San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-05-25
DETECTIVES OF ALL KINDS.
The Best Men for "Shadowing'' and
Other Fine Work

The Best Men for "Shadowing" and
other Fine Work.
From the Chicago Mail.
"Selecting suitable men and train
ing them for the detective business
is not the easiest part of our work, /"
said an old detective the other day.
I'm fact, it Is the hardest time to
have to contend with to get honest,
bright men whom we can trust and
rely upon. We select our men from
all branches of human endeavOr, and
railroad brakeman, carpenter, store
clerk or any man in the humblest
walks of life is often found to make
the best detective. The first question
asked OF an applicant is whether ne
can read or write. If he is not faml-
liar with these common branches his
application is at once thrown into the
to basket and be is told his SER
vices are not needed. On the other
hand, if bright young man comes
into the office and possesses these
two qualities he receives atten tion.
A blank application sheet Is given
him, and he writes out his history
from childhood up. This is placed
on file and he is told to call again.
In the meantime his past life is most
thoroughly Investigated, and If the
slightest flaw is discovered the APP
plication goes into the wastebasket.
"The first work that is given to q
new man Is shadowing." This con-
sisus in getting on the track of GER
tain person, keeping him in sight
and watching his movements with
out letting him know it. This is the
incipient branch of the business, and,
contrary to ordinary ways'of starting
q man with the easiest work, we
give him the hardest. Usually he is
accompanied by one of the old men,
who are familiar with the work and
who give him instruction. 1t does
not take the experienced man long to
learn the ability of his scholar, and
after two or three trials he makes q
report to the office. If the new man
has shown any aptitude for the work
he is at once placed on the salary list
and given job.
''This shadowing business is one OF
the most important branches of de-
tective WORK, and to do itsuccessfully
requires the skill of an artist, and not
one man out of half hundred Is
suitable for 1t.
New men are watched carefully
during the first few months they are
with us, and while many of them
think they are fullfledged shadowers,
q detective is on their heels all the
time watching their movements.
They do not know this, as 1t would
not do to let them know too much.
1t is an erroneous idea that man in
one department. knows nothing ex-
cept his Individual work, as the men
are not allowed to talk to each other
on matters pertaining to the business
in any way. Neither are they al.
lowed to enter the business office of
communicate with the clerical force.
The work has been sharpened down
to such q fine point that a man can
go to China and back, being gone for
weeks at q time, and his m at init
mate friend, will never know 1t. OF
course, his absence is noticed, but
the men are SO trained that they ask
no questions.
When men take position on our
force they sign an irOnclad agree nent
never to accept any presents OF money
or jew elry that may be offered them
by people for whom they have &C
complished good job. This is done
to prevent our clients from saying
that they are working for o reward,
and any man caught taking anything
hut his salary Is summarily dis
charged. 1t often happens that after
detective has recovered q large
amount of stolen jewelry, found some
missing friend or solved some murder
mystery, he is offered reward, and
many times it is a large amount, but
it throws miscredit upon the force to
have men accept such things, and we
do f.oS allow them TO do it.
the greatest enemy we have TO
contend with among the men is drink.
They seem to be imbued with the
id en- that detective is q hall.fellow-
well-met, posing as gambler or
man of leisure, and taking a drink at
every corner. Another idea Is that
he must assume false name and go
through the streets disguised with
fake whiskers and sandbag in each
hand. This comes from reading the
trashy literature that Is flooding tue
country, telling of the wonderful ex-
ploits of some detective who has been
| next door to death dozen times, but
has managed through some hook or
crook to escape each time. No man
who drinks can work for us. What
we want are cool, level. headed men
who keep their wits about them, and
drinking man can not do that"
REPUBLICAN, DISTRICT CONVEN-