FAMOUS DETECTIVE CASES
By Cleveland Moffett
Mysterious Murder and Robbery of an Ex
press Messenger and the Final Solution
of a Most Difficult Crime Problem
HK through express on the
Rork Island road left Clil
cago at M:40 p. in. on
March 12, 1886, with twen
ty-two thousand dollai In
I fifty and one-hundred dol
lar bills In the keeping of
Kellogg Nichols, an old-
time messenger of the Unit
ed states Express com
pany. This sum hud been
sent by a Chicago bunk to
be delivered at the prln
clpal bank In Davenport, Iowa, lu
addition to the usuttl passenger
coaches, the train drew two express
ears: the first, for express only, Just
behind the engine, and, following this,
one for express and baggage. These
cars bad end doors, which offer the
best opportunity to train robbers.
Messenger Nichols wss In the first car,
and waa duly at his work when the
train stopped at Jollet about forty
miles southwest of Chicago, But at
the- next atop, which waa made at
Morris, Harry Schwartz, a brskeuian,
cam running from Nichols' csr, cry
ing, "The messenger Is dead."
The messenger's lifeless body whs
found lying on the floor of the car.
Tbt head hsd been crushed by some
heavy weapon, and there waa a pistol
wound In the right shoulder. Appar
ently he had been overcome only after
bard fight Bis face was set with
fierce determination. Ills fists were
clenched, and the bands and fingers
cut and scratched In curious way,
hlle nnder the nails were found what
proved to be bits of human flesh. The
pistol wound wss front weapon of
82 caliber: but it was not the cause
of the man's death. This, unmlstuk
ably, wss the blow or blows, on the
bead, probably after the shot was fired.
All who knew Messenger Nichols were
surprised at the desperate resistance
be seemed to have made, for be was
email, light man.
The express car was Immediately
detached from the train, and left at
Morris, guarded by all the train crew
except Schwartz, who was sent ou
with the train to Davenport. After
the first cursory Inspection no one was
allowed to enter the car where Nichols
lay; and nothing was known precisely
as to the extent of the robbery. The
safe door had been found open and the
floor of the car Uttered with the con
tents of the safe.
An argent telegram was at once sent
to Chicago, and force of detectives
arrived at Morris on special train
a few hours Ister. Search parties
were at once sent out In all directions
long the country roads and up and
down the tracks. Hundreds of people
Joined In the search, for the news of
the murder spread rapidly through the
. whole region, and not a square ysrd
of territory for miles between Morris
and Minooka station was left unex
plored. It happened that the ground
was covered with snow, but the keen
est scrutiny failed to reveal any sig
nificant footprints, and the search par
ties returned after many hours, having
Hide only a single discovery. This was
mask found In a cattle guard near
Minooka a mask made of black cloth,
with white strings fastened at either
aide, one of which had been torn out
of the cloth as If in struggle.
Mennttme Mr. Plnkerton himself en
tered the car and made a careful In
vestigation. Coming to the safe, Mr. Plnkerton
found that the twenty-two thousand
dollars were missing, and that other
papers hsd been hastily searched over,
but left behind aa valueless.
Among these ws a bundle of can
celed drafts that had been roughly torn
open and then thrown aside.
All the train hands were Immeditely
questioned, but none of their stories
was In any way significant, except that
of Newton Watt, the man In charge of
the second car. He said that while
busy counting over his way bills and
receipts he had been startled by the
crash of broken glass In the ventilator
overlies d, snd that at the same mo
ment hesvily built man, wearing a
blsck mask, had entered the car and
aid, "If you move, the uiun up there
will bore you." Looking up, Watt said
further, he saw a hand thrust through
the broken glass and holding re
volver. Thus Intimidated, he made no
attempt to give an alarm, and the
masked roan presently left him under
guard of the pistol overhead, which
covered htm until shortly before the
train reached Morris, when It was
withdrawn. He waa able to locate the
place where the crime must have been
committed, as he remembered that the
engine was whistling fur Minooka
when the stranger entered the car.
This left about thirty minutes for the
murder, robbery, and escape.
