The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-06-09
THE HAND Of The LAW.
II Reaches out and Takes D. C. Pat
terson to Missouri on a
Serious Charge.
Two Main Street Merchants Prefer
Charges Of Assault Against
Each Other.
The Man jim Conley Caught Convicted oil
q Murder Com m tilted away Back
in 1873.

Sheriff Jefferis pulled open the door OF
the cage in the county Jail yesterday after.
noon and motioned to a prisoner to steI
out into the corridor. The man wore d
white undershirt, pants and carpet slippers
NJ. II. Alexander, one of tho keenest detec.
tives in the state OF Missouri, stepped up to
the prisoner and said, ''Hello, Rugel! y
Ruger calmly looked the detective over
from head to foot and said, you've got the
best of me.'
II know I have.'
Ringers jaw dropped and he turned to
the sheriff, who asked him if he had ever
seen Alexander before. He hesitated and
said he had not. "You are wanted in Mis-
souri, and l have n warrant for you, and
these gentlemen have a requisition from
the governor. Ia your name Don Cameron
Patterson"
Yes, that's my name" .s Ny
The warrant was read, md Patterson
asked if he Was through here. The
sheriff told him he was, and that he would
start for Missouri on the night train,
Around the sheriff and prisoner were De-
%tectives N. T. Palters, Philip Best and d.
M. Ayres, sheriff of Saline county, Mis-
sonla. Detective Alexander approached
Patterson and said: you nave been intro
duced to almost everybody in Marshall,
Mo-; ALLOW me to introduce YOU to Sheriff
Ayres." Patterson shook hands with the
officer and smiled slightly as he said: 'I'm
glad to meet you" -
Don't you remember seeing me inWash-
ington last january" asked Alexander.
II believe | do recognize you,' replied
Patterson. He gave up. .srm
glad it's all over now. I've
been in hell for the last
eight months. I'll go back and take nv
medicine" Sheriff Ayers told him he would
be treated all right. After Patterson was
put back in the cage he conyersed
quite familiarly with Dstective Alexander
and chaffed him about the many slips he
had given the officer who has been on his
trail since last December. Alexander got
requisitions for his man in five states but
each time Patterson would get oyer the
state lines before the papers could be
served. Alexander has chased him all over
the continent and once he had Patterson
located in the copper region of Michigan
and thought he had him sure, when Patter-
son suddenly disappeared. Talking about
the prisoner yesterday Detective Alexander
SAID; II tell you he is a slick one. You
ought to see him when he ia shaved up and
haa got his trotting harness on" The
description given of Patterson in the Cedar
Rapids paper is a good one. He is about
i've feet nine inches tall, has dark hair, but
his light rcd moustache is now missing
from his pale long face with it's sharp chin
and sunken cheeks, but his free and easy
style with hinl.~~Patterson ia from
Pennsylvania and has lived in Washington,
ID. G., Joplin and Marshall, Mo. He TUNED
up IN the latter place last December and
represented himself as a civil engineer in
the employ of the st: Paul and Minneapo-
lis railway. While there he gave his name
as A. w. Kruger. 1t is said that when he
has finished his term in Missouri the au-
thorities of Texas will be ready to apply to
the governor of the former state for extra
dition papers. The detectives who called
on him Yesterday in the county Jail know
that he is wanted in Texas, but prefer to
keep the nature of the charges to themselves.
Detective Alexander felt very good yester-
day after the long chase he has had. He
is considered to be one OF the most skillful
men IN his business in the west. He makes
his headquarters at Marshall, and has been
IN MISSOURI for about ten years, and form
erly lived in Augusta county. Virginia.
Ihe credit OF locating Patterson here be-
longs to Detective Walters.
A little over two weeks ago ID. G. Patter-
eon, who said he was a civil engineer, ar
rived in this city and stopped at the Mer-
chants hotel. He was a genteelly dressed
young man, and was soon in possession Of
an offer of a position. On the night of
May a he went around the town with some
aoaua1ntances. Having spent all his
money without making more than
half the rounds, he walked into
inc cloak room of the
(IrnNn (iaNtrlI fnnE a unlnn1In xrnpooo la
longing to Il. L. Bowman and pawning it
at Ruben,s for $15 soon spent all that
money. He was arrested on the charge of
burglary. On his trial before Judge San
ders he wept and pleaded his innocence,
claiming that another man had given him
feelings of the judge and the police that it
is likely Patterson would have been acquit-
ted it he had had any witnesses whatever to
substantiate his story. As it was the charge
OF burglary WAS lowered to the much less
serious one Of larceny. and Judge Sanders
county jail and added a fine of $50. His
time was up yesterday, though he had
a few days yet to serve in order to work out
the costs. While Patterson was still serv-
ing out his fifteen days. Detective
Walters ran across a piece in a
detective paper published in Cedar Rapids,
la, describing Patterson to a nicely, an d
saying, he was wanted for forgery nae
grand larceny in Marshall. Mo. The Mar
shall authorities were communicated with,
and yesterday Sheriff Ayres, of that
place, and Detective Alexander arrived here
with requisition papers for Patterson. The
police gave him up. and he left for Marshall
last night. 1t is expected that his sentence
there will amount to ten years. He is
charged with stealing a buggy and two
horses belonging to n man named Ander-
son, and with forging four checks aggre-
eating $3.50. When he arrived here he was
armed with Il letter of recommendation
from ex-Goy. Ramsay. of Minnesota. He
was a achoolmate of Senator Cameron's
son. At the time OF his arrest he first gave
the name of Cameron, and later changed it