The wageworker., 1910-05-06
THE VALUE OF
INSTRUCTION
By DONALD CHAMBERI IN
Copyright. 1910. by American Press
Association.


old detective.
Il went into Blifin's office a green
hand. The first job he gave me was
to trap gang of counterfeiters. Coun-
terfeiting is a risky business, and those
engaged in it are therefore extraordi-
nariIy wary They must have a place
in which to manufacture and to get
rid of the stuff when manufactured.
To do both of these without getting
caught is difficult, and it makes them
very skillful in covering their tracks.
"Bliffin told me that a certain dis
trict was being flooded with spurious
coins and notes. was to go and To-
cate the plant. didn't know how to
begin. so he told me to find out some
persons who had recently come into
the neighborhood. | was also to go
to the postoffice and learn il any mail
was being delivered to any suspicious
person. did as was told and after
several days hunt was discouraged.
went to Blittin and told him there was
but one person who bad moved into
the district, so far as ! could find out,
and there wasn't anything suspicious
about him. He lived alone, it is true,
in a small house he had rented and
had put in what furniture he needed
on the installment plan. Since he was
the only newcomer | had watched him
especially in the matter of his mail.
He went out in the morning after the
postman had delivered his letters,
reading them on the street. and when
he had finished would tear them up
and throw the fragments anywhere.
picked them up. put them together and
read them. There wasn't one in which
there was anything incriminating
"'Let me see some of them.' said
Bliffin.
81 showed him two or three letters
l had pasted together He looked them
over and said:
There's your man.
"'What do you mean by telling me
that one who doesn't care who reads
his letters is my man?'
1.-Two Of them have been written by
himself to himself He has torn them
up and thrown them on the street to
be picked up by greenhorn detectives
You could have knocked me down
with feather. ] didn't say anything.
l went back and rented a room across
from where the suspected man lived.
One morning l rose rather early and
stood at my window. A milkman
drove up to the house opposite and de-
ivered a quart of milk. A cook took
the milk and handed the milk man the
can he had left the day before. I
watched the house for a week. then
went to Blifin and told him l hadn't
got any further He was working on
some papers at the time and without
looking up from them asked me to tell
him anything had seen. I mentioned
the milkman.
You mean the postman.' said the
inspector.
mo. the milkman.'
""That's the way the man you're
looking for gets his mall
81 said milk
land ] say mail
"'How did you come to think of
that?
"'Oh, experience. suppose. You'll
find the milkman is a newcomer
Il went back to my room to think
.ut a plan for capturing some of that
mail. But l couldn't find way to do
this except by letting the young man
know it. This would spoil my game.
! concluded to capture the outgoing
mail. watched for my man to go
to letter box to drop in a letter.
When he had done so ] stood by the
box. not permitting any one to drop
in anything more. and when the post
man came along showed him my au-
thority and demanded the letters in the
box. There were ten of them. and l
took them to my room, steamed them
and found one agreeing to turn over
green goods to a countryman. l kept
this letter and dropped the others in
the box.
'The countryman was to call at q
certain house not far from where the
young man lived at certain hour on
a certain day. Bliffin told me that in
the house referred to the stuff was
made. Why he thought so didn't
know. He seemed to see things ahead
without even thinking about them. l
would have sworn the plant was in
the house where the young man lived.
1.-The matter at this stage was taken
out of my hands. Bliftin sent man
to the house where the countryman
was to call for the queer supported
by enough men to surround the prem
ises They captured the gang. finding
the achinery for making the money.
Another force went to the house of the
young man ! had been watching and
captured him also. Among other
things taken was one of the milk cans.
1t was made with a false bottom, ca
pable of containing quite sizable
mail. The milk man was not captured,
but of course he was one of them. as
Bliffin had predicted. His milk wagon
didn't belong to any especial firm,
though he did carry some milk in it.
This was the beginning of my in
struction under Inspector Blifin.