Barbour County index., 1885-07-10
HoRse-THIEvEs.
bsne of the Tricks OF the Trade ~ -De.
tailed BY Detective.
TCI,fCa

l'~~-e0 @ahDAnc-l
The hun'in< down and capt ne OF horse-
thieves In tais city il the work of one
man-an'l he is kept busy pretty much all
the time. The officer has a reputation for
shrewIness that extends for q consider
able distance into the country, aud every
horsc-thief OF any prominence knows
Jim" Morgan. and no doubt mourns the
day when he made his involuntary ac-
quaintance. When one thinks of the vast
number OF rigs that are driven of from
street-corners daily by horse thieves Il
will readily become apparent that Morgan
has no easy berth. He has also been very
successful in his line Of business. Out
side of catching horse -thieves this officer
has little to do. ''The horse-thievin & bus
mess" said the detective. sis somewhat
peculiar for the reason that men who fol-
low such liRe of business never give
any attention to burglary, sand-b agging,
or kindred occupations But they are
takers aud sharks of the worst kind.
They are usually a well-dresssd class, and
enter a mans buggy and drive 1t
on with about as much nonchalance
as IL it were their own. II arrested they
protest in the most vigorous terms, and
are ready to produce credentials that
would convince any one that they are
honest men; but W .en a horse-t thief pro-
duces credentials after making q Lluff set
him down as a smooth man and worth
watching"
How do you manage to catch themi"
"Ips queer, but you seldom find q well.
dressed person driving a jaded horse, and
perhaps buggy, on the street. He d ,esn't
do it because he likes it, but becaus. he
wants to dispose Of it at the first op-
portunity. Well, / have a rig of my own,
and when 1 sight one OF thoss fellows ]
just follow him. The first place he will
go to Is a livery stable or. auction house,
and there, on account OF his ia mily, ETC.,
he will sell it for song That fellow is
arrested aud locked up. Possibly the
owner is busy some place and doesn't
think of horse-thiev 9 troubling him.
When he reaches the sidewalk he finds his
property gone and then he reports it.
Generally the rig is at the station when
the owner cal 8. The story is told him
and he assists in giving the well-drrs sed
man a house at the expense of the State"
"What class Is most difficult to cap
tureyn
"They have various schemes, just as
burglars and climbers, !" but the gang that
dye tie horse aud have the rig repainted
are the best in the business"
''How do they work."
"Walk along the street and sight q rig
that Is worth stealing. When they find it
unoccupied they jump in and Off they GO
Well, that class Of customers Is difficult to
handle. Instead Of going and selling the
rig outright, they drive TO some stable
where people Of their class hang out, and
there the horse is dyed. Ii he is gray he is
soon dyed brown, AMI would deceive the
owner were he to sse the animal after un-
dergoing the process. Then the stars in the
forehead are dyed, or perhaps tho limbs
are dyed and the star left untouched. A
horse Is generally recognized by such
marks, but when they are dyed black,
brown or gray, of course any one would
become puzzled. Then the rig is painted.
IL it's black it's painted red or yellow, and
Identification for the time Is out of the
question We rarely catch such fellows,
but keep a man on the lookout for horses
that are driven into barns whcTe q dye
shop is kept."'
"Are there many dye-houses in Chica-
goi"
1.-TWO; one on the South and one on the
North Side"
"Are there many professional horse
thieves in Chicago?"
"No; they're learning trades in Joliet"