Custer County Republican. (Broken Bow, Neb.) 1882-1921, 1907-05-09

down with complete loss. In tnlS
way they had got hundreds of thou
sands OF dollars out of the insurance
companies.
when | was called into the case
1t had been pretty thoroughly gone
over by Pinkerton men, who had To-
Gated the suspects. The difficulty was
to get legal evidence. Jim French,
who later fed to Honduras, after hav-
ing served his first sentence, which |
got against him, was the leader of the
gang.
The difficulty in all such cases is
to uncover the tracks of the crimi-
nails while avoiding direct methods.
Instead of going out to induce some
of the marked men to come to the
front with a confession, | went to
them under the name of Williams
and told them that | had been sent
by the insurance companies to inves
tigate the detectives that had been
working on the case who were ac-
cused OF misappropriating their ex-
pcpse money. While carrying on this
special investigation | was able to
gather around me all the gang. From
thought, could give me the evidence.
This fellow, John Rudd by name,
never knew until the day that he was
called into the grand jury room thai
he had been aiding in the apprehen-
sion of the incendiaries.
Suspected Informer Killed.
when all was ready went before
| the grand jury and explained the case
The insurance agents told their losses
and then we called in Rudd and ex-
planned to him his part in the case.
| After indictments had been brought
in there was a terrible uproar. Some
member of the grand jury told the
| gang that a man by the name of
Burns had come before them and told
the whole story No one knew Burns
had been going under the name of
| Williams, but the following night one
of the gang was suspected by his
fellows of being Burns and was shot
dead in a saloon. They never knew
until the first day of the trial who
| was.
Marshal Mcdonald was trying the
case | was sitting beside him. When
Rudd was on the stand he was asked
on cross-eXamination, to whom he had
first told the story.
ITO a man who called himself Will
! liams,' he replied
"'Do you know mis- true name?'
81 understand now that 1t is
Burns.
"'Oh, this mysterious Mr.. Burns!
How long is it since you saw him
last?'
"'Just now
is he here now?'
Eyes.
I'm this room?
He is sitting beside you, was the
answer,
This was the first that Jim French
and the rest of the gang knew of
the part / had taken in the investi-
cation"
AS Burns sat at his desk telling
the story, he had the appearance OF
a banker explaining a deal in stocks
He is as far from the dime novel de-
tective as he is from the wonderful
MIR, Sherlock Holmes of Conan
Doyle's novels.
Chief Wiikie OF the secret service
once remarked to me-" said Heney
that Burns was a man with a sixth
sense, who could tell as II by instinct
when man was telling the truth
: and when he had told all he knew
My experience with Burns bears this
out. Once in the Oregon land frau(
cases | thought witness was hold
ing something back. Burns said h(
had told all he knew, and Burns wa.
: right. At another time | thought
witness had made complete confes
sion. Burns said "Keep at himl'
l sure enough the most incriminatin,
: part of his story came out afterward.
"One thing that has surprised m,
in Burns" added Langdon, rs this
: He never wastes any time in blufIins
Every one here in town knows hi
automobile. But, do you think if h
wan.od you tonight he would sto
block away and send his machin
back? No, sir. He would go straigh
to your door, loot toot, and rim
the bell"
= Never Wore Disguise.
: Burns himself has this to say abou
his work as a detectives
+ People seem to think that there 4
e something uncanny about detectiy
work They imagine we go aroun,