Grand Rapids morning telegram., 1885-04-13
nORsE-TAiGVES.
some II the frieks OF the Trade Ds-
tailed 49, Detective
fChica4O rrf,ruue.I

Ihe nUnlluz toSm aI4t CaptIF- Of horse
thieves ia tiis city IS tae work OF one
man-and - Is Kept b isy pretty much all
the time. Tae otticer has reputation for
.hre~tness that extends for a consider
able iis auce into tue count y, and every
hOrse-thief o. any prominence knows
"J.m' Mol san. aad 40 doubl mourns tho
day when he IA ade hts involuntary ac-
quaintanc-. When one thiaks OF the vast
number OF rigs that are driven If from
street corners daily by horse thieves it
viii readily become apparent that Morgan
has no easy berth. He has also been very
successful n his line OF business Out
side OF catehiag horse thieves this officer
has little 20 do. The h0rss-tlievin < bus
iness,' sail the detective. is somewhat
peculiar TOR ths reason that men who fol-
sOw such liae 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 u we'll dressed class, and
enter mans buggy and drive it
of with about as TAuch nOnchalance
III it were their own. II arrested they
protest in the most vigorous terms, and
would convince any one that they are
honest men: but W en- horse-thief pro-
duces 'credentials' after making luff set
him down as smooth man and worth
watching"
How do you manage 10 catch themr"
''It's queer, bu5 you seldom ii nd a WELL
dressed person driving a jaded horse, and
perhaps buggy. on the street. He iesn't
DO IL because be hk'ss it, but becaus he
wants to dispose OF it at the first op-
portanity. Well, l have a rig Of my own,
and when I sight one Of those fellows l
Just follow him. The first place he win
20 70 Is a livery stable or auction house,
and there, on account Of MS family, etc,
he viii sell IL for Il song That fellow is
arrested and loc cked up. Possibly the
owner IS busy some place and doesn't
think Of horse thieves troubling him.
When be reaches the ,idewalk he finds his
property gone and then De reports it.
Generally the rig is at the station whoa
the owner cai 5. The 50 DRY il told him
aud he assists Civ ug tle Veli-ir s,el
man a uss at the expense OF tue state. -
What class - most dIHcals to cap
tureg''
They have various schemes, just as
burglars aud 'climbers, " tut the gam that
dy C. horse ani have the rig repainted
are the best in the business"
How a A., they work."
walk aloug the street and sight rig
tha, : worth stealing. When they fnd e
unoccup 81 they jump IN and of they 20.
Well, that class Of customers Is difficult to
handle. Instead Of going and selling the
rig outr ght. they drive 10 some stable
where people OF their class hang out. aud
there the horse j. dyed. II be : gray he is
soon dyed brown, AMI would deceive the
owner we're he 90 -, the an. mai after un-
derE0inz the process Then the stars in the
forehead are dyed. OF perhaps no limbs
are dyed and the star left Untouched. \
horse i generally recognized by such
marks. but 81 b n they are dyed back.
brown or gray. of course any one would
become puzzled. Then the rig j. paint a.
II it's black its painted red or yellow, AMI
Identification for the time l. out OF the
question We rarely catch sucl fellows.
bit Keep man on the lookout for horses
that ara driven into barns where a dye
shop Is kept"
Are there many dye-houses in Chica-
gog"
Two: one N she south and one on the
North Side"
Are there many professional horse
shieves in Chica -1t"
"No. they're learning trades 10 Joliet"