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A Fall From Grace Stories of the Greatest Cases in the Career of Thomas Furlong, the Fa mous Railroad Detective, Told by Himself Copyright by W. G. Chapman In the latter part of the year 1S92 Mr. Clarence White, manager for the firm of John Bolland & Co. of St. Louis, who owned a large jewelry store in that city, called upon me in my office in the Chemical building. "We are in trouble, M1r. Furlong." he began, "and want to have your as sistance. You know that our firm does a large business in this city. A quan Irty of valuable goods has disap ;,eaecd in a mysterious manner, and is still disappearing, and we cannot lay our hands upon the culprit. Mr. Rolland has asked me to call and put the case before you, and tomorrow he will come in person for a conference." On the following day, when Mr. Holland called, he stated that it was more than two years since goods be gain to disappear from the store, and that these losses were growing to alarming proportions. In the endeavor to clear up the mystery he had se cured the services of another local private detr -tive agency, at a consid erable expense, but without being able to fasten the guilt upon anyone. He added that he would like to have me make an investigation and apprehend the guilty person or persons, if it could be done. "In view of the large amount that I have already spent in order to de tect the thief, I do not feel like spend ing a large sum," continued Mr. Bol land, "but see what you can do with out incurring any heavy expenses. It is necessary to me to have this mat ter cleared up, but the police depart ment is unable to help me, and I do not know where to turn." "It is evident to me, Mr. Bolland," I said, "that you believe all your em ployes to be honest or else you would not have them in your employment." "You need not spend any time in looking after Clarence White, Fred Erfert, or myself," answered Mr. Bol land, "but you may use your judgment as to the other employes, although I want you to understand that I have the utmost confidence in all of them." The employe named Erfert was well known to me. He had been in the service of the company since his boy hood. He was then about twenty-two or twenty-three years of age, had be come a trusted employe, and carried the keys of the establishment. He was the first man to open the store in the morning a nd the last man out at night, closing and locking the store himself. Clarence White was an older man, and of blameless reputation. A short time before this interview took place, according to Mr. Bolland's further statement, the company had purchased a large stock of jewelry at a bankrupt sale. The most desirable parts of the stock had been sorted out and removed to the company's store, from which they had culled out stock of their own which was growing stale, and this they had placed with the residue of their purchase. They P then started to auction off the surplus stock. Erfert was placed in charge of this auction store, with a profes sional auctioneer and a number of clerks. This auction was running at the time of the interview between my self and the store owner. "Goods are also being missed from the auction store," Mr. Bolland con tinued. "Evidently the thief has ac cess to both places." I instructed one of my operatives to observe carefully all that he could about the auction store, from the time it opened in the morning until it was closed at night, which was duly done. At the end of the first day's watch the operative reported that he had noticed a number of what appeared to be irregularities on the part of Erfert, the manager. He reported that on the evening before he had seen Erfert and the other clerks leave the store. Erfert, being the last man out, locked the door and put the key in his pocket, and the whole party walked to the corner of Sixth and Olive streets, where they separated, presumably for their homes. He said that Erfert, however, did not take a car, but walked west a block on Olive street to Seventh, then north on Seventh to Locust street, and east on Locust street to the side entrance of the auc tion store, where he unlocked the door. He entered and almost imme diately returned to the sidewalk, car rying a couple of large, heavy pack ages, which were fastened with shawl straps. He then went back by the same route to Sixth and Locust streets where he boarded a car, car rying these two heavy packages, one in either hand, to his home in South St. Louis, where he resided with his widowed mother and sister. On learning these details I in. atructed my operative to repeat his watch on the following day, telling him that, in case Erfert doubled back on that evening also. he was to ap proach him and 'say that Mr. Furlong was in his office in the Chemical build ing and wanted to see him at once, and' to bring him up without delay. I remained in the office that evening, so as to be on hand in case Erfert re peated his actions. rld that is what he did. It was winter, and grew dark about 5::10 in the afternoon. At this time Erfert closed and locked the store, and with the other clerks, apparently started for home. lie accompanied the others, as lihe had done the night before, to Sixth and Olive streets, and then left them, afterward making a ciicuitous route and returning to the store, into which he disappeared. Hie emerged almost immediately, carrying two