Grand Rapids morning telegram., 1884-11-22
THE DETECTIVE.
MOI Who Are Employed 20 Hunt
Up Criminals.
ssHas of the characteristics Of this PTsssns
p.y Believers Ia the AnrLqa>ssd
SosiOas OF Cs1fary
Ago.


Always mysterious, always cautious, the
detective OF to-day is the same as the de-
tectlys OF = hundred years ago. Time has
worked many changes since IL became
necessary 10 have officers TO execute the
law, but the detective has nobly withstOod
the march of Improvement, and is the same
old detective standing firm on old princi-
Piles. Thieves and law breakers, on the
other hand, have kept up with the process
sion, and act as much like other men as
possible, and in this they get the advantage
of the detective. who, by trying 70 avoid
observation, attracts attention.
The first principle of detective, as
taught in the old school, is 20 be as myste-
rious possible, and the instant he re-
ceives bis commission he becomes as silent
as the grave and cultivates an In ON to-
you look, no matter how jolly and good
natured he was Before when be pursued his
ordinary vocation. IL is simply the custom
Of the service, and the new recruit must
fall into line. There are some good detect
ives; in fact there are many men engaged
In exposing crimeywho have more than av-
erage intelligence, but unfortunately for
them they generally fall into the old sys-
tenn and make shows of themselves.
When you see a man walking down the
street who permits his right shoulder to
drop, so that the right hand has a swing
ing motion toward the hip pocket, and who
advances his left shoulder slightly, and
moves forward with sidewasd motion like
hog going to war, it is safe TO bet that
that man is an old detective. Accord
ing TO the accepted custom detectives work
In pairs, and the public knows it and smiles
when two of them come down the street,
one walking slightly in advance of the 9TH
or, one hugging the houses the other hug
ging the gutter, and both trying their best
to look as If they were strangers to the
other. A smart crook drops to them every
time and joins in the smile. Another pc.
culiarity Of the detective is that he knows
1t all--no one can tell him anything that
he not posted about, and he cultivates an
l-knew-that-yeste look that makes
people who could at times give valuable in
formation feel sorry they spoke.
Handicapped by these drawbacks the de-
tective has hard time in working up
cases; he knows it but can't help it; custom
has ordered it so and he must obey. Still
with all this detectives are good fellows,
much better than the general public would
suppose, and outside of telling romances to
newspaper reporters they do very little
harm and often accomplish much good.
One of the oldest rules in vogue in most
detective offices is that no publicity must
be given case under investigation. For
instance, a house is robbed or bank burg
larized and the case is given to the police
to investigate; the rule is to keep it quiet
just as If the thief did not know that the
case had been reported to headquarters,
and that the detectives had been detailed
TO work it up. Not long since woman
stole a silver pitcner from a church and
the case was given to the police, and in
conformity with this rule it was kept from
the press, but it so happened that news
paper reporter got a peep at the complaint,
and the next morning his paper contained
a report of the theft and description of
the stolen article. The world knew of the
robbery, and that very day the thief at
tempted to dispose of the pitcher to IA lady
who, having read the account, recognized
the stolen article, called the police and
caused the arrest of the culprit. The little
incident worked great reform In the police
system, and now the press is frequently
furnished with full descriptions OF stolen
articles.
Some years ago when the detectives
guarded their secrets much more religious
~ than they do to-day, the reporters fire.
quently had to resort to strategy to find
out what was up, and on many occasions
played jokes on the old chief by pretend
f<,h - lot ~
ties who visited headquarters to lodge COM
plants. In cases Of robbery the reporter
would obtain the full list of the articles
stolen, and in fact all about the crime, and
then making some excuse would conduct
the complainant TO the door of the chiefs
office and leave
One cold, wet night In December, how
ever, the reporters were fairly outwitted.
A stranger, all dripping with rain, came
into the station and, in a low whisper.
asked for detective. 1t so happened that
he addressed a reporter, who, giving a sig
nal 10 his brother journalists, hastily con-
ducted the stranger into the hall. The man
was more than my sterious. He wanted a
detective immediately, and as he was not
In the least communicative the reporter
was forced TO accompany him out into the
rain so as TO get at the bottom facts. The
stranger talked slowly, and the reporter,
who thought that he was on to a big
diamond robbery OF a diabolical murder.
had pavigated through the mud as far
as Julia street before he found out that a
servant In the house occupied by the stran-
ger bad stolen an overcoat. aud thinking
himself unsupported. was still in the house.
It was too late 20 back out and the reporter
was forced 10 do police duty and arrest the
dishonest servant and bring him back to
the station, where the chief and his assist
ants. who of course got on 20 the Joke. made