The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-10-28
POSED AS A SPANISH CAPTAIN.
TWO CROOKS WHO put Up N STYLE
AT THE DE SOTO.

one of Them Arrested-He Called
Himself capt. GaEc Rivers "f the
seventh spanish LHEccrs and said
He was soon Going To Cuba TO
FIuht-Hc Il Only 10 Years ola and
Dfd Not seem to Understand His
BusIncss-lsn English. But Wore
a Liberty BELL Badge-The other
Bird Has Flown.
There is q =elf-slyled Spanish captain in
the poliea barracks. In reality he is
crook. bu1 a very young one, and not as
smooth in the business as he might De 81
he were older
His name is r. F. Arden and he and
his rartner. George Merritt. arrived iu
the city last Thursday morning ou the
Central train from Atlanta. Ardeh reg
istereI al the De Soto as Gage Rivers
and Merritt as j. Mckee. They had con-
siderable stuff with them, including two
bicycles and lot of clothing.
Rivers. or Ardeu. had himself intro
..7uced around as Capt Gage Rivers of
the Spanish army. when Introduced as
8Ir. Rivers he would insist on having the
captain put before his name. He tried 70
get newspaper notice. but his actions
work This was his story.
II am a captain in the Seventh Spanish
Lancers, but have been on detail duty in
this country for several months. stationed
in New York. came here on business
for the government and just took a lit
tie run UP to Atlanta to see the exposition.
though if you say anything about my
being here. don't mention that ] am an
Englishman and knew the entire manual
of arms when L was 10 years old. Ay Ia
Their, who was an English colonel got me
the position as lieutenant, and / worked
my way up. suppose our regiment VIII
be ordered to Cuba shortly to take part
in the fight there"
To back up this story, the captain
could not speak word Of spanish, ne
wore no badge OF, insignia 81 Once, ana,
besides all this he Wore on nus NeSI
medal of the liberty bell, under Wnlcn
was a small United States nag or the
About Inc same time a communication
from Chief Connolly of Atlanta, describ-
ing these two men and giving an ac-
count Of the property stolen was received
by chief McDermott and the, detectives
were Instructed to keep on the lookout
YESTERDAY the self-styled captain"
complained TO the police that his partner
had robbed him. He afterwards went
to the barracks ana told TINS story 10
ish captain, with the same song ana
dance as given above.
so you're a Spanish captain, are you
said the chief well, there man
who speaks Spanish, talk TO him. point
ing toward Detective Scully
Rivers became uneasy and began TO
move toward the door, saying he would
go down to the depot and see df he could
md Mckee there.
III wager that's one of those Atlanta
crooks" Chief McDermOtt remarked, and
the Atlanta letter was consulted. The de-
scriptOn fitted all right. Rivers or Ardeu
had also made some statement about
bicycle another indication that he was
one of the men wanted. Detectives Kiley
and Scully were sent to the DE
arrest him. The bicycle as described was
found in the basement At y O'Clock the
Would-be Spanish captain was found and
placed In the barracks by the detectives.
He gave his real name as r. +. Ardell ana
his age as 10 years. He does not seem
any older, either, i'm years or actions.
Arde said the real name of his COM
panion is George Merritt. He admitted
being the man wanted. saying he and his
companion went from Highlands, n. Y,
to Atlanta some days ago. In Atlanta
they stopped at a private house of Or.
Stoddard. which he thought was on For
syth street. There they took a lot OF
clothes belonging TO young men board
ing there, two OF whom he said were Guy
Northr0p and VIII Parsley. The BIZ
cycles, he said, they secured at the same
place and brought them down on the
train from Atlanta. Merritt, he said, sold
one of the wheels, and the other is I'm
one of the sample rooms of the De Soto.
Ardell denied that he knew anything as
TO the whereabouts of his companion,
and could not even say what direction
he had taken.
Arden saws he Is the son of a minister;
that he was born in Paterson. N j.;
that his father and family recently moved
10 Newark, but that he has never lived
at either place any length of time Re-
Gently. he says. he has been at High
lands. where he fen in with Merritt, who
time he has ever been arrested and that
he never would have gone wrong If he
had not fallen in with Merritt He stated
also that he had travelled all over the
United States. from Maine to California.
He wanted the chief to telegraph his faith
er for him, and this may be done to- day.
The communication from Atlanta stat
ed that these crooks made away with
two bicycles and about $500 worth of cloth
ing. Ardell will probably be held SUBJ
1ect to Chief Connolly's orders.