packages rather heavier than those which he had taken the night before, and fastened with the shawl straps. After he had( locked the door and picked up the packages, which seemed to be very heavy, the opera tive, who had approached him unob served, touched him on the shoulder. "Mr. Furlong is at his office in the Chemical building and wants you to come over and see him at once," he said. "What does he want to see me for?" asked Erfert. "I don't know," answered the opera tive. "He will explain that when he sees you." "I am in a hurry and haven't time," said Erfert. "I am late anyway and will call and see him tomorrow." "You can either go with me right now," returned the other, "or I will call that policeman across the street and have him take you to police head quarters, and probably Mr. Furlong will go there and see you. Now it is up to you. If I take you to police headquarters your name and picture will appear in the papers in the morn ing and you will probably get a lot of undesirable notoriety." "I don't want any notriety," an swered Erfert, "but I can't understand what Mr. Furlong wants to see me for tonight. However, I will go with you, but I will put these packages in the store." "What is in them?" asked the opera tive. "I have two fine clocks which were sent over to my store by mistake and are too expensive to sell at auction," answered Erfert, "and I intend to take them back to the main store, where they belong." "Well," said the operative, "you take them up to Mr. Furlong's office, and after you have seen him he will probably allow you to take them to the main store." The operative brought the man to my office. I was already acquainted with all that had passed, because, un known to the operative, I had put a second operative to watch him and bring back a report of all that oc curred. Th. second man reached my office a few minutes before the first arrived. When Erfert and the detective were seated together in the private room I turned to the young man and asked: "Fred, what have you in those two packages?" "They are two clocks," answered Erfert, "which were sent over to the auction store by mistake. They are expensive clocks and I will not sell them at auction, and intended to take them home tonight and return them to the main store in the morning, be fore I opened the auction store." "What other stock have you on your person which was sent over to the auction store by mistake?" I in quired. "I have only a few stick pins and a few other small articles of Jewelry," said Erfert. "Put them on my desk," I said. Erfert complied, and the articles that he had concealed in his pockets were worth, according to the prices marked on them, nearly four hundred dollars. There were stick pins, gold rings, and other small pieces of good Jewelry. Thinking that possibly he had not emptied his pockets, I in spected them myself and found a memorandum book, in which Erfort had kept an accurate account of all the articles which he had stolen from the jewelry firm, the cost price of each article to the company, and the price he had received for a large lot of articles of which he had already dis posed. This book was written in cipher. I also found a key to a safe deposit vault. "Fred," I said to him, "ySu have stolen thousands of dollars' worth of I jewelry from your employers. You were practically raised by them, hav ing been in their service nearly all your life, and the company has al ways treated you well and justly. Now that you have been caught red handed I think it will be to your in terest to tell the whole truth about what you have taken, and to do al|in your power to return as much of the plunder as possible." The office was on *e fourteenth floor of the Chemical building. Erfert turned suddenly and made a lunge for the window, with the purpose of fling ing himself into the street below, I caught him just in time. After a few moments the culprit admitted everything. He said that he had been stealing from the company for the past two years, and had re cently been assisted by another of the employes. lie added that his grand father conducted a jewelry and nov elty store in South St. Louis, and that nearly all the stock which he and his confederate had stolen had gone into the old man's stock. He also stated that he had a quantity of the stolen property concealed in the attic of his mother's house, and agreed to go with one of my men and deliver the stolen goods. This he subsequently did. After Erfert had completed his con fession I sent a message to Mr. liol land, asking him to come to my office at once, as I had succeeded in cap turing the thief. Mr. Holland arrived about ten in the evening, accompanied by his wife and Clarence White. I met them in the front office. "The messenger told me that you had captured the party who has been robbing us," said the owner. "Yes," I replied. "That is why I sent for you." "\Whom have you caught?" "Fred Erfert is the principal party." Mrs. Bolland and White exclaimed simultaneously: "Why, surely you have made a mistake!" "I told you not to bother with Er fert; that I believed he was all right," said Mr. Holland angrily. - "Why, Furlong, you have got your foot in it," White continued. "Erfert surely ,had nothing to do with these thefts, and you luive made a great mistake by even accusing him. He has been practically raised by Mr. Bol land and in his service for many years, and we have