The St. Johns herald., 1889-03-21
A DETECTIVES TALK.
An Old Hand Outlines tho ReQui-
 sites Of a Good Sleuth.

. day with the head of a great detective agency of National reputation, I learned more about the favorIte dino novel heroes detectives - than 1 have ever read or imagined in the whole corrsc of my ex- istence, writes 9 correspondent of the Chi cago Journal.
 As all who have ever had any deanngs with them well know. detectives in real L4e are very difIercEt from those in novels and plays. The stage detective is a neatly dressed, debonair individual with mutton chop whIsKcrs. With the aid of wig and false boards he assumes al sorts Cf dis guises, which he sUduculy throws of to dis close his real identity at the most uncX- pected moments. Dlcn BouclcaUlt, IT one Of his plays, represents . detective who i3 quite a young man as making himself up for an elderly gcntlemGh of sixty years, and going about holding conversations with people who kaow nlm wei without belng recognized. In many other plays and novels detectives are represented as dOng similar impossible things. The cunningCst EaIr- worker can net make wig or beard which will defy the detection of a keen observer in a bright light, and every actor well knows that it is impossible to paint upon the face the lines winch simulate old age without making it perfectly plain to spccta- tors near the stage that they gro pcintcd and rot natural. There is nothlng peculiar or distinctive in tho dress or appearance of real detectives, and the famous ore to whom have alluded looks moro Llzc re- spectable farmer than any thing else. When asked him how men become detectives he replied that they don't '' become " but must have a natural gift for the profession.
 .f In he continued. "AIany of them first find out their aptitude for the work by some event occurring in their own private ex- periencc which causes them for the nonco to turn amateur detectives. That was the case with the late Allen Pinllcrton.
 "He was farming Tn tho West, and was much annoyed by the dcpredations of Q gang of horse thieves. By the clcvcrest kind of detective work he at length suc- ceeded in bringing them to justice and re- covering his nags. His services were then sought by his neighbor5 in similar cases, and the final result was that he established the Pinkcrton Detective Agency"
 "What qualities arc most essential in detectivel" I asked.
 'Tact, coolness, courage, good judgment and self-controL The lack of any of these will debar man from attaining the highest rank in tho profession, though it may not prevent him from beng fairly clever in some branches of It. 1 once knew and em- ployed a very bright young fellow who pos sessed every requisite of great general detective, save sclfcontrol, and the lack of that quality caused him to spoil some of lis best work resolved to subject him 10 one of the severest of oll tests of dctectivc's skill. set him to try to cXtcrt contcs- sion from a young woman charged with la- fanticide. In the course of many inter views with this girlhe fell in love with her, as he aftcrward confessed to me, and blinded by his passion he came to believe firmly in her innocence Eo also formed 9 theory that she was not tho mother Of the murdered child, but had assumed to be to protect the reputation of her younger slS- ter Nevertheless, determined to do his duty, he persisted in his attempts to cXtort a confession, believing that the result would be the confirmation of lis theory. He played his part so well that tho girl broke down and was about to confess her self a murderess, when he, realizing the true state of the case, was so angry at tnG- ing himself thus deceived in the character of the woman he loved, that he broke cut with such volcy of oaths and rcpro@chcs as forever sealed tho unnatural EothCr's lips on the subject Of her crime. As a con- sequence she was acquitted for lack cf Gi- rect evidence. This shows how important self-control is to detective.
 'Besides tho qualities l have named, strong perceptive faculties gre of great ir1- portance to a detective, IS is also a ls9TFer of generalization which will Cnablc G,sn.to jump at once to correct conclusions from slight and seemingly trifinS premises. A good, reliable memory he must have, tl;lt, having once seen a face, Ee may Dc aoic to instantly recognize and 'placo' it, no mat ter when, where or under what circUm- stances be secs it again. lie must not Cnly remember faces, bat names, numbers and dates as well. There Is no business CT pro fession in which inteiigencc-0Oth natural and acQuircd-couEts for mere. AaOwl- edge of any kind may at soI2e time provo useful.
 "A detective must have good eyesight md good hearing, and especially such 8 power of quiet observation as will enable him to make mental note of every thing that goes on around him without seeming to do so He must always bear in mind that appearances arc often deceptive. in innocent man wrongly accused will almost always appear like guilty one, while hard ened criminal, under the most criulinaung will readily assume rhe bear ing of injured innocence.
 "Ica recall some striking illustrations of this, and of the utter Unreli25iiijy of cir- evidence. One occurred re- gently in England. A farmer was tried at the Yorkshire assize5 for the murder of peddlcr The only evidence against him was purely circumStantial, and consisted of his having been tho last person with whom the pcdGler had been seen alive, and in tho fact that at the time Of lis arrest he was wearing wig which was identified as hay ing belonged to tho 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 the spot where be had parted from the peddler. His state ment was not believed. The jury found
 'tv of murder in the first degree,
 ,~1s about to pronounce sen
 one of the spectators
 2 innocence of the