Fifty Years a Detective: 35 Real Detective Stories. Thomas Furlong
When we reached the peninsula we were sheltered by the dense foliage of the trees, and we approached the cottage to within about one thousand feet, and then decided to remain quietly among the trees until we could see daylight begin to appear in the east. At the first appearance of daylight Herbert and myself reconnoitered, circling the cottage, he going one way and I the other. We found that every one was apparently asleep. We then went back and reported to Sheriff Clark and his deputy. We surrounded the place, Herbert and the deputy covering the rear of the cottage, and the sheriff and myself going to the front door and rapping for admission, which was denied. After we had rapped for admission we could hear the window shutters being pushed open and the inmates peered out of the windows and discovered that the place was surrounded, or rather guarded, on each side. Finally Sheriff Clark told the occupants that unless they opened the door that we would force it. After some parleying the front door was opened. The door was a double door and only one-half of it was opened, and very suddenly No. 1's brother-in-law, a very tall and slender individual, appeared in the open door with a double-barreled shotgun in his hands, but before he had time to raise the gun to a shooting position, he found himself covered with two double-barreled guns, one in the hands of the sheriff and the other in my hand. Upon being ordered to drop the gun he did so promptly. The sheriff took possession of him and I started down the wide hall, which ran directly through the center of the cottage. As I was passing the second door from the front door No. 1 stepped out of the room into the hall with a pistol in his hand. I recognized him and promptly arrested him.
I said to him, "Where is No. 4?"
He answered, "In the room across the hall."
I went to the room indicated and rapped, but was refused admission. I then forced the door and found No. 4 standing in the middle of the room partly dressed. After some trouble with No. 4 and his wife, we took them all to Ocean Springs. We walked over there, a distance of about two miles. It was breakfast time when we reached there, and the rain had stopped. We went to the hotel and got something to eat, and the landlord learned for the first time the true nature of the surprise that I had in store for No. 1.
There was an early train to New Orleans, and Herbert and I took the two prisoners and left on this train for that city. I telegraphed ahead to have a carriage meet us outside of New Orleans, and we left the train a short distance from that city. Here we entered the carriage, which conveyed us to the ferry boat at New Orleans. We took the ferry and went across to Algiers. Our object in doing this was that I wished to avoid newspaper notoriety. The newspaper men we were sure to meet in the main station at New Orleans had we gone there.
At Algiers we boarded a Southern Pacific train for Houston, Texas. At Houston we took a Houston & Texas Central train, which took us through to Dallas, Texas.
The prisoners were lodged in jail before the newspapers had mentioned the capture or arrest, for the reason that I knew that there were two others connected with the swindle, who resided in Dallas, and had not yet been arrested, who were not even suspected of having any connection with the swindle or any other crime by the people of Dallas.
We arrived at Dallas at night with the prisoners. The following morning the Chief of Police, Jim Arnold, and myself picked up and arrested the other two accomplices. These men were Hebrews. One of them had been a respectable and prominent cotton buyer up to his connection with the swindle. The other was an educated man and somewhat noted for having been mixed up in crooked dealings. He was a lawyer, but was not practicing law for a livelihood.
The reader should remember that No. 1 was an ex-railroad agent and telegraph operator, and had been employed as such up to about one year and a half before he became engaged in this cotton swindle. He had become thoroughly familiar with the railroad system of receiving and handling cotton.
No. 2, who lived in Dallas, was also familiar with the buying and selling, and value of cotton, as well as the customary way of obtaining cash from the banks on bills of lading for the same.
No. 3 was the reputable cotton buyer, or broker, before mentioned in this story. He also lived in Dallas.
The arrests at Dallas added greatly to the excitement which was caused by the incarceration of No. 4 and No. 1 the night before.
The prisoners all waived preliminary hearings and were committed to jail in default of bail to wait the action of the Grand Jury, which convened a month or six weeks later. In the meantime, three of the defendants succeeded in getting bonds and were released from jail. My recollection now is that the bonds were fixed at $10,000 each.
No. 3 was taken sick immediately after his arrest and continued to steadily grow worse until he died, which was about two months after he was arrested.
No. 1 and No. 2 almost immediately after they had been released on bonds fled the country, No. 1 going to Old Mexico, and No. 2 seeking refuge in London, Ontario, Canada.
When the cases were called for trial in court at Dallas, Texas, No. 1 and No. 2 failed to appear, and their bonds were declared forfeited. No. 3, having died, his bond, of course, was not forfeited.
No. 4, it appears either did not try to procure bail, or if so, did not succeed, as he remained in jail. Meanwhile I was employed in procuring duplicates of the bills of lading, which had been issued and sold to the purchasers of the cotton, which caused me to visit the cities of Philadelphia, New York, Providence, Rhode Island and Fall River, Mass. The procuring of these duplicates proved no easy task, but I finally obtained certified copies of all of them. These duplicates were to be used as evidence at the trial.
I was at Dallas on the date set for the trial, and, on learning of the absence of the defendants, and that the court had postponed the trial of No. 4, he being the only one within the reach of the court, I at once reported the situation to the railroad officials at St. Louis, in reply to which I received instructions by wire from Vice-President Hoxie, of the Missouri Pacific to proceed at once to locate and arrest the fugitives and take them back to Dallas, and there to turn them over to the proper authorities, so that they might be dealt with according to law.
Upon receipt of these instructions, I detailed operatives Bailey and Herbert of my staff to locate and arrest No. 1, which they succeeded in doing after a lot of hard and good work. They arrested him at Guymas, Old Mexico. This city is located on the Pacific Coast. They brought their prisoner back to Dallas and lodged him in jail.
I had assumed the task of locating No. 2. After considerable work I discovered that he was in London, Canada, which is just one hundred miles east of Detroit, Michigan. I visited London, where I saw No. 2, without being seen by him. He would have known me at sight, as it was I who had arrested him in Dallas.
I found that he had surrounded himself with a number of sympathizing friends in London, many of whom were fugitives from justice from the United States, as he was. Many of them, he among them, had money and felt safe while on Canadian soil.
The extradition treaty then in force between Great Britain and the United States was known as the Ashburton and Webster Treaty, and was passed, I believe, in 1844. This treaty only permitted the extradition of fugitives charged with one of seven crimes; murder, felonious assault with intent to murder, arson, rape, forgery, uttering of forged paper and perjury.
After I had seen No. 2 in London, I communicated the facts by wire code to Mr. Hoxie, he giving my report to ex-Governor John C. Brown, the General Solicitor for the Gould System of railroads. His headquarters were in the same building with Mr. Hoxie's at St. Louis.
Governor Brown was thoroughly conversant with this case, and had a national reputation as a lawyer, and when told by Mr. Hoxie of the whereabouts of No. 2, he at once wired me, by code, to try my best to induce No. 2 to accompany me across the line of Canada into either Michigan or New York state. If I succeeded in getting him across the boundary line I could hold him in either state until extradition papers could be secured from the Governor of Texas.
From the instructions Gov. Brown had wired me, I was satisfied that the Governor was not familiar with the statutes of Canada pertaining to extradition. If I had attempted to induce the fugitive across the Canada line for the purpose of arresting him without legal authority I