The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1889-12-31
HOW TO CATCH A THIEF.

a Queer C~.sosn tm ssrttssh India That
ssved Work for the Regular Police.
Probably many people have heard of
the Indian method of discovering n thief
by the ordeal of chewing dried rice. We
once saw 10 tried and tried with success.
says n writer i'm Chombcss'. journal. IL
happened more than forty wears ago, hut
as the custom of employing this ordeal
has almost Disappeared with the advance
of civilization and education i'm British In
hia, we may he allowcd tn tell what we re-
I'M of il.
Four Of us were living together i'm Cal
cuttss, 'chunming' AS il il call ID out
there. We were young men under %
years of age, recently arrived from Eng
land, with fair earnings for salaries. and
good rospect in our several professions.
We lived i'm % threc-storied house, in N
large compound or garden, i'm the FASH
ionable quarter of Calcutta. Among us
we had u large retinue of scrvauts-a alto
gether about 10 men apiecc-so that the
whole domestic establishments numbered
about 30 persons.
Ono day there was IN alarm that my
friend George Christians gold watch was
missing. Sea- ch for il was made i'm vain,
and we reluctantly arrived at the co.iclu-
sion that IL had been stolen. We had n
domestic court of inquiry, with the aid of
the moousbees ar native tut RS who used
to- come To teach MS the languages; but IL
any one. From tbc arrangement of our
rooms in tho hot.se IL seemed probable
that one of Christians own servants must
repudiatesi the idea. He said that his ser-
wants were the best i'm the house and
would never have robbed him, AS he was
SO kind and liberal To them.
We may observe that all of us were very
confident of the integrity of our own
most young men In India until they have
gained experience. We were almost
the best servants. Ne arrayed Them In
smart liveries, with silver badges in their
turbans, and colored w~aistband-., My
good-lookinR khidmudRar or table servant
named abdul, who was considcie ed the
we valued him accordingly.
A our domestic court of inquiry failed
tn detect the thief or recover the property.
should apply To the Calcutta police for the
services of the native official who was
, n,en, sor c"s,,, M II. s ,h,i nryc .,.n' fsic rss
ing thieves 10y the ordeal of rice chewing.
Ii must w I~cmemhnrcd that the Calcutta
ficiency. IL was fecbly Differed and bad
~ manned. For the detection Of thieves,
s messics YER. ~ s Snsss ,k :, b %sr ,r,' ws.r to the
services Of ~ professor of magic.
The prndit las we shall call tho profess
ing him, arrived ut our house about IL
O'Clock one morning. All our servants
and the lodge-kecper had .s..u ordered L.,
allow no one, tn go outside. The pnndit
was u tall and stout man, arrayed i'm mus
lin, and evidently possessed with n great
idea al his own Importance.
According to his request the servants
ground i'm one OF the long v~erandlas OF our
house, and we took up our position so as
To Inc able to shpcrinteIId the operation.
some pieces of green p%lantain leaf, and n
small portion was placed ia each mans
hand ." serve as a plate. on which he was
tn eject the dried rice after he had sue
ccssfully chewed IL.
thu puudii then went round with n bowl
of pounded rice, like flour. and with a
wood spoon poured n quantity of this rice
flour into the open mouth OF each servant.
The order was given that cich man was
within five minutes 10y the watcht ~ chew
the flour and eject il, in n state of pulp, on
the plantuin leaf before him.
Most of the men set To- work with n will.
though 10 few were rather frightened at
first, but long before the five minutes had
elapsed almost every man had got .hroiah
1.-THE evidence Of his innocence" i'm his
hands. But why are so many eyes turned
as il anxious 10 avoid obscrva-
tion? We also look. aud thcr.. is
CHRISTIANS favorite Xii im,iear. Abdul.
with his face almost couvnlSch and trying
mouth. His li,'s are dry and his glands
needed TO moistrn the rice II ,ur. Al hast
the pondit's eyes glare at him. and. point
ing a. him NTH s1T lrnE: n %" ,n ,irger rri hs
victim quails and grnvels on the floor be-
fore him, his handsome face becomes
livid with terror, aud ut la I he family APP
psals to his master for forgiveness aud
promises that he will restore his watch.
All the other servants are now talking as
fast rs they can. delighted at their own
sirliverance and full of reverence and
dread for the pundit. The convicted
chief slowly rises. and. requesting his
master 10 follow him. goes to the well i'm
the garden aud produces the watch from
under n loose brick.
The pnudit and she men were duly pre-
scented viii q haodsome reward and tie
members of our Ious hold returned to
their ordinary duties. Not quit so. pcr-
haps, for. altho igh the thief was not given
up to the police. To be tried and punished
by "a magistrate. he WAS brought before
the domestic tribunal at which his master
was president. and sentenced tn receive
20 strokes from "a rattan. The 20 strokes
were presently administered 10y two of
our most stalwart syces.
After this the cuiprit was readmitted
into his masters favor and became n
much better servant than he had been
before. Nor did IA Is feliow-servants in the
least object. They recognized the fact
that he expiated his guilt by the punish
ment that he had suffered and they were
not SO uucharitable AS TO deny him n
chance Of reRaininR n good character.