The herald., 1896-02-02
How Fashionable People Are
Protected From Thugs
ATTENDS GREAT FUNCTIONS
As Glittering Swell of the Social
Realm
Ostensioly a Dude, Really a Sieuth-.-Why
Ex-Supsrintendent Byrns Was SoiiI
With the Rich

I'VE" iOhhj JdD. ~ - ne Ouuo uo-
tective is much more important per-
sonage in swelldom than formerly.
Since the theft of 100000 worth of
gems belonging to Mrs. l. Townsend
Burden and a score or more of scarcely
less important robberies, the smart
women who wear 100000 worth of
jewels at the various society functions
have felt more than nervous.
But the dude detective is not re-
cent creation. He has always been d
more or less important part of the gay
eties of fashionable life, but just now
he is treated with consideration, as
| fine as it be were an English Duke on
wife hunt Al this is pleasing to the
vanity of the dude detective. He feels
that he is the equal of the millionaire,
or OF the most expert cotiilon leader
of the season. Beautiful bellies smile
on him, ravishing matrous look kindly
upon him, and the leaders of solid
families treat him with courtly civil,ty.
1t must not be Inferred from this
that the duds detective is an amateur
in his business. On the OF her hand, he
is the best of his kind. Usually he is
the cleverest man in the central cffice
of the regular police force. At times
men belonging to agencies are hired to
do the work. but as a central Office
man can be had for the asking, the
ontide men are rarely called upon.
The men detailed by Acting Captain
O'Brien, the present head of the de-
tectivc force, to do society work,
are always selected because of their
l. ,lr>I %. L.
are the men who have been long enough
frauds of the past generation, with
memory retentive enough to recognize
one of this gentry in less than no time.
They must also. possess another quail.
ificatiun, and that is the art of wearing
an evening suit gracefully aud to ap-
pear thoroughly at home amid the
splsndors of society. There are some
very able men attached to the central
Office, but they would be of no earthly
use ut a patriarch's b Ill or at an assem-
bly, dance. In the first place it is i'm
possible for many of the detectives to
discard the "sleuth" look, an earmark
which would frighten an experienced
crook into a hiding place in jitfy.
Then there are q number who would
be painfully ill at ease in dress suit
and surrounded by bevy of gorgeous
ly gowned women and fashionable men.
They would be 80 overpowered that
their professional usefulness would
amount to nothing. For these reasons
the dude detective is qui superior
person compared with the ordinary
sleuth.
In the days of the central office,
when Byrnes was at the wheel, two
man, McCloskey and Crowley, we're
known as society men. They were al
ways fashionably dressed and looked
like Wall street men rolling on the
high wave of prosperity than anything
else. They had both made enviatle
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 department, they
we're showed into the background.
Now the work is divided among a va
riety of men, some of them not as we'll
season this class of work requires
considerable attention on the part
of the central office, for il clever
crook we're allowed to smugele him
self into an assembly Of jewel-be-
decked women and deftly gather up
pocketful of gems, the scandal would
be great and some official heads would
surely be decapitated.
The society detective is called upon
to ofticiate at fashionable weddings, at
large banquets, at dances and recep-
tions He is always the first to arrive,
ani 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. Wnen strange face appears
he makes u 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
calls him to an afternoon wedding he
wears long frock coat, gr y trou. ers,
patent leather shoes, a sprig of lilies
of-the-valley in his buttonhole, the
finest of linen, silk hat of the correct
block and spotless gloves. He always
receives plenty of attention, for man,
of the young bloods know him all