The Sunday Oregonian., December 27, 1908, Section Six, Page 7, Image 53

TIIE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND. DECEMBER 27, 1903.
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in
Ifiiirntiil
I HAT do I consider the most
important things to notice
whfn first Investigating a
Clime?"
Captain Dickson, a retired secret serv
ice officer, had repeated the words of my
ours! Ion. ffp sat beside the open win
dow of his library and watched the white
smoke from our pipes drift out Into the
Summer night.
After some moments of thought, he re
plied: "Well from niy own experience, it has
become a fixed conviction with me that
no crime is ever committed where
the criminal fails to leave behind some
lew that, if it Is only found and Its
worth appreciated, will Invariably lead to
the detection of the culprit. I remember
a case that never would have been cleared
up. probably.' if it had not been for a
pin which I found in the crack between
two planks of the flwr. Therefore, in
answer to your question. I will say that
1 consider the insignificant things that
generally escape notice the most im
portant to search for wherever a crime
has b"n committed.
"I have a case In mind, a postoffice
rohberv. It happened when I was con
nected with that Department, before I
was transferred to the broader field of
the secret service. I will never forget
the village where it occtirre". It wan
a town of soma 300 or 400 souls in tho
Oreon Mountains. It had only one hotel,
and In three weeks that I waa detained
there I almost destroyed my digestion
endeavoring 'to support life on Us abom
inable fare. I believe that I felt a Keener
satisfaction In the royal meal I secured
st Boston, on my return to Washington,
than I did In capturing the author of the
rohberv.
The postoffice safe had been tapped
for a large quantity of slam-as. about
.w in money and a brand new money,
order book. This last item cave ImJ
oortance to the case, because a book of
monev-order blanks In the hands of
clever crook can cause the Government
more trouble than a session of Congress.
'The saf was a crude Iron affair which
was fastened by means of a clumsy brass
key. The key was too large and too
heavy to be lugged about, and after the
safe was locked It was hid away In
corner of the cash-drawer. A peculiar
circumstance of the robbery was that the
safe had been found locked and the key
waa In Its place of concealment. The
culprit had posaessed an Intimate knowl
edge of the habits of the postmaster and
Ms assistant. Miss Lundy. a young
woman of fine appearance and charming
personality.
"Mason, the postmaster, had a theory
that two tramps had committed the
theft. He said that two suspicious char
acters had come into the office the after
noon before the robbery and had bought
five J-cent stamps. He considered this
a suspicious circumstance, as he said that
persons of their type always bought
stamped enrelopea no more than they
needed at tho time and that they al
ways mailed their letters before, leaving
the office, addressing -them with the di
lapidated pen maintained by the post
master at all country offices for victims
who have, no alternative than to use it.
At the back of the building, a window
glass '.lad been broken out, and Mason
especially directed my attention to It. aa
be said it must have been by this meant
that the robbers (rained entrance. to the
building. All of the doors had been se
curely locked.
'The windows were without shutters,
and they were fastened by means of a
stick set diagonally across the tipper
sash and resting on the lower one, a de
vice commonly employed in country
towns where weights have not come lnt
use.
"Mason displayed entirely too much
nervousness In his conversation, and it
was evident that he was anxious to im
press me with his theory of the case.
I began to form a vague suspicion of
him at the very outset. A circumstance
that strengthened It was- the fact that
the window had been broken by soma
one inside the building. The fragment!
of glass lay scattered upon the ground
just in front of the window. Mason as
sured mo that they had not been dis
turbed. The most careless observer could
not fall to see that tha window had been
broken from within. All the fragments
had fallen outside and there was not a
particle of glass on the floor of the of
fice. "I didn't let Mason suspect my doubt
of him, but. on the contrary, took par
ticular pains to Impress him with the
belief that I had perfect confidence in
his theory and that I would Imme
diately set about following the clew
that he had furnished. Nevertheless. I
made a minute examination of the
premises, and the only thing I found wi
a small steel pin with a green glass
head. It was In a crack of the floor
Immediately in front of the rifled safe.
Without attracting attention. I secured
the pin and stuck It beneath the lapel
CAR THAT BROKE WORLD'S RECORD BY GOING MILE IN 59 SECONDS.
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.. , h a n.ite Hnino-
mer records held by Barnev Oldfleld.
co boy. drove the White on Its record-breaking trip and by his performance
bis risht to a leading place among the foremost racing drivers of the country.
of my coat. I thought it might prove
of value. It did. It was the key to
the situation.
