The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1883-03-15
A Famous Old.Time Detective.

fact in medicine" saida Buffalodoctor to
a st. Louis POst-Dispatcb reporter, "and
I've had an experience of over forty
years, that it's a beastly, uphill job, if
not well nigh impossible, to drug
one with chloroform in mid
winter in the open air. 1t evapo-
rates very rapidly, indeed, and its power
is about gone before it could have time
to act Pye made a great many attempts
in an experimental way, hence feel as if
| knew what | was talking about, I've
known quite number of cases in army
practice where it required many minutes
of persistent effort to get patient under
the control of the drug. The common
impression that chloroform is instantane-
GUS in its effect is all nonsense. 1t is
much more rapid than ether, and also
more dangerous, and for that reason the
fraternity are generally adopting ether as
a safer resort. ...'s,az .-..g'- +. -,
"But" continued the Doctor, "let me
give you story combining medicine and
detective work, with dash of schIoro-
form in it. Just before the war there
was banking house in Buffalo Hbyf the
name of Brown, Keep d. Co. They were
private bankers, of course. For about a
dozen years they had in their employ q
trusted and confidential clerk, who knew
all the secrets and carried all the keys.
Among his other duties he was obliged to
sleep all night in the bank. Well, aone
night the town was Mortified to learn
that the bank had been robbed of some
thousands of dollars. The amount was
not quite up to the standard required III
fashionable circles to-day, but it was. a
fair haul for those primitive times. ~.
HThey called in Ham Best, one Of the
most remarkable detectives who ever
lived, and turned him loose on the case.
The story told by the young man was
that he had allowed an old friend, whose
landlady had demanded his key, to share
his bed with him that night; that he was
very tired, had gone to bed early, and
must have been drugged IN his sleep with
chloroform. There was no doubt Of the
chloroform, because small vial of it
was found only a few feet from the bed,
While the clerk was under the influence
of the drug, the foul villain had cut the
glass in the bank window and rifed the
safe.
"Well, Best went quietly to work on on
the case and at the end of the first day
he informed the directors that he had
the. man. He said it was Mr.. Clerk.
Thengdid they all with one accord begin
to crowd him with EXPLANATIONS of dis
belief. But Best never jumped till he
was good and ready. He first observed
that the bank glass had II been
cut from the inside. Next ia he.
telegraphed to DR.. Frank Hamilton, of
New York (the same one who attended
Garfield), and got tatement by dispatch.
that chloroform can't be administered to
a asleeping patient without waking him
up. The clerk 'fessed up, and nearly all
the money was recovered. His friend had
been simply an accomplice.
"By the way, while Pm at it 1 might
as well tell you an old story that illus
trates the detective powers of Ham Best.
Years ago it created quite stir in st.
Louis. One of the banks in our city had
occasion to send a lot of gold to bank
in Hartford. This was before the war.
The route east was then by way. of Chi
cago. Well, when the gold arrived at
the place of destination the Hartford
bank discovered that. the box had been
opened, and that some hundreds of gold
had been scraped from the top. Conn
plant was made to the express. company,
and Best was called in. 3 His first move
was to get the names of the men on the
runs between st. Louis and Hartford, and
to learn as much as possible about their
past business, what they had been engaged
of afa ntn Fn1 lopgE 4A,ay,.s .sS>sN =, =
exonerated every agent between Chicago
and the East The robbery was commit
ted west of Chicago, and think I have
theman,' said Ham, He got leave to
travel on the express car with the stisI
pected man, having the opened box in
his possession. All got along amicably
till the agent produced a small hammer,
which, he remarked, was quite handy at
times. Best at once brought forth the
box, and asked Mr.. Agent if he would
not be kind enough to fit that hammer to
a dent in the side-of the box. The fellow
stammered and turned pale, but COM
piled. 1t fitted like the paper on. the
wall He had found his man. This
small dent in the box was the only thing
to indicate that the box had been opened.
NO one DuU an expert could have done 1t.
In running over the former occupations
of the various agents Best had found that
the man in question was the only one of,
the number who had previously been a
carpenter, and hence the only one likely
to know that you can pry open wooden
box with a wooden wedge and leave no
marks. The unfortunate slip Of his ham
mer furnished the connecting link.
Dead2 Oh, yes. Best died fifteen years
ago, ! should think, while Chief of the
Buffalo Police. He had very wide
range of information and was as modest
as a school girl. He said the work of a
detective was merely applied common
sense. The trouble with our detectives
of to-day is that they have no common
sense and wouldn't know how to apply it
if they had" ~,
During her stay in this country Patti