Jackson County sentinel. (Gainesboro, Tenn.) 1914-current, 1922-01-26
True
Detective Stories
BROKEN GLASS

WHEN Sergt. John f. Brennan Of
w New York's police force reached
Sixty-ninth street and Park ave.
nue. shortly after the accident which
caused the death of John McHugh, he
found practically nothing which could
come under the head of evidence"
McHugh, it appeared, had been driv-
ing along in a light buggy, shortly
after dark. An automobile, speeding
from behind, had struck the buggy
and smashed it to bits, killing Nc
Hugh instantly. Apparently the only
living witness to the tragedy was the
horse, but, as Brennan said, there's
no way of maxim a horse talk"
So the sergeant set to work to col
ieet what bits of evidence he could
gather from the surrounding street
Caught on one of the spokes of the
buggy wheel, where il had evidently
been torn off by the force of the col
liSion, was nickel-plated lamp rim
bearing the name of the "Ham Lamp
Company, Rochester, N Y" That,
and small fragment of automobile
tire about three inches In length, ap-
peared to be the only results of the
damage which the automobile had suf-
fered
But Brennan figured that, as the
lamp rim had been torn from It's
socket, the lens of the lamp would
naturally have been shattered so he
set to work to pick up the bits of
glass. When he returned to head
quarters that night he brought with
him an envelope containing twenty-one
pieces Of glass, together with the nick
eled rim, the buggy spoke on which
1t had caught and the jagged piece
torn from the automobile tire
what are you going to do with
that iunk?" inquired his associates on
the force. IF Sherlock Holmes had
had those he could have told you the
make of the ear, the complexion of
the man who was driving 1t, the IL
cense number and how many gallons
of gas there was in the tank-but,
outside Of a book, what good are
theyY
Maybe none at ALL" admitted
Brennan, "but II you'll use some brains
when you look at 'em you'll note sew
eral things that may be of help in To-
catin' the car that killed McHugh and
then drove off into the night. never
did take much stock In tile Sherlock
Holmes stories-it's easy enough to
fix It so that your hero can solve a
problem that you know the answer of
but here's one case In which think
that his deducin' theories will come In
pretty handy.
See that smudgep and the SER
geant held up the buggy spoke and
pointed to what appeared to be a worn
place on the wood toward the end
which had been nearest the wheel
''At first | thought II was merely
where the paint had worn off and the
wood showed through. But the rest
Of the buggy was spick and span.
Only few days out of the shop. SO
examined ii more carefully and
found that it was bit of gray paint,
scratched off the body of the death
,ar itself!
Take that lamp rim, now. There
fnIIuIaAn nrIra &h.A
re equipped with lamps made by that (
ompany So that reduces the number t
# suspects that much more. We've
TO- TO look for a gray car of one of +
hose fourteen makes, which elm
mates more than 20 per cent of the
ars in The city" ;,
But what about those pieces of
lass? What are they goin to tell 0
you?"
Eventually, the name of the man n
'ho owned the car" replied Brennan. o
There are three kinds of glass there t
-one plain glass, one mirror lens and Of
ne concaye-convex lens. If you'll At
m together you'll see that the car
iTied eight-inch gas headlights and !
X-inch oil sidelights. Therefore It =
as an old model. The bit of rubber
as very evidently ripped of four p
oh tire. Now, you members of the
attic squad, what kind of a car an
vers those specifications"
"A 1909 Packard, model 49," came
a chorus from several of the men
no had been trained to recognize
e make and model of an automo-
lie from the appearance of It's head N
hts. II
Right J" snapped Brennan. "Old
erl0ck Holmes wasn't so far out of &C
e way after ALL Now all we have ne
look for is a 1909 model Packard at
inted gray, with at least one cash So
ING the paint on the right side and 10
dly in need of repairs. The head :.
hts are gone, So the car couldn't :.
We Travelled very far. Get after the nv
RACES around Sixty-nlnth street and M
ought To have our man before IN
rnng I've done enough work for is
night and I'm perfectly willin'
{ one Of YOU boys should have the no
dit for the arrcstr
I was less than IN hour later that 81
headquarters phone rang and "
imam was notified that the owner nc
driver Of the car had been ar an
led and had confeSSad giving &c tai