Evening star., 1939-08-06
D. t. Writ Servers
Are Bold Fellows;
Often Threatened
U. S. Deputy MorshoIs
Relate Narrowing
Experiences
Continued From Page ca


was suf1icient to increase many times
the volume of tone.
The deputy knew the power of his
writ. Bending over, he threw wide
the unlocked outer garbage door.
Then with his nail file he clicked the
lock Of the inner door. He crawled
through the kitchen, pushed open
the door into the room where sat
the defendant, amazed at least. But
calmly, in a blue -tinctured SUM-
burst of profanity, the deputy tossed
his United States commissioners
warrant into the lap of the swindler,
and took his man.
It was good service"
Prof. x was the principal figure
in the case of the "penurious sculp-
tor" otherwise wanted for black
mail. He was a notorious evader,
hiding out for weeks in his down.
town studio.
But the deputy had an idea. He
called the number of the professor
on the phone. A feminine voice
answered that the sculptor was. as
usual, out OF town.
"Art" Connoisseur.
"Pshaw," calculated the deputy.
II had so hoped 1 could see Prof.
K. I am So-and-So (mentioning
the name Of a well known out-of-
town art connoisseur), on my way
through to New York. I had been
told that Prof. x had some ex-
cellent work and wished to see it,"
The tone Of the voice over the
wire changed Prof. x was not
so far away but that he could be
reached. In fact, said the voice,
she was sure that he would be
back later that evening, and could
Mr.. So-and-So come about 8 o'clock
in the morning?
The appointment was made.
Early the next morning Mr.. So
and-So was ushered into the studio
OF the sculptor. 1t was evident that
much time and labor had been
put in during the intervening hours
to make the place presentable. The
debris Of months and the accumu-
lated trash and dust of weeks had
been cleared out. Busts and statues
were arranged all about the place
in strategic fashion to catch the
eye Of the connoisseur. Mrs. x was
too unctuous, too polite, as she
ushered in the out-of-town prospec-
tive purchaser of some of her hus-
bands work.
She introduced the Mr.. So-and- SO
to the professor and thoughtfully
left them alone to discuss business.
She ensconced herself bebhind
portiere; the professor smiled
broadly In his clean smock.
Then Mr.. So-and-So, unper-
turbed, drew forth his writ and
made service. From behind the
portieres came a volley of curses
on the fake connoisseur and all his
tribe. The sculptor. says the dep
uty, lust plain threw a fit and I
got out before he threw anything
else"
Case at the Coffin.
No. 5 of these stories may well
be titled THE Case at the CONN, I"
although the deputy concerned
never saw the bier of the deceased
The defendant was a Hillcrest
woman who just wouldn't be served.
Neither would she pay her cred
itors, so the latter ganged together
in one last effort and asked that
the best man from the marshal's
Office be put on the case to get
service.
The best man failed. So did
several others. Much time and
money was spent, over a period of
time, by deputies trying to catch
the Hillcrest householder of her
guard.
SO, one of the deputies, on a
Sunday-when a citizen is free to
60 when and where he pleases and
cannot be served with legal pa
PREDETERMINED to put into effect
an idea he conceived. He drove his
car to the home of the defendant
and, parking it, sat there stolidly
and watched the womans front door
until she emerged.
When she did, late in the after
noon, he followed.her. He kept close
behind her as she drove away in her
car. At one place she stopped there
was a crepe on the door.
When she emerged from that house
she seemed shocked to the deputy
and he made inquiry from neigh
Dor. It turned out that the de-
ceased had been a close friend of
the defendant, that she had died
suddenly, that her funeral was to be
the following morning. The deputy
guessed that she meant to attend
her friends funeral.
Ruse Succeeds.
The next day he called q lawyer
acquaintance early. Should he spring
his trap; would this be ethical at
all? The lawyers opinion resulted
in a second call to the Hillcrest
woman's lawyer, to whom the ulti-
matum was delivered thus:
Either Mrs. x permit me to come
to her house and serve her with the
writs, or I shall bring my lawyer to
the funeral, there have Mrs. x pub
licly identified, read my writ over
the CONN and serve it then and
there"
Mrs. x weakened. Meekly she took
the papers which were served on
her, at her own house.
In the case of the English Noble
man, an international engineer, the
deputy sat for two days, hiding in
his car half a block away from the
defendants home. Domestic activi-
ties-deivery of groceries, for ex-
ample-which he observed, assured
the deputy his man was at home.
Late the second afternoon he
called at the defendants home, but
was told his lordship was out Of
town. Then the deputy called bold
ness into play. He went into the
home of a next-door neighbor.
why, yes" admitted the neighbor,
"Sir x is at home. If you will come
| into r,ov rom vo,l ran zoe him RIGHT