The Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1885-1886, 1886-06-30
AN EXPLODED IDEA yfg
HILL i 2AEi,
TIE POPULAR NOTION OF DETECT
I'VE WORK ERRONEOUS.

Instead of by Cat Like Devices of Dis
s"isa the Majority of Conviets Arc
Kun to Earth" by Processes of
Pumping and - Biuaing.''i u IL.
People generally have very queer no.
'ion Of what detective really is" said an
eN inenbeN OF the police Department TO a
1 reporter day or two ago Il think the
7 ma ,ority of the Ideas must have been
formed from a~carefnl reading Of "a series Oh
modtrn detective stories Now that I'm
out Of the business don't mind telling YOU
what You perhaps already know-that 5hs
usual stories OF detective work are the ver-
TEST hosh. There is net one officer in 10 coo.
icr instance, who evt liisguises himself Tor
any work he may b.. l,tnt upon The sue.
cesSiGl detective is the main who has tho
largest and most accurate knowledge OF a
particular class Ut criminals For instance
III counter letting case there are eng OF
Two hlted states officers who will look at
Dill. and after scrutiny VIII say Now.
let 5 see, there are three men in tn eoun-
| Try who are capable OF such work. AS this.
Lad Jack Is dong ten-year stretch in Sing
| sing, Clever Charlie Is III hook at Joliet
and sweet William is the only ono who is
at large-it must he William soske pro-
| c+eus to locate William, and when they get
MN they nave the man who did tho work
Veil, several OF the Toys are very clever
bumpers, and right there is where all tie
S"-caiied detective worA of the Chicago
Office Is done There aIe probably no bet,
tef p'u1ers In the country than shea an
hipleys II they can get holl of man no
they think Knows what they are after they
VIII put HIM away ia a Cell at the central.
ooth OF them will get into the cell with
MN, and by a persistent course of question
ing carried on III very energetic way they
WEI get TIE prisoner to divulge many things
lie "ouhi have sworn be would never have
gwen away under any circumstances
INTERESTING NEWsPAPER REPORTS.
"iscan See how That might work after
they had man, but how do they get him9
II must take some ability to get him.
have Gel tianiy read some very interesting
newspaper reports about how detective So
and SO while strolling down State street saw
suspicious looking individual whom he
'plped TO a remote part of the city and
eventually arrested i'll the possession of prop
erty supposed to have been. the plumber from
the burglary of old Moneybags house 1t
always seemed to me that there must be a
good deal of shrewdness in the officer who
can spot a mysterious looking party who 10
any body else LOOKS no different from 10
600 other young men who can be seen On the
street any time. How Is thats'
Traits all in your eye, was the reply of
tho eys-oiticer Its as simple as rolling of
a log when you know how it Is done. The
story you read in the papers is made from
the report furnished by the interested
officers for the reporters of the daily papers.
OF course the boys want all of the credit
hey can set out Of tire case, and tell as
pretty story they can invent It would
aeNer do to tell the truth about these cases
IN sea, ninety-nine out OF 100 are worked
hrough the lueal of some thief or eN thief
Who keeps posted on the doings of others of
his c'aSs III the city.
He knows some officer Intimately and
not intrequently is in the regular employ of
the city. He goes To this officer whom be
knows and tells him that the night before
Three Ting red Jack who is well known to
the officer, turned trick on Indiana
avenue along with Tommy So-and So and |
that the stuff Is planted at such and such
plnce Acting on this information the
officers visit the place Indicated and lust sit
around and wait till their man shows up
Lots of ability about that, isn't therei |
Some people have an idea, you know, that |
after burglary the detectives visit the |
house where it occurred and, after examiu.
ing certain marks on the window where the
men got in, Immediately say This is the
work OF Slippery sam; he is the only fell
tow who does this sort OF work in this par
tlCUldr Styie a. Nothing of the kind. it's
Just as We tod you in pinety-nine cases
out OF 100 In the other case some citizen
gives the officers information that leads to
the capture of the man"
FIRsTRA1f AT SHADowISc
How about the private detective agen-
cies
No better than the others so far as skill
Is concerned The only real difference is
that there is a superior intelligence in tba
makeup OF the agency people They are
tlrst rate at shadowing 4 man at the re1uest
OF his employer or wife, but any man with
ordinary good sense who knows how to keen |
MS mouth shul will make o good shallow
Ii you will watch the privatt-agency men
carefully you will find that they associate
largely with the high toned criminal class
They are solid with one or two leaders and
all the gamblers All thieves of anv promj
hence are gamblers, and, as soon as they
turn big trick. they are sure to turn M
mere Or IN some other city and ipiay the
oahk little The agency men who are as.
'oclatlng with the gamblers hear OF this As
'ooh as the crook strikes town, and a little
inquiry set on loot Will show where the
fooR came from. IT, then, in the course of
Ie" da1 $ compliant Is 10 igef with tho
agency people from the town w,,ere tho
inspected party has been that big conf
fence game has been played or that n
orsed or raised check has been worked on
oine hank or other institution, it Is not SO
'eIy hard to imagine that the thief who |
vas recently 50 Hush is the man " no turned
he trick"
And as to bank robberies.7
ell, they are a good deal like the cases
II counterlelting. 1t takes skilled and
experienced man to blow a safe or vault
nd the proportion of safe blowers TO other
lasses OF criminals is so small that it is not
o very hard to say whose work particular
ob Is. In case OF murder where there
we're no immediate witnesses you will find
nat the police will arrest indiscriminately
rom hily TO 300 tOUshs and then RELY on J
he'r ahibty as bumpers to get some one of {
ne iot VINO may know who did it to s1ueal !
n the guilty iuap. If this fails then thew !
re at the end of their rope and have to
i've the case up. You will find by looking
Yer the records that in every blind cas-; OF
ny Importance the detectives surely get {
'ft Unless the principal or one of the aces {
cries gives himself away by some foolish {
love. I hicago Tribune Interview.