The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-07-28
here for some years. [ like the old
city and the South, and expect to end
my DAYS here.
How Criminals are Discovered.


lice Station yesterday he encountered
Detective James Hogan, and had al
interesting talk with that officer ir
regard to triaes which have entrappee
criminals. It is rarely the case thai
a Charleston detective has any time tt
waste on a newspaper reporter, but
occasionally a scribe is allowed to en-
ter the sanctum sanctorum of the de
tectives, and then the officers are no!
averse to telling of some of their hair
breadth escapes or of recounting some
incidents Of how criminals are rur
down. Detective Hogan, who has
seen as much service as any al Of
his age in this section Of the country,
told last night Of some very remarka'
BILE instances of how the merest triAes
have put the police on the scent Of
evil-doers, and ultimately brought the
criminal to justice.
"One of the cleverest jewelry
thieves was entrapped," said the De.
tective, "a few years ago in the sim.
plest manner, owing to his leaving
the impression Of his hand on the
shop counter. In the accumulation
of dust the print showed very clearly
the next morning. There was nothing
more plain in this impression than the
apparent absence Of the first finger on
the left hand. The finger seemed to
have been severed at about the mid.
die joint. With this clue, however,
the police had no difficulty in the cap.
ture of their man, for not three months
before the robbery a noted burglar
had had a desperate encounter with q
dog while attempting to crack a crib
in Birmingham, and he had come
out of the deal the worse off by a fin
ger.
"a policeman on duty one evening
in a Northern city saw two men emerge
from the side door,of a bank. While
one closed and locked the door
in the ordinary way the other lit
a cigar, and the two walked leisurely
away. Their studied GOODNESS COM
pletely disarmed the officer, who took
them to be officials of the bank, but
as soon as they turned the corner he
noticed one of them violently throw
his shoulders in a wsywhichis peculiar
to people. afflicted with St. Vitus
Dance,
The next day details Of one Of the
smartest burglaries of modern times
were made known to the world. Two
men had obtained duplicate keys, had
walked straight into the bank, blown
open the safe, and abstraoted all the
available gold, without leaving a trace
Of their identity. The police failed
to establish the shadow Of clue, and
gave it up in despair. Months after
ward, however, the same officer was
on duty in another part Of the town,
when he noticed a loudly-dressed in
diyidual walking briskly along. In
turning the corner the man made the
same peculiar shrug to his shoulders
which the officer remembered SO we'll.
There flashed across his mind the
whole scene Of the mysterious plum
dering Of the bank, the same build of
man, the same gait and the same ina
bility to round a corner gracefully.
The officer carefully Swallowed his
man, had him watched for some days,
and obtained sufficient information to
justify his arrest. The prisoners
guilt was fully proved; but he did not
| divulge the name of his confederate,
who has never been captured.
ssThe mere finding of a hat, con-
tinued Detective Hogan, ''has often
played an all important part in bring
ing a thief to justice. The best case
Of this kind .on record is that Of a
London clerk, who entered a jewelers.
shop with a duplicate key which he
had. After helping himself to plum
der to his hearts content he made his
way out by a side entrance. Under
the floor Of the shop, however, was an
| electric alarm apparatus, and as the
thief emerged from the premises the
police were upon him. He lodged,
and getting a clear course in the street
left his pursuers far behind. His hat
fell ofin the mad rush for liberty,
and in lieu of anything better to ar
rest the police took summary ven
geance on the thief headgea1 by tax
ing it into custody. It was an ordina-
rv hat. with ne trace of it's owner up
on it; but tucked neatly in the inside
for the purpose evidently Of making
it fit, was the corner Of a copy Of q
paper dated February 10, 1893, in the
..corner of which was simply the word
"Pole," the name of a social club in
London. With this slender informa-
ton the matter so apparently mystic
rious became as clear as daylight. A
detective visited the reading room of
the club, on the table Of which were
numerous magazines, many OF which
had the name Of the club written upon
them. The word had been written by
the news agent who supplied the read,
matter to the club, so that the period,
icals should be delivered to the pro
per address. The detective saw the
secretary, and asked him who bought
a certain paper for the year 1893. The
secretary gave the officer the name Of
6 young man who was, at the time un.
dergoing much attention on the part Of
the police for jewelry robberies. There
was very little difficulty in proving the
case, but the thief, pleading guilty Of
a former o%ffense, got off easily.
"The disciple of Bill Sykes is otter
seized with an overwhelming weakness
for practical joking during a profes
sional visit. A Manchester silk ware
house was broken into and considera
BILE quantities of the material taker
away during the early hours Of thu
morning. The thieves, among othel
luxuries, found some Scotch whiskey
Before they decamped the head of tht
gang, acting probably OF the impulse
of the liquor, wrote a note to the own
er Of the warehouse, expressing regre
that he could not visit him during
business hours. This note was tn
only clue the police had to work upon
the retreat of the thieves being skill
fully carried out; but it was enough
An expert said the writing was that o
a left-handed person, written with al
unsteady hand. There are compare
lively few people who write with tn
left hand, but the police happened t.
know just one man who did. TIL
man was nlaced under arrest and b!