The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-04-07


mugs, one Of whom jostled him. while
another placed a revolver against his ear
ana told him to throw up his hands. He
ola tT0W up his hands but in a different
way from that which his assailant ex-
pected- Ills right hand closed like a flash
round the hammer OF the revolver so that
no shot could be fired. while a powerful
bloW from the left stretched the fellow
mar on the deck The man turned out 10
De DICK Barry, an oid-time burglar
ana counterfeifer and a pal of the Reno
gang He subsequently turned states
evidence and confessed that the attempt
on Allan PinkertOu's lie was the result
OF a conspiracy. in which not only
number OF criminals were involved. but
an unworthy fellow detective named
sam Felker, who had been bought over
by them
II was in the capture of express thieves
and bank robbers that Pinke~ton achieved
his most remarkable successes. Begin
hlng with the Maroney robbery i'm 1858
where, after months Of persistent shall
OWING, he recovered nearly $4,000 for
the Adams Express Company. he con-
Quoted the work in scores of similar cases
ana was usually successful . He captured
the notorious Carbonate bank robbers
recovering $500. Then came the greatest
robbery Of the Adams Express Company
on the Now York and New Haven railroad
Jan 8. 1865 when a gang of six thies-es
burst open the safe and secured nearly
I0o.m0 Allan Pinkerton secured the CON
Viction of the guilty men and got back
all nut very small portion of the money
/ The following year he succeeded in break
ing up The formidable Reno and Anderson
! gang, who had for years been the terror
of the west. plundering trains, robbing
/ stores and blowing open safes with ap-
parent impunity. So greatly was public
Indignation aroused against these des-
! neTa0OeS that after
were taken from the jail at New Albany.
| Ind, by hundred masked men and hang
/ ed.
Although in his time Allan Pinkerton
| was regarded as one Of the most skiIlful
| shadows" he rarely resorted to dis
/ guises. In one instance. though, he went
/ to the length of shaving off his heavy
/ black beard. This was when he was in
| Yestigating a series of hotel robberies
and he succeeded in making up as a rough
/ workman so success fully that he actually
1 stood by and saw the robbers dig up a
quantity of diamonds end jewelry buried
on the lake front.
As an illustration Of Allan Pinkerton's
! fertility in expedients may be mentioned
| the case of a South Carolina negro muir
derer named johnson. whose guilt was
/ strongly suspected, but could not be
| proved. The morning when johnson went
] 10 MS work in field he was to pillow he
| found the ground spattered with blood
| As he moved along the burrows he came
/ now and then upon little pools of blood
\ and when he went back to the stable he
/ was startled to find the bloody imprint
| of human foot upon the barn floor This
! continued the next day. when he found
| every hoe, spade, rake, ak or other farm
| implement that he picked up spattered
| with blood. Whichever way he went he
! found blood; whatever he touched had
/ blood on it, and that night the poor
! wretch, wrought up to a frenzy of ter
/ ror through his supertitious fears. and
! believing that the spirit of his victim was
/ haunting him, cut his throat from ear to
/ ear. 1t is needless to state that Allan
! Pinkeron was responsible for the blood
| stains
Thouh so pitiless a hunter of criminals.
| Mr. Pnkerton was the first to aid the men
! whom he brought to prison to lead de-
! cent, honest lives when their sentences
! had expired He pitied criminals, never
! despised them. Dozens of burglars and
thieves, like William Forester and JOS
! eph Parish, could tell of his generous eff
! forts for their reform Here is $50 for
YOU" he would say. try to make a new
| start, and when this money is gone come
| to me for more" He would spend hours
| talking to men whose lives had been bad,
| showing them how they might do better,
and never refused material assistance.
In his whole life Allan Pinkerton never
! touched cards, never made a bet. or in
| dulged In any form of gambling. He was
fond of driving and horseback riding, and
in his later years took much pleasure
and spent much of his time in literary
work. In all he produced seventeen books
of his thrilling experiences as a detec-
| tive, the first one being the story of his
! pursuit and capture of the express robber,
Nathan Marony. This case had attained
almost a national Importance. and the
| book had such a tremendous sale that he
| was encouraged and urged to write the
others. Although he did not so to the
! theater very frequently he enjoyed see
| ing play now and then, but did not care
much for tragedy or heavy pieces what
pleased him most being screaming farces,
which he enjoyed as keenly as any one of
| the gods in the gallery. He was also pas
sionately fond of music and of flowers.
In everything Mr.. Pinkerton has rare
| foresight. A few years before he died
he had his large farm containing $50 acres
planted with perhaps 100000 larch trees,
| whence the name "Larch Farm"
What in the world do you want to plant
all those trees for, MAORI" asked Super
intendent Robertson one day.
Il am looking ahead, my boy" he an
| swered The trees won't do me any good,
| but in fifteen or twenty years they viii be
worth 81 or IS apiece for railroad ties
Anyone who visits Larch farm to-day
| and who knows the value of timber will
see that the detectives canny Scotch mind
had thus contrived a sure, though slow,
way to fortune In his lifetime, although
very free with his money, never refusing
| applicants, whether worthy or unworthy,
! and giving to all public charities, yet he
managed to lay by a goodly store and died
| worth about $3.50, 900.
| So robust was his health that he never
wore an overcoat even in the most severe
weather declaring that it hampered his
| movements and was unnecessary. The
| only overcoat he ever owned was, to his
| great amusement, almost Immediately
stolen from him. Il am glad Of it, he
said, what does a man like me want with
! an overcoat."
the age of fifty his splendid constitu-
| tion was shattered by a stroke of paralysis
which kept him an invalid for year and
| left its effects through the rest Of his life
After that a Slight limp betrayed his in
trinity, his body settling more heavily
| on his right leg than on the left as he
walked Nevertheless ne continued his ac-
| tive life to the end. taking constant eX-
ercise ard priding himself upon his skill
| in punching the bag this being favo-
| rite recreation. He died at &C of cancer
/ Of the stomach.
The Editors Wood Pile.