Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1909-04-02

Queer Hiding Place.

Queer Hiding fIace.
IN the spring Of 1864 an army pay
master named Booth had in his en-
ploy as clerk a young man named h
odore tushman. says n writer In the
Detroit Free Press. a good-looking, In
telligent fellow, whose parents lived
In q small town in ohio. Booth had
taken the young man on h recon-
mendation OF a Congressman. and was
much pleased with him. About the
middle Of May. when Cushman had
been employed about six weeks, be
suddenly disappeared, and with him
went the sun of $4,000. taken from
the paymaster's safe. His getting the
honey was Il very bold thing. The
safe stood open, and in the office sat
the ~paylnaster and a friend. II there
we're two other Jerks besides Cush-
man. The young man put on his hat
and coat to go out, placed the package
Of money in his pocket unseen, and
had two hours start when 1t was
missed.
When | was placed on the case l
soon learned hat Cushman, honest
and respectable as he appeared to his
friends, was really the consort Of
many bad people. He drank and gam
bled, and was a general favorite with
several female adventures. Indeed, |
even discovered that he had left
Washington in the company Of a wom-
an named Bell Grover. He must have
been planning a raid on the paymas-
ter's safe, and felt reasonably sure Of
making a haul. for the woman was
packed up ready to leave. and boil
were on their way to Baltimore with
Ing an hour from the time that the
money was AIKEN. They had two days
the start of me, but l traced them to
Philadelphia, from there to Trenton,
from Trento to Jersey City, II they
crossed to New York only w hours
ahAnd of me. l n Philadelphia Cush-
man bought the woman $500 worth of
diamonds. l had an idea that they
would plan TO take a steamer for Eu-
rope, and l had to telegraph to Wash
ington for help in the case. We
watched the ship Offices. overhauled
the hotels, me five days slipped away
and we had not been able to pick up
the trail again. 1t was a question
whether they had not left the city al
most as 0 . as they had entered 1t.
After the first day there were four Of
us on the case direct while the police
were rendering us all h assistance
possible. We had none Of us met
Cushman or the woman face to face,
nor did we have their photographs.
We were trailing them from descrip-
tions, and faulty one at that.
Towards night on the afternoon Of
the fifth day 1 was crossing Union
Square when I encountered a young
fellow whom I at once spotted for
Cushman. He had shaved of his mus
tache, changed his style of collar and
put on q new suit Of clothes, but I had
a feeling hat he was the man I want
cd. turned and followed him, and
after a bit he looked about him in
such a way as to prove that he was a
criminal of some sort. He went to a
hotel and wrote a letter and inclosed
a $50 bill in it. From there he went
to a hardware store and bought a re-
volver. Then he started out like one
going home. and I followed him to a
boarding house on Lexington avenue.
Ten minutes after Cushman entered
the house l rang the bell, and it did
not take over five more to explain my
errand to the Iandlady. She volun-
teered to lead me to Cushman's room,
which was up two flights, but she at
the same tim Informed me that Mrs.
Cushman had left the house a few
minutes before his arrival. When I
knocked on the door l heard some one
moving inside, but no answer was re-
turned to my m 1 waited five
but Cushman was nowhere to be
found. 1t was an elegantly furnished
room. and the pair had gone straight
to the house from the foot Of De-
brosses street. l looked out Of the
various windows, under the bed and
behind the sofa, but Cushman was
not to be found. He could not have
descended to the ground, and l made
up my mind that when he came up
stairs he entered som other room, al
though I thought I heard him move
about after I knocked.
l was about to leave the room to
make a search Of the house when l
heard a great suffering and sneezc
Ing, and he wooden mantel was push
| ed back and Cushman came out Of the
fireplace. It was a mock fire-grate,
but so nicely arranged hat I was de-
ceived. His quarters were terribly
cramped and the time and dust had
filed his eyes and set him to sneezing.
He vas a terribly chagrined and
crestfaIlen over his capture, but a
still worse thing was in store for him.
The woman for whom he had ruined
himself had been entrusted NO carry
the bulk Of the "swag," and she had
taken advantage Of his absence to run
, away with it. We did our best to find
her, but she got away TO Europe with
at least 10000 Of the stolen money.
Cushman was taken to Washington,
tried for the robbery and got a ten
year sentence, not more than half of
which had been served when he died.
9TH the Day OF Judgment"
General Grant has fifty been spoken
u as "an unaffected great soldier"
1t may have been the blending Of this