Returning to Chicago, Mr. Plnkerton
Investigated the character of the man
Watt, and found that he had clean
record, waa regarded as a trusty and
efficient man, and had three brothers
who had been railroad men for years
nd hsd always given perfect liitUfitc
tlon. Watt's good reputation and
straightforward manner were strong
points In his favor, and yet there waa
something questionable In his story of
the mysterious hand. For one tiling,
no footprints were found In the snow
on the top of the car.
Bntkeninn Schwartz, the only man
IT I
m
(CoprrlfM br W. 0. Chipmsn
on the train who bad not yet been
questioned, "deadheaded" his way. In
railway parlance, back from Daven
port the following night ou Conductor
Danforth's train, and reported to Mr,
Plnkerton 4 he next morning. He waa
a' tall, fine-looking young fellow, about
twenty-seven, with thin lips and face
that showed determination. He waa
rutlier dapper In dress, and kept on his
glovea during the conversation. Mr.
Plnkerton received him pleasantly,
and, after they had been smoking and
chatting for an hour or so, he sug
gested to Schwartt that he would he
more comfortable with his glovea off.
Schwartz accordingly removed them,
and revealed red marks on the backs
of hla hands, such as might have been
made by fingernails dialing Into them.
"How did yoo hurt your hands,
Schwartzr asked Mr. Plnkerton.
"Oh, I did that handling bugs-line
night before last," explained Schwarta
and then he related Incidentally that
as he was on his wsy back to Chicago,
the conductor of th train. Conductor
Danforth, had discovered a valise left
by somebody In one of the toilet rooms.
Later In the day Mr. Plnkerton sum
moned the conductor, who said that
the valise was an old one, of no value;
and, having no contents, be hsd thrown
It out on' an ash pile. The only thing
he had found In the valise waa a piece
of paper that attracted hla attention
because It waa marked with red Hues.
Examining this piece of paper care
fully. Mr. Plnkerton aaw that It had
been torn from money draft, and at
once thought of the package In the
express messenger's safe.
Mr. Plnkerton at ones ordered
search made for the missing valise,
and also an Inquiry regarding the pas
sengers who hsd ridden on Conductor
Danforth's train between Duvenport
and Chicago on the night following
the murder. The valise was found on
the ssh heap where the conductor had
thrown It, snd In the course of the
next few days the detectives had lo
cated or accounted for ill passengers
on Conductor Danforth's train, with
the exception of one man who had
ridden on free pass. The conductor
could only recall this man's features
vaguely; and, while some of the pas
sengers remembered him well enough,
there was no clue to his name or
Identity. As It appeared that no other
of the passengers could have been
connected with the crime, efforts were
redoubled to discover the bolder of
this pass.
So greet was the public Interest In
the crime and the mystery surrounding
It that three separate, well-organized
Investigations of It were undertaken.
The Rock Island railroad officials, with
their detectives, conducted one; Chi
csgo newspsper, with Its detectives,
another; and the Ptnkertons, In the
Interest of the United States Express
company, s third.
Mr. Plnkerton, as we have seen, con
cluded that the crime had been com
mitted by railway men. The railway
officials were naturally disinclined to
believe ill of their employees, and an
Incident occurred shout this time
which turned the Investigation In an
entirely new direction snd made them
the more disposed to discredit Mr.
Plnkerton's theory. This wss ths re
ceipt of letter from a convict lu the
Michigan City penitentiary, named
Plunkett who wrote the Rock Island
railroad officials, saying that he could
furnish them with Important Informa
tion. Mr. fit. John, the general manager
of the road, went in person to the pen
itentiary to take Plunkett's statement,
which was In effect that he knew the
men who had committed the robbery
and killed Nichols, and was willing to
sell this Information In exchange for a
full pardon, which the railroad people
could secure by using their Influence.
This they promised to do If his story
proved true, and Plunkett then told
them of a plot that had been worked
out year or so before, when he had
been grafting with a mob of pick
pockets at county fairs. There were
with him at that time "Butch" McCoy,
James Connors (known as "Yellow
hainmer"), and a man named "Jeff,"
whose surname he did not know.
These three men, Plunkett said, bad
planned sn express robbery on the
Rock Island road, to be executed In
precisely the same way, and at pre
cisely the same point on the road, as
In the case In question.