"My examination showed that the rob
bers had entered the postoffice through
the front door and that the broken win
dow was merely a blind or else It had
been broken by accident. I didn't take
much stock In this last theory, but put
the window down as a deliberate effort
to muddy the water. There were two
doors, a front and a back on. The
rear one was kept locked and the key
to It hung on a nail In the office, Only
Mason and Mist Lundy had keys to the
front door.
"I "row set about learning where Mason
and Miaa Lundy had been on the night
of the robbery and also to sift out the
matter of the two tramps. It didn't
take much work to establish to my own
satisfaction that Mason had deliberately
deceived me about the tramps. I ques
tioned many persons and nona had seen
them, although several loafer had been
on the porch of the general store next
door at the very time that Mason said
the mcnhad visited the office. Tramps
were rare in the village and I knew that
two strange men could no more visit such
a town as that without attracting atten
tion than could two white elephants.
This made things look a bit bad for
Mason.
"It was not so easy to trace Mason
and the young lady on that evening. Af
ter some considerable work I learned
that neither of them had been at home
the early part of Jbat particular even
ing. No one knew where they had been
nor what thay had done during this
period. Mason bad left his home and
Miss Lundy her boarding-house early af
ter supper on that night on the pretext
of taking a walk. Mason had .returned
sometime after midnight. The hour of
Miss Lundy'a rsturn was uncertain.
"Already sorely puzsled over tha evi
dence which was accumulating, ona
morning, upon arising. I was more than
ever -mystified' by finding a slip of paper
under the door of my room. In a sprawl
ing, unnatural band, four words were
written upon It:
'Mason robbed the ssfe.'
"When I -visited the postoffle. I noticed
that Mason waa pale and haggard and
he was as nervous as a caged leopard.
"When I went to tha hotel at noon. I
found a tiny note on the table In my
room. It was a dainty, perfumed bit
of paper. Just the kind that refined
young ladles employ In their polite cor
respondence. I jumped to the conclusion
that It must be a further message of the
same character as the morning's note.
It was. but there was a decided conflict
In the news It contained. In a cramped,
disguised writing, evidently a woman s,
were Ave words:
" 'Miss Laindy is the robber.
"Frankly. I didn't know what to think.
Suspicion and these mysterious notes
pointed to the post master, and his hand
some assistant. The letters were writ
ten by different persons and It was easy
to imagine that Mason and the young
ladv had robbed the safe and that each
of them bad been seen by a different
person as they left the building: that
these persons were a woman and a man
and that they had taken the pains to
advise me of what they had seen by
means of the brief, unsigned notes. An-1
yet I couldn't entirely bring my mind
to accept the theory. I liked Mason on
the short scqualntance and In spite of
the suspicious circumstances which
pointed to him. He was a fine follow
and a man of chivalrous Instincts, as
waa shown bv the courteous demeanor
be Invariably exhibited toward his
pretty assistant. Miss Lundy. too.
didn't seem like a criminal. She waa far
too wholesome and natural and frank
and sweet.
Tb. situation puzzled me more than
ever and I didn't fall asleep until late
that night, having tossed away many
restless hours upon the Instrument of
torture which did service for a bed In
the stuffy room of the hotel. Involun
tarily, next morning. I glanced at the
crack beneath the door as soon as my
eyes opened. It was there, a third note,
on the same paper. In the same hand
and of the same purport as that of the
morning before. The only change was
In the wording of It.
" 'Why don't you arrest Mason? He
robbed the postoffice. Ask him If he
didn't break the window-glass. He won't
deny If
"I worried through the morning some
how, never trusting myself to show up
at the postoffice. At noon i waa torcea
to go back to the hotel, as It was the
only place of public entertainment In the
village. I headed straight for my room,
expecting to find a fourth note on the
table. I was not disappointed, for there
It was, as big as life, the exact counter
part of the day before:
" 'Miss Lundy Is the robber."
"Here was a pretty kettle of flsh. Per
sistent Informers were Implicating two
aenarata oeraons. either of whom, from
the unsatisfactory evidence then sec'ured.
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WHITE FLYER CIRCLING TAXFOBAX TRACK IX SAN FRAXCISCO.
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I'lvnr-1 i rr Mnir me Tanioran ira.es: in
the latance in 59 seconds flat. Thla
Charles Soules. and other famous drivers. Gus Seyfrled. a San Francis
might have been the thief. I didn't eat
a morsel of the meul that was placed be
fore mo. strewn about my plate like the
cards in some curious game of solitaire.
