Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-08-04
Obtaining the First Clue N the
Case.
HOW THE QUEER" WAS PASSED
Working UP the Case, Step by Step,
to a Successful Termination-A
Desperate Encounter.

partner Fred and myself were sitting in the
headquarters of the secret service bureau
in the treasury building in Washington,
wondering what our next assignment would
be and where we would be sent
Suddenly the colored messenger entered.
and. addressing one of the other men. told
him the chief wanted him In five min
utes he came back and said he was off. to
ST. Paul. MINI. an assignment. After
shaking hands with all the detectives.in the
room. which is always done when leaving
on an assignment because we never know
whether will ever come back alive our
Co-worker left on his long trip to the north
west, Thus are the men in the service. on
g moments notice, sent Off to all points of
our country. Few are married. because a
man in this calling carries his life ever In
his hand. He never receives laudation for
his successful efforts. but is sure to be CEN
sured in case Of failure.
At half-past 10 the colored attendant
again entered. and. addressing me, said:
Mr.. Devlin. the chief wishes to see you"
l at once entered the chiefs office.
"Devlin.' said he "a large number OF
counterfeit silver dollars are being crcu-
lated in New York. Brooklyn, Jersey City.
Philadelphia and intermediate points. They
are excellent reproductions The only man
Der OF detecting them lies in the fact that
the NJ in the curve of the neck of the Lib
erty head on the coin is missing. | want
you and your partner to find out who is
showing the queer and where it is made.
You will proceed to New York city without
delay. Make that point your base. and
expect you to be successful in running down
the criminals"
He thereupon handed me our instructions.
which / put in my pocket and said. Very
good. sir. well find the people,"
l returned to the ante-room spoke to
Fred. who arose. Joined me in shaking
hands with the men in the room, and then
followed me out.
Fred let me here explain. stands six feet
three in height is hard nails and weighs
10 pounds. | myself stand only five feet
four inches In height and weigh 165 pounds.
Fred is thirty-six years of age and l am
thirty-eight years old. But also am tough
as a nut, and bear the scars of several en-
counters with DESPERATE criminals, received
in the course of my duty.
After leaving the treasury building Fred
and / went to lodgings. packed our
grips and sent a colored boy to the Penn
syivania depot with them. We took the
1:45 express for New York. where we ar
rived at ESQ in the evening.
That evening we discussed mission
and laid out our plans OF operation. Be-
fore we retired for the night we wrote out
our daily reports, and had them ready to
mail in the morning. One of the rules OF
the service is that every operative whether
working on a case or not. must submit by
the first daily mail report of exactly what
he has done during the foregoing day, be-
sides attaching thereto an exact statement
of his expenses for the day.
Having decided that ii would be easier to
discover what we were after in smaller
towns than in large cities, we concluded to
work through the towns between Jersey
City and Philadelphia. For the next week
we kept diligently at work looking for the
spurious dollars in Newark, Elizabeth, Rah-
way and New Brunswick. and many were
the couuterfeits we found. Our mode OF
procedure was as follows:
Getting the First Clue.
We would discover by careful inquiry
which OF the shopkeepers In the various
towns were men OF probity and spotless
reputation. These would visit, and dis
close TO them our Identity whereupon they
would allow US TO examine the silver which
they had recently received. In many cases
we would find the dollars which lacked the
NJ. Whenever we found any at once
mutilated them by cutting them with our
penlnIves. This, of course, was hard on
the Shppkeeper, but this Is the rule, and
rules OF the government must be observed.
The dollars, though, were well made
that SO far none OF the people visited could
remember who they got them from.
on Friday. the 18th OF February in Tren-
ton. n. j.. we had our FIRST stroke of luck.
In mems furnishing store we found
bright new silver dollar OF the kind
were looking for The proprietor could not
remember receiving il, but called his boy,
a bright little chap about fifteen years of
age. named Ike.
Ike" said l. "do you remember who
gave YOU this dollar, and when you got it?'
sure thing" answered Ike; Its the only
one I'm the drawer. A guy gave il to me
Iur ten cents. and don't git much hard
money here: it's all bills and change"
Ike. said Fred. go ahead and tell us
what the man looked like and If you would
know nj magain IL you should him."
Know him agin." spoke up Ike, why l
see him at lunch time goin' into the Penn
depot with woman
Well" said Fred. tell us just what he
looked like
This guy was near as tall as you"
pointing to my partner. He was heavier
than you are. and WAS dressed up like
sport. He had no hair on his face. he wore
a derby which run up In sort OF point.
and when he turned his back on me / see
ne had dark brown hair and cowlick of
snow white about an inch wide toward the
back OF his right ear
You say you this same man at tho
Penn depot with a woman? What did she
look iike?'' asked ].
"she was tall and had red hair" an
swered Ike
This was all we could get cut of Ike but
II was highly satisfactory TO US. After
taking Ike's full name and address. so that
II we needed him later on we could find him
easily. we went to the depot.
We were given access 10 the ticket office.
and in few moments found In the money
drawers several dollars without the M
which showed that the tall man had been
there and that our friend Ike was right as
TO having seen his man at the depot.
First Sight of the Suspect
We now decided TO return to New York
city at once. There commenced a sys-
tematic search by inquiring as best we
could In hotels. barber shops. barrooms
gambling houses. pool rooms. cigar stores
ETC. where we were acquainted. whether
man answering the description given us by
Ike was known there. We considered our
quest easy on account OF the cowlIck OF
white hair. But we could find no one who
knew such person,
Al last on the third day. while speak
ing with an acquaintance who was re-
porter. i casually mentioned our quest. The
reporter Immediately replied II have fire.
quenuy seen man like that at the down.
town station OF the road at SD street
and sth avenue. about 3 o'clock in the
morning"
Next morning found US, at the station.
Al 10 o clock sharp our man appeared and
when his back was turned there. sure
enough. was the cowllck OF white hair.
We entered the same car with him and
rode downtown 10 Park place. where our
man got on aud walked TO Broadway. He
continued down that thoroughfare as far as
the Astor House. Here he cut diagonaliy
across the street and entered the st. Paul
. building with us close upon his heels. He