Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-09-14
atlistrllanrous &eading.
EVADlNG ARREST.
Fusitives' Strange Devices to Avoid
Capture.

vices to avoid being brought to justice
Perhaps the most popular method il
| the case of desperate rogues is to ge
| locked up for some trivial offence. 1
is we'll known that the jails are among
the last places to be searched by th'
police for a malefactor who is want
ed" The records of the courts teen
with such cases. A man who is being
hunted by the police for some seriou:
crime will throw a brick through {
window or pretend to be drunk anc
assault a constable merely in order tC
secure just a temporary sentence o.
about fourteen days Imprisonment, a
the expiration of which period the ten.
sion has been relieved to a cOnsidera.
BILE extent and the vigilance of the po-
lice relaxed. Another ingenious
scheme which has been practised with
success more than once is for the fugi-
tive to don the shabbiest clothes he
sandwich man. In this capacity, aid
ed by an unkempt beard and band
aged eye-which acts as a blind" In
more senses than one-arrest has beer
avoided for weeks. A strange and
somewhat grewsome device by which
a man charged with fraud succeeded
in once evading arrest and a second
time in avoiding service of a summons
was recently related at the West Ham
police court.
On one OCCASION when wanted the
man was understood to be at an un-
dertaker's shop. and the officers of the
law went there to apprehend him. But
he could not be found. though the place
was thoroughly searched. on trestles
in the shop was a coffin, in which the
police were informed there lay body
In the presence of the officers the
coffin was screwed up and taken away
as was intimated, to public mOrtuary
A day or so later it was discovered
that the supposed dead man in the cof-
fin was no other than the fugitive
IL,
ated with him in this way Of evadine
arrest. On the second occasion judg-
ment summons was to be served. This
time a woman at the house said that
the defendant was very i'll and could
not be seen. When the officer next
called the blinds were all down and
they were told that the man had died
that morning. Then came a coffin
which was carried into the house with
all solemnity. The process servers ac-
cordingly went away with their mis-
sion unfulflled. After each of these
adventures the culprit started busi-
ness in another part of London: but his
career was short Lived and he got his
deserts.
The notorious Charles Peace was a
master in the art of disguise, and nu-
merous stories are told of how he
would repeatedly accOst policemen and
inquire whether they had yet got on
the track of that villain Peace The
most striking instance of vanished
men coming again to light To take part
i'm legal proceedings is that which oc-
CURED in a case where Daniel O'Con-
nell was defending man indicted for
murder. The case for the prosecution
seemed as clear as possible, and O'Con-
nell contented himself with fewer
questions than were to have been eX-
peCted of SO eminent a cross examiner
When the case for the crown had clos
ed he announced that he had but one
witness to call, but that witness was
important to the case. He was the
murdered man, very much alive. There
was no doubling the mans identity ;
everybody knew him. The judge
therefore, turned to the jury and di-
rected them to acquit the prisoner. 10
his amaZement, however. they return
ed a verdict of guilty" Asked for
an explanation, the foreman observed
that they had no doubt that the pris-
oncr was innocent of the murder
But he added I'VE find him guilty of
shtealng my ould gray mare three
weeks ago"
In France a man may be tried and
sentenced to death 10y the assiZe court
i'm his absence, the most recent in
stance being the uncaptured aSsailant
of DR.. Hehert. This process could be
carried out i'm this country by proceed
ings in "Outlawry," which, although
no case has occurred since 1855, still
remains as part of the criminal law
and is recognized and regulated by the
Crown Office Rules of 1906. OUTLAW
ry" is defined as Il punishment inflicted
upon defendant, whether peer OF
a commoncr. for his contempt in not
and a Judgment of "Outlawry" in case
of treason or felony not only operates
as conviction and subjects the de-
PENDANT to the prescribed punishment
but in addition the outlaw forfeits
to the Crown his goods and chattels
and all the profits of his real estate.
The Berlin police possess apparatus
for the detection of criminals far SUI
pcrior To that at tn" disposal of oul
Scotland Yard authorities, which en-
IlainS a recent statement of the Prus-
sian home minister that out of 11S
capital crimes reported to the Berlil
police since 1899 only eight had re-
maincd undctcctcd. whereas in Lon
don. according to tn" latest statistics
the proportion of such crimes of whicf
the perpetrators had remained undis-
covered was 23a per cent" mvestiga-
tioms 10y the German police authorities
are greatly facilitated 10y tn" 'idcntity
papers" which every man and woman
in Prussia must carry about will
them. and. above all, the system o
registration at hotels. lodging houses
etc. which all communicated to the
police The problem in Prussia is tC