Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-02-22
A TERROR TO CROOKS.
Stories of Lieutenant Sheridan who
Will Guard Banks.

Owing to an affection Of the eyes
which interferes with his proper
vision, Lieutenant William Patrick
Henry Sheridan, who is known to the
law-breaking fraternity of two con-
tinents as "the man with the camera
eye," recently retired from the de-
tective department Of the New York
city police force to enter into part
nership with William ]. Burns, for
mer secret service man, who Is OFF,
cial guard of the 1,400 banks in the
American Bankers association, a
trust formerly held by the Pinker-
ton agency.
The remarkable memory for faces
that characterizes Lieute' ant Sheri-
dams career made him LIBERATED In
police circles the world over. His eye
was unerring, and once the features
Of a criminals face were beheld by
him they were photographed in his
mind, and he never made a mistake
in Identification. In this regard he
was one of the most valued members
of the city detective force, and as
"the man with the camera eye" he
was a terror to evildoers Of every
nation.
Feared BY Criminals.
Lieutenant Sheridan got his start
under Inspector Thomas Byrnes In
1887, year after his appointment to
the force. He was sent after an assist
ant cashier who had robbed the Ma
tional Park bank of $165,000 and af-
ter a search Of six months found his
quarry in a hole in the Canadian
hills known as Standstead. He was
instrumental in bringing hundreds Of
robbers, safe crackers and other
criminals to justice. He especially
was valuable in his Identification of
criminals, every mark that served to
identify them being photographed in
his memory.
It is doubtful If there is another
spired more fear than did Sheridan
in the hearts Of criminals with rec
ords No man in the history Of the
New York police department has been
so quick to see through disguise and
to identify prisoners with pictures
that had been taken five, ten and
even twenty years before.
Many city as far west even as
San Francisco came to learn that the
appearance Of Sheridan in a crowd
was the surest means Of Kidding the
city Of a band Of itinerant crooks.
Sheridan was the man to whom the
New York police department turned
when all others failed to identify a
prisoner. II Sheridan passed pris-
oner 1t was taken for granted that
his picture was not lmong the 20O,-
600 or more in the ro. des gallery.
Conviction Of a Bank Sneak.
A case where Sheridan made good
with his camera eye is that of a
bank sneak who was arrested in
tn xuhn
name Of William Murphy. Murphy's
picture was taken in Brooklyn and
sent over to Mulberry street for iden-
tification.
why" said Sheridan, that's Bob
Suffrage; served five years in Liver
pool, eight years in Brussels and two
years in Sing Sing. He was arrested
twenty-one years ago by Tom Null
vey, on Reynolds staff"
Inspector Titus sent Tom Mulvey
over to the Raymond street Jail in
Brooklyn to identify the prisoner.
Mulvey took a look at him and re-
ported that he never had arrested
him, never had seen him. Sheridan
himself had never seen Bob Suffrage.
All that he had in mind were the
pictures that had passed through his
hands, two or three out Of a total
still insisted that the Brooklyn sneak
thief was notorious Bob.
Finally the prisoner was arraigned
before Judge Aspinall and pleaded
guilty. The Judge said to him:
"Now I am going to ask you some
questions, and II you tell the truth
I'll take that into consideration In
sentencing you. Is your name Bob
Suffrage?"
"Yes," said the prisoner, and then
he went on to tell the terms he had
served just as Sheridan had done
from memory several weeks before.
How He Identified the Precious Pair.
Sheridan's friends love to tell how
he identified Mott Haven Red and
Frank Codd. They had been taken
in by chance on the Bowery in New
York, and when the precious pair
were stood up the next day no one
knew them, so they went on to Sheri-
dan.
That's Mott Haven Red, alias Joe
Fay" said Sheridan instantly. Il
saw his picture ten years ago. He
got nine years and eight months in
Dannemora for blowing up safe OF
the Standard OIL company in Syra-
cuse."
The prisoner stoutly denied his
identity, whereupon Sheridan said to
a detective:
"Pull up his sleeve and you'll find
w. I. u tattooed on his right fore
arm" The letters were there.
'sNow look on his right hand and
see If the cord on the little finger
has not been shortened" said Sheri-
dan, and 1t was. That was too much
for Mott Haven Red. and he con-
fessed his identity.