The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1893-07-17
THE OLD KEEPER.
Stirring Career Of Aleck
Watson Of the First
Precinct Police.
WARAND PEACE EPISODES
lie Heads the Pepul arity Contest
Today and Is Certainly Well
Liked By Everyone.


naturally everybody Is shouting for the
Old Turnkey. A leck Watson's friends
and packers sent him to the front on Sat-
urday. and they feel confident that he
will represent the Jersey City Police De-
partment at the great Worlds Fair. The
NEWS does not hesitate to say. without
particle of DE- ejudice. for it is all the same
to The NEWS, no matter who wins, that
the Old Turnkey. If he gets there, will be
a most worthy repr esentative, and will
be an honor to the dep and
credit to himself.
So will any Of the other candidates.
They are all good men and true and
there is not mothers son Of them who
cannot be depended upon to uphold the
honor of the department
The NEWS Is giving little special at
tention to Watson today because he is
the leader and his friends firmly believe
that he has a oinch, ~ lead pipe cinch,,
as the sporting men say. Cinches not ln-
frequently go wrong. however. Tne
friends of every other Leading candidate
believe that their man has a doub le- bar
relied, non-reversible cinch th at cannot
possibly go astray.
And then thers are dark horses. He
would, indeed, be a prophet with honor
in his own land who could fore tell with
accuracy the result of this most exciting
of contests.
ALEXIS NOTABLE CAREER.
There WAS joy in certain section OF
New York wnen Aleck Watson's eyes
opened on the light OF the great metro
polls fifty-eight years ago He was
chubby, robust infant. aud as he sucked
his thumbs and attemD ted the popular
s-f in rf 50ll In fnrr
himself feet foremost great future WAS
predicted for him.
That prediction has been to large ex-
tent verified. Aleck Watson has figured.
not conspicucusly. perhaps. but potenti-
ally, III some of the nost stirring OF the
MANY stirring eveats since he reached
mans estate. In the dark days of the
late unpls ksantness Watson was closely
associated with Secretary of Wa rEdwin
NJ, Stanton, whom be ad admirabiy declares
TO ne the greatest man this country ever
produced, with General Dix and with
other great men OF the day whose names
aha services are part of the country's
shistorv.
Aleck never speaks of those times nor
of his own services. His innare modesty
prevents. But on very rare OCCASIONS.
when his intimate friends have been
able to draw him out, he relates sonie
experiences which seem like rumances,
truth.
Alexis boyhood days were not much
different from those of auy other boy.
He played marbles of course. Craps
were not the popular gama TOR boys then
that it is now or he might have played
craps. He went TO school and helped as
m uch as any boy In the school TO make
the teachers life as miserable as pos
sible.
Aleck began his public career during
| the exciting times of the draft riots In
New York In 1868. He was then on the
staff OF Col. Robert Nhgent, the As
sistanr Provost Marshal Gene raj of the
United States These were times Of
| great excitement and terror. For short
| time the great city of New York was
almost at the mercy of an infuriated
mob. Murder, arson an d robbery ran
riot. Buildings were being burned.
negroes hanged aud the criminal ele-
| ment. taking advantage OF their op-
| ptrtu9ity, robbed and pun dered III every
| direction.
| Watson was conspicuous through it all,
| and he had several narrow escapes from
sharing the fate of the victims W ho were
strung up He was of course, on the
side of law and order, and conse equently
| a shining marx for the rioters,
| A CLOSE CALL. :
! The closest call he nad was one day
| when he was in coach with Colonel
| Nugent The incenqiary torch had been
| applied to Colonel Nugent's mouse, and
| when he learned OF 1t he and Watson
! jumped in a carriage and hurried to the
rescue of the Colonel's wife and children.
| They learned that The family had es.
capped from the house, but no one could
| tell what had become of them. Colonel
| Nugent was frantic and Watson had all
he could dc to keep him II the carriage.
! The coachmaa drove up through Third
| n nnh ,ta ha 1 iclr roct
| Some guardian angel must have
watched over them aud prevented them
1 from being recognized. Had they been
recognized. they would have had very
| short shrift and a very rapid trip into
eternity.
Colonel Nugent's anxiety, was relieved
| when he learned that his family had Sc
! cured safe place of refuge III the st.
Nicholas Hotel. Colonel Nugent's, house
was destroyed with everything it con-
tained.
DETECTING TRAITORS
Alexis next experience was on the
staff OF General Dix, who was then IN
command of the Department of the East.
| He was General Dix's special detective
and was kept busy hunting up blockade
runners and Southern sympathizers, who
were thick in New York in those event
full days. General Dix's headquarters
were in Bleecker street Alexis shrewd-
great value to the Government. He
made large number of important ar
rests. Abos hat same time he was de-
tailed for yen. the military prison at
Broome and Elm streets.
| During all this time Aleck was making
an enviable record. H is ability. and the
vaIua BILE services be had rendered the
government attracted The attention OF
Secretary of War Stanton. who sent for
him and assigned him to the old capitol
prison in Washington under Colonel Viii
liam P Wood, VINO was the chief of the
secret service division.
Watson assisted in the capture OF Belle
Boyd. the famous rebel spy. who had
done so much damage to the Union cause.
Alterward he became an Internal Reve-
nue. Inspector under William A. Darling.
who is now member or Congress from
New YORK. He had occupied that posit
II puta short time when General Daniel
E. Sickles made him chief detective of his
staff and took him TO South Carolina.
AFTER THE WAR.
After the war Watson did great deal
of special detective work tor JOnn JGr-
dan. SuperinJendeuJ of the New York
police He aud Detective Tim Golden
were assigned to work up a very heavy
cotton robbery. Cotton worth nearly
100000. which had been consigned 70
Campbell g. Coles storage warehouse in
Boud street. New York. was stolen in
Memphis. Tenu., and taken to, Charles
ton. s. G. Watson's knowledge OF tbs
South, acquired when he WAS there with
General SickIes, stood MIN in good steae