The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-12-16
BACON BROUGHT BACK.
THE CENTRAL RAILROAD CAR ROB
Der BEHIND THE BARS.
Detective Mowatt spots Him on tn

Detective Mowatt spots Him on the
Chattanooga Chain Gang - Bacon's
Travels After He Left Savannah
How He Outwitted the Detectives
His Arrest in Tennessee-Sent Up as
a Tramp.
| Harkees W. Bacon, alias W. E. Smith,
alias William dc Land, conceded by the
railway police authorities to be one Of the
slickest car thieves in the shape of q negro
that ever worked the road, is a prisoner at
/ the Jail. He was committed yesterday aft
ernoon by Detective Mowatt, who brought
HIM from Chattanooga, Tenn, where he
was on the chain-gang.
Bacon, who is very black negro, and
about 81 years of age, has been working
freight trains for the last seven years. He
admitted yesterday that he stole the bale of
cotton hau ed to town by Philip Henry and
| sold by Frierson two months ago, and says
| that when Henry was arrested he bid out
for ten days and Alice Frierson fed him and
said he must keep hidden until a chance
presented for his escape.
HE WAS A TRAVELLER.
From there Bacon went to Norfolk, Ro-
anoke and Pocahontas, Va, and thence to
Bristol, Tenn, and via Knoxville to Chat
tanooga. He says that he beat his way on
freight trains, and that the officers never
would have caught him, but in travelling
from Knoxville to Chattanooga in car
loaded with coke he got careless and went
to sleep, where he was found, with two or
three other tramps, who made their es-
cape. He was captured, and as he
had new thirty-eight Smith & Yves
son revolver aud a gold watch and
chain on his person he couldn't
beg off, but was turned over to
Chattanooga justice of the peace on three
charges: vagrancy, carrying concealed
weapons and tresspass, the latter defining
the offense in Tennessee for stealing a ride
in car Bacon was bound over to higher
court on the weapon charge, and was fined
$25 and cost on each of the two other
charges. He gave a lawyer the watch,
cn,in and pistol to defend him, but it didn't
keep him from the chain-gang, where he
has been doing service since Nov. "a
Bacon in his statements corroborates
Philip Henry's story of the theft of the
bale of cotton from the Central railroad.
oUTwITTED THE DETECTIVES.
There were four or five detectives from
abroad working on the case here, who as
sumed various DISCUSSES aud sat around on
empty beer kegs in Yamacraw watching
the black hotsam and jetsam of CoopershOp
altar Bacon was lodging about from station
to station in the old Dominion. In
fact one of the detectives took
colored woman Of Yamacraw into his
confidence, AID she kept Bacon thoroughly
posted as to the movements Of the strange
detectives, and the vigor with which Bacon
was hunted for may be onjectured when it
is said one of the detectives tracked him
from Jesup down to the coast, and on his
return informed the town marshal of Jesup
that he had just missed catching Bacon by
one train, when Bacon had then cen on the
Chattanooga Changing for nearly three
weeks.
1T WAS MowATT'S SCOOP.
Detective Mowatt, when he took charge
Of the case, commu heated with the places
where crooks usually visit when they are
off on furlough, aud he he soon learned
that negre answering in part to Bacon
was under arrest at Chattanooga. Mowatt
concluded to go up and take look at the
negro, and leaving Savannah on Dec. 5, he
reached Chattanooga on Dec. Z. He recog-
nized his man when 800 or 400 yards dis
tant, and returning home he got a
warrant in Justice Endres' court
and left again, stopping at Atlanta,
where requisition was obtained
and Friday night he left Chattanooga with
his prisoner in bracelets and got here yes
terday afternoon. 1t was a clever piece of
work, for not half a dozen persons appeared
to know Bacon, and the description which
was sent out was in some respects mis-
leading.