Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-04-26
AMERICAN SECRET SERVICE.
It Never Forsets or Stops Work on q
Case it has Once Taken Up.

II Never Forsets or Stops Work on
Case it has Once Taken Up.
When the president Of the United
States gives an official reception 1t Is
something like a court function In
Great Britain, where his majesty re-
ceives the greeting Of his nobility, the
diplomats from the foreign countries
and men and women noted in art SCI
ence and other professions. One sees
the same class Of guests at the Amer
Iican White House. The army and dip
lomatic circle must wear the uniforms
of their rank, but the thousand others
are attired in the full dress" common
to the people of the United States
When a man is in full dress nothing In
his appearance distinguishes him from
another, and the ordinary visitor NOV
Ing in the throng cannot tell who OF
what his neighbor may be there for
There is much freedom about these
receptions apparently, but the presi-
dent 10 not unguarded AS he stands
at the head Of the receiving line with
the Lady Of the White House" he Is
opposite a so-called guard Of military
officers resplendent In their glittering
uniform; but they are there only to
add to the pomp of the occasion. Be-
hind them, and at the back Of the pres
ident, may be men In evening dress
not so immaculate or so well fitting as
that Of the guests, and they are usual
ly clean shaven. As the visitors, one
by one, step up to THE Presence"
these watchful men glance from face
to face and carefully scan the appear
ance Of the guests clothing. If the
back pocket Of a coat bulges suspi-
ciously the wearers shoulder may be
touched, and as he turns he Is beckon-
ed out of line-and he always goes. A
pistol in that pocket means that he Is
a prisoner. Then the uniformed po-
licemen at the White House take the
place of the men in evening dress,
who resume their study elsewhere
Some of the men are looking over the
shoulders Of the ushers who stand at
each entrance.
In the Blue Room, to which the peo-
pie pass after greeting the hosts, some
of the supposed guests linger beside
the doors, others stand against the
walls, and every one is searching
searching amid the gay throng, his
eyes going from face to face to note
any one who might be an unbidder
guest. These receptions include all
members of congress and many resi-
dents of Washington. There is moth
| ing on the entrance ticket but the
name of the person who first receives
| it. He may have given it to some one
else. Sometimes 1t is lost. So men
and women may get into the White
House who are dangerous-anarchists
and "cranks'' as the Americans say
That is why every one is looked at by
these keen eyed observers.
| Such is one duty OF the government
detectives Of the United States official
ly called the secret service. Their
headquarters are naturally at Wash
ington; but no one except few Of
fcials knows where they are at any
time, for the men about the president
form but a little group compared with
the full force. At Washington there
are a couple of rooms in the treasury
buildings, with Secret Service Divis-
ion" emblazoned over the door, sci
aside for the service. In one Of these
sits Chief John E. Wilkie and his as
sistant. w H. Moran; the other is oc-
cupied by a dozen clerks. The doors
are always open, and any casual stran-
ger may wander at leisure through
them. Other than the fact that the
man in charge Of these offices and the
chief and his assistant at Washington
belong to it, there is no knowledge as
to who are the men in the secret SER
vice.
Here is one mystery; nobody knows
who are the men who actually carry
the work The Blue Book Of the gov
ernment departments does not contain
their names, and members Of congress
have placed none of their constituents
on the list. The men themselves, scat
tered from Maine to California, never
mention the fact that they are in the
secret service, and they are often
changed from one to place to another
The number of men in the service is
known only to those who are directly
in charge of it, There are probably
four or five to each office, or perhaps
a force of not more than 200 men al
together.
The secret service is utilized to in
vestigate the case Of any employee OF
the United States who may be charg-
ed with crime, such as theft, or any
thing that would unfit him for the po-
sition. Men who board ships and COL
lect customs duties may be tempted to
take bribes from passengers, or goods
that pay duty by weight may be pass
ed through the custom houses as be-
ing Of lighter weight than they really
are because the weighing scales have
been tampered with. Washington, the
center of so many government depart
ments and bureaus, is another field of
work for these mysterious agents of
justice. who may never have been seen
or heard Of by the person they secure
evidence against, and he is tried and
sentenced on the evidence Of an un-
known accuser; and when case is
brought to the attention of the secret
service chief, he selects one of the
force who is hest qualified to work it
up.
| The history of the service contains
many interesting instances of the
achievements of unknown searchers
who ferret our criminals. One of the
government bureaus of engraving and
printing not long ago suspected that
something was wrong with it's ink
contracts. 1t was paying forty five
cents a pound for its printing ink
elements. and there was a suspicion
that the material was not the best
| that could be bought. An investiga-
tion showed that one individual had