Little Falls transcript., 1886-07-02
! rhe Sender OF a Poisoned Bou-
5a3 Uiset Yet TIndiSrnTnpafl f

qset Yet Undiscovered.
Detective in Detroit Free Prcss. ss
/ During the war Washington was
filed with some OF the worst people
III the land, and in addition to thieves,
thugs, burglars, gamblers. and that
class OF sharpers, there was an element
which constantly plotted and conspir-
ed against the government, if not
against almost every individual Off
clal. It was the duty Of the Secret
Service Bureau to look up and keep
an eyeon these people, and am hon
est in stating my belief that We drove
out OF the capital, in one way and an
other, and at one time and another,
one hundred men and women who were
plotting conspiracy. and assassina-
ton.
In the summer of 1868 O. member of
the Cabinet who had expressed con-
siderable bitterness toward what was
! called the disloyal element in Balti-
more, received a very fine basket of
! flowers at his desk. They were placed
| on the desk while he was at lunch, and
the colored attendant who received
| them stated that he took them from
the hands Of a welldressed boy. They
were flowers of which the official was
particularly fond, and he spent some
time admiring the gift and inhaling the
perfume. Within quarter of an hour
he was taken suddenly ill and had to
be sent homo in a carriage. There
were several stories whispered about,
but / believed from what followed,
that the bouquet was poisoned and
had been sent in hopes to cause his
death. He was done up for four or
five days, anyhow, and I received Or
ders to make every effort to hunt
down the person who had sent in the
! bouquet.
1t was little I had to encourage me
in the start. l got q description of
the boy, however, and after a day or
two l found people OF whom he had
inquired his way from the station to
the Secretary's Office. It was easy
enough after that to trace him as hay
ing come on from Baltimore. He came
alone and he had the bouquet in a
bank-box. The bouquet was tied with
a grass cord; and took this cord and
went to Baltimore and scarcely rested
a moment until l had seen the owner
OF every greenhouse. I applied to
twenty or more before Hound the one
who put up the flowers. He re-
membered the circumstance, identified
the cord, and described the buyer as
a ahandsome-lookinglad lady about thirty
five years OF age who had come in a.
hack. The vehicle was drawn by a
| white and a bay horse, and inside of
two hours I had found the driver. He
| described the lady about as the florist
had done, and added that she had
gold filled front teeth, blue eyes, a little
scar on her chin, and was sharp and
decisive in her speech. She had taken
the hack at the stand and left it at
the same place.
Ii this woman intended the death of
the official she had gone to the green
house in an attire selected for the oc-
casion, and one she would not wear
again on the street. Ihung about the
various hotels until certain that she
was not a guest of any of them, and
then l could only trust to accident for
success. On two occasions l caught
sight OF a face in a carriage which an
swered the. description and fol-
lowed the vehicle with out success.
Each time it escaped me by rapid
driving. Again caught sight of the
lady on the street. She entered q drv
goods store and followed. She soon
passed out and was at her heels, but
she dodged into a crowd gathered
about the scene of an accident and
lost her. An hour later I suddenly
discovered that l was being shadowed.
1 did considerable walking, turning
and dodging before I would admit that
this was the case, but finally had to
acknowledge that the hunter was be-
ing hunted.
My shadow WAS a medium sized man,
about forty years old, well-dressed,
respectable looking, and doing his
work in the neatest manner. He did
not lose sight OF me until he saw ME
enter my hotel, where I brought up
about 6 o'clock in the evening. had
no clue connecting the man with the
woman was looking after, but it was
natural for ME to infer that there was
some connection. I wrote out and
made my daily report, ate supper,
smoked cigar, and then started for
the theater. 1t wouldn't be at all
strange if I found my lady there, even
if l had the seat next her. Twas with
in twenty feet of the door of the theater
when a rough and ragged-looking man,
who certainly spoke in a disguised
voice, stopped me and said
"Mister, I'm a discharged soldier,
and I've been sick, and am out OF
money. Won't you buy this revolver
OF me for So"
He pulled the weapon from his pock-
ct and showed it toward me, muzzle
first. Before l could comprehend the
full import OF his words there was
flash and report, and l was dimly
conscious of failing. Four or five min
utes later came to myself to find that
a crowd had gathered and that / was
in the hands of q doctor. A bullet
from that revolver had plowed along
my skull, making a. wound which laid
me off duty for month. The fellow
who sought to murder me escaped
without pursuit, and is to this day un-
detected. If he was not the person who
had shadowed me in the afternoon, he
was in that PERSONS employ, ,and both
were acting for the woman. 1t was
afterward ascertained that she was a
woman who was notably vindictive,
and that she left for England before 1
was recovered from my wound.