The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1897-10-31
1OLD SLEUTH" No. 2
= Is Mr.. SULLIVAN
- 1sa5asm1
AsN4s ~ ~ss5s
In the Garb Of a hOOnshlner He Went
to Admission
TWO SEATS FROM PERDUE
And the LynY-EyOd Peace Officer Never
Recognized Him.
ELLA BARNES IN THE COUNTY JAIL
She Got Off the Train in the Midst Of Shouts
From the Crowd The Negroes
Are Glad She Was
Captured.

Sliy JCSACshay tttOilhiiS iloNii9S III Nuo-
tody Ella Barnes, the negress charged
with the murder of Bessie Thomas, and
fer the possession Of whom the police de-
partment and the sheriff's office had
such a lively contest.
There was a large crowd at the sta
tion and as Ella stepped from the train
a shout went up. AS the train was
rolling in some old negro ep,ed Ella
through the window Oar am she"
ne shouted and the crowd surged about
the gateway.
Ella is of copper color, and as usual
was well dressed. She elbowed her
| way through the crowd with as much
sang froid as new coon at cake
walk. She laughed and chatted to those
who would say anything to her and
seemed not in the least Disconnected.
Ella has long been notorious and the
negro population is not sorry to see her
| in the clutches of the law So great
was their anxiety for her rapture that
| they made up contribution and would
probably have employed special officer
| on the case.
| She was at once taken to the county
Jail. The case against Ella is a strong
one, so the officers claim. She figured
in the row which resulted in the death
of Be:se Thomas. In the melee Ella
threw lamp at Bessie, igniting the lat
ter's clothing. TT is alleged that after
the woman's garments were in flames,
Ella grabbed the bowl of the broken
lamp and cruelty fed the f1am.s with the
remaining Gil.
There were others mixed up in the af-
fair, among them Annie Caldwell and
Sarah Taylor. The charge of murder is
also registered against them. They will
be tried in Justice Benners' court Thurs
day. AS Ella Barnes was arrested on
a bench warrant her trial has not yet
besn set
Sullivan In mick Carter Role"
Mr.. Sullivan is a deputy sheriff. He
is also something of an artist in the de-
tective business, la Nick Carter
The railroad men say that Sullivan
was just two seats behind Perdue on the
memorable trip to Admission, when Per-
due was innocent of his brother officers
presence. They also say that Sullivan
was in the garb of "moonshner" and
could have given "Old Sleuth" Brumby,
of Montgomery, cards and spades.
On this point Sullivan would say moth
ing. Sullivan is fat and he only grinned
and was sarcastic. He gave this state
ment about the matter yesterday:
"In regard to my trip to Admission and
taking Ella Barnes into custody j have
only to say that held bench warrant
for the woman and an official order for
her removal from Admission to the county
jail of Jefferson county. executed my
papers and the woman is now in the
custody of the sheriff of Jefferson coun-
ty. The arrest of the fugitive is not due
to THE extraordinary efforts of any one
particular officer. Constables, deputy
sheriffs and policemen alike strove ear
nestly to apprehenf the accused,
and, as 1t happened, it fell to the lot of
Conductor Herring, of the Southern rail-
way, to discover the woman on his train
and to effect her arrest.
Gets Sarcastic
"There is nothing unprecedented in
my action. 1 probably did as much
work as any other officer in the case,
and I know of no law or precedent that
f,a
in the execution of papers in his hands.
There can be no feeling between officers
because of innocent, though spirited,
rivalry among them to bring criminals
to justice. 1 and my associates in the
sheriff's office certainly feel none the
less kindly toward our brethren of the
police department because the latter,
under the most discouragfng circum-
stances, have on many occasions evil
denced the very highest capacity as Of
ficers.
Il might and would, have been more
communicative to officer Perdue had it
not been for the restraining order re-
Gently issued to the police, prohibiting
them from giving to or receiving aid
or information from certain officers of
the law prescribed by said order.
ulu lot WISH W JtopdTulIe O11lceT FER
dues interests by lodging with him in
formation which by special order he
was prohibited from receiving"
Sheriff O'Brien will say nothing of the
affair. He only SMILES. Questions put
TO him were just like bullets would be
against Birmingham. armor plate. They
rebounded, and the echo was silence.
Chief Clerk Warnock was more talka-
tive He said the sheriff's office was
perfectly justiffable in going after the
prisoner. He poinI.e out section 4,549 of
the criminal code of Alabama governing
the transfer of prisoners from one county
TO another.
A bench warrant was issued by Judge