I nuestioncd the proprietor and the
servants about the hotel, but no,ne of
them knew anything about the notes,
nor had they seen any person enter my
room. This was wnat i ream, aira n.
was not strange, either, for the hotel
was the most public place In the village
and any one of a hundred people could
have entered my room, deposited the
notes and never have attracted the slight
est attention.
"More than ever puzzled. I atrolled
over to the postoffice after lunch. Ma
aon was there and alone. Miss Lundy
had not returned from her dinner. The
postmaster's face was piteous to be
hold. He shrank from me as I greeted
him and put his hands over his face.
His hands shook like a man's with the
palsy. Before I could find a seat he
arose and went Into his private omce,
beckoning me to follow.
"I seated myself and watched with
patience while he strode back and
forth across the limited space of the
office. Suddenly he stopped squarely
before me, and. bracing himself with a
painful effort, blurted out a jumble of
words, confessing that be had robbed
the safe. I was struck all of a heap,
but never for an Instant did I believe
him. There was something about the
very language of his Incoherent con
fession and his manner in making It
that told me that Mason was not the
thief.
" 'See here. Mason.' I answered, when
he paused as if he had completed what
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record Is an Improvement of for
at the wheel has oemonsiraica i
he intended saying, 'you'll have te give
me something more substantial than
your confession befora I will believe
what you have Just said. I don't really
think you did the Job, although I am
satisfied that you broke that window
to draw suspicion from the real crim
inal, and although I know that you de
ceived me about the two tramps."
" 'What more do you want?" . Mason
breathed. 'I did it, I tell you. and I
shall be convicted of It. I can't restore
the stamps and the money-order book be
cause I have destroyed them, but here
is the money, every penny of it."
"He threw a roll of bills in my lap
and continued:
" 'My confession Is sufficient to con
vict upon. I will repeat it in court and
I want you to arrest me and get ma
away from here just as soon as you can."
"Just at this Juncture the depot-agent
entered the office with a telegram fo; me.
It waa from the department. Taking out
my code book. I translated It In a mo
ment and the contents of it. In the light
of Mason's confession, waa nothing less
than unnerving.
"Without a word I wrote the message
out and passed it oyer to Mason:
Money orders blng passed Waco and
other Texas towns.
".'What does it meanT he cried.
"Before I could answer'him Miss Lundy
came Into the office. With a woman's
Intuition she saw that something was
wrong. A look of terror, which smote
me to the heart, swept over her face.
She sprang forward and stepped between
Mason and me, who atood staring at each
other like wooden Images.
" 'What is It?", she pleaded.
' " 'I have confessed to robbing the post
office," Mason replied in a voice that
was utterly devoid of hope.
" "Oh, Captain Dickson," she sobbed,
'don't you believe -him. He didn't have
a thing to do with It I did it myself.
The money is In my trunk. I have
burned the stamps and the mo"ney-order
book."
"' "She didn't do it. Captain Dickson,'
ranted Mason, like a man demented.
'She knows nothing about It. I alone
am guilty and she Is merely trying to
save me from prison; she Is my affianced
bride."
'Thefi both broke Into a torrent of pro
testing and pleading at me, hammer and
tonga, esch seeming bent solely on es
tablishing the innocence of the other and
Individually shouldering all the responsi
bility for the crime. In their frenzied
talk "Mr" and 'Miss' had been quite dis
carded and It' had been "John, dear" and
'Dearest Lucy' and similar terms of en
".fcarment. Suddenly, o great light broke
upon my troubled mind. I -saw the state
of affairs as it existed. Each thought
the other guilty and eaob, though inno
cent, wished to aesume the blame so that
tha other might go free.
" "Hold on there." I cautioned, "you are
a pair of sentimental your Innocents,
and- while l' am willing to give you my
blessing, although It is a bit out of my
line. I am not going to believe a word
either of you say about this robbery and
don't either of you dare to breathe a word
of such absurd nr.nsense to any one else.
I know that neither of you robbed the
safe and you couldn't convince me of
it if you talked a thousand years and
produced the charred remains of that
money-order book itself. Dry your eyes.
Miss Lundy: shake yourself together. Ma
son, and let's get down to serious talk
and clear this thing up. See here." I
continued, producing the four notes that
had been left at my room, honor bright,
now. you wrote theee notes, didn't you?"
