Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1889-06-06

lrOve Ii, as he made q tull confession. IL /
vas simply my good luck. 1t was simply |
he i'll luck of two Cleveland detectives
Who reached Oberlin two hours too late.
About fifteen years ago, while con-
lected with the force in Chicago, n
ewelry house on State street was robbed
If $4,000 worth of jewelry. Aside
rom this there was package of Govern
nent bonds amounting to over S17, 900,
which had been deposited in the safe for
security. The robbery was committed
Dy professional cracksmen, who left their
tools behind but no clue. l was at this
time at Bowling Green, Kentucky, after a
and l read an account of
the robbery in a Louisville paper. 1t
wasn't my job, and | didn't give it any
particular thought. had traced no.
torious counterfeiter down into Ken
tucky and located him at Bowling Green.
At least, l traced him to that town, but
there lost the trail for few days. l
got false clue, which led me down to
and when l started to return
took an accommodation train. 1t was at
night, and there was but one coach on
the train, and that contained only five
passengers besides myself. Three of these
were natives, sure enough, while the
other two talked about coal mine in
Tennessee, and seemed to own land in
that State. gave them little attention,
being three seats in the rear, and was
talking with the conductor on general
matters, when the two men suddenly be-
came interested in something one of them
held in his hand. Their heads were to-
gether, and they were evidently deeply
interested, when the report of pistol
was heard, followed by cry of agony
and a yell of alarm. The object of their
curiosity was a derringer, and it had ac-
cidentally been discharged, the bullet
entering the leg of one of the men just
above the knee. In his pain and fright
the wounded man sprang up, and turned
fiercely on the other, with the exclama-
ton:
"Curse you, but you did that on pur-
pose! You wanted all the swag to your
self"
The conductor and were beside them
in a minute. The wounded man fell
back on the seat, and he evidently re-
gretted the break he had made a few Sec
onds before, for he said, as we came up;
"Tom, old fellow, I had my own finger
on the trigger, and pulled it off. You are
not bit to blame.
"But what about the 'swag| l de-
manded, as l stood over them.
"He meant our coal mine," replied the
one called Tom.
eyes; we are partners in q coal mine,
added the wounded man.
"Oh! that's it2 Well, let's see what
can be done for you"
It was q bad wound-so bad that
knew his leg would have to come off, a.
the big bullet had shattered the bone
and suggested to the conductor that hi
make as fast time as he dared to Bowling
Green, where medical attendance coult
be had. To my surprise the men asked
to be put off at some highway crossing
near farm house, saying that countr,
doctor could manage the case wei
enough, and that the quietness of tn
country would be the best for the patient
This satisfied me that they were suspic
ious characters, and assumed the author
ity to remove the one and handcuff hin
to a seat at the rear of the coach, and t
search both. The one had revolver ant
the other the derringer, and before wa
through searching l brought to light al
the stolen bonds and jewelry. 1t wa
sheer luck again. -Four of our men wer
out on their trail, but on false scents
They were supposed to have gone East
while I picked them up in the South
The fellow who was shot not only lost hi
leg but his life. The other was returne
to Chicago, and he received long ser
tcnce for his crime. There was gres
deal of newspaper talk about my shrew6
ness, but | didn't deserve word {
praise. The case simply came to mt
The ripe fruit dropped into my hands
Things fall that way to lucky man, L
matter what business he is engaged in.
7 One of the bits of luck which fell
me several years ago, o,and which was muc
J talked about at the time, came about
) very singular way. had been sci
, down to Augusta, Arkansas, to identify
?, man who had been arrested there, and w
l supposed to be robber wanted in Oh
cago. He did not prove to be the ms
we hoped he was, and was making reae
! to return when resident of the tow
1 who was an old acquaintance of mine, p
forward speculation. He had just pu
: chased a saw mill a few miles down Viii
y River, and he believed there was b
e money to be made in buying large ira
p of timber contiguous to the mill. TT
tract was for sale at a very low figure, b
e nv friend could not raise the cash. T.
t result of our talk was that we took be
e next morning and were left at the m
landing. While he was overseeing Sol
e change of machinery started out to G
C some idea of the value of the timber. T
!. first thing knew was lost in the fore
!. and l did just what all other people
: under the circumstances-headed t
n wrong way. Instead of going toward t
" river, I went away from it. 1t was
it July, and although the mosquitoes neal
l. devoured me, there was no danger of 81
d fering from the inclemency of the wealth
is 1t was about 10 o'clock in the morni
n when I started out, and by mid-afterno
had walked at least ten miles, and kn
W that was entirely bewildered. could
,r l-ao,> , ,+o;ob+ oo,,roo for thn crepks q