The story was plausible, and woo
Mr. tit John's belief. It won the be
lief, also, of the Chicago newspaper;
and forthwith the railway detectives,
working with the newspaper detec
tives, were Instructed to go ahead on
new lines, regardless of trouble or
expense. Their first endesvor was to
capture "Butch" McCoy, the leader of
the gang. "Butch" was a pickpocket,
burglar, and all-around thief, whose
operations kept him traveling all over
the United States.
The police in various cities having
been communicated with to no pur
pose, the editor finally decided to do a
thing the like of which no newspaper
proprietor, perhaps, ever undertook be
forethat Is. start on a personal
search for McCoy and Ills associates.
With Frank Murray, one of the best
detectives In Chlcngo, and other de
tectives, be went to Galesburg, where
the gang wns said to have sort of
headquarters. Ths party found there
none of the men they were after, but
they learned that "Thatch" Grady, a
notorious crliul.mil with whom "Butch"
McCoy was known to be in relations,
was In Omaha, So they hurried
to Omaha, but only to find that
Grady had gone to St, Louis. Then to
St. Louts went the editor and his de
tectives, hot on the scent, and spent
several days In that city searching
high, and low.
The method of locating a criminal In
a great city la as Interesting aa It la
little understood. The first atep Is
to secure from the local police Infor
mation as to the favorite haunts of
criminals of the class tinder pursuit,
pacing special regurd in the prelim
inary Inquiries to the possibility of
love affulrs; for thieves, even more
than honest men, are swayed In their
lives by the tender pnaalon, and are
often brought to Justice through the
agency of women. With so much of
such information In their possession
as they could gather, the editor and
lita detectives spent their time In
likely resorts, picking up acquaint
nines with frequenters, and, whenever
possible, turning the talk adroitly
upon the man they were looking for.
It Is a mistake to suppose that In
work like this detectives disguise
themselves. False beards and mus
taches, goggles and lightning changes
of clothing, are never heard of except
In the pages of badly Informed atory
writers. In his experience of over
twenty-five years Mr. Murray never
wore such a disguise, nor knew of
any reputable detective who did. In
this expedition the detectives simply
assumed the characters and general
style of the persona they were thrown
with, passing for men of sporting
tastes from the East ; snd, having sat
isfied the people they met that they
meant no harm, they had no difficulty
In obtaining such news of Mi-Coy snd
the others aa there was. Unfortu
nately this was not ranch.
After going from one city to another
on various clues, bearing of one mem
ber of the gang here and another there,
and in each Instance losing their man,
the detectives finally brought up In
New Orleans. They had spent five or
six weeks of time snd a large amount
of. money, only to find themselves ab
solutely without a clue as to the
whereabouts of the men they were
pursuing. They were much dlseour
sged when a telegram from Mr. Pln
kerton told them that "Hutch" McCoy
was bsck In Galesburg, where they
had first sought him. Proceeding
thither with sil dlspstch, they triced
McCoy Into a saloon, and there three
of them John Smith, representing
the Hock Island railroad; John Mc
Ginn, for the Plnkerton agency, and
Frank Murray, working for the news
psper with drswn revolvers captured
htm. in spite of a desperate dash be
mule to escape.
McCoy's capture wss the -occsslna
of much felicitation among ths peo
ple Interested In the matter. Mr. St.
John and the editor were confident
that now the whole myatery of the ex
press robbery would he solved and
the murderer convicted. But McCoy
showed on trlsl that be bad left New
Orleans to come North only the Bight
before the murder snd bad spent the
whole of thst night on the Illinois
Central railroad. It also appeared
that McCoy's associate, Connors, was
In Jail at the time of the robbery, snd
that the man "Jeff" was dead. Thus
the whole Plunkett story wss exploded.
Some time before this the man who
had ridden on the free paas, and given
the detectives so much trouble, hsd
been accidentally found by Jack Mul
Una. a brakeman on Conductor Dun
forth's train. He proved to be an
advertising solicitor, employed by no
other thsn thst self-ssme newspaper,
which would have given thousand
dollars to know what Its agent knew;
for the advertising man had seen the
conductor bring out the valise con
taining the all-important fragment of
the draft. But he bad not realized
the value of the news In his posses
sion, and Mr, Plnkerton took good
csre to keep him from that knowl
edge. Not until he had seen the man
safely on s train out from Chicago
did Mr, Plnkerton breathe easily; and
It was not until months later that the
editor learned how near be came to
getting a splendid "scoop" on the whole
city and country.
