Birmingham state herald., 1896-02-02
CHIEF M'DONALD'S CATCH Reached Birmingham All Right
 With the Gold Brick Man.
GREETED BY A GREAT CROWD
Executes Extrs < .ary Contortions Before
 Ss Shot Camera
HE DEF SArES BEING ILLUSTRATED
But z Ter Dobbins Says He Is the Man fer Enslen Says He Knows He lV
 $ Is the Man-Conduct of the
 Man Himself

The alleged "gold brick man" has ar
 rived.
 T. He Is safely in custody in Jefferson
 county's rock jail.
 He will stay there until an impartial
 jury of the county gets whack at him
 on the charge of fleecing Farmer Dob
 bins out of $6000
 Mir. Dobbins has no doubt that he Is
 the man wanted. In Houston Farmer
 Dobb!ns picked him from a batch of six
 prisoners and emphaticaliy declared that
 he was the man who had swlnded him
 on the gold brick scheme.
 MT. Eugene Enslen went to the county
 jail yesterday afternoon at o'clock He
 had seen the prisoner at different times
 in the Jefferson County Savings bank
 when he was negotiating the sala of the
 sham gold brick to Farmer Dobbins.
 Do you think he Is the man?" asked
 Deputy Sheriff Henry Cole, when Cash
 fer Enslen confronted the prisoner. i, Nc" was the quiet reply; mo; I don't U IN>-z-. know he Is the right man. tam''t,snre1ssooo A, ,sn worth % HSsid short AL that tlmefifion. We are simply | cropped, real or false, but f"&oHal-
 him unmistakably from his nose up. steve Pratt is the man against whom | the charge rests. It is put on the jail register as grand larceny" but the state | may change the charge to that of obtain. ! ing money under false pretenses. Pratt | has number of aliases. He Is docketed Steve Pratt, alias Jim Taylor, alias Jim Thompson.
 All day yesterday people were eager to catch glimpse of the gold brick man." When the 11:4O o'clock Louisville and Nashville passenger train rolled into the union depot large crowd had gathered | to meet Chief of Police T. c. Mcdonald l and his notorious prisoner. Capt Will l Weir, Officer Joe Nix, Commissioner A. l H. Stevens and a State Herald reporter greeted the arrivals.
 Chief Mcdonald alighted first. Then 1 came the prisoner. He is about 35 years l old has full face with distinct features. l brown "pop-eyes," brown hair clean shaven, Is about 5 feet Q inches tall and l weighs about 160 pounds There Is noth- ing common looking. about him. He was l nobbily dressed in pepper-gray tailor | made suit of clothes' and wore a brown l derby of fashionable make. His linen, l neckwear and shoes were scrupulously l neat. The handcuffs on his wrist were | hidden by an overcoat, which was l thrown over them. Officer Gus Ellard, who met Chief Mcdonald in New Or 1 leans, jumped from the train with the | prisoner and kept close watch on him to the carriage. which Pratt had request | ed Chief Mcdonald to engage for him. l The party then entered the carriage and were driven to the county jail where l Chief Mcdonald delivered his prisoner to 1 the county authorities.
 Birmingham has cause of congratula- | tion oyer Chief McDonaIds work in this | case. As soon as he learned of Pratts | capture in Houston he at once took steps | to bring him back to Alabama. l MT. Dobbins accompa nied Chief Me- | Donald to Texas, and requisition papers l.Aa A Ialx lttt ftT.r
 MT. Dobbins had identified Pratt the
 alleged swindler led Chief Mcdonald a
 merry chase over the state. Pratt is well supplied with money, 1t is said. and
 he employed shrewd counsel to extricatel | him. Though Chief Mcdonald had tho proper papers he was too we'll informe 7 | to use them unnecessarily. Pratt could | have appealed his habeas corpus hearing | if the papers had been used, it Is said, | and Chief Mcdonald adopted the other course-that of persuading him to come 1 to Ala bama without them, which in the l end proved successful
 l His Photograph Taken. As soon as the crowd had gone away l from the jail yesterday afternoon Chief | Deputy Sheriff B. A. Thompson issued | an order that Pratts photograph be | taken. MT. Friend, the well known | Twenty-first street photographer, was sent for. He adjusted a large camera in the jail yard. Pratt was brought from l the Jd1l ndIlWdy anu dppIlStu Ol th0 | sheriff's order.
 q object to that" he said. q am in- l nocent of this charge and don't want to have my picture published to the world"
 But you must" suggested one of the l deputies. Tt is usual and customary in these cases, and unless you consent we | will have to do 1t by force"
 Then you'll have to do 1t by force" | said Pratt, and with that he turned his back on the deputies. Wardens Will n1 | Dannttp9 | M T. Stratford, John Hewitt, J. l.. Thompson and A. R. Morrow then caught | hold of Pratt and carried him to the jail | yard. Pratt struggled violently and put ! his hands to his face. He was then hand | cuffed but he outwitted the photographer and the deputies by comforting his fea- lures and shaking his head until it was almost impossible to get likeness of him. Mir Friend will make up the pho | tographs. Three views were taken. one
 has his head lowered, another with the
 most comical wry expressions and the
 other with his head back and mouth
 open.
 Pratt will be given an early prelimina-
 ry hearing before Justice I. H. Benners.
 He had not engaged counsel late yestr-
 day afternoon.
 Photographer Friend gave as his opin-
 ion that the gold brick man" was an
 "old hand" from the skillful contortions l and antics he cut up to prevent his plc-
 ture being taken
 | Calm After the Storm.
 Mayor VanHoose. accompanied by State Herald representative, later in the day called upon Pratt at his cell. which is about the center of the jail. It was
 nearly dark and the notorious prison
 bird could not be seen very distinctly.
 But he talked readily, though non-com-
 mittally He was calm after his strug- gle to baffie the camera.
 | .Mr Praft here's some gentlemen 10
 see VOL" announced the warden as the
 visitors reached the door of the prison er's cell.
 They were then introduced. Pratt | stood at the door of his small iron-bound
 (Continued on Second Page.)