The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-11-05
APPEARANCES AGAINST HIM.
Innocent Man Taken for n Thief
Does Not Deny the Charges.

Innocent Man Taken for a Thief
Does Not Deny the Charges.
From the New Orleans Times-Democrat.
when I was considerably younger and
greener in this business" said an old rail
road detective who had been asked to tell
a story of his experience, IT lived at
certain hotel, which it is not in the least
necessary to name. One rainy, sleety night
in early winter 1 came in very late and
going directly to my room, was surprised
to find the door ajar. I had on a pair
of old rubbers, so my approach made no
noise and, peeping in, saw a man bend
ing over my open trunk. I didn't stop to
mediate, but was on his back in a couple
of jumps and who should it turn out to be
but the porter young white man, much
liked by everybody in the house. He was
so startled that he couldn't say a word
and there was the evidence plain as day
The trunk had been forced with a chisel
which lay on the floor; the contents were
tumbled about, and sticking in the lock Of
the door was skeleton key made out of a
piece of copper wire. When the porter
found his tongue he begged me not to
turn him over to the police. He said that
his mother, who was dependent on him for
support, was sick and In destitute circum-
stances; that he was unable to earn
enough to provide her with necessarios
and his desperate need for money had
tempted him to the act. II was his first
offense, he pleaded, and that if I would
let him off it would be his last-in short,
he gave me the usual story, but he tod
1t so well and begged so piteously that at
last l weakened and told him to get out.
Next day he quietly left town, and later
on I discovered that the mother story was
a fake. Then 1 cussed myself for being a
fool.
Nearly a year afterward," continued
the detective, Il arrested a professional
crook for car breaking and found him
wearing a pair of my own cuff buttons,
which l had missed for a long time and
didn't know what had become of them.
Under pressure he confessed that he had
stolen them from a room in such-and-such
a house, naming the hotel where I lived
He said he had opened the door with a
false key, broken into a trunk and was
just riiing it, when he heard somebody
coming and darted out, barely lodging a
young man in the hall. l pulled out the
copper shelton key, which l still had on
my ring, and he Identified 1t Immediately
as the one he had used. You may wen be-
iieve 1 was considerably agitated, and I
went to work Immediately to locate the ex-
porter. After a good deal of difficulty
finally found him in Memphis clerkng
in a gorcery store. / got the tip, by the
way, from a letter he had written to a
friend. Well, l corneTed him and insisted
on an explanation and he told me a story
viii never forget as long as Live. He said
he was coming down the hall that night,
when he saw a man run out of my room.
The fellow got away before he could grab
him, and, naturally enough, he went In to
see what was up. He noticed the trunk
open, and had just stopped down to see
whether it had been forced when 1 rushed
in. The surprise of it bewildered him for
a moment, and then he realized that he
had been caught Inadvertently in position
that would certainly convict him of burg
larry. i knew you wouldn't believe me If
/ told the truth, he said, and would be
dead sure 10 have me arrested, but / did
think there was some chance of working
on your feelings by pretending to confess |
remembered hearing you remark said
he that you always felt sorry for a man
that owned up. So he tried that plan, and |
as you already know, il worked. / was
satisfied that what he told me was abso- |
lutely true, and, taken altogether, believe |
that was the queerest case l ever had |
anything to do with. The last / heard Of !
the young man he was living in Atlanta |
ar' folng well. The car thief got seven
years.