The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-08-23
PUZZLES FOR sLEUTHs.
Sometimes Detectives Find Exact
Double of Man Wanted.

notice" said a Washington detective to
a Post reporter, twas one that occurred
about the time of the Guldensuppe
murder in New York City. At that time
/ WAS living and working in Norfolk,
Va, and one day / received a telegram
from New York. directing me to arrest
Bull Hurley. a notorious crook and
pickpocket, who had jumped his bond
in the metropolis, and for whom there
was reward of $500. The telegram con-
tanned a minute description of Hurley,
giving his measurements and marks.
and, among other things, mentioning
that one of his most striking peculiari-
ties was a scar in the form of a cross
on his right wrist.
LAS soon as I received the MESA ge-
along about O'Clock D. m, l went over
10 Bloodheld, resort on the opposite
side of the James river from Norfolk,
full of gambling and sporting houses,
and the resort of all manner of tough
and suspicious characters. knew that
if Hurley was in Norfolk he would. in
all likelihood, be in Bloodfield. Reach
ing the resort, it was not long before
j found man in one of the gambling
houses who felt positive was Hurley,
and whom / at once placed under ar
rest. He denied in the most emphatic
manner that he was the person for
whom was looking. saying that his
name was JEFF Hawley, and not Hur-
ley.
in fact, his denial was so straight
forward and convincing that ! began
to feel shaky in the matter, and, to
make sure that had made no mistake,
] ordered him to bare his right wrist,
that might see whether the cross-scar,
Hurley'S most distinguishing mark, was
there or not.
why, certainly he said, seemingly
"a 70 EhC nj 4f,t I
TO see it. He drew up his sleeve, dis
playing a Very large and very deep
scar in the form of a Greek cross. When
/ saw that l felt convinced that ! had
the right man, and, turning to him, 1
said:
Now, see here, Hawley. it's no use
for you, to lie about this matter any
longer. You answer the description of
Hurley perfectly, and, to be plain, you
are Hurley, so don't try to deny it any
more
This only made the fellow worse.
Usually criminal will lie and try to
conceal his identity until you have him
fairly cornered, and then he will either
give in and confess, or else have moth
ing further TO say, hut I noticed that
such was not the case with Hurley, who
was more emphatic in his denials the
more We found marks and scars that
corresponded with those in the descrip-
ton of Hurley. Well, TO make a long
story short, ] took him to one of the
Norfolk detention stations, made him
strip perfectly nude, and, upon exami-
nation, found that all Of the forty dis
tinguishing marks laid down in the
description of Hurley were on his per-
son. To my mind it was one of the
most complete and thorough Identified
tons 1 had ever seen made.
Yet, while all this was in progress,
he continued TO make the most en-
phatic denials, that finally aggravated
me to such an extent that asked him
what good he found in lying when I
had proved his identity. Well, had
just finished the examination and
started to ring for messenger boy to
send telegram to New York stating
that had captured Hurley, when who
should enter but messenger boy. who
handed me message from New York.
The contents of this message nearly
staggered me. 1t said:
Hurley arrested at Yonkers, and
now in jail. Thanks for your efforts
Well, OF course, l turned my man.
Jeh Hawley, loose, and he left, giving
me the benefit of all manner of I-toId-
you-so' advice, reminding me that I
should have taken his word at the
start. 1t was the most remarkable case
of man having a double that / ever
saw.
Even his name was like that of Hur-
ley, and when I first arrested him and
he told me his name was HaWley [
took it for granted that this was simply
an alias, which, like all those of the
criminal class. is generally something
like their real name, and when / found
that he had every mark given In the
description of Hurley. l was so thor
| oughly convinced that he was the right
man that even after receiving the tele-
gram TO the effect that the right party
had been captured, I hesitated about
releasing him
This fellow Hawley was a gambler
and poker sharp, but had no criminal
record. The two are still living. and
who knows but what other police of
ficials and detectives will some day fall
into the same error that 1 committed
when Hurley finishes the term he is
now serving. Bearing the resemblance
that he does to Hurley, HawIey ought
to lead respectable life, for he is la
bic TO get picked up for Hurley every
time detective sets out to look after
the latter
Mistaken identities are puzzling.
but when detective is set at work on
! an anonymous letter detail, then he
has trouble from the start. for it is
next to Impossible to obtain a cIew
TO the writer. Married people receive
more of them than those who are sin
gle, and nearly always TO the effect
! that one or the other is lavishing at
tention on some one other than his or
her lawful welded partner The fun
ny thing about such cases is that the
parties invariably believe everything
the anonymous writer states
In addition to cases or mistaken
identity and anonymous letter writer's.
we are beginning to have in the Ameri-
can cities class which. common
enough in London, Paris, Rome, Berlin
| and Vienna. has been rare in the cities
of the United States until quite recent
years, and who give police officials and
detectives d great deal of trouble.
There are people who have such a
mania for notoriety that they will re-
sort to any means to get themselves
before the public.
In Paris, after every great catas-
trophe, crime, etc, the French police
always look for some act on the part
of such persons. whose ina gination has
been worked UP by reading the news
papers. For example, a man viii rush
into the concierge and relate to the
sergeant or corporal of gendarmes
very sensa tionai narrative of how he
was set upon in an alley by thieves
or ulurderers. and OF the narrow es-
cape he had. In proof of all that he
has stated he will show the knife
wounds and cuts on his body and
limbs sometimes of q very serious