always had im plicit confidence in his honesty." "Yes I understand all that," I an swered, "but Mr. Bolland employed me to apprehend the party, or parties, who were robbing him, which I have done. Erfert knows that he is guilty and he has fully admitted his guilt, and I am satisfied from the evidence that I have found on his person that he told the truth when he said he was guilty. I, of course, realize Mr. Bol land's disappointment in finding that Erfert was the guilty person, but I cannot help his feelings. I have sim ply done what was my duty in the matter, and now it remains with Mr. Bolland as to what shall be done with Erfert" "Where is Erfert?" Mr. Bolland asked. "He is in there and waiting to see you," I answered, pointing to the door of my private office. "He has prom. V )p //, I. UT " "MR. FURLONG WANTS YOU TO COME OVER AND SEE HIM AT ONCE." ised me that he will tell you what he has already told my assistant and my self, and that he will at once return as much as possible of the stolen property to you, which I have advised him to do." I then ushered them into the private room in which Erfert was. The young fellow repeated to them the statement of guilt that he had already made to me. Then, with some assistants, I went in a hack to the house of Er fert's mother, where we found about two hack loads of stolen goods, con sisting of clocks, silver plate, fine um brellas and various articels of bric-a brac, all valuable stuff. These goods were taken direct to the rtore of Mr. Iolland. )nur party then visited the store of the grand father, in South St. Louis. and recov ered about four hack loads of goods from that place. By the time the last load had been hauled away it was nearly daylight. While this loot wa:; being removed I was standing outside guarding thri hack into which the goods were b- - ing placed. A police ocficer came: along. We knew each other and hIi was somewhat surprised to see nme at that time of night in that locality, and asked me, in a fri.-redly manner, what I was doing th,.r. I replied that some stuff had l.c(,n stolen from a jewelry store, anrd that it had 1,,-, ! taken to the house. I added tn,:,t I had thought it advisable to r,;Au.ive the goods after ni: ht so as not I at tract the attention of the nei;L!:,hr hood, as I felt sure that the v. un(; of the family were not aware 11 ' the property which had been s:jl i n in their house was stolen. The policeman later reported that he had met me and detailed this con versation to his captain. The report, of course, reached t. chief of police the following morning. The chief, becoming exasperated, suspended the policeman for not having arrested both the hack driver and myself. lie also suspended one or two of the of ficers connected with the station who were on duty that night. The next morning a city detective called at my office. "I have been sent down here by the chief to see you," he said. "The chief understanr s that you arrested a young fellow named Erfert last night and that you recovered a lot of stolen property. Is that report true?" "Part of the report seems to be true, while the remainder is not true," I answered. "You know, and the chief should know, that I have no legal right to make arrests, and there fore I have made no arrests, nor have I caused any to be made within the city of St. Louis, but I did recover a large quantity of stolen goods last night and early this morning, and I have delivered them to their owner." "Where is Erfert now?" asked the detective. "I don't know where he is at pres ent. Why do you want to know this?" "Because the chief instructed me to come down here and get him, and bring him to headquarters at once," replied the man. "Have you any charges against him at headquarters?" I inquired. "I don't know. All I know is that the chief sent me down he-e to get him and bring him to headquarters." "I do not know whether there will be any charges preferred against Er fert or not," I said. "His employer seems inclined to sympathize with him, and especially with his family. I do not believe that he cares to have him prosecuted for these thefts. I expect Erfert to call at my office some time during the forenoon, and I am looking for Mr. Bolland here at any moment. When Erfert comes I will tell him that the chief wants to see him." "No, you need not do that," an swered the detective. "I will wait here, and when he comes I will take him up with me." /e I' j- - (44 > - -- IJ I . "FRED, WHAT HAVE YOU IN THOSE TWO PACKAGESI" "If Erfert calls at this office while you are here," I answered, "and if you have a warrant for his arrest, charg nlg him with any crime, you may take him to headquarters; but unless you have a warrant I will not permit you to take him out of this office. I think, perhaps, you had better go and communicate this to the chief." The detective left the office and went to make his report. In the meantime Mr. Bolland arrived, to whom I stated the facts of the eity detective's visit and his intention to arrest Erfert. Mr. Bolland said that he did not care to prosecute; in fact, he preferred not to do so, and was really undecided which was the best course to pursue. "You had better take Erfert quietly up to police headquarters," I said to him, "and tell the chief what you have said to me." This was done, but, at police head quarters, the police chief and the de tective who had called at the office in the Chemical