"Neither answered me. I was as ut
terly ignored as If I had been a wooden
Indian sign for a cigar store. They
looked deep Into each other's eyes a frac
space of time, for the girl swayed to
wards the man and she was caught In
his arms and crushed against his broad
breast with a force the I feared would
drive the breath from her body. With a
contrite little sob, which rang with a
note of contentment; the woman dropped
her head upon the man's shoulder. He
bent down and kissed her hair with great
tenderness. 'Oh. John," she sobbed, 'how
can you ever forgive me for doubting
you?" ' '
' 'There Is nothing for you to forgive,
dear.' he answered, so low that I scarcely
could hear him. 'I have committed the
grlevlous sin of doubting you. Can you
ever forgive me. dearest?"
"I didn't stay to hear more but beat
out of the office as if the furies were at
my back Instead of two lovers happy be
yond expression In the knowledge that
their doubts were unfounded und that
there was happiness still remaining for
them. I wasn't going to take chances on
their being disturbed, so I took possession
on the porch before the postoftlce door
to head off any persons who might feel
Inclined to intrude upon their privacy.
"After some time they called to me.
Between the two of them they explained
everything. They had long been lov-rs.
and with the aversion that lovers have for
the clattering of village gossips' merci
less tongues, they had succeeded In keep
ing their attachment a secret. They had
been engaged for some time, and it was
their custom to meet at the home of a
kindly old lady of an evening, she alone i
me
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knowirrg of their engagement. On the
night of the robbery they had spent the
evening together at the widow's. Miss
Lundy had never set the date for the
wedding because she had not had the
means with which to buy her necessary
outfit of clothing. She had been waiting
for' the return of her guardian from
abroad so that she might secure from
him the few hundred dollars that re
mained of her small patrimony. She waa
an orphan and had lived in New Tork
City with her guardian until the illness
of one of hie daughters had taken him
abroad. She had come to the village to
seek the seclusion in which she might
finish the writing of a novel on which she
had been working. She met the post
master, and her means being of the
slenderest, had accepted the position as
his siHtuiit upon the marriage of the
last Incumbent of that post. On the day
of the robbery she had received a reg
istered packet from her guardian contain
ing 500. and that evening she had set
tho date for the ceremony which was to
make her Mr. Mason.
"She and Mason had left the widow's
about 10 o'clock and Mason had- left her
at the gate. After leaving her. Mason
had taken a long stroll, and about mid
night had passed the postoffice in return
ing to his home. As he approached the
building he had seen a lady leaving it.
eloping and locking the door after her.
He had stopped In bewilderment, aa he
knew that only Miss Lundy. besides him
self, had a key to the office, and in
the uncertain light he thought that he
recognized her. - It never occurred to him
to fullow the woman. But he had allowed
her to tur'n the neatest corner and then
he had lot himself Into the postoffice. His
hasty examination, failed to show- any
thing amiss. On the floor, directly in
front of the safe, he had found a tube
rose blossom. Miss Ijndy had worn such
s bud that evening, and although he had
importuned her for It, she with a
woman's waywardness, perhaps just to
tease him, had refused to give him the
flower.
"Next morning, when she opened the
safe he discovered the robbery. His sus
picion of Miss Lundy had then come
upon him. There were many facts
against her. as he saw it. She had re
ceived a sum of money for which sh.i
had been waiting and which alone had
caused their marriage to be so long post
poned; he had seen her leave the post
office st an hour of night when she could
have had no business there and at which,
even had she felt some necessity for
visiting the office, propriety would have
prevented her doing it: she had worn
tha very tuberose blossom that he had
found, ih the office. Although these cir
cumstances seemed to fix guilt upon his
assistant beyond doubt. Mason had
thought only of shielding her. He had
endeavored to figure out some plan and
had conceived the Idea of the tramps and
the broken window. Immediately he. had
smashed the glass of the back window
with the stick that was employed in
fastening it. Miss Iindy had arrived at
this Inopportune time and had seen Ma
son strike the blow. In her excitement
over the robbery she had forgotten the
incident, nor did she remember It or at
tach any Importance to it until Mason
had showed it to me as the place where
the tramps had gained entrance. Miss
Lundy had heard me question oertaln
village characters about the tramps and
had heard them deny having seen them.
She had heard Mason tell me of them and
knew that It was a fabrication. She had
noticed the nervous condition of Mason,
sttrlbutable to his belief that she had
been the thief, hut she had attributed
It to his guilt. She had desired to s.iield
him anil had written me the whole ac
count herself.
