The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-11-25
LUCK IN DETECTIVE WORK.
How . Fleeing Cashier Was Found - Dis
covery OF Counterfeiters.

>~'
covery OF Counserfeiters.
All professional criminals and most police
officers and detectives are superstitious.
They believe in luck. It is luck if the
criminal gets awav. and it lie luck if he gets
caught. Fortunately for society, h luck
usually lie against the criminal and on the
side OF the law.
One detective on the central staff was
looking for a ~pickpocket recently, says the
Chicago Tribune, and was in a fever OF i'm
patience to get hold of the man that after
noon because it was feared he would leave
town. The pickpocket could not be found
at any Of his usual haunts. He was known
10 be a baseball fan, and the detective,
who was the only man on the force that
knew the offender by sight, decided at
once that he was attending the game. 1t
happened, however, that there was a game
that afternoon at both the ball parks. 1t
was a question Of South Side or West
Side, and the detective Tipped a coin to
see where he should go. The coin sent the
officer west, and his luck was with him. The
p~ickpocket was located in the grand stand
and followed and taken in custody as soon
as the jaime was over.
1t is astonishingly easy to make a mistake
in tracking down a criminal and it Is no dis
psragement to the police that a blunder,
sometimes on the part of the offender and
sometimes on the part of the officer, often
carries the hunter straight 70 his quarry.
A recent instance Of this kind seems almost
p~rovidential. The cashier of a grain COM
pany on La Sale street had been ~plunging
on his own account and was behind in his
cash 10 the tune of several thousand dollars.
his employers complained to the bonding
company which stood responsible and at
he same time he cashier got wind of the
ure and bought a ticket for his home
town in Wisconsin and left on the afternoon
train. Adjective wa after him within two
hours.
But the detective, to while away the time
on the train, engaged in a game of whist
with a party Of drummers, and before he
realized IL was carried two towns past the
station where he was suTJ osed TO change
cars. Cursing his luck the sleuth left the
train and found by inquiries that he could
not get back TO the junction point for two
hours.
He wandered around the village streets
and ran almost into the arms OF the fugitive.
who. by a cute trick, was waiting there for
a train to take him westward. II is such
things as this that cause detectives to be-
lieve in luck.
Some time ago an odd riece Of luck en-
abled the city 7 olice TO tip of a den Of coun-
terfeiters 10 the Government detectives.
In a raid on a poker joint a young man
who was known TO the police was car tured
with the other players, and az the station
it was decided TO search him, just for luck.
Several new half dollars were discovered in
his : ockets, and these were found to Re
counterteits Of the cleyerest kind, being of
good weight and rinring almost true.
The man was detained and his room on
Illinois street was searched, A quart CT
- "a ----- ..-L l. 49,
of his trunk, but no dies or melting OTIS
we're discovered. IL was clear that the
oker LAYER was Showing the queer' for a
den Of coiners. Nothing was said about his
arrest, but a Government detective rented
the room across the hall and Swallowed
every one who called TO see the man while
he was lying IN the station.
That nj hit the liant Of the counterfeiters
was discovered in a basement near the
north branch Of the river, and the entire
gan IL serving tine.
A notorious French murderer was dis
covered by a lucky accident in a cafe at
Havre. A d,t !, tive who was dining there
happened to overhear a young man maaing
inquiry of the cafe keeper as - the for
NAL ties necessary 10 secure passage for
America. On being { Did that first Of all his
papers must be in order. he al nltted tlat
he had none. The Diet a I We t)oN him in
Gust ody on the chance that he might be a
criminal. When he was searched docu-
ments were found connecting him with the
Pant n murder. a bloody mystery which at
that time was creating an immens sensa-
tion all over France. 1t eventually trans
pired tllt this yoLtI-he was but 10 years
old-had in the most cold blooded manner
murdered a family Of eight people in order
70 secure their little hoard Of money. The
police had not q single clew until the acct
dentA II j scovery o. the fact that this young
man had no pI sports.
IL was luCK-and bad luck for him-that
caused a west ide woman to write a mes
SAGE TO her criminal lover W IN a herd penVil
on a so't pad Of paper. tt p lice had been
watching her for a week in a vain effort to
discover his hiding place. They knew she
was VIZ I ng to him., but they never could
IL NrceI the miss,ves. Then one day q
dtts, I We found the pad or which she had
just written. Tn sharp pointed hard pencil
had lett the address indented On the sheet
below.
police officer on the northwest side dis
covered the body of a murdered girl some
wears ago, because he was lucky enough TO
have a dog that insisted upon following him
The girl disappeared and the whole country
had been searched for her. and not the
slightest trace had been discovered. The
gri wing mother insisted that the young
woman had been murdered. The police
thought she had run away. The officer
who found the body was wal ing across the
prairie. followed by his fox terrier, that re-
fused TO be lie Z at home. The do1. fnding
beneath weeds and rubbish. bar ed 30 loudly
nwal. "a aA~ ..a