Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1886-12-31
sMIA RT D ! y {
& spseinsn of the Old-T Time Detsctiys.

lA Ll ~ ,a. Louis upiican mas loosen
led the tongues 81 many of his old
]comrades and caused many st his
clever and daring exploits 70 be re-.
called. In the last year Of the war, 9
time when police methods were not
nearly as perfect as they have since
become, Elders professional eye no.
ticed the suspicious movements Of q
quartet Of crooks in East Fourth
street. Every evening Tor several
months he noticed that they left
the city BY train and did not re-
turn till next morning. One day
he followed them to Bethel, Conn.,, but
they suspected something and their
conduct gave no clew to their real de-
sign. One morning the Bethel bank
vas robbed Of $4,000 in gold and
notes. The burglary had been daring
~ planned and we'll executed. It was
before the days Of combination safes,
| and the bank kept its valuables in q
strongly built stone vault IN the base
nent. The morning after the robbery,
when the cashier went down to open
the vault, the lock would not yield.
There was nothing suspicious about
the exterior of the vault, but after re-
peated efforts the key was laid aside
and g. locksmith sent for from New
York. The next day the door was
forced open, and il was seen that a
tunnel had been dug under the vault.
and entrance gained by knocking q
stone flag out of the floor. In order
to delay the discovery the thieves had
wedged the lock OF the door on the
inside. They had started their tunnel
IN a private house q, block away, and
had worked at it every night for two
months. Elder knew it was the work
of the men he had followed and. with
Detective McCord, lie had tracked
them down. The money was found
hidden in q hollow tree in the woods
miles away. Joe Purdy, Jack Wright,
and the Adams, father and son, served
time for the burglary.
The career Of George Mcdonald, the
Bank OF England forger, is a striking
instance of Elders pertinacity in
tracking criminals. Elder detected
him in three attempts at forgery here
and drove him to England. He is
now life prisoner in Millbank. The
first time he caught Elders eye was in
Houston street in 1874. He was in
company with professional thief,
and, therefore, Elder took an instan-
taneous mind photograph of his hand
some face and figure. Shortly SITTER
ward extensivefrauds were committed
on Duden Freers, and Arnold, Con-
stable & Co., by means of g. forged
check. The description OF the
plausible gentleman who carried on
the negotiations Tailed with that
Of Elders new acquaintance.
he was arrested and the goods
found in his house, but by some trick
he escaped conviction. His next at
tempt was to defraud Jay Cooke & Co.
Of $40, 900. Elder became acquaint-
ed with his plan in advance and noti-
fed the firm. Mcdonald had. ordered
$14O, 900 worth ofgovernment bonds,
for which he was to hand over three
certified checks. Elder arranged that
the parties should meet, and the
bonds were produced but not deliv-
cred. Mcdonald came, but saw some
thing suspicious, and swallowed the
checks. The Law had no hold on him
for his attempt, but Elder said to
him: "Mark my words, Mcdonald.
you can't work your schemes here;
we'll find you every Time"
crossed the water. Six months later,
when the bank of England authorities
found that he had swindled them to
the tune of quarter of 3 million
Mcdonald was on an ocean steamer
on his way to New York. The English
detectives did not know his name,
and had no accurate description of
him, but they cabled over the news
OF his crime and his methods, and
that was enough for Elder. That ex-
perienced detective had studied Nc
Donald's methods closely, and with q
feeling akin to admiration. He was
waiting on the dock when the steamer
arrived and arrested his man. McDon-
aid 8 stolen fortune came on another
ship and was seized. This time, thanks
to the valuable assistance rendered
by Elder, there was no flaw in the
chain Of evidence and Mcdonald was
extradited, sent to England and con-
victed thsre.
Some years ago, while in England,
Elder paid visit to Milbank and
asked to see Mcdonald in his convict
dress and close cropped hair, and with
out his fine beard and mustache, no
trace remained OF the sleek and plaus-
ible "stock broker" of former days.
After some minutes OF desultory con-
sultation the convict threw up his
hands supplicatingly and said to Elder
with terrible earnestness: "They say
have got life sentence; what does
that mean7"
There was long pause, and then The
military governor. said gently: ut
means that you have to resign yous-
self to staying herefor the rest ofyour
"Oh, don't say that" pleaded Nc
Donald, anything but that. Say
twenty, thirty, Or forty years, but
give me something to hope for. am
q young man, and the thought of
never ending captivity is intolerable."
OF course no assurance could be
given him, as under the English law
no application Tor Communication of a.
life sentence will be considered by the
home department until twenty-one
years after sentence has been deliv-
cred.
In March, 1868, when news reached
headquarters OF the So, 100, 900 Lord
bond robbery, the first man thought
of by Captain Young was detective
Elder, MI. Lord said to him almost in
tears: Il must have those bonds,
Elder, but I don't care for the men. j
cannot afford TO prosecute" After
months OF ceaseless effort here and in
Europe, Elder found that Hod Ennis