The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-04-02
AN OLD DETECTIVES SKILL.
TWO BANK ROBBERIEs CLEARED Up
ny JOHN JOURDAS.

HI. Arrest The Price of IA ChiId's Life
NOWADAYS you hear a good deal about tn,
sleuthinR abilities Of such and such a detec
tive said the retired Detective Sergeant. be
cause the Hawkshaws Of the present time ar,
always making Rrand-stand plays and trying
20 get their names into print. In my time. In
the sixties. newspaper reporters were not SC
numerous. and IL wasn't the custom. anyway
to tell all you knew. But times have changed
and so has the caiibfe OF the detectives. The
sleuths uf the sixties had to deal with real
crooks. not pert larceny thieves. but men who
got way with thousands in one haul. Bank
sneaks and safe crackers were then in their
glory. hut they have passed away.
To combat the cleverness Of the crooks OF
those days New York city was blessed with n
mighty clever detective in the person OF John
Jourdan. who was afterward Superintendent
VI Police. Jourdan was the Sherlock Holmes.
OF his time, and. in my estimation. NO other
man has succeeded in filling his shoes. and I
have known all his successors from Tim
Irving down to George McCluskv. I knew
Jourdan well. worked under him.. in fact. and
probably enjoyed his confidence more than
any other man in the department. That's
whv ] speak authoritatively about him. The
man has been forgotten. and the latter-day
historians Of crooks and crime never men
toned the great work he did. because they
knew his ceverness would make their own
work look mighty COMMONPLACE. 1 am IA
miliar with tho details Of two big bank rob
berries in which Jourdan nabbed the thieves.
and | am going to tell you about them.
'Jourdan was the CAPTAIN Of the Sixth
precinct when he did his greatest detective
work. The sixth precinct station house was
situated then in the Sixth war1. at q and
ii Franklin street. between Baxter and Cen
ire streets. The Sixth precinct was known
rs the Bloody Sixth because OF the num-
Der Of murders committed thore. Most OF
the crooks made the district their headauar-
ters. There was a Detective Bureau then. as
there is now. but when there was a big Job 10
be unravelled Jourlan was the man called on.
In 1860 the Concord National Eauk Of Massa-
ehusetts was entercd:ln lr"id daylight while
the cashier was at lun hruH, and 100000 in
bonds and money stolen. The thieves left no
clue and the local police requested the assis-
lance Of the Boston police. Private detectives
we're set at work on the robbery, but they made
no h%eadway. Suspicion finally fell uron tho
cashier. but he was a man of such integrity
that the directors Of the bank refused to be-
lieve that he had any hand in the robbery. The
detectives at work IN the ease came to the con-
Guslon eventually that the Job was the work OF
New York crooks aud the Boston police asked
tho New York authorities to catch the thieves.
John A. Kennedy was at that time Superin-
tendent OF Police in this city. lie ignored the
local Detective Bureau and called upon Jour.
dan to find the bank robbers.
"Jourdan wentto Concord 10 look the ground
over. He learned that on the day OF the rob-
berry n strange horse and buggy were driven
un in front Of a hardware store directly oppo-
site the bank. about the time OF the robbery.
anL the driver ppterpI tbn E.pra md bD,,1bt.
pound OF nails. The stranger talked with the
proprietor OF the store ten or 1ftcen minutes
and drove away with his purchase. A few
minutes before the buggy appeared in front
OF the hardware store the cashier Of the bank
across the way had locked M shop and started
home for luncheon. a little girl Of II wears
knocked at the bank door 1--WE minutes after
the cashier left. having been sent with n mes
aage to the cashier. The bank door was opened
by a stranger who asked the girl what she
wanted. The child said she was looking for
the cashier.
" Come back in an hour. little Girl. said the
man inside tho door. The cashier has gone
homo to get dinner
The child went away She Didn't nay any
attention to the mans looks and probably
couldn't have described him If she had. These
were the only clues J)urdan had to work on.
He was satisfied tho bank was turned off by
one man. and that the stranger In the buggy
who waited across the way To divert the store
the trick was clever. He onenet several doors
lea ling into the hnnk with duplicate KEYS and
g got IT. to tie rs SAFE ,hc , The cashier was m the habit
every time he locked M. Ths thief had We.
his work was easy. After removing every
thing Of value he locked the safe doors, ana
IHu0lnR INFO fhn hank on his a n1f Al,An
was as be lett 1t; When he opened the safe
These were the facts as ~Iourdan gathered
them. He was satisfied that the cashier was
York "O To look Rna ali f IT,, c re oRS'e o1 "ash 1 TO Asm
knew them, all. and they were afraid Of him.
All the bank sneaEs clever enough to turn OF
Charley Adams Moore was one OF the smart.
cation, had a good address and was W an an" exert y"Tt
penman., He was rated as n bank sneak and
I Iorm T., S SSqrfaR n. knew yn tha at NJ More Owned 2
He vent in the front door OF the farmhouse.
and Moore made his exit by a rear door, Jour
and 4 was the last time he saw him for nine
m "Moeie's unvillinaness 10 be seen convinced
that he was on the right trail. The
CAPTAIN came back to this city and reported to
SfSSss,n'e to te.p k sisss Soora The nD,i Sq Il. i,n tHid
him. Jourdan said he would need several men
70 help him, and Kennedy told him he could
have all the help he wanted. 1ourdan selected
Elder, now dead, and Pat Dolan. who is
on the retired list, both of whom were doing de-
tectiye work In the Headquarters Bureau. John
who was afterward hroke and Is now
sowpunchine In the West. and Mark Haggerty.
The present doorman. in the Tenderloin sta
were both. patrolmen in the Sixth rre-
ninct. and Jourdan detailed them to heir. The
lour picked men. with Jourdan himself. knew
every crook In the country.
They worked for several months trying TO
Eetsome trace, OF Moore. but he seemed to have
allen into a .hole and pulled It in after him.
They watched his former friends closely, but
nothing of value. A crook named Bou-
ton. who palled with counterfeiters and was
known as "a shower OF the queer. was watched
,losely. Jourdan waited. and when he thought
i was about time for Moore 10 begin TO get
rd OF the stolen bonds he concluded 10 arrest
BOuton was pincheu one night and
TO the sixth precinct station house.
When he was searched he had on his person
el ,uUO worth OF 20 cent counterfeit STAMPS.
better known as shinUlasters.
Jourdan told BOutOn that he wanted to buy
bonds and asked him II he could get
for him. Bouton said he knew a man
Who had some TO sell and he would buy them
|, Jourdan would promise not to prosecute
llm Tor having counterfeit money in his pos
session. Jourdan was an honest man. and a.
ounterfe!fing was Il United States offence he
make no such promise. Bob Murray was
hen United States Marshal. He was CON