The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-01-28
THE MODERN DETECTIVE.
A shrewd Individual Who Works Ac-
cprsIju. in

4
| cordipg to system.
| The modern detective is not a man OF
wigs and fundamentally mysterious
| ways He does not 90 skulking about,
scanning the highways and byways for
bits of paper that look suspicious, ready to
draw trusty weapon and bring the n.y.
| ing offender down with ell-directed
shot. Yet because of the literature of a
sensational character that for years flled
| the youthful mind With the exaggerated
notion that the sleuth was almost super
natural, man of a hundred faces aud
| thousand DISCUSSES. this mistaken impress
| sion Of the officer who makes a business OF
hunting criminals has become more or less
popular. The blood and thunder play of
ten or dozen years ago. in the palmy days
of the melodrama did its share toward de-
ceiving the public into false ideas of the
detective. and like many more venerable
traditions. these erroneous notions linger
today-and are not entirely confined to the
youthful mind so susceptible to the ro-
mantle influences of exciting fiction.
prominent Southern detective was in
town the other day and discoursed freely
upon the work of his colleagues. Our
business said he. lis today a thing OF
system and of organization. The best de-
tectlve is not man who is adept In the
rapid change of false hair and whiskers.
He is a shrewd man. who is possessed OF
keen business sense that might be en-
Wed by many followers of the professions.
In his managing capacity, he handles many
men without actually seeing them and
of fhafY. nv yf
frequent reports.
The curious observer might haunt 4
detective headquarters fol weeks without
being able to discover anything particular
ly mysterious. Most of the men are con-
stlntly in the field, ferreting out cases.
They work quietly, and as far as pcssi
Bile, without attracting any attention from
the uniuitiated
In my time / have been called upon
to do many queer things. We do not IL
ways have to hunt for criminals. Two of
the most interesting cases I ever had were
CT a character that you might call matri-
monial. | really became an agent for Gu
pid. temporarily.
Last summer. when 1 was On duty at
prominent seacoast resort, was approach
cd by fair visitor. who at first exhibited
considerable maiden timidity. encour-
aged her to speak freely, and she finally
unburdcned her miad. to the following ef-
feet: L have been to New York city
within the week past, and during my So
journ there met. on two occasions. gen.
tlernan who impressed me. | saw him on
the street. and he was the handsomest man
| ever met. | felt certain from his dis-
tinguished appearance and his flowing hair
that he was a genius-perhaps an artist
or poet, or an actor. / did not speak 10
him. and do not know whether he noticed
me or not. | know absolutely nothing of
him
When I asked the young woman why
she wanted to find him. she replied that he
had made a decided impression on her, and
ADDED a blush which | readily understood.
| supposed it was one of those cases of
love at first sight, but was compelled to in
fcrn her that it would be impossible TO |
locate 4 man in the city Of New York from !
such meagre description. She was great
~ disappointed. and declared that she was /
wiling to spend any reasonable amount OF /
money to locate the gentleman. that she |
never coulG forget him. etc. But | WIS
obliged TO decline the case because there |
are so many good-loGsing men with long !
hair i'll New York. that lifetime might
be spent in trying to Identify the one she |
wanted
.'on another occasion my caller was !
gentleman. VINO TOLD me-. with animation, |
that he had met a young woman several I
times. month previous. on a street car
in a Southern city. and he wanted me to
discover her abiding place. He could not
give any description of her except in a
general way. He was so earnest that | !
sent my men to look up the young woman.
had one of my office force riding up and
down on line of street cars for days, and
he finally located a young woman. who
might have been the one we sought. The
anxious client readily paid sI5 fol- the in
and said he would find some
way of getting acquainted with her. He
never came back. so do not know whe;h-
sr he was successful or not You will OBJ
serve from these instances that a detec-
lives lot is not entirely bound UP in the
somewhat dangerous and unrOmantic
search for people who have broken the
avs"