Palestine daily herald. [volume] (Palestine, Tex.) 1902-1949, 1910-02-11
IN THE SHADOW OF DEATH
|, Ex-superintendent of Police Thomas
Byrnes of New York May Not
Recover From Illness.
(Herald Specially

New York, Feb 11.-EX-Superin.
tendent of Police Thomas Byrnes is
seriously i'll at his home in West
Seventy-seventh street and it is fear
ed by the doctors and the members of
the Byrnes family that he will not re-
cover from his illness. which is de-
scribed as acute Indigestion. The pa
tient is nearly seventy years old and
his constitution, once remarkably ro-
bust is no longer astute enough to re-
sist disease or to throw off its debili-
tating effects.
Mr.. Byrnes retired from the police
department in 1895, after more than
thirty years of efficient service. After
his retirement he had a private de-
tective agency for time. but soon
he abandoned that business and re-
tired into private life altogether, liv-
ing quietly at his handsome home,
with his wife and two daughters. Dur
ing his long career Mr.. Byrnes accum-
hlated handsome fortune which he
increased considerably by occasional
s'flyers" in Wall street
Although fifteen years have elapsed
since Mr.. Byrnes retired from the
metropolitan police department, the
memory of his wonderfully efficient
service is still fresh and stands out
in bold contrast to the deplorable in
efficiency of the police department at
the present time. During Byrnes' re-
gime he was so feared by the crooks
that many of them, who had been no.
torious, emigrated to other parts of
the world; while at the present time
the city is overrun with criminals OF
every kind and the police department
seems helpless and absolutely unable
to find any clue in scores of the most
startling and heinous crimes.
Byrnes was appointed a policeman
on December 10, 1863 He served as
patrolman five or six years and ac-
cumulated large amount of llnowl
edge which later became of great
value to him. In due time he became
sergeant, which position he held
about ten years He made a study of
criminals and crimes. and even when
he was sergeant, knew nearly every
crook in the city He first attracted
attention by saving the lives of three
persons at fire and a short time
after that he was made captain.
The Manhattan Bank robbery offer
ed an opportunity for the exercise of
his remarkable genius as detector of
crimes and criminals, only a. few
months after his appointment to a cap5l
taincy. He landed the robbers in
prison and they were convicted in
due time His reward was an in
spectorship. He was put in charge of
the detective bureau and built up
that branch of the service to a stand
ard of efficiency which it had never
before approached and which it never
.regained after he left the service. He
continued the study of criminology
and personally Investigated and stud
led every case of crime in the city.
He came to know New York as no
other man had ever known it, and he
had way of turning up at the most
unexpected times and places. The
crooks became filled with super
stitious fear of the man and it is not
surprising that in the course of time
Byrnes became the hero of countless
romantic and sensational stories and
yarns which went from mouth to
mouth and made Byrnes appear en-
dowed with almost supernatural pow
ers of penetration and divination.
Byrnes proved himself a man of eX-