Willmar tribune., 1909-02-10

~ more get away from the
penetrating rays of pub
L licity than cat can get
away from it's TAIL" said
the old.time detective. In the first
place, the nation at large is keeping
its eye on him. But that's only one
eye. There are a thousand little blaz-
ing orbs that follow him wherever he
goes during business hours. Let him
be absent from his office at a time
when the bankers, brokers and traders
believe he should be there, and
straightway goes notice over the
ticker to every one of them"
y. P. Morgan is said to be detained
at his home by Illness" runs the mes
sage, if it be about him, or e. H. Har-
riman, who is not at his Office to-day,
Is reported to be about to make trip
to the Pacific coast"
Whoever it may be who has tenn
porarily dropped out of sight a rush
is at once made for his office.
Perhaps the firm gives out state
ment. If this formal communication
seems all right, that settles it. If it
contains a word or clause that looks
suspicious the chase is redoubled.
Messages fly fast over the telegraph
and the long-distance telephone
wires. And if positive. reassuring in
formation be not forthcoming within
an hour the widest rumors begin to
appear.
Mr.. Hartman while ago dropped
out OF sight for four hours. relates Al
len L. Benson in the New York Herald.
The usual inquiry was begun. In the
course of so minutes it was definitely
determined that Mr.. Hartman was not
at his home. In the next Is it was
learned he had been in Boston and
was not feeling we'll. A full hour from
the start news came that he had left
Boston. The facts stopped coming.
No one knew where he was going. No
one knew what was the matter with
him.
Rumors Fly Thiekiy.
During the next three hours almost
every conceivable rumor about Mr.,
Hartman was started-he was seri.
ously ILL.,; he was about to go to hos
pital for an operation; he had been
operated on; he was better; he was
worse
And then definite information came
that nothing of Importance was or had
been the matter with him.
During the panic last year Mr.. Nor
gan could not have been watched much
more carefully if he had been a spe-
cial train running mile minute un-
der the constant observation of the
best dispatcher on the road
Yet it is not in such daylight opera
tions, lasting only few hours, that
ness of vision or it's most unflagging
persistence. 1t is when the big finan-
ciers want to force somebody's hand
or to obtain inside information regard.
ing another's plans that the eye of a
hawk becomes, in comparison, like
such emergencies beautiful women
have sometimes been hired to follow
men for months-to Europe and back
II necessary-to get one word of bust
ness between two words of idle chat.
ter, as women have also been EN-.
ployed to seek the confidence of wives
for the same purpose.
AS an illustration of what business
men sometimes do in the way of shad'
owing, the following incident sur
passes any other:
Went Almost Too Far.
In the financial district is a firm.
capitalized for many millions, that is
rated in Bradstreet's at AAA1. There
are three partners. Two of the part
ners did not like the other one. He
was intractable, disagreeable, hard to
get along with. They decided to get
rid of him and offered to buy him out
He wouldn't sell. Then they offered
to sell. He wouldn't buy.
Finally the two hit upon plan
Their partner had announced his In
tention Of taking trip to Europe
They would send detective with him
Perhaps he would do or say something