The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1890-06-17
TUESDAY MORNING. JUNE IL.
snApowEp FOR WEEKS.
Literary MANS Peculiar Expert
ence during his vacetlon.

[Chicago MALL
"Were you ever 'shadowedY" incurred
a prominent literary man of a friend al
the Union league the other night,
Yo' never was 'shadowed,' as You
Can ~. I've never done anything to get
Slaoowed for. But what's the stofy?
I'm sure there is one?"
"Oh, nothing much. l Just saw in the
paper where the detectives were shadow
ing man, and it reminded me of an ad-
venture, or rather an incident, of several
years ago, when l was Swallowed for a
couple OF weeks by the Pinkertons.
You remember the Cummings ex-
press robbery of 1886, don't you? II
created great deal of excitement at the
TINE, in st. Louis particularly. This
fellow, whose name, by the way, wasn't
Cummings at all, if you recollect, got
into an express car with messenger
named Fotheringham on a forged order
from the superintendent. After the train
was well under way he put a pistol at
the messengers head, bound and gagged
him, rified the safe of $1,000 in cash
and lot of other stuff, and made his
escape. Fotheringham was accused of
having robbed himself, was arrested and
jailed, but meanwhile the detectives had
been set at work, and, stimulated by a
princely reward, were moving heaven
and earth to get tangible proof of the
messengers guilt or the identity of the
self styled Jim Cummings.
SUCCESSIVE SCOOPS"
"WeH, at that time was sub-editor
on one of the st. Louis morning papers.
andwas anxiously trying to get exclu-
sive news bearing on the sensation of
the day. The detectives were like clans.
They wouldn't give up word of what
they had done, were doing or hoped to
DO, and We're posing on the principle Of
the well known adage about keeping
still and making people believe one
knows something. One morning, how
ever, few days after the robbery, we
received letter which gave us a great
scoop 1t was from Jim Cummings
himself He said he had seen in our
paper an account of the arrest of Fother-
ingham, and merely wrote to tell them
that they weren't giving the messenger
a square deal. That he was innocent
and couldn't have helped being robbed.
AS guarantee Of his identity the writer
inclosed a number Of torn express money
envelopes, with the request that we
present them and his letter to the ex-
press people.
"Well, had charge of the affair and
did as the writer requested. Say, the
express people threw up both hands.
The envelopes were identified as having
been among those stolen from the car.
The next day I got another letter in
closing lot Of jewelry, receipts, etc.,
which the writer said he had no use for.
and some information regarding the To- |
cation of cache where he had hidden
some other stuff useless to him. Both |
proved welcome and everything turned |
out as represented. We were 'scooping' |
the country, the detectives were wild,
and all was merry as a wedding bell.
This correspondence kept up for fort
night, the robber writing always to our
paper. Once he sent communication
in reply to an incendiary letter from
some crank roasting Jim Cummings
Again he inclosed clipping from an
other paper in which it was stated that
man from Texas had been engaged as
an express messenger, but couldn't give
bond.
Tell them to give him the Job
wrote our audacious correspondent; I'll
go his bond. Seventy-fve thousand in |
cash ought to be good security?
A UNIQUE VACATION TRIP.
"Wel, the detectives by this time |
were hot in the region of the collar. |
They hadn't turned up clew, and we
wouldn't give up a scrap of writing or
anything e'se; getting even on them,
see? Things were at this stage when my
annual vacation came around had ar
ranged for a trip to Chicago, thence to
Milwaukee, up around the great lakes
and back 1t was to take two weeks, and |
my wife accompanied me.
"Those detectives got on to my in |
tended excursion and Immediately the |
bright idea seized their minds that was |
going to meet Jim Cummings some
where to turn up some more romance of |
the robbery. My wife and l started and |
got as far as Chicago without incident. |
We were leaving there on the boat and |
out into the harbor, when gentleman
approached and entered into a casual |
conversation with me. He introduced |
himself as Texan, then In the cotton |
brokerage business in New Orleans, bent |
upon pleasure trip. He was pleasant, |
bright and companionable. We talked, |
exchanged cards and became friends. |
He said he believed he would take my |
route for his trip all through. We were
pleased with each others company and |
l gladly seconded his proposition. Well, |
sir, during that whole trip that man and |
myself were rarely far apart, now that |
think of it. We stopped nearly always |
at the same hotel, and smoked our pipes |
on the decks of the steamers every night. |
HE left us at Chicago on the return |
trip and I went back to ST. Louis. |
never saw him again. But about a year
ago | was in Pinkerton's Office ON some
business when one Of the men, looking |
at me sharply, said: Isn't your name |
-? said 1t was.
From st. LouisY
Formerly; left there three years
ago.
Well he replied, smiling, here's
something that might interest you. II |
proved a great disappointment to US,
however, and he drew out a package OF
documents. They were reports Of a de- |
tectiye to his chief, and they conveyed |
an enthusiastically perfect account of my |
trip around the lakes four years before. |
land it was my friend, the cotton
broker from New Orleans, whom 1 had |
met on the steamship. He did the lob |
so well that was in the most sublime |
ignorance Of being an object of police
surveillance at all. They canght Gum
mings' without my assistance MY shad-
owing was all in vain" A