The Washington weekly post., 1899-11-14
Detective Whose Speciality Is
Running Down Women.
EPISODES OF HIS LONG CAREER
Has Devoted Himself for Nineteen Years
to the Basine-s Of Locating MissiRs Fe.
male Relatives Who for some Reassn
Have Attempted 20 Hide-He Tells soHe
Weird Tales Of Hypnotic Influence, Des.
perate Cases and Thrilling Adventures.
From the ssn rnnrirro Gil.

spective families over l,000 women and
girls, and thus given them a chance 10
tie the broken threads-broken by acci-
dent. by mistake. or by sheer reckless
ness-and go on weaving smoothly ever
after, il they so choose, on the loom OF
life.
Detective Abraham Anthony. of the San
Francisco police department, Is the man
who has done this. and because OF his ex-
ploits in this particular line he is known
to his brother officials in every large city
of the United States as the most success
fuI woman hunter Of our Western
world. For nearly nineteen years Detec-
tive Anthony has devoted himself TO the
task of looking up feminine truants, who.
BIZ their own vOlition or by some trick of
circumstance. have become lost to the
world that knew them before the black
curtain of mystery fell between them and
their former surroundings.
Detective Bainbridge says that Tony.
as the woman hunter is affectionately
called by his comrades, with all OF whom
he is a great favOrite, Is a miracle in
his own peculiar way.
TONY can ind and dig out of hiding
girl or woman as surely and almost as
readily as the German trutfie hounds can
unearth those epicurean treasures, MI.
cambridge declares for If you put him
on the track of one he will find her or die
irving. It's a wonder how he does 1t. but
he has never been known to fail yet
He doesn't look in the least like a
'sleuth," this quiet, slow-moying, slow
speaking man, who receives you in his
shirt sleeves when he is enjoying rest
ful hour in his home. and in a comforta-
bly, creased business suit when ut the Of
fee" With his hat on, Tony appears
very much like well-to-do rancner, Dut
no confidence man would ever Try TO rope
him in after one glance at the Sharply
shrewd, blue-gray eyes. which look ont
at the world so keenly from under MS
well marked eyebrows. For the rest, ne
has a rather wide face, with high cheeR
bones, a long. thin, but by no means
prominent. nose. a determined, narrow
Tipped mouth, a decidedly obstinate chin.
and a short but self-assertive sr6y-blond
mustache II was not untif he removed MS
hat that | became aware of the unusual.
almost abnormal. development of his fofc-
head. and, in fact. the entire cerebrar.l.
which to a believer in phrenology would
Perfectly account for the miracle" of his
neculiar mental capabilities. His speech
is diversified by lingual "reminiscences of
Prussia still. though he has been thirty
five years in this country, spending thirty
of those years as a resident OF San Fran
cisco. and nearly four Of them-only
hov he was then-in fighting CALAMITY Tor
the Union, which he had learned to love
even in far-off Nakai. his birthplace.
Record Of His Exploits.
II is difficult indeed well-nigh impossi-
BILE. TO persuade Anthony to talk of his
sg tat N
grown. black-bound volume in which all
these things have been made matters of
record. and here Is found full substanti-
alton of all the stories which his admir-
ing fellows tell of him.
And y nat heart-breaking stories they
all are, too, considered quite apart from
Detective Anthony's share in them! They
are, every one Of them, histories of SUI
fering. wrong. or misdoing; of foolishness
which is wicked or wickedness which Is
foolish. And the moral-self-evident-i
never openly expressed. is the largest part
of them; but il vii never, while great cities
act as magnets to unwise humanity and
vice looks more alluring than virtue,
reach the inner consciousness of those
whom it might thus save.
Here are skeleton accounts Of hundreds
which our California Lococq has eliminat-
ed the factor of mystery.
Do YOU realize how many schoolgirls
have, during the past nineteen years. left
happy holaes without warning or reason,
moved by childish whlm or-oh. the pity
! OF itl-defnite and ignoble purpose? Do
you know how mary girls have been
driven % diagrace because their homes
we're TOT happy? Do you ever think how
many wives desert their husbands each
year and why? And what becomes of
those to whom no kindly friend like De
tectiye anthony appears, bearing a mes
! sage of forgiveness and hope? If you are
unaware of. or Indifferent to. these
| things this book OF Detective AnthOny's
will wake you TO a sense OF iife's reali-
( ties. but If you value your present light
ness of heart, / pray you do not seek to
read II, for Il is crowded with tragedies
| from cover to cover, and the unavailing
sorrow OF it all weighs on one heavily
even after the volume is closed and laid
/ aside
| not only see these records, but have
| the good fortune to find the chief actor
in the occurrences Of which they speak
with a spare half hour on his hands,
which he Is, with difficulty, be IL ae-
knowIedged. persuaded 10 spend In tell
| ing something OF his work
How do / manage to find these peo-
ple?'' he repeats, when ne is asked this
| question. THAT | cannot tell you for
| do noe know myself If they are known
to have sweethearts. / generally hunt
! for them the first thing: but II there isn't
! anything of that kind TO get a clew from.
| / have to study pretty hard. As for the
| descriptions that folks give US, do you
realize how widely what II known as
general description applies? Should you
be sent out to arrest confidence man or
! a regular crook described as being
short, dark'-or light. as the case might
/ be-'well dressed, with a grayisn mus
/ tache and a habit OF smiling apprecia-
/ lively and pateTnslly upon young ladies
/ you might mistakenly run In, instead OF
! the person for whom you are searching.
| several hundreds OF our reputable solid
/ citizens who would I'LL the bill perfectly
| as far az listed personal appearance goes.
Descriptions Often Confusing.
There are only a certain number OF
kinds Of eyes. noses, mouths, complex
I tons, hair. and figures 20 divide among all
| the millions Of this worlds Inhabitants,
| and they are necessarily gwen out sn
blocks, AZ you might say. II is the way
we use these very-much-alike gIfts-our
! mannerisms and xpressiDns-which in
dlvIdualizes US. and these are the hardest
| OF all things 10 describe recognizably.
and for this reason the descriptions OF
missing OF wanted persons which are fur
nlshed 20 the police are generally more
| confusing than helpful
Women and girls are harder 20 hunt
/ Hp tnan men and boys. because they are
more skiilful about simple disguises and
/ are generally cieyerer about choosing
| their hiding places. guess they put me
( on 10 that work when ] first began. Just
| 10 kind cf discourage ne and take my
/ pride down"-he crosses one leg over the
other and takes a little half turn in his
| rOomy chair.
But II didn't" | say with conviction,
/ and he smiles asssntingly.
Not entirely. anyway; but then. Il f.
mostly luck. after all that helps me out
| I've had glTLs ! was looking for walk