Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-08-22
A DETECTIVES TALK.
An Old Hand Outlines the ReQui-
 sites of a Good Sleuth.

In q pleasant half hours talk the other day with the head of a great detective agency of National reputation, l learned more about tho favorite dime novel heroes detectives - than l have ever read or imagined i'll the whole course of my cN- istence writes correspondent of the Chl- cago Journal
 As all who have ever had any dealings with them well know. detectives in real lifo are very different from those i'll novels and plays. The stuge dctective is neatly dressed, debonair individual with mutton chop whiskers. With tho aid of wig and falsa boards ho assumes all sorts Cf dis guiscs, which he suddenly throws off to dis close his real identity at the most uneX- perted moments. Dion Boucicault, i'll one of his plays, represents detective who Is quite young man as making himself up for an elderly gentleman of sixty years, and going about holding conversations with people who know him well without being recognized. In many other plays and novels detectives arc represented as doing similar
 Impossible things. The Cunningest hair
 worker can not make 3 wig or beard which will defy the detection of keen observer In a bright light, and every actor well knows that 1t !s impossible to paint upon the face the lines whloh simulate old age without making it perfectly plain to specta- tors near the stage that they are painted and not natural. There is nothing peculiar or distinctive in the dress or appearance of real detectives, and the famous one to whom I have alluded looks more, like a re Spectable farmer than any thing else. When 1 asked him how men become detectives he replied that they don't become " but must have a natural gift for the profession. "DeteCtlves must be born and not made, he continued. "Muny of them first find out their aptitude for the work by some ev vent occurring iii their own private eX- psrience winch causes them for the nonce to turn amateur detectives. That was the case with the late Allen Pinkerton-
 He was farming m the West, and was much annoyed by the depredations of a
 gang of horse thieves. By tAc cleverest
 kind of detective work he at length sue ceeded in bringing them to justice and re covering his nags. His scrviceSWere then
 sought by his ueiShbors in similar cases,
 and the final result was that he established
 the Plnkcrton Detective Agency.'
 "What qualities are most essential in 6eteCtiVc?" 1 asked.
 Tact, coolness, courage, good judgment and seH-control The lack of any of these will dcbar man from attaining the highest
 rank in tho profession, though it may not
 prevent him from being fairly clever in
 some branches of It. l oncc knew and em- ploycd a very bright young fellow who pos 1 sessed every requisite of a great general ! detective, save solfcontrOl, and the lack of | that quality caused him to spoil some of his best work. 1 resolved to subject him to one | of the seVrrest of all tests of q detectives s l skill. 1 set him to try to cXtort confes- l sion from young woman charged with m l fapticide. In the course of many inter views with this girl he fell in love with her, 1 ha nFf tn
 blinded by his passion he came to believe l firmly in her innocence. He also formed l theory that she was not the mother of the 1 murdered child, but had assumed to be to protect the reputation of her younger Sis | ter. Nevertheless, determined to do his
 duty, he persisted in his attempts to cXtort | a confession, believing that the result 1 would be the confirmation of his theory. l He played his part so well that tho girl 1 broke down and was about to confess her | self a murderess, when he, realizing the | true state o1'the case, was so angry at find 1 ing himself thus deceived i'll the character 1 of the woman he loved, that he broke out | with such Volley of OathS and reprOaCheS l as forever sealed the unnatural mothers 8 | lips on the subject of her crime. As a con- l sequence she was acquitted for lack of di- 1 rect evidence. This shows how important | selfcontrol is to a detective.
 l "Besldes the qualities I havo named, l strong perceptiye faculties are of great i'm 1 portance to n detective, as is also power l of generalization which will enable him to | jump at once to correct conclusions from l slight and seemingly triling premises. A good, reliable memory he must have, that, ! having once seen face, he may be able to l instantly recognize and place it, no mat ter when, where or under what oircum- ! stances he sees it again. He must not only ! remember faces, but names, numbers and dates as well. There is no business or pro ! fession in which intellgcncc-both natural ! and acQuired-counts for moro. knowl- | edge of any kind may at some time prove l useful.
 l A detective must have good eyesight
 and good hearing, and especially such a l power of quiet observation as will enable | him to make mental note of every thing l that goes around him without seeming ! to do so. He must always bear in mind l that appearances arc often deceptive. An I innocent man wrongly accused will almost
 always appear like guilty one, while hard
 ened criminal, under the most criminating g ' circumstances, will readily assume the bear I ing of in njured innocence.
 ! II can recall some striking illustrations
 of this, and of the utter unreliability cf cir | cumstantial evidence. One occurred re. l gently in England. A farmer was tried al ! the Yorkshire Gssizes for the murder of q
 peddler. The snly evidence against him
 was purely circumstantial, and consisted o1
 his having been the last person with whom
 the peddler had been seen alive, and fn the
 fact that at the time of his arrest he was 1 wearing wig which was identified as hay
 ing belonged to the murdered man. The
 accused accounted for the possession of the
 wig by saying that he had found it lying in
 the road on returning past tho spot where
 he had parted from the peddler. His state
 ment was not believed. The jury found
 him guilty of murder in the first degree
 and the judge was about to pronounce sen.
 tence of death, when one of the spectators