The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-08-20

the crack woman detective of the Hub. She
Is OF middle age and wonderfully bSight, a
great talker and Just the person to worm
out any ones secrets. She had a sort of
mania for detective work. and was uuhap-
by till she became associated with the Bos-
ton police. Occasionally she runs over to
New York 10 talk with detectives here and
get few points On the metropolitan method
of working up difficult cases; but her own
resources are generally suffic. ent to accom-
plish whatever she sets about.
Inspector Byrnes owes some portion of his
phenomenal success as a rogue catcher to
the fact that he has not hesitated 10 employ
women whenever he could do 50 to advauU-
age although all the traditions of the central
office were opposed to them. Hardly day
passes without one or two of these female
Hawkshaws calling on the big-mustached
chief of the detective squad in the white
marble building in Mulberry street. Few
of the women so employed, however, make
the business of detecting crime a regular
profession. They generally have some
other occupation, and merely take up po-
lice work as a means of making extra
money, or because they are in love with
the notion of playing the role of detective
Women love mystery, and the very mystery
that surrounds the detectives calling al
lures them, just as the glamour of the stage
fasclnates others.
At headquarters the officer tells a re-
markable story of a smart woman who
hoodwinked the entire detective staff. She
was plump and pretty widow of about 25
with pair of swapping black eyes and a
figure that would have attracted attention
anywhere. One day she called there and
informed the inspector that she wished to
become detective.
81 know l can succeed in tracking peo-
ple," she said, with an unutterable look out
- a IS L. -. ~ ..1
read character at a glance. and | only want
a chance to show what can do"
or course it wouldn't do to let such talent
go a-begging, 9nd she was given a chance.
The result was something quite unexpected
The charming widow succeeded in mash
ing" every case she was instructed to
shadow, and made good thing out of it in
a financial way; but the central Office
made no progress. Her reports were
turned in with great punctuality and par
ticularity; she told just where Mr. Soand-
so passed his evenings, where he got his
money and how he spent it; what he ate
and drank and when he went to bed. She
was altogether too agreeable for detective,
and the central office reluctantly LEI her go
and had to confess that, for once, it had
been duped by a mere woman.
Female detectives proceed upon the
principle that men are mostly fools and
susceptibility.
"When 1 succeed in getting man to
stare at me, remarked one of tn sse saga
cious trappers of men, 81 know Tve scored
point. With some men it's different.
though Some have TO be moved by their
symp lthies, others by the passions. You
see, women have the advantage of men, too
at the outset in detective work, because we
can disarm suspicion. The first thing in
beginning a case is to study how to ap-
proach your man properly. l have lain
awake whole nights turning various schemes
over and over in my mind and rejecting
them, one by one, until the right idea was
hit at last"
1t is astonishing how deity the fingers of
the women searchers in the custom house
penetrate the mysteries of femme apparel
Seemingly innocent coiffures are made to
yield treasures as though they were cauil-
larry Golcondas; busts and bustles alike
sink prone beneath their hands, and silks,
velvets and laces drop to the floor, to the
modification of the rapidly Alternating
smuggler. Hosiery is shown TO b. ia vor-
its receptacle for ribbons and jewelry
trinkets, ana on one occasion the artificial
plumperS in the cheeks of an elderly dame
were found to conceal about So 500 worth
| OF diamonds, all done up in tissue paper
and packed inside. When they were forced
out by tie finger of the spector, the ma
| tronly smuggler 10 ked as thong she would
| fain have swallowed them rather than have
| them fall into such hands
| Several women are employed in a semi
detective capacity by the surrogates office
| for the purpose of serving subphoe las and
of gathering facts concerning the antece-
| dents of parties in disputed will cases. The
| system is for two to call together, about Z
| o'clock in the evening, ostensibly on a
| friendly visit, and thus chey are brought
in contact with the people they desire to
| meet.
The female ''spotter" is the oldest estab-
| lished of all the woman detectives. She is
generally an uneducated person, and can
De seen riding up and down the street cars
on any Of the leading lines daily. She is
cordially detested by both drivers and con-
ductors, but, being a woman, they can't
say anything to her. Some of the spoilers
work with package of pins, which they
change from one pocket to another, or stick
| into their dress, as they ride along recording
the fares. When they leave the car they
| give this record to the male spotter, who is
employed to board the car at Intervals and
take the reckoning from the reg star l. is
the lowest kind of detective WORK and i!
| L..