The Identification of the piss-bolder
removed the last possibility that the
valise bad been taken Into the train by
any of Conductor Danforth's passen
gers. And yet the valise was there!
Mow came It there? In the course of
their examination two of the passen
gers had testified to having seen
Schwartz enter the toilet room dur
ing the run. Ilrakemnn Jack Mulllm
stated thst he hsd been In the same
room twice that night, that the aeo
ond time he had noticed the valise,
but that it was not there when he went
in first Other witnesses In the csr
were positive that the person who
entered the room last before the time
when Mulllns saw the valise was
Schwartz. Thus the chain of proof
was tightening, and Mr, Plnkerton
sent for 8chwarts.
After talking with the brakeman in
semi-confidential way for some time,
the detective began to queatlon him
about Watt, his . fellow trainman.
Schwartz said he was good fellow,
and, in general, spoke highly of him.
Mr. Plnkerton seemed to hesitate
little, snd then said:
"Can I trust you, Schwartz?"
"Ten, sir."
"Well, the fact Is, I am little sus
picious of Watt, Tou see, his story
about thst hand overhead does not ex
actly hang together, I don't want to
do him any wrong, but he must be
looked after. Now, my Idea Is to have
you go about with htm as much as you
can, set If lis meets any strangers or
spends much money, and lot ma know
vhutever happens, Will you do It?"
.Schwnrts readily consented, on the
Durance that the railroad people
oiild give him leave of absence. The
next day he reported that Watt had
met a man who wore a slouch hut, had
unkempt red hair, and In general
looked like a border ruffian. He hud
overheard the two talking together In
a Bullion on Cottuge Grove avenue,
where the stranger had discussed ths
murder of Nichols In great detail,
showing a remarkable fnmlllurlty with
the whole affnlr. Schwartz had a sort
of Jesse James theory (which he
seemed anxious to huve accepted)
that the crime had been committed by
a gang of Western desHradoes and
that this fellow was connected with
them.
Mr. Plnkerton listened with Interest
to all this, but was less edltled than
Schwurts Imagined, since two of hla
moat trusted shadows, who had been
following Schwartz, had given liiiu re
ports of the In Iter's movements, mak
ing It plain that the red-haired dee
perado waa a myth, and that no audi
meeting aa Schwartz described had
taken place. Nevertheless, professing
to be well pleased with Schwartz's ef
forts, Mr. Plnkerton sent lilm out to
track the fabuloua tles;ierndo.
Schwarta continued to render false re
ports. Finally, without a word to
srouse his suspicion, he waa allowed
to resume his work on the railroad.
The ahadowa put upon Schwartz af
ter this reported a suspicious Inti
macy between hint and Watt and a
detective of great tact, Frank Jones,
waa detailed to get Into their confi
dence. II possible. He waa given a
"run" as brakeman between Des Moines
snd Davenport, and It waa arranged
that be should come In from the west
and lay over at Davenport on the
same duys when Schwartz and Watt
laid over there, coming In from the
east. Jones played bis part cleverly,
snd waa aoon on Intimate terms with
Schwartz and Watt, taking his meals
at their boarding house and sleeping In
a room adjoining theirs. They finally
rsme to like him so well that they
suggested his trying to get transfer
to their run, between Davenport and
Chicago. This wss successfully ar
ranged, and then the three men were
together constantly, Jones even go
ing to board at Schwartz's house In
Chicago. About thla time Schwarti
begun to talk of giving up railroad
work and going to live In Kaitsua or
the far West It waa arranged that
Jones should Join lilm and Mrs.
Schwartz on western trip. Mean
time Schwarta applied to the company
for leave of absence, on the plea that
be wished to arrange some family mut
ters tn Philadelphia.
Mr. ' Plnkerton being Informed by
Jones of Schwsrtz's application, used
bis Influence to bive It granted.
When the young man started East he
did not travel alone. Ilia every move
ment was watched and reported, nor
was he left unguarded for moment,
day or night, during an absence of
several weeks. In New Tork, Phila
delphia, snd other eastern cities.
