El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-02-07

day Within an hour or two after a
robbery in Fifth avenue a similar case
in Broadway would be reported.
Fabulous sums were expended by the
Hotel Mems Association in futile eff
forts to apprehend the thief. a month
after the first robbery was reported, in
which period scores of others came to
light, the detectives were no nearer
solution Of this battling mystery than
the day they started. Haired by the
constant reproaches Of the men who en-
ployed them, they finally admitted that
they had nothing tangible to work upon,
all clews having failed. In desperation
Police Headquarters was appealed to.
The Inspector in charge of the Detec-
tive Bureau was visited by a delegation
Of hotel men, accompanied by their
house detectives. Each reported a sue
cession of robberies, the loot varying
from the rarest gems to costly wearing
apparel, or anything else that might APP
peal to the fancy of hotel thief.
The Work Of One Man
The circumstances surrounding each
robbery were so similar in detail that
the detectives unhesitatingly announced
that it was not a band of thieves, but
one lone sneak thief who was operating
among them. The hotel men and house
detectives were taken in the Rogues'
Gallery and asked to scrutinize the pho
tographs of the most notorious hotel
thieves there on file. None of the de
tectives could pick from the gallery Of
photographs a single one that bore the
slightest resemblance to any one who
had been noticed circulating about the
hotels.
The Inspector in charge dismissed his
visitors with the promise that he would
detail two men who for many years had
specialized on hotel crooks" and doubt
less they would report progress in a few
DAYS. Detectives Thomas Hughes and
Lewis Hyams were assigned to the case.
Knowing that they had a wide field to
cover, and that the man they sought
was operating just as boldly at midday
as he did in the dead of night, they di-
vided the work so that one or the other
was constantly on duty, Results came
more speedily, however, than they an
ticipated and chance played a big part
in the development of events.
The detective who had elected to keep
vigil by night was seated in the foyer Of
a hotel near Herald square at an hour
when the theatre crowd was swarming
in for supper Closely he scanned the
features Of every man and woman who
passed him. Having been instructed to
round up this thief at all hazards, he
knew his work was cut out for him and
no chance was overlooked. Shortly after
midnight the detective was approached
by a belIbOy, who told him there was
trouble in one of the bedrooms on the
third floor. The boy had first sought
the house detective, and failing to find
him summoned the man from headquar-
ters.
Bounding into the elevator, the detec-
tive was shot skyward in a jiffy, the
belIboy plotting him to a handsome suite
Of apartments in the front Of the house
AS he entered the detective saw at
glance that a furious encounter had
taken place, the furniture was over
turned and the room in a general state
Of disorder
Desperate Fight in the Room.
In the centre of the apartment stood
man, his powerful frame draped in a
bathrobe. He greeted the detective by
saying he had surprised a thief in his
room, that a fight had followed and in
the mixup the intruder had fled out into
the corridor, slamming the door behind
him. By the time the occupant reached
the corridor all trace of the thief had
disappeared. The victim Of the robbery.
a man Of great wealth from Alberta.
Canada, said that while in his bath he
had heard some one enter his room.
Downing his bathrobe, he hurried into
his bedroom, there to find a stranger
transferring from the bureau to his
pocket his watch and chain, diamond
ring and a wallet containing upward of
a thousand dollars. He Ieaped upon the
back Of the intruder and landing a crush