Los Angeles herald., 1905-09-25

"Well, the case that made the most
stir at the time was the Ferguson muir
der in 1903, when a prominent railroad
contractor was killed by dynamite and
$4,000 stolen. The case was about like
this Ferguson was in the habit of pay
ing off his men on the 18th of the
month and his payroll was large.
"One night he and his secretary were
driving to where the men were to be
paid off. They had $4,000 with them
in buggy. AS they were passing over
an old culvert in little valley there
was an explosion. The men and horse
were killed.
"The only clew was In glimpse
farmer caught of a man wearing light
trousers carrying a satchel In the
neighborhood of the crime little later.
"The murder happened on September
I took charge of the case. My theory
was that the crime had been perpe-
trated by two foreigners and that
spending the money would give them
away.
ut happened just as 1 predicted,
although I was 'chaffed' about it a
good deal at the time I shadowed the
men employed by the Ferguson COM
pany those of foreign birth only. and
finally learned that one man, Croat
by birth. had bought bit of exchange
on Hungary, just for a few dollars.
Followed to Europe
IT tracked this man and his COM
panion from one city to another in this
country and finally into Europe. 1
wanted to make sure of my men.
II followed them to Europe in peRson,
spent six weeks and three days there,
and had a desperate fight on my hands
when I concluded to make the long
postponed arrest. Neither man had a
suspicion that they were being followed.
and they had a couple of thousand dol
lars in crisp new twenty dollar United
States certificates when 1 caught them.
II will never forget the courtesy of
the English court and the English Of
ficers during that time. Nor will ever
forget the voyage home. We were
and we lose the fruit of our toll, so we
watched them day and night. Never
for a minute were they out of our
sight.
I'VE were obliged by the rules of the
ship to give our prisoners air between
midnight ap1 1 o'clock, and so in the
darkness and storm, for the passage
was a most dismal and stormy one, my
helper and l walked back and forth on
the deck, each of us chained to one of
the men.
'I felt sure then that in each pair
there would be two opinions. My as
sistant asked me what he should do If
his man jumped overheard. Go with
him., I said; go with him and bring
him back But we made the trip in
safety.
Pays Death Penalty
Zone of the two men we convicted
and hung. The other demanded a sep
arate trial and got off with a second
degree sentence. Afterward he con-
fessed, giving the details of the bloody
crime.
1.-The men were powder monkeys;
carried powder for the blasting and be-
came expert In the work before they
attempted the deed.
1.-The hundred pounds of dynamite
used was exploded by battery, and with
such nicely of judgment that only the
dashboard OF the vehicle itself was de-
stroyed. A moment later and the men
in the buggy and the money itself
would have been scattered in bits to
the winds and the fruit of their labor
lost.
"It was a big case and 1 got a great
deal of praise for my part in it.
Let me tell you why insisted from
the start that the murderers were for
eigners. My theory is that when an
American goes out to commit a robbery
the money he is to get is his one OBJ
ject.
"If you make a movement to get a
revolver or other weapon he will shoot
you down in an instant, feeling that he
is justified in protecting himself, as 1t
were. He would feel no real compunc-
tion of conscience.
when a foreigner goes on hold-up
he has murder in his heart first and
thought for the booty second. The two
Croats who blew up Ferguson planned
to blow him up and get the money.
If they failed to blow him up they had
a double-barreled gun at hand loaded,
ready to kill him with that.
Their methods of reasoning led to
the murder first. The American-gr grown
criminal thinks of the booty first; If
the murder be done it is secondary"
LEOPOLD is DEMOCRATIC