Fifty Years A Detective: 35 Real Detective Stories - free ebook by Thomas Furlong

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Fifty Years A Detective: 35 Real Detective Stories

Thomas Furlong

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FIFTY YEARS A DETECTIVE

FIFTY YEARS A DETECTIVE

BY THOMAS FURLONG Late Chief of the Secret Service of the Missouri Pacific Rail- way, known as the Gould System; the Allegheny Valley Railway of Pennsylvania, and first Chief of Police of Oil City, Pa. 35 REAL DETECTIVE STORIES Hitherto unpublished facts connected with some of Mr. Fur- long's greatest cases—Other interesting incidents of his long and strenuous career which really began on September 14, 1862, when he was detailed from his company, (Co. G., 1st Penn- sylvania Rifles, better known

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PREFACE.

PREFACE.

This book was not published for the purpose of displaying any literary ability I may possess, as I have never aspired to win fame by the wielding of a pen. Within its pages, however, I have attempted, in my own way and in my own manner, to make clear to the reader the inside or hitherto unpublished facts about some of the big cases I have handled during the fifty years I have made the prevention of crime and the tracking and punishment of criminals my profession. How well I have succeeded, I wil

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SIDE-LIGHTS ON THE BUSINESS.

SIDE-LIGHTS ON THE BUSINESS.

ELEMENTS NECESSARY TO MAKE A GOOD DETECTIVE. HONESTY AND TENACITY VALUABLE ASSETS. THE PROFESSION HAS ITS PARASITES. All professions have their parasites and crooks. Among the lawyers you will find men who will commit a felony for a few paltry dollars to clear a client of a charge of petty larceny—providing he does not think there is a chance of his being caught. Among the doctors you will find men (and they have diplomas with larger red seals on them than has the commission of the President of

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THE PRELLER MURDER CASE.

THE PRELLER MURDER CASE.

TRUE STATEMENT AS TO HOW THE EVIDENCE WHICH HUNG MAXWELL WAS OBTAINED PUBLISHED FOR THE FIRST TIME. The Preller murder occurred in the summer of 1885, in one of the rooms of the Southern Hotel, St. Louis, Mo. Clarence Preller was a young Englishman, as was also his slayer, Hugh M. Brookes. The discovery of the body, the apprehension of the murderer, his trial and execution, attracted the attention of the civilized world. The true story of the conviction of the perpetrator of this foul crime has

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THE BIG COTTON SWINDLE.

THE BIG COTTON SWINDLE.

TRAGIC ENDING OF A BIG CASE ON WHICH A GREAT DEAL OF REAL DETECTIVE WORK HAD BEEN DONE. The cotton swindle occurred at Sherman, Texas, on the Texas &amp; Pacific Railroad, early in the fall of 1883. It was in the cotton shipping season, and Sherman was a point from which a very large amount of cotton was shipped annually, it being the principal shipping point, or outlet, for one of the largest cotton producing districts in the state. For this reason the eastern cotton buyers and cotton mill

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A REMARKABLE CASE.

A REMARKABLE CASE.

IDENTIFICATION OF A LITTLE GIRL FROM A DESCRIPTION GIVEN OF HER FATHER, LEADS TO THE LATTER'S ARREST. Identification of criminals from descriptions is not always an easy task, for two reasons. First, there are but few men who can intelligently describe a person from memory. This is an art within itself. The second reason is, it takes so little to change the general appearance of a man to such a degree that it is hard to pick him up from a mere description, that is, unless the man wanted has some

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TRACING TRAIN WRECKERS.

TRACING TRAIN WRECKERS.

REVIEW OF A CRIME WHICH RANKS WITH THE LOS ANGELES DYNAMITING CASE FOR HEINOUSNESS—HOW CON- FESSION WERE OBTAINED. What many of my friends, who are familiar with the case in all of its details, believe to have been my best piece of real detective work during my long career at the business, was done on what is known as "The Wyandotte Wrecking Case" in 1886. While much has been written about this case, yet all the real facts have never appeared in print. The crime, which was the aftermath of the K

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"MOONSHINING" IN THE OIL REGIONS.

"MOONSHINING" IN THE OIL REGIONS.

