The Kootenai herald. [volume] (Kootenai, Idaho) 1891-1904, 1896-02-08

the dude detective II lhltS q 9NF~A-
person compared with the ordinary |
sleuth.
IN THE BYRNES REGIME
In the old days of the Central office,
when Byrnes was at the wheel, two
men. McCloskey and Crowley, were
known as the society men. They were
always fashionably dressed and looked
like Wall street men rolling on the high
wave Of prosperity more than anything
else. They had both made enviable
records as thief takers and had been
sent to all parts of the world to bring
back criminals apprehended in foreign
countries. But with the advent of
Rooseveltism in the police department
they were showed into the background.
Now the work is divided among va
riety of men, some of them not as well
chosen as in the old days. During the
season this class of work requires con-
siderable attention on the part of the
Central office, for if a clever crook were
allowed to smuggle himself into an as
sembly of jewel women and
deftly gather up a pocketful of gems,
the scandal would be great and some
official heads would surely be decapi-
tated.
WHERE HE is TO BE SEEN.
The society detective is called upon to
officiate at fashionable weddings, at
large banquets, at dances and recep-
tions. He is always the first to arrive,
and while the guests are trooping in he
takes up a comfortable position near the
door, where he can scrutinize the faces
of all those who enter. Nearly all of the
-Four Hundred are known by sight to
the experienced dude detective both the
men and the women. When a strange
face appears he makes a mental note
of it, and later asks some one he knows
who the lady or gentleman is
He always follows the fashions care
fully, so as to appear exactly like the
men in the smart set. If duty calls him
to an afternoon wedding he wears a
long frock coat, gray trousers, patent
leather shoes, a sprig of lillies-of-the-
valley in his buttOnhole, the finest of
linen, a silk hat of the correct block and
spotless gloves He always receives
plenty of attention, for many of the
young bloods know him and think
it real devilish to talk to a detective
and be on terms of intimacy with him.
But it is a a Patriarch's ball or an
Assembly dance that the dude detective
is at his best, both professional and
otherwise. Those functions are always
attended by many prominent foreign
ers, who may be visiting the city, and
naturally there are more strange faces
than usual The detective must be on
the alert all the time and keep moving
about clad in an irreproachable even
ing suit.
1t is trying to any mans equanimity
to move about a crowded ball room
floor, filed with the chosen of the fash
ionable world and concentrate the mind
upon thugs and criminals. But the work
| has it's compensations, for it is a well
| known fact at headquarters that the
detectives that are thrown in with the
rich men of the metropolis have benefit
ed by it, in many ways. EX-Superin-
tendent Byrnes freely acknowledged
that much of his wealth was gained by
specializing in Wall street on informa-
ton furnished by wealthy men whom
he had benefited
AT THE PUBLIC BALLS.
1t is at the large public balls where
the fashionable world mixes with those
outside the charmed circle that the
greatest danger of theft lies. BY eX-
pending $40 or IS on a ticket. any one
can gain admittance, and if it We're not
for the horde of detectives stationed at
the doors and throughout the house
many criminals would doubtless take
advantage of the opportunity and reap
a rich harvest There are many presen-
table crooks of both sexes who could
pass by the unsophisticated as genuine
swells But it is another matter for
them to run the gauntlet of half a dozen
men whose lives have been devoted to
the work of thef-taking.
Several of them try it, but they have
no desire to go further when one of the
detectives steps up and whispers in the
crooks ear: you had better not &c
in there; you might get into trouble.
you know" i is pretty we'll under
stood in thugdom that they are not
wanted in society fashionable circles
and few of them try it. Once in a
while a crook thinks that he or she has
been forgotten by the police, but the
mistake is soon made apparent.
Two years ago the notoriou Sophie
Lyons, georgeously dressed and wear
ing $50, 900 worth of diamonds, drove uI
to the Metropolitan opera house in a
faultless equipage. She was smother
ed up in furs and passed the guardians
at the door She had an expensive seat
in the orchestra and enjoyed about
one-half of the opera, when one of the
detectives roaming through the house
discovered her. He lost no time in max
ing his way to her chair and informing
her that she would have to leave.
Sophie played the indignant fashion
able woman to perfection. but the de-
tective was confident of his position anG