To one unfsmlllsr with the re
sources snd organization of a great
detective system it Is Incomprehensi
ble bow continuous shadowing day af
ter day and week after week, through
tbnussndi of miles of Journeying, can
be accomplished. The matter la made
none the simpler when you know that
there must be chsnge of shadows ev
ery dsy. However sdrolt the detec
tive, his continued presence In a lo
cality would soon arouse suspicion.
The dally change of ahadows la easy
when the man under watch remains In
one plsre; for then It Is only neces
sary to send a new shadow from the
central office early each morning to
replace the one who "put the man to
bed" the night before. Hut It Is very
different when the subject is constant
ly .traveling about on boats or rail
ways, and perhaps sleeping In differ
ent town each night. Without net
work of agencies. Including large and
amatt bureaus ratahllahed all over the
United States, the shadowing of l man
In rapid flight would be Impossible.
As it Is, nothing Is esster. Schwartz,
for Instance, spent several days In
Buffalo, where his actions were re
ported hour by hour until he bought
his ticket for Philadelphia. As he
took the train a fresh shadow took
It, too, securing a section In the same
sleeping rar with him, and taking hla
meals st ths same time 8ehwartz took
hla, either In -the dining car or at sta
tions. No sooner had the train left
the station than the Plnkerton retire,
aentatlve In Buffalo reported by cipher
dispatch to the bureau In Philadelphia,
whither Schwartz was going. The el
ect form of the dispatch, which well
Illustrates system In constant use
In the Plnkerton bureaus, was as fol
lows: "R. 3. LINDEN,
"441 Chestnut street,
"Philadelphia, Pa.
"Anxious shoes sucker Broun mar
bles msn other dropping eight arrives
put grind fifty marbles articles along
or derby cost ship very tsn seer wear
ing these have and Is ribbon Ink dust
central Tuesday for dust to rice hat
and and paper vest yellow Ink get must
Jewelry morning depot on.
"I). ROBERTSON."
In dispatches In this sort Important
Information regarding criminals Is con
stantly flushing over the wires, with
no danger of any leak,
Tims, from one city to another, and
through every part of the country, any
criminal may be shadowed today aa
Schwarta waa shadowed, one set of
detectives relieving another every
twenty-four hours, snd the man's ev
ery word and action he carefully noted
down and reported, without his hav
ing the faintest suspicion that he la
under observation. The task of shad
owing a person who la traversing city
streets la Intrusted to men especially
killed In the art (for art It Is) of
Hiving without being seen. This Is, In
deed, one of the most difficult tusks
i detective la culled upon to perform,
and the few who excel In It are given
little elae to do, Where criminal
like Schwurts, unon whose final cup
ture much depends, la being followed,
two, three, or even four shadows are
employed simultaneously, one keep
ing In advance,' one In the rear, and
two on either side. The advantage
of this Is that one relieves the other
by change of position, thus lessening
the chance of discovery, while, of
course, It Is acarcely possible for sev
em I ahadowa to be thrown off the trail
at once. An adroit criminal might
outwit one shadow, but he could
scarcely outwit four. A shadow, on
coming Into new town with a sub
ject, reveals himself to the shudow
who la to relieve lilm by some prear
ranged signal, such as a hundkerchluf
held In the left hand.
The result of the shadowing In
Schwurta'a rase waa conclusive. No
sooner was the brakeman out of Chl
cngo than he begun spending money
far tn excess of his Income. He bought
tine furniture, expensive clothing, ar
ticles of Jewelry, presents for Ids wife,
and laid In an elaborate mpply of
rifles, shotguns, revolvers, snd all aorta
of ammunition. Including a quantity of
cartridges. The shadows found thai
In almost every caae he paid for hla
purchase with fifty or one-hundred-dollar
hills. As far as possible these
hills were secured by the detectives
from the persona to whom they had
been paid. Immediately after
Schwarta'a departure. It will be re
membered that the money taken In
the robbery consisted of fifty and on
hundred dollar bills
In addition to this. It waa found, by
the Investigations of detective at
Philadelphia, that Schwarta waa the
son of a wealthy retired butcher there,
a most respectable man, and that he
bod wife and child In Philadelphia,
whom he had entirely deserted. This
gave sn opportunity to take him Into
custody and atlll concent from him
that he was ausiiected of committing
a higher crime. The Philadelphia wife
and child were taken ou to Chicago,
and Schwartz was placed under arrest,
charged with bigamy,
Mr. Plnkerton went to the Jail at
once, anil, wishing to keep Schwarta'a
confidence aa far as possible, assured
hlra that thla arrest was not his work
at all, but that of Detective Smith and
Murray, who were, aa Schwartz knew,
working In the Interests bt the rail
road people and of the Chicago news
psper. Mr. Plnkerton told Schwsrtz
thst lie still believed, ss he hsd done
sll along, that Watt was the guilty
man, and promised to do whatever he
could to befriend Schwartz. The lat
ter did not appear to be very much
alarmed, and ssld that a Philadelphia
lawyer waa coining on to defend him.
