Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1899-04-22
TRACING CRIMINALS.
THE HANDKERCHIEF AS A FACTOR
IN THIS WORK.

Some Prominent Cases In which the
Little square of Linen Was "a silent
but Effective Accuscr of the sus-
| pectcd CuIprit.
| Among the various exhibits in IA
nous criminal eases that have held the
civilized world spellbound with their
frightful disclosures il is interest .ng Ia
note how often an accused criminals
life has hung, not by thread hut by
threads. by that little square of linen.
Of lawn. of silk-a handkerchief
apparel oft proclaims the man
and there are about handkerchief Ger
tain indications that can trace il to its
owner or. rather. vice versa. by the
perfnmery or sachet upon it in some
instances. by its size whether il he a
man 5 or n woinan's by initials in one
corner. by its qnality and hy the lam
dry marks upon il. as in the case of the
notorious desperate and stage robber so
well remembered by Californians-
BLACK Bart
One OF the cleverest pieces of detect
i've work ever accomplished in this
state was done in this case by J B
Hume special officer for Wells Fargo
| When news reached his office on Nov
3. 1883. that a stage had been held up
and robbed near TuttlevilIe and that a
handkerchief and some other articles
had been found behind some cliffs near
the place of attack Mr. Hume imme-
diatly tclcgraphcd to have the things
sent down to him
| He carefully inspected the handker
chief. u plain hemsiitched man. hand
kerchief. and noticed laundry mark
in one corner. FxO9 Upun this evil
dencc. a handkerchief with that fatal
laundry mark. was Black Bart arrested
| MIR. Hume set to work To find ont
where the handkerchief had heen lam
dercd, and after several days of careful
inquiry and diligent search il was
traced To Il laundry down ON Bush street
kept hy n man named Ware. This lam
dry office was also sort of lounging
room. with Il tobacco stand on one side
and here Black Bart known there as
Charlie Bolton. a mining man and cap
italist. spent great deal of his time.
When the handkerchief was brought
to Ware and he was asked to whom il
belonged. he said why. that is Char
lie Bolton's handkerchief He brought
his laundry here just before he returned
| to the mines u short time ago.
| Detective Hume sent instructions for
the arrest If Black Bart Black Bart
/ uft - 4 4.
which time he had rcbbed - stages
and had kept the stage drivers in con
tinual fear of their lives. this clever
felon. was at last trapped by handker
chief. The shrewd criminal. who had
held the sheriff as well as the Wells
| Fargo detectives at bay fer so long. did
not see that there was enough differ
ence between one handkerchief and an
other To disclose a man identity and
convict him of crime.
Tive handkerchiefs figured in the
Durrant case One. identified as belong
ing to Minnie Williams. was found GOV
cred with blood behind the Emanuel
church. where the murders were perpe.
trated
| The Botkin poisoning case will 20
down as one Of the strongest cases in
the criminal records of California of
the conviction Of murderer based on
! circumstantial evidence What the key
/ stone i 10 the arch - is the ~ cent
handkerchief sent in that fatal box of
poisoned candy tn the chain of evidence
in this famous case. case where all
the eloquence of California : most bril-
liant lawyers could not swing the jury
10 the side of acquittal
The important part a handkerchief
played i'll this case was apparent when
one saw how hard the attorneys for the
defense worked for days on that one hit
of evidence. trying in every way possi-
BILE and impossible to break the testi-
mony of the woman who sold the hand
kerchief To Mrs. Botkin If that little
cheap embroidered handkerchief had
not been slipped into that hox of choco-
lates Mrs. Botkin might he walking
the streets of San Francisco today
free woman
A handkerchief convicted her-a lit
tie white square of linen sent her to
cell with blackened character. where
she will exist sans friends. sans hope.
sans name, sans everything!
Mrs. Whtten. a famous woman Grim
inal in New York. was finally captured
and imprisoned by the aid of certain
perfumed handkerchief She resided in
large and fashionable boarding house.
and at frequent intervals valuable
pieces of lewelry had been stolen from
the various guests The woman. who
was afterward convicted # the crime.
was never suspected. aS she. too. claim
ed to he having her valuables stolen
| from her room
| Detectives We're put Ia work on the
case. and finally they traced the culprit
by means of a handkerchief. dropped in
| hasty retreat from one If the rooms
The detective 10 whom the handkerchief
| was given noticed upon il peculiar
perfume. a subtle oder used at the
boarding house only 10y Mrs Whtten
and iu her the handkerchief was traced
ami then the crime
Persons who have committed suicide
by lumpin. utl terryboats nave. in
many cases DESTROYED every other
means of Identification except their
handkcrchicfS These thou.htle>sly re
tanned and hearing certain initials or
marks. have led L. the disclosure of tn.
suicide : name. san Francisco Call
| Eu Guaranteed.
Customer tat shirt counter Here
a shiIt lmn@ht of you the other day.
IL 5 tuu small fusme tore it trying to
put il un
Salesman That ; too bad bui you We
spoiled il su we can take il back III
tell yuu what you can do. though Go
over 10 the drug department and you
can get snail bottle of antifat for 10
cents. Chicago Trihune