The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-09-08

They are Such shrcwd Fellows Ihcy
Ntrbt Flnd Gold Brick Parker.

/ for lhe Shotgun to know everything th"e
was going on among his subjects 1h.rc
are two distinct detective agencies N''se
the a;overnment. one being connected
r,itb the ordinary police for the proven
ton and punishment Of crime. ana the
other being political, under the Depart
ment OF the Interior.
The latter showed is efficiency during
| the late war, for the japanese knew Hioio
| about the Chinese army, It's Iot''SSSeS'
| its arms and equipments. aud the So"rl-
| ton Of the navy than TT huNs "'l7
himself The asen,s OF mo mleiits'lieS
Department were not oaly ingenious an"
understandable. but u mass of valuable IN
formation was received at hcad4uai1'lS
from volunteer spies and from persons.
who had visited China recently ana Knew
facts Of value 20 tieir Government.
The Intelligence department has 50 com
plete a system that 1t claims - DC aware
of everything that is going on IN the
empire. and 1 presume that Is true par
| ticularly in politics. The criminal depart
ment of the police is equally industrious
and efficient In the first pl.Sc every
! cltizen-man. woman. and child-in Japan
is registered at Police Headquarters, with
his residence. his occupation, and even
| the wages he receives, II ne rs a Mofh-
| man or an emplOyc. Wheneyer ne
changes lis abode his occupation, or his
place of employment. he is required TO
notify the registrar and correction Is
made upon the books. Every hotel is
required 10 report the arrival and Gcpar-
ture OF its guests as promptly as pos
! sible. with the places they came from,
the train they take. and their destination
| Therefore il is easy for the police to as
certain the whereabouts OF any person at
any time and they have good start
whom they are inQlrlng into a case.
Not long since, for illustration. Mr. MIL
! Ter. official Interpreter Of the united
states Legation i'm Toxic, failed 10 re-
coive a letter which was sent MN, from
neighboring city with draft enclosed
and he notified the police. The detective
assigned to the case began by ascertain
inc the day and hour when the letter was
posted. from which he could easily cal
culate the exact time of its arrival IN
Toxic. BY reference 10 the register AT
Headquarters he found that there were
two persons named Miller in the city,
although their initials were diucront and
they lived far apart. The poStmen who
served the district i'm which they lived
were questioned, and one OF them tromem-
bercd delivering q letter 10 the house OF
the wrong Miller on the date named.
Several members Of the family recalled
that such a letter that did not belong to
them had been received, and one of the
servants reported tkat she had handed
il 20 n poddler. who>had agreed 10 put II
in the nearest post box ana save her the
trouble Tho pcidler was found and
identified by the servant. His premises
were searched and the money was. dis
covered concealed under the mating OF
the floor lie had forged an endorse
ment and got the draft cashed by mer-
chant. who had sent IL 10 his bank for
collection IN the regular course of BUSH
ness. These facts Were all ascecMned,
| and the thief vas sentenced to four years
iWrrisOnmcnt within a week after Mr..
Miller made this complaint TO the police.
Mr.. James r.. Morse, of Yokohama. nap
pcned to be spending the night Win his
friend, Mr.. Denison, In Toxic, when a
sneak thief entered the house and stole
his pOckct-book, containing so and a
number Of valuable papers. The mat
ter was reported to tho police in the morn
| ing. with a description of the purse and
| its contents. and within forty-eishL hours
| the papers were recovered and the me-
! had begun a term of six years imprisOn-
meut at Ishikawa, the national peniten-
tiary.
The process OF his detection was very
prompt and simple The crime was re-
ported at Police Headquarters at 8 o'clock
i'm the morning. BY the theft and de-
| atilIliou OF the property udu uttu A'l'-
phOncd TO every precinct IN the city and
TO all the suburban towns. and were
known 20 every officer on duty In a lit
tie village about ten miles from the CEN
ire OF Toxic a man entered tea house
during the afternoon and showed a card
upon which Mr.. Morse's name was en-
grayed. Tea houses in Japan correspond
with saloons in the United states as re-
sorts for l0afers and the crooked classes
81 D. 81
ly. The ncsans, as the waiter girls are
called, coquette with the policemen ana
often aid them In the performance Of
their duty. So IL was perfectly natural
FOR the policeman on that beat 10 ten
the nesdns the story Of the robbery, and
il was equally so FOR this nesin 10 report
10 the policeman about Mr.. Morses card.
The circu lance was suspicious enough
20 justify an arrest. and before night the
thief was I'm the central station at TOXIC.
Hc had the pocketbook and an the papers
On his person, but had spent most OF the
money IN spree the night before and
had been robbed OF the remainder dur
ing drunken stupor that followed.
saw a good deal Of the japanese de-
tective corps while Mr. Foster was I'm
Japan. As he had been connected with
The Chinese Government, and his face
and name were so well known to the
public through their frequent appearance
in the illustrated papers.it was feared lest
some fanatic or sOshi might attack him:
therefore the Government, without con-
sulting Mr.. Foster. instructed the Police
Department 10 keep him under constant
surveillance while he was In Japan All
OK the foreign legations are constantly
watched by the police. and 4 detective
w.th j!nrikisha Is always on duty op-
posite tnem 70 follow members OF the
diplomatic corps wherever they 20.
Mr.. Foster was sometimes attended nv
five detectives. The superintendent OF
Police at Kobe went with him as far as
kyoto, and tho kyoto Superintendent of
Police as far as NagOya as a
mark OF respect, and although
he protested against these atten-
tons and assured the AUTHORITIES
repeatedly that he had not the slightest
Apprehension OF danger, they replied tsat
they held themselves responsible for his
saiety while in Japan, and must insist
upon maintaining the guard. Sometimes
Willie ne was in Toxic and Yokohama
Mr. Foster succeeded in Guiding his
shadows, much TO their chagrin, but they
very soon discovered that he had ont-
witted them and ascertained his where
abouts In some mysterious manner. which
showed thci: efficiency. One niebt we
slipped ~ut Of the hotel By the back door
10 call on friend. and managed 20 roach
his residence without being oyertaken.
Dnt at the conclusion OF the visit. as we
were starting homeward, we found a naIr
dozen detectives sitting coolly around the
doGE How they discovered our where.
ahouts Is mystery. for no one knew
"here We were going, and we left the
N4..Nn