Sun River sun., 1884-09-11
ONE OF plNKERTON'S TEATS.
The Accusing Blood that Led a Mur.
dcrer TO Commit Suicide.

Il was just thinking" said Captain
r. j. Linden, superintendent Of Pink
erton's Detective Agency, on his re-
turn from Chicago where he had been
attending the funeral of Pinkerton,
"of tho wonderful will power, and un-
firing perseverance of the man whose
body. was laid to rest last Thursday.
Very few persons, unless they were
intimately associated with him, would
believe that any person could possess
such patient persistence, which sur
mounted obstacles that to ordinary
men would appear like impossible
mountains. Major Pinkerton was u
man with big heart. I don't think
he knew how to do Il mean thing. He
was one of those honorable, fair-inind-
ed men, who, while giving everybody
their due, exacted the same for him
self In matters Of business he in
sisted on getting every penny that be-
longed to him, and once he made n
promise it was lived up to if it cost
him every penny he owned in the
world. His likes and dislikes were
intense. II he became your friend no
amount Of calumny on the part of
yourenemy could change his opinion;
but i. he dislikes you, neither argu-
ment nor entreaties could shake him
an iota.
"Nlajor Pinkerton's perseverance
and ingenuity were the secrets of his
success in all his undertakings. If he
could not accomplish his purpose by
one plan he Immediately rcsortcd to
His mind was wonderfully
fertile in cxpedicnts, and il was rare
thing for him to fail when he had
once set his mind upon success. You
can form some idea Of his ready tact
and capacity for planning in the case
of the colorcd murderer johnson, of
South Carolina, who killed an enemy
under the most brutal circumstances.
Major Pinkcrton was pretty positive
us to the mans guilt, but it was inn
possible to obtain u complete chain of
evidence. With the natural secrctive-
ness of his race, johnson refused to
fall into any of the mantraps laid for
him and make confession, which was
Pinkerton's object. After weeks of
patient but abortive work, n novel
plan was hit upon. The murderer
was surprised one morning when he
went to take Il plow into the field to
find it spattered with blood. In the
open field where he was to work the
murderer found little pools of blood
along the course he was to plow.
When he went back to the stable he
was startled by seeing the bloody i'm
print of Il human hand Oh the stable
door. Every hoe or rake or other farm
that the man picked up
had blood on it. When nightfall came
the murderer was so paralyzed with
fear that his teeth were chattcring
and he was afraid to go to bed. He
believed that the spirit Of his victim
was haunting him. The detective and
his assistant noted these symptoms,
and were confident that the right
plan had been struck at last. 1t had
been after n fashion, and there was q
horrible proof given the next dny.
johnson was found in the barn with
his throat c'lt from cur to ear. He had
killed himself rather than endure the
tortures of u guilty conscience. Inecd
not explain that the blood marks that
frightened the murderer's guilty soul
were the works Of the detectives and
not of spirits.
'It was in that kind of detective
work that Major Pinkerton excclled.
He could change his tactics so that
the man or men he WAS seeking would
be led into a. trap when they really
thought they were getting out Of one.
There are scores and scores Of such
instances, but they have all been pub
lished from time to time as they oc-
cured, and lido not suppose would
interest you. II was one of Mr.. Pink
erton's rules to conceal nothing from
the public of public interest, after the
work was done, and it was another in
flexible rule to tell the public nothing
before the job was finished or while
it was in progress. From this he
never departed, and his sons William
and Robert, who are their fathers
SUCCESSORS, will adhere to it as rigidly
rs the founder Of tho agency did"
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a Religious Plague spot. .
Hurdwar, in the Punjab, ut the foot