The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1885-11-21
SPYING AND SPIES.
The Secret workings Of = CITY Detective
Department.

The Secret workings Of CITY Detective
Department.
You think our business agueer one
remarked Central Station detective
yesterday.
I'VE have to do all kinds of tasks
he continued; risk our lives one day
capturing some thief. and the very next
perhaps assume all the delicate tact and
nice behavior required to convince a
lady that she has absolutely no cause
to be jealous of her husband. Then
the worst of il is we have to be so mys-
FERROUS in everything we DO. Not
syllable dare we utter for fear of spoil
ing the job. Sometimes fairly ache to
tell of the funny things / see. but it
wont do; the story might contain some
scrap of information which. thought
lessly repeated by others, would afford
outsiders clue to the business had
in hand.
II remember an incident of the kind
in question, showing the bad policy of
talking too much about case. Some
tour years ago the confidential clerk OF
certain big grain house in this city
was found to be an embezzler. This
discovery was made ore Sunday after
noon by the proprietor himself who de-
voted the entire day to the work of
overhauling the accounts of the con-
Germ. He chose Sunday for this work.
so as not to excite the suspicious of his
man. and about four in the afternoon
had abundant evidence that the young
fellow was several thousand dollars
short. Naturally the old man was
excited. He jumped around his Office
and tore his hair, and then resolved to
have the embezzler arrested forthwith.
"His eye at that moment caught 81 ht
of young bootblack on the opposite
side of the street, and he called the lad
over and gave him dollar to go to the
house where his clerk boarded and in
quire if he was there. The boy knew
the young man very we'll, and when he
appeared at the door told him every.
thing that was going on at the office.
Il, 3. MIR. - is pulling his hair out by
the roots, said the boy, and the young
man took the hint and left the city
within half an hour We got track of
him and telegraphed to town farther
on his description. and asked the police
to arrest him on the cars. But the
fugitive knew a thing or two himself.
and left the cars at small station. and
boarded a train going in another direc-
ton. That young man gave the depart
ment more trouble than care to tell.
He was tracked to Kansas City. thence
to Quebec, and finally, six months later,
he was located in st. Louis. An officer
was dispatched to bring him back. but
the bird had flown How is it, we
asked, that this man is able to escape
us right along; he seems to forestall all
our actions, and it would appear he was
being advised of our intentions right
alongp'
s'Such proved to be the case, and
some of our men talked q little too
freely. The fugitive was member of
o powerful society, and all our talk
concerning him, we found out after
ward. had been telegraphed him direct.
and he knew beforehand what we in
tended to do. We captured him at last,
however, and he is now doing his bit at
Joliet.
THAT case taught the department a
valuable lesson. 1t would be impossi-
BILE now for case like that to be re-
peated, and that is why l first said YOU
might possibly think our business
queer If you'll allow that we have
many odd jobs to do, what do Won
think of the men who are hired TO
watch us? You see detective keeps
his eye on thieves. but there are de-
tectiyes whose only business it is to
watch other detectives. Spying on
spies is their work, and if l am any
Judge should think it rather ticklish
work to do"
'.Who are theyP'
II don't know All / know is that
every detective in this department, and
every uniformed officer as well, is un.
der surveillance. and that these secret
agents report only to the Superintend-
emit
What do they report?'
Well, various things. In the frs,
place, the Chief of Police is constantly
in receipt of complaints against patrol
men and others on the force. Some
tines Lieutenant is said to be work
ing his district for a gold watch, &
horse and buggy, or some expensive
present, which generally takes the form
of testimonial. There is rule in the
department prohibiting an officer OF
police from receiving any present. Now,
this rule is not often enforced, but. to
make sure that it won't be, your anlbi.
tious copper tells the chief that the
diamond star he is about to receive, OF
the horse and buggy, OF the gold watch.
or whatever it may be. is the unsolicited
gift of the residents of his district who
open their pocket-books and buy him
what he gets in order to express their
sense of his fitness for office. OF course
that is all bosh; the Lieutenant is always
at the bottom ofsuch scheme. and one
of the jobs your mysterious fly hobs
has to do is to look up the extent to
which he is party to the dofgc.
again, any detective who dresses
well or wears diamonds is sure work
for the fly bob | ought to explain
that these secret officers are called fly
bobs' in the department. They are
put on the track of any and all police
officers who are known to be addicted
to fast living. If the officer thus
singled out happens to be doing quiet
sort of matchmaking, as is often the
case, it isn't great while before his
head goes into the basket. Even the
corner cop who takes too many pea
nuts from the dago fruit merchant is
under the watchful eve of the fly bob,
Its ticklish business, as | said
before, but its enhances discipline in
the department and for that reason |
suppose the scheme is all right. -
CHICAGO NelCs.