The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1900-03-08


to have Curtin arrested on suspicion Of
being the thief In this latest robbery
and, In case Of his apprehension, to no.
| tify General Manager Sterling. who
would take steps to have him brought
to Kansas, In which state the crime
had been committed.
"A little more than month after
ward the gentleman was captured in
New Orleans as he was about to pur-
chase a ticket for Atlanta. In due
course Of time he was taken to Topeka,
where he was identified by the passen-
ger who had accused him of theft and
was committed to jail for the action of
the grand jury.
upon my advice photograph Of the
man stripped to the waist was taken
and forwarded to me. Sure enough, ii
was Curtin. Our agency had half tone
cuts made Of the photographs, and an.
other set of circulars were printed.
which were sent to our correspondents
in Europe. a.N
within six weeks reply came from
London saying the party referred to in
the circular was undoubtedly F. S.
Lashby. notorious car and hotel thief.
known as Franklin. the Kangaroo
Man. from the fact that he had been
exhibiting himself in museums. having
pouch Of skin on his breast similar to
that found on the female kangaroo. J "
"We were advised to have him exam
ined by physician. when he would
likely give in and confess his crime, as
he had done in Leeds, England. some
years previous. a#H g Il
This advice was acted upon. and the
rogue really did confess. He stated
that after robbing victim he had
spotted he dropped the plumber in the
pouch he had caused to grow on his
breast and that before being tripped
up in England had secured quite snug
sum of money. . .-..
"He was careful not to exhibit his
peculiar formation in this country and
had hoped to pick up fortune, when
he intended to go to his home in Aus
tralia. believe the fellow would have
succeeded, too, had it not been for the
tiles. Nothing could ever be found on
him, and it would have been an ex-
extremely hard matter indeed to con-
Wet him.
upon being pressed for an explana
ton as to how he had caused the
growth of the pouch on his body he
said that while studying medicine in
Melbourne he had seen in side show
of a circus an elastic skin man, which
condition, the freak had told him, was
brought about by a continual pulling
and stretching of the cuticle.
"He began to experiment upon him
self, and, finding how loose the skin
was getting, the novel idea of produc-
ing a kangaroolike pouch on his chest
took possession Of him, and, being of
a rowing disposition, he determined to
become freak, If possible. By travel
ing about and exhibiting himself he
could easily earn enough money to de-
fray expenses. ~
AFTER getting the skin thoroughly
loosened up over his chest he made an
incision in length about five inches d.
rectly across the breast bone In line
with the fifth rib. Pulling the wound
apart. he packed It with antiseptic
gauze, each day pulling more and more
upon the skin at that point and at each
renewal of the gauze forcing a greater
quantity into the aperture.
Finally, after over a years tedious
work, more or less suffering and sever
al narrow escapes from blood poison
ing. his will power triumphed. The
desired result was obtained, and he set
out to exhibit himself as the Great
Australian Freak, Franklin, the Kan
CARGO Man .,.. 81.
"As may be imagined, his success was
phenomenal, and he became wealthy
beyond his fondest dreams; but, like
many other people. money was his
ruin.
"He soon became so addicted to drink
that he failed to fulfill his engage
ments, and his managers forsook him
one after another. 1t was not long IN
til he took to tEievirg. and had it not
been that he was known as freak in
EuSiduu ~ ID udEuly lhSly that ue
would ever have been convicted in that
country. t'.
Like others, too, of the criminal
class, he chose that life after he once
entered it in preference to an honest
pursuit Of wealth partly from the ex.
element connected with 1t and partly
from the loss of self respect. ,
1T, is strange. but unless he distend-
ed the pouch no one would have
thought the appearance of his chest
due to anything but the accidental
cause he stated. The upper part of the
wound hung over the lower edge and
seemed simply great, horrid scar.
well, friends, we're getting to my
destination, and I'll bid you goodby.
By the way, Lashby's term in the Kan
sas penitentiary will expire in few
months. If any of you want to go into
the show business, there's chance
Philadelphia Press.
A Hasty Shave. "
'1The quickest shave ever got,' re-