Year: 1871

Many years ago, when Western railroad
travelling was not the safest in the world,
and when all moneys due from the East,
in payment for Western produce had to be
sent in cash by the mails, there occurred,
not Tar from Chicago each time, several
accidents in consequence of trains being
thrown off the track, during which the
mall cars We're broken open and the
bags robbed to very large amount. The
first OF these accidents happened within
! six miles Of the "Garden CITY," and was
caused by the Michigan Southern running
into the Illinois Central mail train, if I
remember rightly, striking it at right an
giles, and not only cutting it in two parts,
but making complete wreck of both
trains.


The loss in every way was large. and
the conductor and engineer were killed
on the spot-the former lying with his face
i upwards close to the mail car-which il
was afterwards discovered had been forced
open and the gold and silver it contained
carried off. Mr.. Pinkerton, the great
Western detective, who was then begin
ming one of the most remarkable and sue
cessful careers known in police history,
was sent for to investigate the robbery.
and he discovered upon the face of the
dead conductor of the train, the imprint
of nail head, such as was usually worn
by English laborers in the soles of their
| heavy boots. He then examined the
ground, and luckily found complete
imprint of the sole of the left boot con-
tanning a double row of nails, all of which
were exactly like that on the conductors
face. He made also another important
discovery-that there were three nails
wanting in the impress on the earth, show
ing that three must be also wanting on the
sole of the boot that made it.


Mr.. Pinkerton's theory so far, was this
that the robber was in so great hurry to
force open the mail car that he sat his
foot upon the face of the dead man with
out knowing it, and thinking no doubt
that his foot rested upon the earth and
that one of the nails-''hob nails" he
called them-having started from the
leather, was more prominent than the
rest, and so left its mark behind it, and
with it a secret clew for the detective.
Unfortunately, before Pinkerton came on
the ground there had been so many peo-
pie about that the earth was trodden down
hard in the neighborhood of the calamity,
and he had no chance of tracing the hob
nailed boot, and discovering its owner.


lie had made some important discove-
ries, however, during this difficult investi-
CATION. He had found out that the robber,
whoever he was, wore boots nailed with
hob-nails in peculiar form round the
soles, with three nails missing; and that
the boots were of English make, and the
wearer of them, therefore, was probably
an Englishman, and that the left boot had
made the impression on the face of the
dead conductor and ON the ground. This
was all the clew that he had of the robber:
but meagre as it was he did not dispair of
hunting down his quarry. He did not be-
lieve, however, that the collision of the
| trains was purposely caused, but that it
was a sudden accident, and that the rob-
berry was sudden evil inspiration on the
part of the robber


Eighteen months passed away. and
Pinkerton, although always more or less
on the watch, had well-nigh forgotten the
hob-nailed boots, when one morning he
received telegraphic despatch which
summoned him to another accident, which
had just happened on the same railroad,
within twelve miles of the city of Chicago.
On his arrival he found great coneourse
of persons, officers and men and passen-
gers, about the wreck, and he Immediate
ly ordered rope to be payed out and
guarded by the company's servants while
he made an examination of the ground,
and a search for the hob-nailed boots, if
by chance, they might figure upon this
scene also. He first examined the locality
| where the obstruction was placed that
| overthrow the train, and, to his great Joy
and surprise, there was the old boot mark
with the many hob-nails and full i'm
preston also of the right boot.


Of course he said nothing, but began to
make dotours in all directions to see if he
could pick up the retreating trail. He
thought it most likely the man would &c
boldly towards the village after he had
laid his trap, and so he hastened on till he
came to bit of grass leading to the main
road on the heights above. Here he stum-
bled upon the footmark once more, and
proceeded right and left upon line with
this discovery, he found the advancing
foot too. The grass, however, threw him
off all further trail, but he had proved
that the same man who had hand in the
previous robbery had planned the present
disaster also; and better still, he came
from and returned to the village. Owing
to some accident elsewhere this train was
late by several hours. 1t was an early
morning train, and the design clearly was
to throw it off the lines and rob the mails
but it was defeated.


Mr.. Pinkerton remained privately in the
village, putting up at the chief hotel and
passing for salesman of dry goods, for
several weeks, making observations and
notes. He soon knew everybody in the
place, and had not been there a week be-
| fore he began to suspect man who was
then absent, but who, when in town,
stopped at the hotel where he then lodged,
A short time afterward he returned and
Pinkerton found that he was an English
man and began to look for his cloven foot.
But he did not wear it at the time he was
introduced to him and Pinkerton reasoned
that such boots as those hob-nailed ones
could only be in requisition in wet or dirty
weather, and he began to pray that i
might rain. He kept q severe and close
watch upon the Englishman, and followed
him always when he could do so withou
detection.


A fortnight passed away, and the Eng
I