The morning call., 1893-03-19

IN this city on Wednesday of one of
he smartest of ;he quartet, who had given
lis partners the slip and gotten away with
bout $4,000 which his late associates are
,weatinG about.
Joseph Kucardo, who does not believe in
honor among thieves, did not bring the
plunder here with him, but left most of II
>afeIy buried somewhere in the wilds OF
British Columbia.
He skipped out Of that region but short
time ago, after getting the pot" into his
ands, and the wild and thorough search
Ior him at once instituted resulted in some
private detectives catching MIN here the
.ther day.
As their clients were law-b breakers and
The money was twicesstOlen plumber. they
mad no use for the laws assistance, but
hey managed to bring kincardo 10 terms
by means OF moral suasion alone.
By threatening Kincardo with being
turned over to the law for a crime in the
East and by Offering terms to him they
managed to get him to agree to return two
birds of the plumber and TO return with
LieIn to the scene of his former operations.
The Government authorities here were
not looking for KincardO, aud knew nothing
If his presence, and when the party started
noIthward on Wednesday there was the odd
situation of a smuggler. practically under
private arrest, being safely taken from IN
Ter the noses of Government officers and
back 10 a country where smuggleTs are safe.
No less than seven private detectives
were for several days anxiOusly looking for
The elusive K,ncardo.
The majority of this force Of Hawkshaws
were under the management OF the we'll
known local private detective, L. w. Mac
fsrlane, and one d. G. Parkinson, an agent
The employ of kincardo's late partners.
The money is the Illegal proceeds of the
operations Of band of opium and Chinese
smuggIeTs, some Of whom have, during the
Dast year and half, been involved in sew
pral shady smuggling transactions. For
this reason the parties interested in Kin
-aTdo's whereabouts have been obliged to
observe the stTictest secrecy u the handling
of the case, that their plans for the future
might not be disturbed.
Kincardo was finally waylaid on Wednes-
day by the detectives as he was boarding
he San Jose train.
He was exceedingly cool at first and de-
c!ared that he did not care if the facts of his
Ease were published to the world, let alone
That small part Of 1t known as San Fran
cisco; but finally he consented 10 60 with
them.
The night following Kncardo's deuten-
ton, after considerable scheming on the
uart of the detectives, .he former became
frightened and agreed in writing TO &C
company Parkinson back to any point in
lie Northwest where a meeting of ''credi-
tors" might be held, and to deliver up two
birds Of the stolen money TO those claim
ing 10 own 1t.
All poDPerued with tho oaaa
20 give the matter as little publicity as
possible and were therefore relicent but
tie facts OF the case were finally and reli-
ably learned by a CALL reporter. 1t was
also learned that klncardo had written
and signed a statement auQ agreement, and
finally a CALL man was permitted by
Aessrs. Parkinson and Macfarlaue to useit.
In his version OF the affair aud confession
HIneardO commences:
Before making any statement concerning
this case. l wish it distinctly understood
that | have nothing to say concerning our
business or how We made our money.
"On tile night of February II last l re-
moved SIS, $50 in United States gold which
WAS SecTeted under the floor of our cabin in
British Columbia. The place was occupied
by my partners, John Farwell, Henry Ack-
ersOn and Thomas Spellman, and myself.
Though | removed the money as mentioned
| believe it to be rightlulIy due NE as hold
h0les against all OF these men in amounts
which more than cover the sum Of the hid
den coin.
II herewith agree TO return two-thirds Of
the money through ID. g. Parkinson to the
uarties mentioned, provided l shall be
exempt from arrest aud prosecution and
receive from them new notes for money due
me by them, secured in proper form"
The last part OF this clause was subse-
qPently stricken out.
The money is buried IN British Column
hia in place where | believe it to be abso-
iutely safe. and Will be produced when a
satisfactory agreement is entered into be-
tween all parties concerned"
The reference TO exemption from arrest"
does not refer to the theft Of the money in
question or to the smuggling operations.
VI to some other misdeed of KincardO
which is secret and lever by which they
lave been able to move him to so readily
yield. No information could be obtained
regarding Kncardo's past life, except that
he was from Toronto.
Detective Mscfarlaue and Agent Parkin
son both declared that KincardU does not
bold any notes against the people up north.
ana that they have obtained a clew to
where the coin is hidden.
Parkinson left for the north with Kin
cardO Immediately.
No direct evidence exists here against
kineardO or his partners, as far as is known.
out from a reliable source is obtained the
following story OF the manner in which the
ring" got the gold which is reported to
have been stolen:
On January q last John Farwell. Henry
P. AckeTson, Thomas V. Spellman and
Joseph Kincardo entered Into a verbal
agreement at Victoria, B. c., to Jointly un-
deFtake the task Of bringing three separate
parties of contraband Chinese into the
United States.
The total number of Chinese which the
combination decided to handle was $50
camp was established in the mountains
near a small station on the Canadian
border called Agassiz. SDellman was put
in charge of the rendezvous while the bal
anee OF the party, who were thoroughly
familiar with all the trails and passes of the
surrounding mountains, were selected TO do
the steering"
Chinese in unusual numbers were OBJ
served by the station agents of the Cana
dian Pacific Railroad to be making toward
the mountains near the American border
but as these employees of the corpora ton
named are not to any extent interested IN
The Geary restriction act they did not think
u worth while to report the matter to the
United States customs authorities.
The weather was bitterly cold The first
consignment Of coolies in charge of Spell
man, numbering about fifty Ierions, were
stored to the camp In bands OF ten. Much
suffering was experienced by the Mongols,
as little OF no food could be secured en-
route and the trails and roads were blocked
with snow and ice.
After several weeks Of hard work, by
means unknown to avery one but the con-
trabandlsts themselves, $50 Chinese were
safely landed on United States soil, some
gong TO New York. the majority to Chicago
ana ana GOOD many travelling south to San
Francisco.
From these Celestials is supposed to have
oeen collected the sum of $3.50, or S25 a
head, 10 which was added $4,000 proceeds
OF opium operations. With this amount of
money in gold, the smugglers decided to
move 10 Victoria or Port Townsend, where
they could invest in-smau sailing vessels
and engage in opium smuggling on a larger
scale.
This new clique would undoubtedly have
been added TO the already long list of
''smugglers' rings" had not a mortal blow
been struck at their future business by the
slippery Mr. Kincardo, who by this time
had arrived ut camp.
On the evening of February H. or the day
previous to the time when the smugglers
had agreed to return with their Doodle to
the civilized world at Victoria, and shake
the snow of the isolated camp off their feet,
Klncard0, who had all of his plans ar