DESPERATE STRUGGLE ON A BRIDGE WITH A THIEF CARRYING A CARBOY FILLED WITH NITROGLYCERINE—NARROW ESCAPE FROM DEATH OF PRISONER AND CAPTOR. Early in the 70's, while I was Chief of Police of Oil City, Pa., a long, wooden covered bridge spanned the Allegheny River at Oil City. This bridge was at least fifteen hundred feet in length, had a driveway through its center wide enough for two vehicles to pass each other. This driveway was boarded up closely with siding, which separated it on either side fr

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THE CAPTURE OF WESS WATTS.

THE CAPTURE OF WESS WATTS.

AFTER STANDING OFF A SHERIFF AND POSSE, THE NOTORIOUS BANDIT IS TAKEN SINGLE HANDED. During the years of 1875-6 I was Chief Special Agent of the Allegheny Valley Railroad. One morning I was called to Brookville, Pennsylvania, to investigate the burglary of the company's office at that point during the preceding night. On arriving in the little town I found the office of the company almost a wreck, the safe having been blown to pieces with dynamite or some other explosive, and its contents, inclu

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SOLVING A TRUNK MYSTERY.

SOLVING A TRUNK MYSTERY.

A VERY SLENDER CLUE FASTENS A ROBBERY UPON A BOSOM FRIEND OF THE VICTIM—THE LOOT RECOVERED. Early in 1872, while I was Chief of Police of Oil City, Pennsylvania, I was sitting in my office in the City Hall one morning, talking to Col. E. A. Kelley, who was at that time City Comptroller. His office adjoined mine. The colonel was a jolly, good-natured gentleman, middle-aged, very portly, scholarly, and of military bearing. He was a graduate of Annapolis Naval Academy, and had spent a portion of hi

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THE GLENCOE TRAIN ROBBERY.

THE GLENCOE TRAIN ROBBERY.

ARREST AND CONVICTION OF BILLY LOWE AND GEORGE EBBER- LING.—A PIECE OF QUICK WORK. Glencoe is a small station on the Missouri Pacific Railway, twenty-nine miles west of the city of St. Louis. An east bound train which carried both mail and passengers was boarded on the night of February 21, 1910, by two men, who climbed on the front end of what is known by railroad men as the blind baggage, next to the tender of the engine. These men were unobserved until the train had passed Glencoe station, wh

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RUNNING DOWN THE REVOLUTIONISTS.

RUNNING DOWN THE REVOLUTIONISTS.

DIFFICULT PIECE OF DETECTIVE WORK PERFORMED FOR THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT—SENSATIONAL SCENES ATTENDING THE ARREST OF THE LEADERS. Early in the Twentieth Century a movement, which had for its object the overthrow of the Diaz government in Mexico, crystalized. The revolutionists went about this work very quietly at the beginning, but later became more bold, and finally the majority of the leaders in the movement were driven from that country. Headquarters were first established at Laredo, across the

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A DALLAS MURDER AVENGED.

A DALLAS MURDER AVENGED.

PROMPT ARREST AND CONVICTION OF THE MURDERER AND SUI- CIDE OF THE INSTIGATOR OF THE CRIME WHILE AWAITING TRIAL. Early in the '90s, I received a telegram from James Arnold, Chief of Police of Dallas, Texas, and Ben Cabel, County Sheriff of Dallas, requesting me to come to Dallas immediately for consultation in a murder case. Knowing both gentlemen well, having done business with them before, I answered that I would start for Dallas the following day, which I did. I arrived in Dallas late on Wedne

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THE TOUGHEST OF TOUGH TOWNS.

THE TOUGHEST OF TOUGH TOWNS.

EAST ST. LOUIS IN THE EARLY EIGHTY'S—HOW I HELPED TO REFORM THE MUNICIPALITY—A SPECTACULAR RAID ON "SURE THING" GAMES AND "BIG MITT" JOINTS. Dodge City, Kansas, and Corinne, Utah, have places in history for being tough towns in their infancy, but take it from me, Mr. Reader, that neither of these much-advertised burgs, in their palmiest days, were "in the running" for toughness with East St. Louis during the early '80s. The average St. Louisan, in those days, was entirely different in his make-u

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THE ROHAN EXPRESS ROBBERY.

THE ROHAN EXPRESS ROBBERY.

THE THIEVES ARE TAKEN AFTER A FOUR MONTHS CHASE, AND ALL PLEAD GUILTY—THE MESSENGER DUPED. The Rohan Pacific Express robbery occurred near Rohan, Indiana, on what was then a part of the Wabash Railroad. The Pacific Express Company had one of their cars attached to the Wabash train, which was running between Detroit, Michigan, and Indianapolis, Indiana. It left Detroit in the evening and should have arrived at Indianapolis at about two o'clock the following morning. One night in October, 1883, th

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ARREST OF LAWRENCE POYNEER.

