Willmar tribune., 1909-03-31

set or brilliant deductions warranted |
to furnish key to the secrets of any
criminal case presented for his consid. |
Grafton. And even as Holmes followed !
In the footsteps of Dupin, countless !
hordes of imitators camp upon the !
trail OF Holmes, and we are forced to
the conclusion that the type is pretty |
sure to be utilized by authors.
The question naturally suggests it. !
self: Is the real simon-pure detective |
like unto the member of his profession
who works wonders in the world of
fiction? Put this proposition up to
Wilson Murray, chief inspector of
criminal investigation of the depart.
ment OF justice of the province of
Ontario. Canada, and he will answer
emphatically in the negative. The
solving of these seemingly ineXplicable
problems is a capital exercise for the
intellect, but has mighty little to do
with practical police work. For GRIM
inals are not drawn into the meshes
of the official net by virtue of fine
drawn deductions and opium bred in
spirations.
Such would be Murray's opinion,
anq Murray knows whereof he speaks,
for he has been through the mill
For over 80 years he has been in.
spector, and in that time murders by
ths dozen, burglaries by the score,
Gaines of all kinds, totaling thousands,
hAve been solved by him and the per-
1n1 Jic 10
a record Of events outrivaling the de.
tective tales of fiction; for fact, in it's
fullest scope, is stranger far than fic-
ton. He has followed men over two
continents; he has pursued them over
land and sea, from country to country,
from hemisphere to hemisphere, from
new world to old world and back
again. He has Travelled over 10000
miles in chase Of a single man. He
has shot and been shot. He has been
worsted in desperate struggles when
help came in the nick of time, and he
has fought grim battles single-handed,
when defeat would have meant DEATH
His prisoners have ranged from men
OF high estate to creatures of the
lowest depths. The cases he has
solved range through every variety of
crime known to the police records OF
the world. He has run down counter.
feiters of $1,OOO,OO0 and more he has
uDraveled the mysteries of murder
where life was taken for eighty cents.
lie has the counterfeiting plates,
valued at $4,000 as a trophy of the
oh n I,<,
as a souvenir Of the other
John Wilson Murray was born in
the city Of Edinburgh, Scotland, on
June 25, 1910. He came of a long
line Of seafaring men who had been
sailing the globe for generations be-
fore him. Early in his teens he went
to sea, sailed around the Horn and
made a voyage to the West Indies.
Later he landed in Philadelphia, made
his way to Buffalo, and sailed for some
time on the great lakes. On June 5,
1857, he enlisted in the United States
navy, joining the U. S. S. Michigan,
then in Chicago, although her head
quarters were in Erie, Pa. He stayed
aboard the Michigan until the civil
war broke out in 1861. He was 21
years old then; there was a shortage
of officers in the regular service, and
Murray was selected as one of the
likely young fellows to be sent on to
the training school at Washington. He
studied faithfully, and when the ex-
aminations were held he passed and
received commission in the United
States navy.
Murray served through the civil war
in the navy. He was in the Missis.
sippi, or Gulf, squadron a part of the
time, under Commander Jewett, and
he fought under Farragut and was in
a number of engagements including
the fight at Mobile. From service in
the Mississippi and gulf Murray was
ordered to the great lakes aboard the
Michigan. He continued aboard her
until after the close of the war, and
In December, 1866, he left the Mich.
igan and the service.
Thus at the age of Is Murray had
sailed the South seas and around the
Horn, had stood the grueling of six
months trip to the guano fields, had
been through the pounding life aboard
the West Indies fruiters, had fought
through the civil war, and stood a
powerful, self-reliant young giant on
the lookout for his calling in life. He
was as strong as bull, silent fel-
low, slow to anger and plenteous in
vengeance, once he was aroused. He
feared neither man. gun nor Delaying
pin. He was faithful frieRd and q
relentless foe. He was the last to
pick quarrel, but once it was picked
he was the last to drop it, His asso.
ciates liked him. He was a silent,
sturdy, self-contained person, with a
remarkable gift for gaining the conf
dence Of other men.
The war left it's indelible imprint
on Murray's life, as it did on the life
of many another man. It tended to
mold his ambitions and direct them
along the line of what later became
his occupation. His career was not
cast ashore by any dread of hardship
atloat or any dislike of service at sea.
1t was influenced by an event that is
one of the important, yet little known.
cpicodoS ~ tho oSvi1 Tho o<<o,,-<