River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1909-05-06

VA ~ a travelling nurSeryman,
h qAy8Gk and he drove from county
ME1SA1H to county calling upon the
E4HIH farmers with the object of
& selling them trees and
fancy shrubbery. He was
a big, athletic fellow, of convivial dis
position, with a host of friends and
boon companions who had conferred
upon him the nickname of Boldly
Drinkwater-a sobriquet which he did
not resent, and by which he was
known everywhere he sojourned.
AS salesman Badly was decided
success, for he possessed an amount
Of bulldog persistency which usually
attained its goal When he approached
a farmer with a proposition the
chances were all against the rustic
being able to evade his wiles. For
Badly would stick to and cajole his
victim with artful tongue and lengthy
argument until he had won his point.
Few Of the farmers were capable Of
resisting him, especially because of
the fact that he did not insist on cash
payments when dispOsing of his stock.
For Badly was always willing to &C
cept mans note for the amount of
a purchase, and in fact seemed to
prefer notes to ready money in many
instances. The said preference on
the jovial Mr.. Drinkwater's part puZ-
zled the rural customers at first, but
a day arrived when the reason of his
peculiar taste in such matters was re-
vealed to them with painful clear
ness
Notes that came into Baldy's hands
in the course of his business he dis
counted at the banks, and there were
a large number of them, for, as has
already been stated, he was a good
deal of hustler in his way. Sudden
ly, without giving any of his numerous
acquaintance notice of his intention,
Badly vanished from his usual haunts
and the countryside knew MIN no
more. When several of the notes he
had discounted at the banks were in
Vestigated it was discovered that the
missing man was forger, and had
faxed the signatures to bogus orders
and promises to pay. The farmers
whose names were made use of in this
unconventional manner were naturally
Indignant phen the forgeries came to
light, and it was just as well for Mr..
Drinkwater that he was safely out
of their reach. They had no inten-
iton, however, of allowing him to get
off scot free If it were possible to lay
hold of him, and a report of his swim
ding operations was accordingly given
the authorities. The case was prompt
ly turned over to Detective John Will
son Murray, with instructions to locate
Drinkwater, arrest, and bring him
back to justice.
Murray proceeded to bill the fugi-
live all over the country, but this
course resulted in nothing definite,
and the first useful bit of information
obtained by the detective came from
another source. 1t was to the effect
that Drinkwater had a brother-in-law
in Illinois with whom he might have
sought refuge. The clew was of suff1-
cient Importance to induce Murray to
prepare extradition papers and start
for Chicago Baldy's brother-in-law
lived near the village of st. AIMS,
about $50 miles from the Windy City.
When the detective reached the city
he called upon the United States COM
missioner, who assigned a German
deputy, known as Dutch Peter, to as
siSt him.
The deputy was an odd character,
speaking quaint English and given to
the quoting of innumerable Teutonic
proverbs, but, as the subsequent pro-
ceedings went to prove, was also a
thoroughly brave and reliable man.
They arrived at ST. AIMS about six
o'clock in the evening, and Murray
ascertained that Baldy's brother-in-
law, who was a county constable,
lived some 20 miles out in the country,
and was well known there. Having
hired a team, the detective and his
companion started to drive from the
little village. The road was in splen-
did condition, enabling the horses to
make fast time, and at ten o'clock at
night the wagon halted before the
crossroads saloon of a little country
corners town. Murray hitched his
team and entered the saloon, followed
by the deputy. There were six men
in the place besides the bartender;
all seven were drinking together, and
all were half drunk. The moment
Dutch Peter espied them he whispered
to his companion:
Dat iss Big Policy, und tie little
fellow he yust got out of tie peniten-
tiary."
The deputys remark warned Muir
ray as it was intended to do, that he
had a tough gang to deal with, and
he cast rapid glance over the occu-
pants of the room. He had never seen
Drinkwater, but possessed a fairly
good description of him, and the first
man he spied answered to 1t in every
particular, being tall, burly and with
facial marks corresponding to those
mentioned in the police records. But
as they all turned, when the detective
ordered a drink, Murray saw to his
intense surprise that the second man