The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-08-26

soon as his first term in the penitentiary
was ended 1 had him sent up again. meet
ing him at the door of the prison and ar
resting him Immediately upon his first re-
lease. The last sentence he received was
for stealing the trunk which contained that
vaIuable pin cushion. Lloyd's heart scenes
to be broker by this last calamity, and he
brooded over his defeat and
until he died in prison, after a few months
confinement"
OTHER VARIED EXPERIENCES.
Among the most unmitigated thieves of
my acquaintance said Secret Service Of
ficer Halls. was a fellow named Cox He
was literally born to crime and took to IL
as easily as a duck does to water. In
fact, he was continually in tribulation of
some kind. At the same time Cox was
one of those characters that are particu-
larly aluable to detectives because, as
soon as he learned that an officer had his
record or was in a position TO make 1t
pretty hot for him, while he would as
sumo a defiant air at the time of being
arrested, he would usually weaken about
the third day and tell anything he knew
upon receiving assurance of leniency. My
experiences with Cox were quite varied.
The first time 1 ran across the man was
after a series of robberies had been COM
mitted in some towns bordering the Mis-
sissippi river. After some investigation L
discovered that Cox and several accom-
plices had taken part in these crimes.
We succeeded in capturing Mr.. Cox and a
couple of his associates. Cox assumed the
.;r a. - 49, 49,
but with which 1 afterward became thor
oughly familiar. He abused the entire de-
tective force of the country in the most
violent fashion. However, a few days in
Jail made him a valuable man to me, for he
not only broke down and 'peached' on the
gang which had worked with him in this
particular succession of offenses, but fur
nished me some excellent hints concerning
other criminals for whom 1 was searching.
Except when he was doing time in some
Jail or penitentiary, Cox was always en-
gagged upon some crooked transaction.
The last two of these preceding his de-
mise 1 will relate.
"One time a postofice and dry-goods
store in an inland town in Illinois was
robbed. The town was located in the CEN
ter of the Grand Prairie, some distance
from any railroad. / was sent up there to
try TO run down the guilty parties. After
making a thorough examination of the
pillaged premises / recognized the 'handi-
work OF Mr.. Cox. In a few days I man.
aged TO apprehend both him and his con-
federate in Nation. Cox played his old
game of defiance and buster, but suddenly
became very weak and pliable when 1
pulled out of one of his hip pockets a lot
Of postage stamps, which, through the aid
of perspiration. had become mixed up to-
gether in a confused mass or wad as hard
almost as a piece of wood. These he had
evidently put in his pocket at the time
of the robbery and forgotten about them
afterward. L also found a few copper coins
which formed part of a collection kept by
the postmaster. These bits of evidence
fixed the crime on Cox and his partner,
and they were held in Jail to await their
trial. A short time afterward / happened
to be in the Jail, and, while walking
through the corridors, came upon Cox and
a number of other prisoners seated on the
floor, engaged in a game of seven up
My appearance was the signal for an
outburs of uncomfortable and at the
same time Ito mel unaccountable merri-
ment. Inquiring the cause for this strange
levity, I learned from one of the prisoners
that Cox had just been telling a very funny
story about a robbery which he and his
pal had committed recently, the crime for
which they were then in Jail. Tell the
story again for Captain Halls benefit
said the prisoner, turning to Cox, for 1
think it will prove very interesting to him.
After some persuasion Cox began his mar.
ration in this manner: WELL he said. my
partner and 1 concluded to try and make
a haul somewhere and he told me he knew
of a good place, where Tie postofice WAS
kept in a general store in a small town
situated in a grove on the prairie, away
from telegraph lines and railroads., and
that there was always a considerable sum
of money about the place, which would be
easy to get. Accordingly, we decided to
crack the crib" We went there by rail-
road, getting off at the point nearest the
village which we desired to visit. After a
walk of about twelve miles we approached
the little town early in the evening. We
found it to be a beautiful little place, ro-
mantically situated in a grove which lined
the banks of a fair-sized stream for some
distance on either side.
HOW THE JOB WAS DONE.
1.-THE first thing we did was to enter the
town and size up the situation and decide
upon the easiest way to get into the store.
We also got the location of the safe and
otner points of interest in the store. About
midnight, after the people had all gone to
bed, we returned to the store, and soon ef-
fected IN entrance. 1t took us a little
longer than we expected, but we made a
clean sweep of the cash and stamps. TAX
ing all we could carry. and succeeded In
making our departure without being OBJ
served or exciting any suspicion. We
shaped our course towards the railroad
town from which We had started for the
| scene of our job 1t was about the dark
est hour of the night when We started ON
cur return trip. We got out on the open
prairie and began walking at a pretty good
| gait. Just as daylight overlook us we could
see, some distance away, the white spires
of churches glistening among the trees
which surrounded a town or village which
seemed near by.
els this our placer / asked my partner.
Yes he replied, this is the town where
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