The times., 1898-07-23
FUNK YET AT LARGE.
Man Arrested i'm Illinois lis Not the
AlLI ged Murderer

The person arrested in Illinois and held
on suspicion of being Frank Funk, the al
legged murderer of William H. Brooks. is
not the man for whom the Washington
authorities are searching
Detective Weldon arrived in Springfield
yesterday and lost no time in visiting the
prison where the suspect Is confined.
As soon as he saw him the detective
said: THAT is not the man I am looking
! for"
The Illinois people. however, contende1
that he was. and they showed MIN the
printed descriprun sent out by Inspector
Mattingiy, but Weedon insisted tha. they
had. not examined the man properly.
He took the Bertilion circular ana went
! over every point noted in II. out of TWEEN
1 ty-tive items given ne found only three IN
! common between the two men.
II was plainly shown that the person
/ who made the arrest did not examine his
prisoner, or a glaring mistake would not
have besh made
WeedoR Immediately telegraphed his
chief in the vain effort 70 stop the de-
parture Of the messenger from the Dis
tTict attorneys office. hoping thus to
avoid a useless expenditure for railroad
fare.
Wllsh seen by a reporter for The Times
last night Inspector Matringly said:
4 cannot account for such a mistake
on the part Of the Illinois officials. There
seems 70 be something wrong with their
system OF Identification"
Is there no possibility OF a mistake on
Weedon's part?" the Inspector was
asked
No Any man in the business should
be able 10 tell at a glance whether ne
had the right prisoner. / think it prob
able that ghe man who made the arrest
was so dazzled by the prospect Of getting
the reward that he overlooked the for
mality of fully Identifying the suspect
and notified US as soon as he noted the
| apparent resemblance between his man
| and Funk"
Chief Clerk Harvey Given, with Miss
| Maggie Brooks, will arrive in Springfield
this morning, and 1t is probable that they
, viii take look at the prisoner to make
sure that he is not Funk. Detective
/ Weedon will await the arrival Of the sec
ond party and they will come home to-
/ gether.
There is a well-founded belief in Wash
/ ington police circles that Funk has gone
1 South and that he is probably in Cuba.
! He is given credit for being one OF the
J shrewdest criminals of the many the To-
cal police department has had to deal
! with. and il is thought that as he often
/ said that he would go West If he could
j get hold of a sufficient sum of money he
may have taken a contrary course TO
throw the detectives of the scent.
That he has succeeded in eluding the
/ vigilant search already made proves him
( TO be a man of no ordinary ability, and it
/ is believed that he viii resort to desper-
/ ate measures if cornered.
The watch kept On the railroad depots
| ana steamship PIERS at Tampa. New Or
! leans. Galveston and other Southern sea-
ports has been in no wise re aXed since
! the publication Of the news Of the re-
/ ported capture in Collinsville. and il is
/ considered almost an impossibility for
! Funk to have left the country.
! The man who said he believed him 70
| he in Cuba. stated that his theory Aas
that the alleged murderer had gone to
one OF the military camps. just prior 10
| the eTnbarkatiJn Of the first expedition
TO Sdnt.ae0. and Joined one Of the regi-
ments under orders to move.
The local detective force has worked
diligently to apprehend the man, and it
/ is no discredit 10 its ability that the Col
| linsville police should have made mis-
take in identifying" their prisoner.