Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1903-02-27
TONGUE OF CALUMNY
Ever Busy to Injure the Reputation
of Good Men.
Charges of Bribery Have often Been
Made Against Congressmen hut
They Have Never Been
Made Good.
Especial Washington Letter.1

%6CToP thief" 1t is the cry of the
- criminal who endeavors to
divert public attention from
himself.
1t is a scheme as old as the hills and
was practiced by thieves away back
of the time of Jonathan Wild, Schin-
derhannes, or any of the others record
ed in history.
dutch Heinrichs," one of the best
known criminals in New York, about
a dozen years ago got away with an
immense tray full of magnificent dia-
monds by resorting to that old ruse.
He knocked the saleman down, grab
bed the tray, ran out into Broadway,
handed the tray to a confederate, who
stepped into an adjoining hallway, and
closing the door after him, while
~'Dutch" ran down the street bowling
|'Stop thief!" followed by the sales
man, who had recovered and came
forth making the same cry.
Every body Joined in the chase. The
salesman soon fell out of the race,
'Dutch" kept the lead until the crowd
numbered hundreds, and then he quiet
1y disappeared from the chase; fortu-
nately without meeting policeman,
who might have recognized him. His
confederate filled his pocket with the
gems, left the tray in the hall, met
"Dutch" that night and divided, giving
Heinrichs the bulk of the wealth, of
course. A few days later they saw
"Uncle Jim Matthews" who gave them
long green paper for the sinners.
e+E 4,,1l NJ 10
a few months later, in "Uncle Jim's"
place on Broadway, near Twentieth
street, and Heinrichs said insinuating-
ly: Captain of precinct had good rea-
SON never to suspect me in de game"
Well, the cry of stop thief" was
recently raised in the national house
of representatives by congressman,
who made a great front of virtuous
Indignation about having been offered
a bribe, and incidentally endeavored
to besmirch the reputation of so good
and honorable a gentleman as Lemue!
E. Quigg, who never wronged any man
but himself.
This is said to be the first time in
the history of our country that any
representative has endeavored to bring
odium upon the name of an innocent
individual, and he also former mem
Der of congress. In 1894 there was
a general hue and cry about certain
senator's making use of their positions
to put money in their purses by specu-
1ating in sugar stocks. a special com
mittee was appointed by the senate to
Investigate the charges which news
papers had made. One by one the sen.
ators appeared before that committee
and denied having had anything to dc
with the stock market, until Senator
Quay, of Pennsylvania, appeared, and
he said:
This committee has no jurisdiction
over the actions of any senator. Never
theless, l will tell you frankly that
have speculated in sugar stocks anc
in other stocks for many years, ano
that l shall continue to do so, as long
as l please"
The first case of alleged bribery tc
come before the congress was on De
cember 80, 1895, when Robert Randall
and Charles Whitney were charged be
fore the house of representa- tives will
attempting to bribe members of con
gress to vote for a bill granting al
of the lands lying between lakes Erie
Michigan and Huron, to company OF