The Indianapolis journal., 1885-06-06
THE DETECTIVE FEVER.
Criminal Hunting Has Charms for the Youth
from the Country.

from the country
San Francisco Chronicle.
''Do you have many applications for positions
on your forcesp was asked of manager of a
Kearney- street detective agency recently
$50 many was the reply, that sometimes
think that half the population is anxious to
place itself in position to ferret out the crimes
of the other half These sef-recommenGsd can
didates for the empty honors of detective life are
chiefly from the country. Some of them have
read the thrilling tales to which the name ot
Allan Pinkerton has been attached by unknown
dsseminators OF blood and thunder litera-
by the glamour thrown around the
heroes of bank burglary captures, the shadowing
OF suspected murderers and their detection by
means of button suspender buckle l re-
ceive a good many letters from the rural dis
trlcts. Here is one from man at Woodland,
who says he has been schooling himself in
shadowing people up there. and his success has
been so aattering that he has come to the CON
clusion that he is possessed of detective ability
of no mean order He is anxious to try his
hand at the real business. If there are any safe
robberies or murders on hand TO work up, he
would gladly accept q position on my force at
nominal salary. have written back informing
him that am very sorry not to be able to avail
myself of his valuable services, but there is no
vacancy in my force at present. / have several
letters from youths or from twelve to eighteen
years, who are impressed with the idea that thew
are young Hawkshaws of the first grade Some
OF them have visited the office and urged
me to give them trial, but / have never vet
considered it wise to encourage them in becom-
ing detectives Some people have what l eall
attacks of detective fever They hear Of some
robbery or other crime and proceed to work up
the case without the knowledge of the officers or
the regular detectives. These cranks often
shadow some innocent person for days at time,
making careful note of every suspicious action
This class of would-be detectives are harmless
enough never yet heard of one of them being
of the slightest use in case, or afurding the
least clew, although they sometimes offer vol
luminous reports of the comngs and goings of
their suspects. Nothing however, can make
people on whom the detective mania has fixed
it's hold believe that they are not endowed by
nature with special qualification, inspirational
or otherwise. for hunting down criminals"
is employment ever given to the applicants
from the country?"
Not very often. Sometimes l send one of
these verdant customers out on some trivial
case and then detail another man to watch his
proceedings | have gone out myself, and it is
often good as a circus The fellow will hunt
up his man and shadow him up and down the
street. dodging behind corners and posts, and
sometimes attracting'a great deal of attention
from people along the way, if not from the man
he is shadowing. Occasionally however, the.
apprentice detective will take hold of case in
good shape, and work it up with such despatch
as to create surprise among the older men on
the force Probably the worst cranks Of the
class of which l am speaking are women, who
have often had as many six applications a
day from ladies who were sure they could be Of
great service in hunting up female
criminals and restoring stolen prop
erty, but / have never yet employed
one. They are a constant source of annoyance
and will not be put off as readily as the men.
AS rule, however, woman of any delicacy
will not insist on becoming detective when she
is given to understand the dangers of the posi-
tion. the kind of company she is likely to meet,
and the sort of places she must visit. Some OF
the applicants have the queerest notions of what
is required of a detective when on active duty.
One fellow, who evidently thought that in de-
tective life insomnia was one of the most i'm
portant qualifications, wrote from Santa Rosa
that he was sure he could live up to the motto of
the detectives, We never Sleep as his nervous
system such as to prevent him from taking
any rest at night. sometimes, too have appli-
cations from exconvicts, who tell with a
great air of mystery that they are acquainted
with the ways of burglars aud other criminals,
and are capable of first class work in the de-
tective line. 1t is perhaps unnecessary to say
that have never intrusted case with any of
these gentry