Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-02-25
CoRTELYoU AS AUTHOR
Director Of Public Safety Wrote story
for PresIdent--Thrilior In Which
He Had Been Hero

|
cabinet Of Mayor Moore. to Woodrow vii.
son. President Of the United States. aud
yet 1t was not many years ago that Cortcl-
you was the means Of furnishing entertain
| ment to the head of the nation. II came
about 10 the most natural way in the world,
Cortelyon was the main figure in n dime
| mover thriller from real life and. for the
| time being, he played the role Of Sherlock
Holmes for the President. II happened
when be- was postal inspector for tho govern
mcnt' aud being that rare persona dc
| tcctlNe with brains and Il sense Of humor--
nc was able TO carry the thing to a success
full conclusion.
| NOW, as most Americans know President
Wilson is a detective fan. lie obtains
relaxation by reading gloriicd dime novels
| IN this he follows the example of William
! r. HIndStonc,, the most serious minded
! statesman who ever uudcrrook TO guido the
/ dcsiinics of the British empire Also he
| resembles the late Senator lIoar. who
| traGkly admitted that when he wanted
| rest from the cares of state he always in.
dulged in an orgy Of dime novel reading.
In some way it became known that Cortc-
you had an important case on hand. The
word was passed along tho line that the
president wanted 10 read reports of that
KIND and when thu inspector sat down 10
mako his report Of the adventure he realized
that he was writing u story for tho rrtsi-
dent "G the lnitcd States
The report received i,ir g. r. of his
immediate superior and went from ono hand
TO another until il reached the White House.
1t IS not permissible to say what happened
attcr that. but IL may hc stated uDrcScrv-
cdly that James r. CortclyOu as an author
was pronounced by the highest authority
success. His production docs not rank
with the best sellers in circulation, but it
had the most exclusive group of readers in
the United States.
THUS Director Cortclyou like his distin-
= guiShcd brother. George Z. Cortclyou.
was brought to the attention Of the Prcsi
dent by the mcrcst accdcut It may hc
recalled by some of those who keep in touch
with the little political Incidents that occur
behind the scenes that there was n dar
when President Cleveland was IN immediate
need of a first class stcnographer. His own
shorthand man was i'll and there was no
ono else at hand. One Of the departments
was appealed to--if recollection is not wrong
IT was the postofice department. Cortclyou
was sent to the President and be performed
the work with neatness aud satisfaction. A
few days later the President again needed
a stpnographer.
''And by the way. Dickinson" he said.
II wish you would send me that young mau
Cortclyou. lie knows his business and he
suits me down to the ground
The sequel to this incident is very we'll
known Presently Mr.. Cleveland wanted
a confidential stcnographcr and Cortclyou
was given the place. Later he was asso.
ciatcd with Presidents Mckinley and
Roosevelt and served as n member of the
cabinet under two Presidents. Today he is
the heTi of big business corporation in
New York. All of which goes TO prove
that the man who is ready TO grasp his
opportunities is bound TO rise in the world.
pCT this has nothing TO do with the story
- written by Director Cortclyou. II might
have bccu called Dead BOYS Tell No
Tales. but under any title il would grin
the imagination. aud when il was solved
Cortclyou felt that it WAS worth more than
the usual dry as dust reports.
II all concerned little boy-Wsrren
Met arrck-who disappeared from his homo
in the southern part of Philadclphia IL
threatened to become ms famous as tho
Charlie Ross case. Perhaps tho reader will
recall the case. In any event il is ncccs-
>ary to recall the fact thnt the father Of
tho boy received n letter in which he was
told if he would pay $500 the child would
I've returned. The letter added. signif.
cautly, that if the money was not forth
coming the distracted parents would receive
only the clothing of their loved one and
lock of his hair. The letter was turned
over 70 the supcrintondolt II Of police and he
in turn laid it before James r. Cortclyou.
then the. chief postal Inspector for the dis.
trict of Philadelphia.
The letter was p0simrrked Pittsburgh
and that naturally removed the investiga-
ton to that city. 1t was found that several
other Matchmaking letters had been sent TO
other persons in the same handwriting. One
to the Western Union Telegraph threatened
10 destroy the wires and poles of the CON
corn il $1,000 was not forthcoming at once
Inspectors Craig and Hobby were given the
task of following mp each of the letters.
Tn THE meantime tn" body of poor little
L Warren McCarrick was found floating in
the Delaware river. II was pretty we'll
proved that his death was due to an acci-
dent and that the threats had come from
some unscrupu'OU> person who had read of
his Disappearance aud wanted 10 extort
money from the frcuzi"d parents That only
! thickcned the pI"'
CortcyOu aud U- assistants found that
! the rector Of ciarrh in Pittsburgh had
received Threatening letter and that it
was in the sam" type As the others. They
| started Shcrock Holmes trick They
| began the astounding task of examining
! thousands Of t}prWriting machines in
| Pittsburgh. and ON the second day found
machine that had thr very defects they were
looking for It nH~ operated by a girl who
! lived in a little town called CoraOpoIis, not
far from pittSlUrgh. She had brother