ARREST OF LAWRENCE POYNEER.

A CROOKED YARDMASTER'S CRIME—BOLD ATTEMPT TO THROW HIS CAPTOR OVERBOARD FROM A STEAMER.—HIS CONVICTION, SENTENCE AND A LATER ESCAPADE. Lawrence Poyneer was a young man about twenty-eight years of age in 1881. He was a railroad man and was employed as yardmaster by the Texas &amp; Pacific Railroad Company at New Orleans, La., where he had performed the duties of his position in a satisfactory manner for about two years. He finally went crooked and formed a conspiracy with the proprietor of a

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TICKET FORGERS RUN DOWN.

TICKET FORGERS RUN DOWN.

ARREST OF LOUIS RICE AND TOM LANDS AFTER A LONG CHASE— THE FORGERS ACQUIRED ALMOST A FORTUNE. During the early '80s the officials of the passenger department of several Western trunk lines made the discovery that they had been defrauded out of thousands of dollars by the means of forged railroad tickets. These tickets had been distributed or put on the market by ticket scalpers, who then thrived in all the large cities. These tickets were gotten up on what appeared to be regular paper and in reg

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CONVICTION OF JOHN COLLINS.

CONVICTION OF JOHN COLLINS.

HOW THE CLUES, WHICH LEAD TO THE ARREST OF THE YOUNG MAN FOR HIS FATHER'S MURDER, WERE OBTAINED— KANSAS' MOST SENSATIONAL MURDER CASE. No crime committed in the West in recent years was surrounded with more mystery than was the murder of J. S. Collins, which occurred in Topeka, Kansas, in the spring of 1898. Mr. Collins was slain while asleep beside his wife in their home. The weapon used was a shotgun, and one or two of the shot struck the shoulder of the wife, making slight, though painful wou

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FRED ERFERT'S FALL FROM GRACE.

FRED ERFERT'S FALL FROM GRACE.

A TRUSTED EMPLOYEE OF A JEWELRY FIRM ROBS HIS BENEFAC- TOR—QUICK CAPTURE OF THE THIEF AND RECOVERY OF THE LOOT. The arrest of Fred Erfert, who had been a trusted clerk in the jewelry house of John Bolland &amp; Company, of St. Louis, occurred in the latter part of 1892. Erfert had been employed by the company since his boyhood. At the time of his arrest he was about twenty-two or three years of age, and had become a trusted employe, and carried the keys of the establishment. He was the first

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BATTLE WITH WOULD-BE BANDITS.

BATTLE WITH WOULD-BE BANDITS.

HOLD-UP OF A MISSOURI PACIFIC TRAIN FRUSTRATED—JAMES WEST, ENGINEER, AND ELI STUBBLEFIELD, EX- CONDUCTOR, CAUGHT WITH THE GOODS ON THEM. With the assistance of Joseph S. Manning, of my St. Louis office, and three special agents regularly in the employ of the Missouri Pacific Railroad, I prevented the holding up of a passenger train on the Lexington Branch near Sedalia, on the night of November 29, 1898. This was only done after quite a revolver battle between my posse and the robbers, resulting

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THE GREAT PITTSBURG STRIKE.

THE GREAT PITTSBURG STRIKE.

THRILLING SCENES DURING THE RIOTS—ATTACK ON THE STATE MILITIA—SENSATIONAL ARREST OF ONE OF THE RIOT LEADERS. In July, 1877, during the railroad strike on the Pennsylvania Railroad, at Pittsburg, Pa., a riot was in progress on Sunday, the 21st, which had started on the day previous. The rioters were led by the loosest characters in and about Pittsburg. A great many of them were rolling-mill employes and miners from mines and mills adjacent to Pittsburg, who were in sympathy with the railway emplo

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MURDER OF CONDUCTOR FRAZIER.

MURDER OF CONDUCTOR FRAZIER.

A TERRIER BEATS A PACK OF BLOOD HOUNDS ON A MAN TRAIL— ARREST AND CONVICTION OF A PAIR OF REALLY BAD TEXANS FOR THE CRIME. In 1885 an attempt was made by two masked men to hold up a passenger train on the International &amp; Great Northern Railroad, at a point south of Overton, Texas. It was in the month of February and about midnight, and the weather was quite cold, and the ground covered with about two inches of snow and sleet in the vicinity of Overton. The train, bound south from Longvie

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FIGHT WITH A MANIAC.

