The herald., 1897-05-21
The Record of the " Baron
Won Turkheim "
HIS CAREER IN ST. PAUL
WHERE HE RAN A PRIVATE
DETECTIVE AGENCY
The Unsavory Deals He Was Mixed
Up In-An All Around Swindler
and Scoundrel

Among the visiting railway conductor
now in the city in attendance upon tht
convention is William r. Cummins, bet
ter known as BILLY" Cummins. con
ductor on the Great Northern railroad
running out of ST Paul. In the course Of
conversation yesterday the name of Vor
Arnold, the pseudo baron, whose es-
capade with JEANNE Young, or, as SHE
claims herself, Mrs. Delmas. was men,
toned, and his exploits in Los Angeles
and San Francisco recalled.
Mr.. Cummins at once became interest
ed having known Won Arnold in Mime
sofa, and related in detail his knowledge
of the man, his methods, and the reputa~
tion he has earned for himself wherever
he has appeared. Said Mr.. Cummins:
IT got on the train of Won Arnold "de
dedekdiff,' as we called him in ST. Paul
in San Francisco l knew him very
we'll. He never remains unknown very
long any place he e He was for a
time 'spotter' on the Great Northern.
1 heard while in Sacramento how the Bee
had employed him to play the role of a
wealthy Chicagoan, with more
wealthy 'brudder." and lay trap for
the Sunday Sun editor and some Of
ficials, into which they walked. And
then how as Baron Won Turkheim' he
rid Attorney Delmas. in San Francisco.
of the affectionate attentions of jean
inc Young. married her and took her TO
London, England, where he deserted her
in the Hotel Cecil. He is more varied
and fertile than any heavy villain ever
placed on the stage.
He came to St. Paul from Chicago in
1890 as a detective. He was then plain
Karl Won Arnold. After looking the
ground over he made ,iie acquaintance
of a German farmer in Dakota county,
just eouth of West st. Paul, named Fess-
Ter. who had a son who owned a tin
badge for which he had paid so to a
] Cincinnati detective agency The old
man could not make the son work on the
farm, and as he was the only child he
had he soon fell victim to Won Arnold 8
gorgeous verbal pictures of the sure
wealth to be reaped from a detective
agency, with his son as assistant chief
Fessler raised $4,000 by mortgage on his
farm and placed it in the bank. As a
wise precaution all checks were to be
lsigned by his son, who wac treasurer of
corporation. for which a certificate was
duly issued by the secretary of state.
Men were employed as block watchmen
Advertisements appeared in the papers
for men. wages $50 month A deposit
of $50 was exacted, and candidates were
required to work two weeks on proba :
ton. When the final collapse came, !
don't know how many were racing
around, vainly trying to get their de-
posits back. Expensive uniforms were
ordered, and the Turkish sultan never
was more resplendent than Chief De-
dekdiff' Won Arnold and young Fees-
ler in their glttering clothes
1.-The latter got in the habit of signing
checks on demand of the chief to be
sent to mythical correspondents
in various parts of the coun-
try, who were in hot pursuit
of mythical culprits. for whom
rewards amounting to 'meelyuns' were
offered. 1t would take volume to tell
all the tricks resorted to by the chief
Old man Fessler became dazzled. He
sold his farm and deposited the price
in the bank subject to the agency's
draft. cutie of rooms was rented on
Jackson street, and richly furnished, as
the headquarters Won Arnold drew
$3.50 a month, and allowed his assistant
$3.50, being about seven times as much as
the young fellow ever earned before,
and all the expenses were eating steadily
into the $12.500 realized from the sale Ct
the farm. There was no income When
the second months rent wac due there
was no money in the bank to pay it.
Irstallments on the furniture were over
due, tailor bills came in from Minneap-
oils, etc. The 'dedekdiff' had received
checks for all these and pocketed or
spent the funds. He smoked the finest
cigars, drank high-priced wines, and
had a woman who passed as his wife
who wore costly raiment. The agency
finally was elected from it's quarters.
and the Fess,ers obtained work as day
laborers.
During the existence of the agency
a tornado one Sunday afternoon created
! great destruction along the north suburb
Of st. Paul. Many wealthy people had
elegant cottages along the banks of tn :
numerous lakes in the vicinity. Several
were destroyed and the inmates killed
or injured. A wealthy carriage maker
/ named Schurmeier. on Rosabel street
lost his wife and son-;n-law. The wife's
| body was thrown into Lake Vadnais and
/ parties We're formed to grapple for it.
., II was not found until it came to the
surface A reward of $500 had been Of
fered for its recovery. Van Arnold took
some men out to grapple and, after the
body was picked UP by a fisherman. he
worked on Schurmeier so as to obtain
5000. After the agency collapsed he COM
menced suit for $500 against the dis
tressed carriage man for services. On
the stand he swore he had never re-
ceived cent. by check or otherwise. The
face of the $500 check was shown him.
He was slightly confused and swore he
knew nothing of it; his manager must
have received and cashed it. 1t was
turned over and his signature in his own
handwriting was shown him, and the
words receipt in full on the face. Judge
Touhy dismissed the case, and threats
of prosecution for perjury were made.
about this time saloonkeeper named
Becker, on South Robert street, died,
leaving a plump widow who continued
the business. She had daughter, Ida,
about H. as corpulent as her mother.
They ran Sunday resort called Beck
ers grove in South st. Paul. 'Dedekdif'
Won Arnold was soon manager of this
business, and disappeared from general
public notice for few weeks, when one
morning he stepped out of the 'bull pen"