The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1900-03-21
5 THE )
SLEEPING CAR R0BBERlES
OF '03 pp '84.
A Detective Yarn
By j. p. Barnitz.

z
Observation-Disclosures
We had returned from the dining car
to the smoking compartment Of our
sleeper There were five, of us, all
bound for Pacific coast points. and,
having occupied the same car since
leaving st. Paul, we had become pret-
ty well acquainted with each other.
There was but one other passenger In
the car, an elderly taciturn man, who,
although exceedingly polite and gentle
manly in his department, rarely Joined
in the conversation when we oil gath
cred In the smoking room.
Porter" one of us asked when the
darky brought some cigars we had or
dered, ''can you tell us the name Of the
gentleman in section 10T'
"Yes, sab; his name is Mr.. Shortwell
He trabels heap, lie does, on dis yeah
line. He's de co1npany's chief Of de-
tectives an de only one Of 'em we
knows by sight. He's a-goin eb'ry
place an no place oil de time. But he's
de whitest man on tips I'ze eber seen
deed an deed he is. sab" lie replied in
slnuatingly.
We were passing through the great
wheat district Of North Dakota. The
immense expanse Of ripe grain glisten-
ing In the slanting rays Of the fast
sinking sun seemed vast golden sea
stretching away to the northern hori-
zon. In the southwest heavy thun-
derstorin was raging, the lightning Wv
i'd and grand. The thunder rolled
6n 1ofn to {cka
of musketry, and the sun, dipping be-
hind the bank Of black clouds. left u
lurid glare athwart the sky.
Gentlemen, have you ever seen a
finer sight than that?" remarked Mr.
Shortwell as he came into the COM
partment and took a seat by the Win
dow. "I've seen such storms frequent
ly In this section" he continued, "and
each time imagine I'm looking at
battling armies, the victorious forces
sweeping on, leaving fire and destruc-
tion in their wake. The forces Of ma
turo are truly marvellous, art they
not?"
From the subject of storms the con-
versatiOn drifted to personal expert
.ences of n more or less remarkable ma
ture, and we noticed Mr.. Shortwell
Frightening up and listening intently
to the accounts Of our various adyen-
lures.
Just as Fred Hardy, a travelling
salesman for q New York jewelry
OF valuable samples had been mistaken
. by lot OF train robbers for book
agents outfit from the heft of 1t in a
hold up on the Santa Fe two years be-
fore, Mr.. Shortwell Strengthened up
from his lounging position on the heav-
lily upholstered seat and said:
II presume. being travelling men, you
all remember tho series Of mysterious
robberies that occurred on the sleeping
cars OF various lines during the winter
OF 1884? At that time was IN en-
ployee OF one Of the best known de-
tective agencies In the country, and
: when the sleeping chr company which
had suffered most from the depreda-
tions of the willy thief requested our
agency to take hold of the matter !
was given the case: a
"When took up the scent, the thief
was operating on this line, and my first
move was to be employed by the sleep
ing car company rs one OF their con-
ductors. For six or seven weeks there
were no. robberies reported, md was
working along In the role OF sleeping
car, conductor as completely in the
dark rs when took hold 0f the case.
Gone night in the middle Of June,
Just after leaving a station, where we
changed engines, walked out upon
the platform OF the rear sleeper In or
der to catch tho breeze. as the air In
the car was stuffy and hot lounged
over the brake wheel, watching the
lights Of the town grow fainter and
fainter until nothing hnt pale sh!..c
glow on the sky marked It's site. Sud-
denly some one touched me lightly on
& the arm. ana an agitated voice said:
Conductor. I've been robbed OF all
my money! Even my watch Is goner
MY detective instincts were aronaad
~ un instant. The opportunity for
which had been waiting had at last
presented itself. i swung quickly
around and followed my scantily clad
naaae..se:: g ss.s l;iiy iignIed nedr
oe the car. S 81 ..sy 4;
Tie was @ short, stout man, p9oba-
bly, 40 Or 45 years OF age. and was tick
eted to Butte, where, he said, he was
going for the purpose 3of looking at O
hotel property he desired to buy. He
claimed to have had $22, 900 lin treasury
notes and drafts in d wallet which Iic /:
had showed In the pYllowcase with the
pillow, pinning up the open end and I
putting that end against the side OF i
thes car. He occupied the dro8ing /
room, bnt, owing to the heat, had left