FIGHT WITH A MANIAC.

DESPERATE ENCOUNTER WITH A GIANT BLACKSMITH, WHO HAD SUDDENLY LOST HIS MIND AND BECOME VIOLENT. Mr. Hoffman, I believe his first name was John, was a blacksmith, and about thirty years old, six feet in height and weighed over two hundred pounds. He was a powerfully built man, quiet in demeanor and good natured. He was employed in the blacksmith shop of Trax &amp; Cramer, which was the largest establishment of its kind in or about Oil City, Pennsylvania. They employed a large number of mechan

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DECOYING A BAD MAN.

DECOYING A BAD MAN.

BARNEY SWEENEY "FALLS" FOR A BIT OF STRATEGY, AFTER KILLING HIS PAL IN A FAKE HOLD-UP DOWN IN INDIAN TERRITORY. The old Indian Territory, now the eastern portion of the State of Oklahoma, was the scene, or stage, of many daring hold-ups and brutal murders, during the early days, but no crime committed there was surrounded with more mystery than the one of which I am going to relate the particulars. On the night of September 13th, 1882, as a north-bound M. K. &amp; T. passenger train was bein

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TRAGIC DEATH OF BILL CASEY.

TRAGIC DEATH OF BILL CASEY.

INCIDENTS ENCOUNTERED WHILE WORKING ON A CASE IN THE OIL REGIONS—CAPTURE OF A COUPLE OF CLEVER SNEAKS AND SAFE ROBBERS. In 1872, a year after I had been elected Chief of Police of Oil City, Pa. (and, by the way, I had the distinction of being the first Chief of Police of that town), the safe in the store of Henry Fair, in South Oil City, was robbed late on a Saturday night. This safe contained a number of bonds, some cash and other valuable papers. The robbery was not discovered until the follow

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SUBDUING A NOTORIOUS BULLY.

SUBDUING A NOTORIOUS BULLY.

ONE OF MY EARLY EXPERIENCES WHILE CHIEF OF POLICE OF OIL CITY—HOW A BAD MAN, WITH A LONG RECORD, WAS TAKEN TO JAIL. The notorious Tom Daly of Buffalo, New York, was arrested at Oil City, Pa., early in the summer of 1872. Daly had been regarded in and around the city of Buffalo for years, prior to his arrest at Oil City, as a desperate and bad character. He had a police record almost as long as the state statutes. He was a fighter and associated and lived with the most vile and vicious characters

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A RUSE THAT WORKED.

A RUSE THAT WORKED.

HOW EVIDENCE TO CONVICT AN ANONYMOUS LETTER WRITER WAS OBTAINED.—TRAGIC DEATH OF TWO BROTHERS AFTER THEIR ARREST AND AFTER BREAKING JAIL. Early in the 1870s, Sam Ackert called at my office one cold winter morning in the month of February. I was then Chief of Police of Oil City, Pa. Mr. Ackert was known to me as the owner of a large oil lease, on what was known as the Towles Farm, on the Plummer Road, about eight miles north, and a little east of Oil City, and in Venango County. Mr. Ackert was co

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CHARLIE DALTON, OUTLAW.

CHARLIE DALTON, OUTLAW.

SPECTACULAR ARREST OF THIS MUCH-WANTED MAN ON A CROWDED ST. LOUIS STREET CAR The arrest, in St. Louis, on the evening of March 12, 1888, of the notorious Charlie Dalton, was accomplished in a rather unique, yet sensational manner. Dalton had been "scouting" for a couple of years, with a large reward offered by the state of Texas and the Missouri Pacific Railway hanging over his head. Almost every sheriff, police officer and detective in the country had his description and were looking for him. T

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CONSPIRATORS HANDED A LEMON.

CONSPIRATORS HANDED A LEMON.

SENSATIONAL ENDING OF AN ATTEMPT TO BRIBE ONE OF FUR- LONG'S OPERATIVES IN THE NOTED MILES WILL CASE. HOW THE CONSPIRACY WAS EXPOSED. In the latter part of the '90s, Stephen B. Miles, a wealthy resident of Nebraska, died, leaving an estate consisting of lands in Nebraska and Kansas, bank stocks and bonds, and other property valued at several millions of dollars. He was survived by a wife, from whom he had been divorced, two sons, Joseph H. and Samuel, and a daughter, a number of nieces and nephe

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THE BIG SOUTHWEST STRIKE.

