The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-01-11
A PARIS MAN HUNT.

Il
In desolate spot on the northern slopcs
of Montmartre, Paris where gloomy
stretches Of waste space are travsrsed by
unfrequented roads and sparsely dotted
with rickety novels or the ramshackls
buildings of trumpery manufactures, in
this No Mans Land lies the Moulin do Ia
GAZETTE, public ballroom frequented by
rogues of every caliber and rufflans Of the
purest water. On Sunday night the
place is at its liveliest. The cream of Pa
rislan rascaldom ewarms down to 1t from
the alleys and courts Of Montmartrc proper,
the hideous slums Of La Villette, or tramps
up from the Notifications and the dens Of
Saint-O uen. 1t is the worst spot In all
Europe.
/ There are people who venture into this
seething caldron of blackguardism out Of
curiosity.
If any such were present on particular
night not long SINCE they could scarcely
have failed to notice typical specimen Of
the rough who sided in and ont through
the jostling, dancing, yelling throng with
that SLOUGH and that roll of the hips and
shoulders SO characteristic of the Parisian
outthroat.
In word, the picturesque ruffian was
got up In what the habtues of the place
would admit was the pink of fashion. But
there was no knife in the ample folds of
his belt, which merely concealed piece Of
pasteboard, bearing q cipher: message to
the effect that its bearer was Inspector
Woo of tho Paris detective force.
Woo sauntered round, eying a number
of old acquaintance, to whom, however,
he was quite unrecognizable. Several of
these worthless were wanted" but they
could wait. Woo was out this evening
after far bigger game, game that as yet he
had not sighted. Indeed he had no great
hope of running it to ground or he would
not have committed the imprudence of be-
ing alone. He had just looked into the
Moulin dc la GAZETTE on the off chance
He was beginning to think that he might
as well be leaving when a particularly
noisy crowd in corner of the ballroom
attracted his attention. A number Of cou-
pies had ceased dancing and were throng-
ing round n quartet that were executing
wildly eccentric quadrille amid the ap-
plauding bowls of the spectators. Woo
elbowed his way through the ring of on
lockers till he was able to catch glimpse
of the dancers. What he saw made his
lips part In smile Of satisfaction, He
had run across his men. But his smile
vanished in an instant. The task before
him was no laughing matter. Tho whole
band was there-its chief and his three
satellites. They were villainous crew to
look at, and they looked no whit worse
than they were. From information re-
ceiyed" the police had the best reasons to
believe that a recent series of revolving
crimes could DO traced to them. 1t was
for these that they were wanted"
Woo lit cigarette and thought out his
plan of campaign. 1t was soon settled,
and he started to execute the preliminaries.
BY law the police have to be present at ey-
cry public place of entertainment in Paris.
AT the entrance TO the ballroom sat two
sergeants dc vile in uniform, elbow to ell
bow, on bench. Woo, suddenly the worse
for drink, lurched toward them and col
lapsed on to a vacant seat at their side. A
whispered word gave them the cue and
they stared stolidly at the wall opposite,
whilc the detective muttered his instruc-
tions beneath his breath. Back In tho
ballroom Woo bad nothing to do but wait
Tho evening advanced and the company
thinned. When the proprietor began to
put the lights out, the gang decided to
make n move. Woo fell into line with
them as they crossed the hall. He could
sec the two policemen standing ready on
each side of the door, and from sign they
gave him no knew that they had sum
moned assistance.
The band struggled through the en-
t1,,n a., nf 4 l..
Mt its head. This latter man was carrying |
a drovcr's stick shod with iron.- As the |
pair stepped out of til building Woe with |
a stride closed up with them, snatched the |
stick away, thrust it between the legs of |
the chief and tripped him up. Tho police
sprang in, and in a second the melee was |
general.
The chief once on the groundy-Vioc had !
hoped to nail him there. But the man
was too quick for him In an instant no |
was on his feet again and had whipped out
his knife. Again the stick was useful. 1t
fell with whiZ OH the hand lifted to
strike, and the chief dropped his weapon
with II yell of pain.
For q moment he hesitatcd whether he
would fly ut his assaiant's throat, but he
thought better of it, turned and bounded
across the deserted road, Woo at his heels
For minute tho race was along the roud-
way. Then the chief vaulted u low fence
and started away over the open ground
that covers the greater portion of this
northern slope of the hill of Montmartre.
Tho steep incline is divided off into gar
den plots, and the race soon became n
stceple chase. The hunted man leaprd an
other fence, crashed through Il hedge and
doubled around a wall. Here Woe lost
him for an instant but, thanks to the
sighted him scudding, bent
louble, along a ditch. Little by little the
detective gained ground His man had
trunk enough and danced too much. Sud
ienly the desperate stopped, and Woo saw
Why. The ruffian had CHANGED on hoe
eft with other gardeners tools on wheel
barrow he had happened to pass. Thus
lrncd, he shouted, Come near and l
'rain you'll" The plot of ground they were
n was being used for the cultivation of
hoice vegetables. 1t was covered with
cores of round glass shades to keep the
PLANTS from the cold, shades about as large
Is n moderate sized flowerpot, and with
)rotuDerance at the top to allow them to
70 easily handled An idea occurred to
Voc. Instead of slackening his pace he
anne on at run, as if he meant attempt
ny to rush in beneath his mans guard.
Gut two or three yards from the chief he
topped short picked up shade and
urled it at the criminals head There
vas smash of glass, sort of scream and
ne of the terrors of Paris rolled over with
IL ugly wound in his skull. The hunt
vas ut AN end.-London Mail.
sloper's Eloping Girls.
The six daughters of Sydney man
amed Sloper clipped in turn. This is the