The lawyer did come a few daya Inter,
when a bond for two thousand dollars
wss furnished for Schwarta'a reap
pearance, and be waa set at liberty.
Matters bsd gone so far, however, that
It waa not considered aafe to leave
Schwartz out of Jail, and he was Im
mediately arrested on the cbsrge of
murder.
Whether because of long preparation
for this ordeal or because he was a
man of strong character. Schwartz re
ceived this blow without the slightest
show of emotion, and went back Into
the Jail aa coolly aa he had come out.
He merely requested that be might
have an Interview with hla wife aa
soon ss possible.
Mr. Plnkerton bsd evidence enough
sgslnst Sfhwarts to furnish strung
presumption of guilt ; but It waa all cir
cumstantial, and, lies I des, It did not In
volve Newton Watt, whose complicity
was more than suspected. From the
first Mr. Plnkerton hsd been carefully
conciliatory of the later Mrs. Schwartz.
At Just the right moment, and by
adroit management, he got her under
hla direction, and by taking train
with her to Morris, and then on the
next morning taking another train hark
to Chicago, he succeeded In preventing
her from getting the advice of her
husband's lawyer, who was meantime
making the sain double Journey on
pursuing trains with the design of cau
tioning her against speaking to Mr.
Plnkerton. "She had come to regard
Mr. Plnkerton more ss a protector than
ss an enemy, and he, during the hoiiri
they were together, used every de
vice tn draw from her some damaging
admission. He told her that the evi
dence against her husband, although
serious In Its character, was not. In his
opinion, sufficient to establish his
guilt. He told her of the hills found
In Schwartz's possession, of the torn
piece of the draft taken from the
valise, of the murks on bis hands and
the lies he had told. All this, he said,
proved that Schwartz had aome con
nection with the robhery, hut not that
he had committed the murder, or done
more than assist Watt whom Mr. Pln
kerton professed to regard aa the chief
criminal. The only hop of saving her
husband now, he Impressed upon her,
was for her to mnk a plain statement
of the truth, and trust that he would
use this In her husband's Interest,
After listening to all that ha said,
and trying In many ways tn evade the
main question, Mr. Schwartz at last
admitted to Mr. Plnkerton that her
husband had found a package con
taining five thousand dollars of the stol
en money under one of the seat on
Conductor Danforth's train, on the
night of his return to Chicago. H
had kept thla money and used It for
his own purposes, hut had been guilty
of no other offense In the mntter. Mrs.
Schwurts stuck resolutely to this state
ment, and would admit nothing
further.
Believing that lit had drown from
her aa much as h could, Mr. Pinker- ;
tou now accompanied Mra, Schwartt
to lha Jnll, where she was to see her
husband. The first words she salt!,
on entering ths room where h was,
were: "Harry, I hsvs told Mr. Pln
kerton the whol truth. I thought
that wss the best way, for h I your
friend. I told him about your finding
the five thousand dollars under th ,
sent of the csr, and that was all yog
had to do with the business."
For the Ilrst time Schwartz emo
tions nearly betrayed him. However,
ha braced himself, and only admitted
In a general way that there waa sain
truth In what his wife had said, lis
refused positively to go Into details,
seemed very nervous, and alinoat Im
mediately asked to he loft alone Willi
hi wife. Mr, Plnkerton had been ex
pecting thla. and was prepared for It
II. ..II .1 . I. . L. a.
li reniir.ru nit siiucs inui wuuui os
caused In Schwartz' mind by hla
wife' unexpected confession, and
counted . on this to lesd to further
admissions. It waa, therefore, of the
highest importance that credible wit
nesses should overhear all that Iran- '
aplred In the Interview between '.
