Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1905-09-16

self than anyone else can do it for him.
I determined to see what | could do
toward leading the old fox into our
trap. was not known to Biebush. l
allowed my beard to grow into stub
BILE and chose the makeup of river
man. If l may be pardoned the di-
gression l will say that with a few
days growth of beard and rough
clothes l could look tough enough to
satisfy even the fastidious Biebush, to
whom the appearance of ''toughness"
was a strong recommendation Thus
attired l made my debut at Bosses.
there was card. game in progress
most of the time, and "sat In" Bic
bush and others whom | afterward
learned were members of his band
played with me. l frequently sat OPP
posite my quarry and studied him
closely. Friendly relations were estab-
lished between us, and | thought mat
tiers were progressing favorably until
limited to "Old Fred" that | would
like to handle some of his goods Then
l found that l had made just as much
progress as Gallagher and Kennoch
had made-and no more. Biebush said
he did not object to doing business
with me, but that he chad no coney
just then" From the way he spoke
knew l was wasting my time and be-
fore we landed him behind prison bars
we would have to practice deeper and
more circuitous methods in "roping."
Failure number three.
Before took charge of the St. Louis
district l had been informed by dep
uty warden in the Joliet penitentiary
that certain prisoner in that institu-
ton had intimated to him that he had
information which might be of value
to the secret service. / bethOught my
self of this and went to see him. He
proved to be John Bridges, alias Hoo
sier Bill" under sentence for horse
stealing. This worthy was an Indiana
product and something over 40 years
old He was a cOngenital criminal.
stopping only at murder. His favor
lite form of crime was "garroting, that
is, grabbing pedestrian by the throat
from behind, thrusting his knee into
the small of the victim back and thus
pinioning him while his assistant re-
lieved the prey of his valuables. But
in the form of crime "Hoosier Bill
was not over particular, taking side
excursions into the field Of burglary.
horse stealing and petty acts Of knav-
cry. The Chicago police knew him as
West side hold-up man Of danger.
| Gus character.
listened to his story with deep in
terest, as it bore directly on the case
in hand-the landing Of the big fisr
we were playing for-Fred Biebush
"Hoosier Bill knew Biebush intimate.
ly. He had established this intimacy
by presenting proper penitentiary Gre
dentials, Of which he had plenty. Be.
fore he ran afoul Of an Illinois sheriff
and had been settled" for driving of
the wrong horse, Bridges had operated
in st. Louis as burglar and turned
over to Biebush such Of his "swag" as
was suitable to the latter's purpose
especially the solid silverware. On one
occasion he had arrived at the Biebush
residence at four o'clock in the morn
ing In cab, bringing with him q
| package of silverware. The paper wrap.
| per broke as he was about to ring the
door bell, scattering the loot over the
porch. The "cabby" helped him gather
it up, after which Biebush appeared
and took it into the house. | found
this "cabby" later and used him as a
witness against Biebush.
The "swag" brought In by burglars
was paid for In ''coney," according to
Bridges, the thieves favoring this way
Of dealing because they received larger
compensation in representative or
counterfeit dollars than they would in
genuine money. The silver was melted
by Biebush into bars, to be used in the
manufacture Of silver money.
But this was not the most valuable
information cleaned from "Hoosier
Bill" He let me into the secret of the
identity Of the more active and impor-
tant members of the Biebush gang.
"Hankey" Thielen and John Sullivan,
he said, were two of .'Old Fred's" most
trusted lieutenants, serving as Doodle
carriers and go-betweens in the deliv-
cry of "coney" for their chief to the
persons with whom he elected to do
business. Thielen. in addition to his
supernumerary services to Biebush in
circulating bad money, was manu-
facturer Of silver money, according to
my informant.
Bridges did not know just where the
Thielen plant was located, nor, in fec
was it ever located, although we had
good reason to believe it was on the
bank of the Mississippi river, above
ST. Louis. 1t was Bridges understand
ing of the operations of the band thai
Thielen made the silver plated coins
from dies cut by one Joseph Hargate.
an English engraver, who also did a
legitimate engraving and die-cutting
business in small shop at his home.
Concerning Sullivan, however, Hoo
sier BIZ had more definite knowledge.
He was a cOlored coachman in the en-