The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1912-10-13
THE ARCH FOE
OF AMERICAN
CROOKS
suPERiNTENDENT OF SCOTLAND
YARD WHO JOINED THE FORCE
"a YEARS AGO AS A COP. TO RE-
TIRE.
BY HAYDEN Church.


London. Oct. 12-'T can tell You
this said Big Bill" Pinkerton, rails
Ing heavy foreinger to emphasize
MS words, that the whole tribe Of
american crooks-big and little--,will
breathe easier when they hear that
tnaf man has quit the detective bust
ness for good"
Superintendent Frank Eroest Of
Scotland Yard, the man In question,
smiled benigniy. His name (which il
pronounced to rayme with "ghoSt')
Is almost as well known, Of course, in
the United States as it is in this
country. where he IS regarded as the
greatest living detective.
We sat, Froest, w. A. Pfnkerton and
the writer OF these lines, in the big
cmce at Scotland Yard which Froest
mas occupied for the past seven years
- superintendent of the criminal In
Vesugaf1on department of his majes-
tvs police, but which soon will know
h1m no more. AS head of the &C. I.
d." as 1t ID called, he has been COM
n1ander IN chief Of the most famous
army of rogue catchers in the world,
which he Joined thirty-four years ago
In the capacity of an ordinary ''cop."
AS a boy in the West Country he
read Gaboriou and about Allan Pink
ertcn and made UP his mind to be a
deteettve. and now Froest of the
Yard" 10 renowned all over Europe,
as well as in South America and Aus
traha, where he has bagged big game
Of the criminal variety, and at the
Cape. whence he went to bring Dr..
Jameson TO England after the raid.
Jabez 5aIfour's captor.
Possibly You already have seen a
bare announcement that the eaptor of
Jabez Balfour, Of Tom O'Brien, the
king OF American buneomen of his
day; Of William Lord Moore. the Ten
nessee next-of- kin swindler, and more
other International rogues than can be
kept in any memory but his own, is
: about to retire. and some Of the more
familiar anecdotes about him may
have been recalled. It has been the
4 writer's luck, however, to hear Froest's
4 story from his own reluctant lips
which would infinitely rather have
been relating some OF the choice stories
which he tells with a nerve worthy
80, Depew-together with illuminating
comments and what the high brows
call an appreciation" from Froest's
famous contemporary and close friend,
FBig Bill' Pinkerton, who has been
over here for a month or more and
Nth whom found Froest closeted on
k second visit to the superintend-
rs famous den at the Yard.
Ia you ask me. 1t was just a bit
Hing to sit there in the heart of
great police system whose tenta-
stretch cut to the ends of the
Ia and listen to those two master
1ths who have worked together on
sides of the herring pond, re-
ing the details Of crimes and the
4sonalities Of their perpetrators--
4ese last almost affectionately. Our
tfoundings, too, were a study In
ffnselves. Everywhere there were
i4phones, speaking tubes and cleo
nc bells. while on the walls Vanity
Fair' cartoons Of celebrities beamed
N.dewn to offset the effect Of two guns
lone q Smith g. Wesson and the other
a Colt-and OF big bowie knife with
six notches in the handle, each OF
(which means a murder, which things
roest took from three of the baddest
len that ever quit the United States
. hurry for these shores and which
w repose on his mantelpiece.
A Round -the-WorId Chase.
WThe superintendent is most famous
as the man who tracked Jabez Bal
flour, OF 'Iiberator'' fame, to the Ar
III genuine, and after nearly a years
hard work finally succeeded in Turing
him on board a British vessel and
there arresting him, but perhaps his
biggest "coups' apart from this have
been made against American crooks
and bad men who, as William Pink
erton observed, will not bewail his
passing. No man outside the United
States knows the American brand OF
criminal better, or has been up against
I'm oftener. Froest has fought the
yankee thug hand to hand and brair
gainst brain, and generally no has
beaten him. For this reason, If nc
other, you are sure to have heard oil
him, but. however. you have pictured
4 him, you are pretty sure to have been
wrong.
You may have seen with your minds
eye the Sherlock Holmes" type OF
sleuth, or the typical Scotland Yard
man satirized by Holiness creator; the
like of NJ. Lecop or Hawshaw or even
poor Jacques Futrelie's Thinking Ma
chine but you are not likely to have
pictured FRANKIE" Froest as the last
word in dandyism. He is a very Beau
Brummel OF sIeuths, whose silk hat
= tfor he has sported a topper" and
the accompanying Prince Albert since
he became head OF the &C. D. l." is
ironed to absolute perfection. whose
white vest slip" glossy patent leath-
ers and suede "spats" make the kings
look sloppy when, as frequently hap
pens his majesty and tie superin-
tendenf are on view simultaneously
and who is said to be able to roll an
umbrella with an art unapproached by
any known person now engaged In
rolling umbrellas In these islands.
Complimented by the King.
The last time, by the way. that sar-
toriaI experts had q chance to draw
comparisons between the royal ''togs'
and those Of the dandiest of sleuth
hounds was at Ascot, when the king
I sent for Froest. shook hands with him
j and voiced his regret at his comins
retirement. The royal favor already
has been manifested in a more sub
stantiai way. for on New Years Day
-.-f.w ww-fx y ~ g..