Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-01-18


the Chief to send any mail for him to
the address Of Chlef-of-Police Murphy.
Jersey City. After having gotten this
letter Major Poe said that he telegraphed
Norris to stay where he was. ana sent
Sergeant Alex Tomlinson and Mr..
Withers on to New York. In the hope
that they might get some Information
there and see Norris as well. one reason
why Major Poe did this. he said. was that
ne was Of the opinion that Norris was
not very far away from some OF the
other members OF the gang OF crooks.
and that an idea OF the whereabouts OF
the other men In the Withers swindle
might be gotten. To the surprise OF the
Chief of Police. the Ohio detective
walked into his Office the next day. hav-
ing paid no attention to the advice con-
tained In his Major Poe's telegram
When Major Poe asked Norris why ne
did not wait until his man got there. as
he had instructed the Granger detective
in his message. the latter denied that
he had gotten such dispatch. While the
same was found upon Norris's person
when he was searched, after having been
arrested.
GAVE HIM A BAD NAME.
Continuing his testimony. Major Poe
said that subsequent to the coming OF
Norris he received a number OF COM
municatlons referring to the ONO detec-
tive, and that they all gave MIN a paa
name He had gotten the reputation oi
following up the gold-brick sharks ior .he
purpose OF getting 500 OF 500 out OF tne
victims. on the pretext that he would
hunt down the criminals. Norris had with
him some seventy-five or hundred re-
ouisitions from Governors OF several OF
the States, all of which the Chief SAID ne
believed to be genuine. and also carried
a large batch Of contracts and documents
of various kinds relating TO the conii-
dence- gang. In the letters that he had re-
ceiyed concerning Norris, Major Poe said'
the detective had been characterized as
q shake-down. whose business II was 10
go along after the swindlers. as vulture
of a low order, and take from the VIC
tins all that had been left by the others.
The Chief of Police was rigidly cross
examined by Mr.. Richardson, counsel FOR
the prisoner, and admitted that Norris
possessed a great deal Of information IN
reference to this gang Of crooks. the
detective had by his kilograms brought
large number of persons from all
parts Of the country here to identity the
man Parker alias Smith, and In every
instance hs had been so Identified. These
people had spoken well OF Norris. saying
that he was a square man. II was rea-
sonable to suppose that the detective
had gathered his information from the
victims Of this confldence-band. so far.
the only thing that Norris mad done TO
cause witness TO distrust him was TO tell
n story about the telegram which he
had sent to the detective while the latter
was In Jersey City
THE DISCHARGE OF EMERY.
Don
said that the turfman had told him that
he came down TO Richmond on behalf
Of the family of Parker TO endeavor to
secure bail or render him such assist
ance as he could. This statement. said
the Chief. was borne out by Robert Pink
erton when he was here a few days ago.
After Emery had been released the
Major was informed that the reason why
Emery was sent here in this connection
was that he was the only man that
'Parkers relatives and friends would
trust upon such a mission.
Chief Poe was asked IL he thought
Parker alias Smith would have put in
his appearance again II he had been
bailed, and he replied in the negative.
He denied that the discharge OF the
turfman was upon the condition that
Williams, the alleged ranchman in the
tce He added that Norris had told
him that the gold-brick swlndlers paid
the New York police for protection. and
that he was inclined to believe 1t. He
had written to the metropolis in this
connection, but had not as yet heard
anything from his epstles. The Chief
said In conclusion that he would not
have caused the detectives arrest had
II not been for the Commonwealth's AT
tcrney.
MIR. SMITH ON THE STAND.
commemorative s-Attorney Smith here
took the witness chair and told of his
interviews with Norris. the detective
The Ohio officer went to his house one
afternoon about > o'clock, accompanied
by Detective Buck Johnson. Norris
stated the object Of his mission to be to
see If the man arrested as Parker was
one Of the gang he had been hunting
and to take such steps as might be ne
cessary for him TO get the prisoner as
soon as the Virginia authorities were
through with him. The detective gave
the witness a great deal of Information
concerning the gang and showed him
some papers. He also made an engage
ment for the commemorative Attorney
to meet him at his room at Ford's Hotel.
Wntfe the pHOlOSldpils, itiuioi'io"o' Np'i
tracts certificates, and other papers with
reference to the gold-brick swindlers
were displayed TO the Richmond officers
and Dispatch reporter.
As Mr. Smith had been told by Major
Poe about the telegram that he had re-
ceiyed from Sergeant Tomlinson, with re-
gard to Norriss proposition to recover
the money gotten from Withers Tor one
half, the Commonwealth $ Attorney re-
garded the detective with some suspicion
from the start. and determined TO lead
him on, and see how far he would 90.
lie was, however. taken by surprise at
a proposition. or what he then regarded
as a proposition. TO bribe him to consent
TO bail for Parker that very nigAt. After
the detective had shown the three gentle
men In his room almost everything one
could think of in connection with the
case, he called the witness outside, and
told him that he wished to have a short
conversation with him privately. When
Detective Johnson and the Dispatch man
had gone, the Ohio man tLok out his con-
tracts again, and remarked that there
were contracts aggregating $4,000 In the
event Parker could be gotten out. Being
then under the impression that Norris
was a pal of the gold-brick swindlers.
the Commemorative Attorney decided
propose, so Mr. Smith asked Norris how
much ne thought would be In 1t for him
II he would consent to bail Parker. The
reply was "Oh. about twenty thousand
dollars" At this juncture the men were
interrupted by a rap on the door, and
another newspaper-man was ushered into
Norris's room. This checked the conver-
sation as 10 the bailing OF Parker or
the bribing of the Commonwealth Attor-
ner. Mr. Smith said in conclusion that he
did not now know whether Norris meant
10 attempt to brbe him or not, but that
his conduct was very peculiar. He added
that he afterward told Times reporter
what the detective had said. and learned
from that gentleman that Norris had
asked the newspaper-man If the Common
wealths Attorney was a man who could
be bought. He also told OF seeing the
pearl-handled pistol IN the left-hand hip
pocket OF Norris while he was talking
about the $4,000 matter.
The Times reporter was placed on the
stand, and corroborated what Mr.. Smith
had said concerning what transpired be-
tween the scribe and Norris and the
scribe and the Commonwealth Attor-
ney.
Sergeant Alexander Tonilinson was the
next witness. and. his testimony was very
much along the line OF that given by