"It was 4 pretty tangle. The lovers
hsd straightened it out to their own satis
Makes Call inAutomobile
AN automobile as the means of
transportation for a minister of
the gospel is the latest Innova
tion in Portland. Dr. W. T. Euster, pas
tor of. Sunnyside Methodist Episcopal
Church, uses his machine a great deal
in his work, and declares It is the
greatest of time-savers; he says he can
make more calls and cover more ground
with It than any ten preachers can on
foot. On many of his calls he is ac
companied by Mrs. Euster. who Is keen
ly' interested in the success of the
church. While they have been in
charge for but a few weeks, they have
an excellent grasp of the local situa
tion, and are rapidly gaining a wide
acquaintance.
Dr. Euster is from Pendleton, where
he was in charge of the Methodist
Episcopal Church. It was while serv
ing that charge that he purchased the
Ms
jt? S -.- X X
REV. W. T. EISTER AND HIS WIFE IN THEIR AI TOMOBII.E.
faction, and while r knew that. neitheT
of them had any uilty knowledge of the
deed. I was far from being satisfied and
felt that my work had Just begun.
"With my suspicion of Mason set at
rest. I could confide more fully In him.
so I set out with two clews, the woman
visitor that Mason had seen and the pin
with the glass head. There were many
women in the village that fitted the de
scription in a general way and that was a
hard clew to follow, so I fell back upon
the pin. There were none of the kind for
sale in the village, nor bad there ever
been, so I knew that the pin must be an
imported one. This waa some progress,
but I was still far from shore.
"I don't know- that I would ever have
run the thief to earth if It hadn't
chanced that I met a lady one afternoon
who wore a flower pinned upon her breast.
A glance showed me that the pin which
held it was the twin brother to the on
I had found. The lady. I learned, had
been In the village some four or five
months, teaching a dancing school with
great success. No one knew where she
came from.
"It was an easy matter to clear up the
robbery after this. She was an old-timer
in criminal deeds and as slick a crook as
ever wore petticoats. She had easily
learned the carelees methods of the post
office, and when she deemed the occa
sion ripe, had selected a skeleton key
from her stock and pulled off the rob
bery, a neat Job except for Mason's un
timely appearance upon the scene. She
had most of the stamps in her possession,
but she had sent the money-order book
to her husband, who was then operating
in the profitable field of the Southwest.
"How' about the lovers, did you say?
They were married in due time and I
had the pleasure of officiating as best
man."
Pet Dog Lives In Luxury. i
New Tork Herald.
Nana, a French poodle, owned by Ed
ward Ellsworth, a real estate operator,
now has more luxurious accommoda
tions In the Plaza than have been pro
vided for any other pet housed In the
hotel since tho opening of the estab
lishment. A private room, a tutor, a
maid, a private bath and a special menu
aro among the items on the list of the
necessaries of life provided for the dog.
Orders were given that nobody Is to
be permitted to enter the room In the
basement near the powerhouse assigned
to Nana. Tn the room a bathtub with a
shower bath attachment was placed for
the use of the poodle.
A tutor, engaged to teach Nana to
perform tricks much more complicated
than tho ordinary "roll over." "plav
dead" and "jump through," which com
pose the repertoires of less pampered
dogs, spent, an hour with Mr. Ellsworth's
prlzo animal. The food which Nana ate
was specially prepared in tho servants'
kitchen, where Nana has her own serv
ice of dishes, which is to be used by
none of the other dogs in the hotel.
Argues for Simplified Spelling.
New Tork Fress.
The other night In an upper West Side
home there was a spelling bee at which
some 40-odd guests failed. The hoste-3
offered the following sentence as a test:
"Jt Is an agreeable sight to perceive
the unparalleled embarrassment of a
harassed peddler attempting to gauge
the symmetry of a peeled onion, which t
sibyl had stabbed with a poignard. re
gardless of the innuendoes of .tho lilies
bf a cornellon hue."
The president of a college made Ave
errors In writing It. a learned. clergyman
made seven and an eminent teacher and
lecturer made six.
automobile, as he found It would ho a
fine thing for use in that country. He
had many long runs to make, and be
came greatly In favpr of the machine
as a means of covering large territory.
When he came to Portland he simply
had It shipped along as a part of the
regular outfit, and immediately put It
to work upon its arrival. .
Sunnyside Church has been In a pros
perous condition for years, with an
ever-Increasing membership and very
bright prospects, and Dr. Euster Is on
the ground for the purpose of build
ing a large church edifice, which will
accommodate the membership and con
gregations and supply the great need
for room for the various departments.
The church owns a very valuable site
nt East Thirty-fifth and Yamhill streets.
In a choice location, and by close ob
servers Is admitted to be in an enviable
position.
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tion of a second and they must
seen a lot to comfort them in that
lave I ,1,,,,,,,,,,!
brief a- .- a.
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