Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1901-05-06

In the death Of David Robertson,
who was in the service of the Plnker-
ton National Detective Agency thirty
four wears, that organization loses one
Of its most faithful and skillful en-
gloves and the country generally is
denrived Of one of the shrewdest
sleuths.
Born of Scotch parents, Mr.. Robert
son inherited .keenness which mani
fasted itself early in life. At first ne
aspired to be a physician. he LOON "
,o1,raa in pharmacy and was drug
oie+ until % years old. Becoming
tired of it. he came to America. Here
he realized his early ambition anu was
graduated as a physician. He never
nrac+iced his profession, but accepted
a position with the Pinkerton agency
and was given a post as clerk. unCli-
ing in his efforts to please MS EN-
Viewers and ever showing rare gilt
for detective work, his progress was
rand From clerk he was promoted
to chief clerk, then to assistant super
tntendent. to superintendent, to ASSIST
ont general superintendent of the MID
die division, and finally to assistant "
the principals of the firm, which po-
sition he held at the time OF his deaCh.
Mr. Robertson never acted IN the
capacity Of operative exclusively, put
suDerintended nearly all the large
cases taken up by the agency. Al
though criminals never admitted IT,
the fact was that whenever BOD
pobortson's name was connected with
a case there was more than usual eau
ton by the guilty ones to cover thelr
tracks. He and William Plnkerton
worked together on many cases. lie
was a clever man, modest in regard 10
his work, but always ready to give
credit to anyone who deserved II.
Everybody who ever worked with him
or knew him respected him, and none
of the younger employees OF the hrm
who ever got into trouble hesitated TO
confide in him. 1t was not uncommon
tn hear him spoken of as Father BOD,
because of this.
Seldom Told Experiences.
Personal experiences OF MI. robert
son never were known to any great
extent. for lie seldom spoke OF them.
But he was a good story-teller, had
travelled extensively, and always was
the center of an interested group when
time hung heavily Mr.. Robertson
love for his mother was shown Often
when he travelled between four and
FIVE thousand miles to Perth, Scotland,
to see her, even if it was for only
few DAYS. To recount all the import
ant cases with which Mr.. Robertson
was connected and which under his
supervision were Strengthened out
would be to cover nearly th1rty-1ve
years of hard work such as only de-
tective knows.
Probably as conspicuous case as
any Mr.. Robertson had was the Fred
Witrock express robbery in 1886, when
Messenger rockingham Of the Adams
Express company was held up while
running out of st. Louis and his car
was robbed of $4,000. One night in
November of that year Messenger
rockingham was handed note sign
ed by Manager Damsel of the COM
pany, asking that the bearer be broken
in for messenger. Without thought
that the note was forged rockingham
took the stranger into the car. Near
Pacific Junction the messenger was
held up and the safe cracked, while
the stranger escaped. Witrock was
coal and wood dealer at Lake and Lin
coin streets in Chicago and suspicion
against him was aroused when it
was learned that he and laundryman
named Weaver had been missing some
time. The messenger gave good
description of the robber and it tailed
with that Of Witrock. His house was
watched and one night he was followed
to saloon and arrested. He wore a
money belt when taken into custody
and this was found to contain several
thousand dollars.
Armed with a search warrant Mr.
Robertson went to the house an6
looked for more Of the plumber. The
dress Witrock's wife wore was con-
fScated and the lining Of it was found
to be filed with bills. Witrock con-
fessed at his trial and was sent to pri-
son for eight years. 1t developed he
did the job alone, Weaver having
backed out of it: The latter was tried
as an accomplice, however, and served
six years. Most of the money was re-
covered.
Another case of Importance III which
Mr.. Robertson figured was that in the
early part of the same year, when Mes
senger McNichols of the United States
Express company was murdered in his
car on the Rock Island Road while
running west from Chicago. Schwartz
and Watts. two trainmen, were arrest
ed and sentenced to prison for life
The former was acting as baggage