building took Erfert in charge and put him through the.third degree. They attempted to make him say that I had arrested him and forced him to make a confession of his thefts. They did not concern themselves with his guilt or inno. cence. A statement was prepared by them, which they urged Erfert to sign, declaring that I had violated the law by having arrested him and forcing him to make a statement of his guilt. Erfert declined, however, to sign this statement, on the ground that it was untrue. He stated that I had ex plained to him in the beginning of the interview that I had no legal right to arrest him, and that I pad said it was optional with him whether he return the stolen goods or not, but that if he refused to do so it would be my duty to turn him over to the police The chief of police was greatly ex asperated to find that be could make no case against me. At a later time, however, he himself made a complaint that I was running a private detective agency without a license from the police board, and a warrant was is sued for my arrest. Upon the wit ness stand I was asked whether I was doing a detective business in St. Louis, and I replied that I was. Asked whether I had a license from the board of police commissioners, I re plied that I had not. I ..as then asked by what authority I was con ducting my business, and I answered that it was by authority of a state charter. I produced the articles of incorporation, which the judge care fully read, and he then dismissed the case, assessing tne court charges upon the police. The chief of volice insisted upon the prosecution of Erfert. He was re leased on bond, reappeared in due course, and pleaded guilty, receiving a minimum sentence of two years in the penitentiary, and being released, as a model prisoner, under the two third sentence rule. The stolen property recovered amounted to several thousand dollars in value. Erfert, it is pleasing to note, lived an exemplary life after his release. His confederate, who was a mere youth, was not prosecuted. TREATMENT OF BALKY HORSE Animal is Not to Be Cured by Either Beating or Abuse-Only Practi cal Method. In an article in Our Dumb Animals, Alfred Ii. Pope says that the balky horse has the most sense and the con firmed runaway horse the least sense of any horse. The balky horse is not to be cur^d by beating and abuse. It appears from his article that he makes a business of buying balky horses, breaking them of the habit, and selling them again. It is to be presumed, therefore, that he knows whereof he speaks. HIe makes no mention of such methods as that of building a fire un der a horse, as he condemns any kind of abuse. When a horse makes up his mind to balk, he has no room in his mind for anything else. Whipping only increases his stubbornness, but there is a method which goes to the cause of the trouble. With a single idea in his head, it was reasoned that the best way to get the horse to move was to 'give him another idea-some thing else to think about. The trainer then remembered thlut hlorses and mules resent interferenoe' \'.ilh their liberty to move their e:tr' .'t will. It was noticed that a horse wi,.r c.hanges his course of action withoui moving his ears. It was then found that when a horse balked it annoyed him to have one ear pushed under the crown of the bridle so that he could not move it. And it was also found that if the ear was left there for about 20 min utes he was so annoyed that he forgot about his determination to balk. He shook his head. turned to one side and then the other, and made every effort to release the ear. This oc cupied his mind until when the driver ordered him to go, he went. After a few minutes the ear was released and he went on as if he had forgotten all about balking. In conclusion, the writer said: "This trick will not break a horse of balking, but it will invariably start one that has balked on the road, provided he hasn't al ready been whipped and abused to a point where nothing matters." Natural Curiosity. Joe had been working in Baltimore. On the day before Christmas he re ceived his pay and planned to go home. to Washington, but first he started out to buy presents for all his family. He did this with more generosity than foresight, and when evening came he found himself at the railway station laden with bundles but with no money for his fare to Washington. Somehow he got through the gate and approached the conductor. He laid the case before him, and ended with a plea that he might ride to Washington oan the platform of the baggage car. The conductor, his heart warmed by the spirit of the season, said, "All right, go ahead !" So Joe climbed on the platform of the car next to the engine. It was a cold night, and It was on a road where the engine takes up water from a track reservoir as it goes along. When the train reached Washing ton the conductor saw Joe approach ing, covered with ice from head to foot, bundles and all. He came up to the conductor and said, "I sure does thank you, boss, for muh ride. You's very kind to allow muh to ride up wish you; but there's jus' one ques tion I wants to ax. Kin yuh tell me the name oh that rivuh we run through back there?"-Youth's Companion. Conversational Disappointment, "I understand that your new servant is a disappointment." "Yes," replied Mrs. Gaddington Prye. "The last family she worked for does n't seem to be at all interesting."