THE BIG SOUTHWEST STRIKE.

HOW THE BLOWS WHICH CAUSED THE DEATH KNELL OF THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR WERE ADMINISTERED.—STIRRING SCENES AND INCIDENTS CONNECTED WITH THE BIG STRIKE OF 1886. If you have an ambition to lead a strenuous life, young man, and feel that excitement would serve as a tonic for your nervous system, and you want to gratify your ambition and secure the tonic in greater than homeopathic doses, both at the same time, just get yourself appointed chief special agent of a big railroad during a general strike. I a

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WHY I OPPOSE REWARDS.

WHY I OPPOSE REWARDS.

IT OFTEN IS AN INCENTIVE FOR UNSCRUPULOUS OFFICERS TO CONVICT INNOCENT PERSONS—RULE REGARDING DIVORCE CASES. I do not believe in rewards, and in all my long career, have made it a rule to never work for, or receive one, no matter how great the amount offered for the arrest and conviction of the guilty party, or parties—this being the usual way that the heading of a reward is written. Nor do I believe in or engage in procuring evidence in divorce cases. However, I can see no objection to the offe

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WHY I AM OPPOSED TO HANGING.

WHY I AM OPPOSED TO HANGING.

AVERSION TO THIS MODE OF EXECUTION WAS CAUSED BY AN INCIDENT WHICH HAPPENED AT BELLEVILLE ILLINOIS, YEARS AGO—THROUGH THE TRAP WITH A MURDERER. In my younger days I was a firm believer in hanging as a means of capital punishment, but I do not hold the same views now, and have not for a long time. As my friends have often asked me what caused me to change my mind on this matter, I am now going to take them into my confidence, and tell them all about it. Several years ago I had some important busi

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A CROOKED DOCTOR'S CRIME.

A CROOKED DOCTOR'S CRIME.

ARREST OF THE CULPRIT, AND HIS CUNNING ATTEMPT TO PUT HIS CAPTOR OUT OF THE WAY IN AN EFFORT TO MAKE HIS ESCAPE. In 1873, Mrs. Boardman, a widow woman with a large family of grown children, resided on a small farm in Venango County, Pennsylvania, a few miles east of Oil City. She became acquainted with a Hebrew doctor, who called himself Dr. Solomon Steinman. He practiced medicine for a short time in and about Rouseville, Pennsylvania. There were a number of producing oil wells on Mrs. Boardman'

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CAPTURE OF A CLEVER SWINDLER.

CAPTURE OF A CLEVER SWINDLER.

SAM BENARD'S UNIQUE METHOD OF DEFRAUDING THE RAIL- ROADS—HOW HE DID THE WORK—HIS CONVIC- TION AFTER A LONG CHASE. Between the years of 1870 and 1876 the railroads of this country had been swindled, time after time, by some unknown person changing the address on an invoice of goods after it had reached the railroad office. This was done on an order which purported to come from the firm which had shipped the goods. In February of 1876, a shipment of gentlemen's dress goods was sent to A. A. Alden

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LONG HUNT FOR A DEFAULTER.

LONG HUNT FOR A DEFAULTER.

INCIDENTS CONNECTED WITH THE ARREST OF E. T. SIMMONS, WHICH IS ACCOMPLISHED AFTER MUCH HARD WORK— HIS CONVICTION. In 1873, E. T. H. Simmons was employed as book-keeper in the Oil City Savings Bank, at Oil City, Pa. Simmons was about 28 years of age, and married. He had borne a good reputation, was cultured, pleasant and mild mannered, and also was known to be very industrious, and his associates were the best young people in the community. By perseverance and his strict attention to business he

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GEORGE HERSOGG'S DOWNFALL.

GEORGE HERSOGG'S DOWNFALL.

FACTS REGARDING THE CONVICTION OF AN INTERNATIONAL AND GREAT NORTHERN BAGGAGEMAN OF MANY CRIMES. Early in the '80s the railroad companies of the Southwest were troubled very much by the continued receipt of complaints of passengers from all quarters of the United States, and some from foreign countries, and their filing claims for articles which had been stolen from their trunks and other baggage while in transit. The Iron Mountain Railroad Company and the International &amp; Great Northern

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