The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-12-09

l
 through the half-opened shutters, list
 ening incredulously, at first, to the prac
 tical application of his science to the
 unsuspecting individuals below, till my
 derlsion was changed to admiration and l was thoroughly convinced of his pow
 CT As my friends of both sexes pass
 ed under the ordeal, it was intensely
 beWltehing The marked men
 were not singled out, but all were in-
 cluded He was stranger, and yet bet
 ter acquainted with the people than
 any of our citizens.
 'Of some qualities of mind he would
 occasionally decline to speak until he could see the features in play, as in
 conversation. Some occupations he fail
 ed to discover, if the arms were folded,
 or the hands in the pockets or the body
 not in motion I selected from
 the crowd acquaintances of marked
 character and standing, and obtained
 accurate descriptions of them. Of one he said, He is a good merchant, and
 has done and is doing good business.
 He carries his business home with him
 at night, as he should not. He has been
 wealthy, and is now in reduced cir
 cumstances. His disaster weighs heavi-
 ly upon him. He has a high sense of
 honor, keen conscience and is a meek,
 religious man. He has great goodness
 of nature, is very modest and retiring, 1 has more ability than he supposes, and
 is man of family and very fond of | his children
 Another he accurately described
 thus: He is a mechanic, of good
 mind, who has succeeded so well that
 l doubt if he is in active business. Ger
 tainly he does not labor. He is very in dependent and radcal--can be impudent if occasion requires-g gives others all their rights and pertinaciously insists
 upon his own Here the mechanic took his hands from his pocket. Hold!
 l said he Was a mechanic. He is not;
 he is house painter
 q desired to be informed by what in-
 dications he judged him to be painter.
 He replied that he judged from the gen. eral appearance and motions, and that 1t was difficult to specify l insisted, and he remarked that the easy roll of the wrists was indicative' =.
 MT Sidney contended that any man of ordinary perceptive powers need
 iCNOi iiliStethC SdltiDlci, dc llt nctAho on the tribe were as distinct as the com plexion of the Ethiouian. A man of very gentlemanly appearance was approaching whom MT. Sidney pro- nounced gambler, and also engaged in some other branch of iniquity. His ap- pearance was so remarkably good that l doubted. He turned the corner and immediately MT. Sidney hastened to the street and soon returned. saying he had ascertained his history-that he was in the counterfeiting department-thath his conscience affected his nerves: that he /, was a stranger in town, and was rest less and disquieted; that he would not ! remain many hours there, as he had | an enterprise on hand, and was about | it. I remarked that, as the contrary could never be proved he was perfect ly safe in his prophecy, when MT Sid new rose from his chair and approach ing me, slowly said with great enarey:-
 'I will follow that man till it is | proved. "The next day but one I re- ceived note from MT. Sidney, simply saying: I am on his track He had followed the supposed counterfeiter to Philadelphia, where he ascertained that he had passed $5 bills of the---bank of Connecticut Mir Sidney obtained the bills the gambler had passed to compare With the genuine. Failing, however, to find any of the denomination he pre- scented the supposed commercials to a broker skilled in detecting bad bills and was surprised to be informed that they were genuine. At Baltimore he the inquiry at the counter of a well-known banker relative to other similar bills, and received the same re- sponse So again in Washington Pitts burg, Chicago and several other cities whither he had followed the suspected man, and in variably the reply of the cashier would be: We will exchange our bills for them, sir' In some west srn cities he was offered a premium on the bills he had collected. At St Louis ne obtained a genuine bill of the bank n question, and in company with a broker proceeded to examine the two with a microscope. The broker pro- the supposed commercials to be genuine In the meantime the gambler lad left the city. Two days after MT Sidney had overtaken him. So great were his excitement and vexation that 1 le could scarcely eat or sleep Tn a fit { If desperation without law and against aw, he bounced upon the suspected i nan and put him in irons. He beat a barley It was granted, and the two 1 vent to the gamblers apartments in { company In a conversation of several { tours MT. Sidney extracted from him { he most valuable information relating { o the gang he was so pertinaciously ( prosecuting, and received into his pos l ession 700o in commercials of the $ foresaid bank some of which I have ( low in my possession and which have i een pronounced genuine by our most t lsllful experts t Equipped then, with his astonishing a kill, what was MT. Sidneys success? \ The band which he pursued he succeed 4 q in terrorizing. He followed no one s lse; he convicted many for different t ffenses; he discredited their witnesses, who appeared to be polished gentle Q 1en," in open court. Many times the V and sought to buy him off. One man. V 'hile under arrest, offered s100,000 if t he prosecution would be relnuuished, il nd being denied offered still more, in | luding the secret of a most successful n of American coins MT W idney was unyielding.