Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1899-07-26
CLARKECOURIER
WEDNESDAY,, JULY 90. 1899.
A OLIVER BIT OF WORK

iSS us give tue detectives OF
the big town the credit that is right
ly due them," said 8 Washington
business man who does lot of trav.
cling around among the eastern cities
"Ihey surely are men with head
pieces and with memories stored
within the same. saw a pointed in
stance of this the other morning.
came down to New York on a night
boat on the Sound after run up to
Boston. There was a Young chap
aboard who seemed a great deal the
worse for liquor. He was well dress
ed and had general look of groom
ing, and he spent lot of money at
the bar. | noticed that he was Graf
ty enough to take exceedingly small
drinks; nevertheless he appeared
from the time he got aboard the boat,
to be on the verge of drink oblivion.
He reeled about foolishly, and sever
al of the steward offered to help him
to his state room bed. He declined
these offers, and moseyed around the
boat stupidity. He invited a number
of the passengers, myself among the
number, to take a drink with him.
but his invitations were good
eddy declined. | think we all felt
more or less sorry for the young idiot.
for, even in the eyes of drinking
man when he is sober, a drunken man
is decidedly woebegone spectacle.
"Most of the passengers turned in
before Ii o'clock, when the orchestra
stopped playing in the saloon, but
the young man with the jag remained
on deck, soggily studying the stars.
l remained up, smoking, until along
toward midnight; when things were
pretty quiet In the saloon. and the
only sounds of life came from the
mems card room. Twenty or thirty
men were in the card room, and |
noticed the drunken youth looking
them over on his way, apparently, to
his state room. Then he went down
the line of state rooms, Keeling and
seeming to be confused as to his
bearings, feeling at the knobs of
number of the doors. | turned in
myself then and didn't wake UP I'M
til the boat was close to New York.
| found when l dressed and went out
on deck that there was considerable
excitement among the men psssen-
gers over q number of thefts of lew
elry and money that had taken place
during the night. Six of the men
who had renamed late in the card
room had been robbed. When they
returned to their state rooms from
the card room they found that their
small baggage had been rifed, and,
all told, nearly thousand dollars in
money and jewelry had been gathered
up by the thief. The matter had
been reported to the captain of the
boat, and all of the passengers, / dare
say, were more or less under suspi-
cion except those who had been rob-
bed. The drunken young man was
still loaded-he appeared to have
started right in drinking again as
soon as he got up--and had maud
lin tale of lost money and diamonds
to spring himself. It all looked very
mysterious. The skipper didn't dare
put his hand on any particular man
and charge him with being a thief.
The drunken chap least of all SEEM
ed to the perturbed victims to be
worthy of even q suspicion, his con-
dition of helplessness had been so
palpable the night before.
"When the boat pulled into the
slip in New York the purser went
ashore before any of the passengers
were permitted to disembark and
summoned a detective from police
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. of the old time
thief takers. The detective got down
In a cab in Less than fifteen minutes
and took his place at the foot of the
passenger gangway.-None of us
knew that there was detective there
until afterward. The passengers
walked over the gangway hurriedly.
| was Immediately behind the still
drunk youth, who seemed determin-
ed, from the amount he appeared to
have drunk already that morning, to
remain in that condition for the bal
ance of his life. He reeled down the