
which was owned md edited by his
father: After engaging in reportorial
WORK Tor q few years he evinced great
detective abilities. In 1856 he resolved
TO give up journalism for police work.
He obtained Il position on the police
force, and during the days of the Crystal
Palace he was one of tho celebrated
Crystal Palace squad. While he was
serving in this capacity Allan Pinkcrton
came East for assistants. He had been
employed throughout the West in track
ing tho horse-thieves and train robbers
who infested that portion of the country,
and had been so successful that the
business was rapidly growing larger than
he could personally attend to. He ac-
cordingly opened an office in Chicago,
and came to New York for men to oper-
ate 1t. He was introduced to Bangs
and engaged him, together with Samuel
Bridgcman and Timothy Webster, both
OF whom died in the service, the lattef
being cxecned as n Union spy in Rich-
mond during Mcclellan siege. They
accompanied Mr.. Pinkcrton to Chicago.
and for the next few years engaged in the
usual business of n detective agency,
At the breaking out of the war Major
Pinkcrton was made Chief of the United
States Secret Service Department. Here
Mr.. Bangs had an opportunity to ex-
hibit his great abilities. During the
war he passed and repussed the rebel
lines in different dsguiscs, and on vari
ous missions of great importance, tux
ing his life in his hands, but owing to
his GOODNESS and courage he escaped un-
scathcd. At the close of the war, when
Mr., Pinkerton established his agencies
at New York and Philadelphia, he put
them i'll charge of Mr.. Bangs, who re-
manned Mt the head Of the business until
the time of his death. -"
Among the work done Ivy Mr.. Banps
was the capture of Jules Imhcrt, the
celebrated French forgGr. The French.
man obtained four drafts, amounting to,
S]5, COO from August Belmont, and by
forgcries he secured over $50, coo from
unsuspccting New York bankers, after
which he fled the country. He was
traced by Mr.. Bangs to Canada. whittier
the young officer started to CAPTURE him.
With no effort at subterfugc, he accuscd
the forgcr directly of his guilt, and bv
sheer pluck managed to extort confcs
sion from him. This once ACCOMPLISHED
he started for home with his, prisoner on
the cars, taking the precaution to fasten
the forger's wrist TO his own with hand.
cniiS. Alter lourneyinga n hundred miles
lmhcrt apparently fell ;nto flozc, and
Bangs WHO was completely tired out,
soon followed his example. When he
awakened he found to his intense cha
grin that the Frcnchman had picked the
iock OF the handcuff and escaped. The
iaststatlon was Fonde, inn. Y. State. He
felt sure that the prisoner had left the
car Mt this point. Ho had the train
stopped and rctraccd the distance on
foot 1t was late at night and he went to
the leading hotel and asked for n bed, i'll
tending to begin his search in tho morn
ing The host said the only bed he could
have wns one which was already occu-
pied by recent arrival. Glad to sleep
anywhere, Bangs accepted the offsr.
When hc turned down the covcrlet of
the bed he saw to his astonishmcnt and
delight that his companion was his recent
prisoner. He fastened to secure him.
and III tho morning tho pair landed
safely i'll New York, where Imbert was
convicted and sent to State prison, where
he died eight years later.
Another famous case was the first
great robbery of the Adams Express
Company Mt Montgomery, Ala. 1t was
in 1858. The company missed ten thou.
sand dollars in bills from one of it's
packages. There were no clues, no sus-
picions. The Vice President, the late
E. s. Sanford, set careful watch upon
the office at Montgomery, to ascertain
who of the employees could have com
mitted the crime, as it could not have
been done outside. Shortly afterward
sealed pouch passed through Mont
8omery from a Savannah bank to New
York, containing forty thousand dollars.
When the pouch reached Montgomery,
which was transfer office, the local
agent, Nathan Maroney, gave receipt
Tor the money to the messenger. But
when the pouch reached New York the
package of money was gone, and
square hole, as clean cut as if made by
razor, was in the side of the bag, con-
cealed from the public view by the outer
pocket of the pouch. At first it was
supposed that this was the work of n
messenger. Each of q dozen messengers
was examined, questioned, and watched.
But to no purpose. Finally, Mr.. Bangs
went to the Georgia bank and had an
other parcel made of exactly the same
size MS the missing one. The bag was
then produced and the package wonld