Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1901-12-18
TENDERFOOT
DETECTIVES
Many Amateur Hawkshaws Have
Made Life a Burden to the Po-
lice Of Great Falls.
SHERLOCK HOLMES METHODS.
Are Well versed in the Latest The
cries of the Dime Novel Detect
i've of the Sleuth Variety.

Cascade county, and particularly
Great Falls, has been afflicted lately
with a plague of amateur detectives
who have kept the police department
in the rainbow city in a ceaseless
state Of suspense, and IL an antidote
is not found and applied, will no
doubt make glad the heart of the I'M
dertaker and furnish more horrible
examples of the result of reading two
for five Hawkshaw detective stories.
The first outbreak happened at Mel
hart a short time ago, when an ar
dent admirer of Sherlock Holmes
caused the arrest of a harmless old
timer. by name Bob" Collins, who
had done nothing worse than accum-
ulate a festive jag. Bob" mention
ed the name of Longbaugh in his
drunken rawlings and he was imme-
diately arrested as a double-dyed
desperate and a train robber on gen.
eral principles.
The next symptoms of the trouble
came to light at Great Falls, where
a bunch of pilgrim H~awkshaws had
dreams and saw things to such an
extent that they imagined that they
were close on the trail of Pat Grove,
who by this time is no doubt in a far
off and more congenial cline, laugh.
ing in his sleeve at the futile efforts
of Uncle Sans detectives.
AS the result of this last fiasco.
Fred Dawkins, a tenderfoot detect
i've, lies seriously wounded at a hos.
pital in Great Falls and n J. ID. Nc
Bride is under arrest on a charge of
shooting him.
Dawkins and a friend named Coop
err. had, by a homemade system of
Sherlock Holmes deductions identi-
fed Mcbride as the slippery Pat
Grove. and had made lie miserable
for the man by their close espionage.
They followed Mcbride when he
went to work, staying on his trail un-
til he went home; not content with
that, Dawkins obtained access to the
suspected mans sleeping apartments
In the hope that he would murmur
''whisperings of guilt in his sleep.
BY a system of lightning calcula-
ton the dime novel Ely cop" arrived
at the conclusion that McBride's noe
turnal efforts at harmony were of a
criminal nature and determined to
follow him to the bluter end. He
carried out his purpose with the re
suit that he was shot in the breast
either by himself while laboring un'
der a species of buck fever or by Nc
Bride, who denies all knowledge OF
the shooting, though Dawkins iden'
titles him as the man who used the
gun.
William Quinn is the latest add
ton to the ranks of the unfledged
Hawkshaws who have lately made
Great Falls their headquarters, and
owing to certain crooked spots in his
makeup he has been consigned Il
the state prison for safe keeping.
This enterprising genius went to
graders camp a short distance from
Great Falls and represented himself
as a detective, in the employ of 6
Chicago agency, on the trail of a des
perate murderer whom he had track
ed to the camp. During his stay a
the camp he accumulated many arti
cles of personal property belonging
to the foreman of the gang. and alst
a check to which he forged a sigma
ture. He was soon in the cold, har,
clutches of the law and landed in tn,
penitentiary, where he will have am
pie time to study Sherlock Holmes
memoirs and cogitate over his shor
but thrilling r as a human
sleuth.
Further developments in this lin,
are awaited with interest.