Schwartt and his wife. With this end
In view, the room where the Interview
wss to take plac had been arranged ,
ao that number of witnesses could
se and hear without their presence
being suspected; and the aberlff ol
the county, a leading merchant, and
leading hanker of the town, were wait
ing there In readiness.
At soon aa the door had closed and
the husband and wife war left Ions,
Schwarta exclaimed:
"You fool, you hav put rope
around Watt's snd my nsrkl"
"Why, Hsrry, I bsd to tell htm
something, he knew so much. You
csn trust him."
"You ought to know better thsn to
trust anybody."
The mm walked hack and forth,
prey to the moat violent emotions, hi
wife trying vainly to quiet lilm. At
each affectionate touch he would brush
her off roughly, with curse, and g
oa pacing back and forth, fiercely.
Suddenly be buret out :
"What did you do with that mat
the one you cut the maik out of r
"Oh, that' all right; It' In the
woodshed, under the whole woodpile."
They continued to talk for over en
hour, referring to the murder and
rohliery repeatedly, and furnishing evi
dence enough to establish beyond any
question the guilt of both Schwarta
and Watt.
Meantime Watt had been arreatedl
In Chicago, also charged with murder,
snd In seversl examinations had shown,
algna of breaking down and confessing,
but In each Instance bad recovered
himself snd said nothing. The evi
dence of Schwartz himself, however.
In the interview at the Jail, takes with
tli mass of other evldenc that bad
accumulated, wss sufficient to aecure
the conviction ol both men, who wer
condemned at the trial to Ufa Impris
onment In tli Jollet penitentiary.
They would undoubtedly hav been
banged but for ths conscientious
scruple of one Jurymen, who did not
believe In capital punishment.
About year after th trial
Schwartz's Chlcsgo wife died of con
sumption. On her deathbed ahe made
full confession. Sh said thst her
husband's mind hsd been Inflsined by
the constant reading of sensational lit
erature of the dime-novel order; and
that under this evil Influence be hsd
plnnned the robbery, believing thst It
would he easy to Intimidate a weak
little man like Nichols, and escape
with the money without harming him.
Nichols, however, had fought Ilka a
tiger op and down th rar, and bsd
finally forced them to kill lilm. In
the fight he had tons off the mask
thnt Mra. Schwarta hsd mad out
of on of her busband'a old costs. It
wss Watt who fired th pistol, while
Schwartt used the poker. Schwartz
had given Watt five thousand dollars
of the atolen money, and had kept th
rest himself. He had carried th
money away In an old tatchol bought
for th purpose, A moat unusual
place of concealment had been chosen,
and one where the money had escaped
discovery, although on aeveral occa
sions. In searching the house, th de
tectives hsd literally held It In their .
hands. Schwartt had taken B quan
tity of the cartridges he bought for hi
shotgun, snd emptying them, had put
In each ahell one of the fifty or one.
hundred dollar bills, upon which lie',,
had then loaded In the powder and
the shot In the usual way, so that th '
shells presented the ordinary appear
ance aa they lay In the drawer. Th
detective had even picked out some
of the ahot and powder In two or three
of the shells; hut, finding them so Ilk
other cartridges, had never thought of
probing clear to th bottom of th
hell for a crumpled up hill.
Thus shout thirteen thousand dollar
lay for weeks In these ordinary-look-Ing
cartridges, and wer finally re
moved In the following way: While
Schwarta was tn Jail, a well-known
lawyer of Philadelphia ram to Mrs,
Schwartz one day, with an order from
her husband to deliver th money over '
to him. She understood this was to
defray th expenses of the trial and
to pay th other lawyers. Superin
tendent Robertson remember well the
dying woman' emotion a ah mad
thla solemn declaration, on calculated
to compromise seriously a man of;
some standing and belonging to an
honored profession. Her body wo
wasted with disease, and she knew
that her end was near, Ther wat a
flush on her fare, and lier eye were
bright with hatred as she declared that
not one dollar of that money was ever
returned to her, or ever uaed In pay
Ing the costs of her. husband'! trial.
Nor was one dollar of It ever returned
to th railroad company, or to the baalx
offlclult, who wer th reel owners.