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About The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 2, 1917)
THE 9EJtWEEKLY TRIBUNE, NORTH PLATTE, NEBRASKA. M m Hjiei: CCV(?ST CROOK (!? MAKE MISTAKES Little details overlooked by criminals often lead to their undoing Some instances given HE most absorbing detective stor ies are bused on tho proposition Hint n series of truthful events dovctnll together with exact nicety, while n fabricated story of stmllnr events must nlwnys hnvo n missing cor, which with diligent search will bo discovered. It is beyond human Ingenuity to construct a fnlso story of n series of events and not make n mis take. Prosecuting attorneys uro always on tho watch for theso lit tle openings that explode the raise testimony. Nor nro thcro lacking numerous examples of this situation In tho dally court grind and In general pollco work. A few days ago a merchant reported to tho po llco that a large shipping enso had been opened nearly $1500 In merchandise abstracted and tho base nailed shut again, A police detective was UetnIM to muke an Investigation of .tho theft, ho went over tho ground with n department head find at tho conclusion of his Investigation hnd learned absolutely nothing. At a loss as to tho hext move ho engaged tho head shipping clerk In Conversation, tho tall: being relatlvo to tho man's (trade. The clerk, nn nffnblo mechanic, took prldo In femonstrntlng tho cfllclcncy of his department lecxplnlncd everything nbout tho business and nt last demonstrated the method of making boxes, rids was n now thing to tho olllcer. Tho bonrds were placed In -position about a form of tho di mension the finished box would bo and with ono Movement ncnrly 100 nails were automatically Irlvcn home. Tho box was thus made as quickly is n man could assemble tho boards, there being 10 time lost In tho nailing process. Tho detcctlvo ooked oyer -tho machine that In ono operation lrovo nil "tho nails and got n hunch, t Strolling bnck to the packing case that hnd been Hfled of Us contents ho inndo n careful examina tion of the surface. Then for tho first time In his I'xperlence as a detcctlvo ho took stock of tho fic tion. detcctlvo and brought Into play a magnifying klusfl. , "The surface of tho box Indicated that Instead of tho mechanical nall-drlving process the nails had been driven with a hammer. Tho magnifying Mass disclosed that tho hammer marks wero mado by n badly chipped hammer. Continuing his ficnrch tho officer oventually found a hammer In fho tool chest of n delivery boy's equipment that fnndp exactly tho kind of marks found on tho (lacking case. It only required n few hours' Invcstlentlon to sccrtaln thnt tho youth was tho thlof and thnt ie had been disposing of tho goods In a foreign euiemcni. uno discovery of tho hammer marks nroidcd tho crlmo In a few hours, while had tho sual process been followed tho dotectlves would nvo had to Investigate tho cntlro force of cm. bloyces who had nccess to tho basement The theft nnd salo had been entirely covered up nnd It wan oniy tno ono cog In tho wheel that had boon hissing. Arson Plots Revealed. It In la cases of arson that this theory Is often set demonstrated and tho prosecuting attorney must over bo on tho. alert to detect tho point Mrhere there la a divergence of tho fabricated ftory. Within recent years thcro hnve occurred a a limited district mora thaw 100 fires of more than a suspIdouB nature. Many of theso hnvo eoa exposed In court nnd others by some flaw la tho construction of tho crime. An nrs.pnist planned n flro and was highly suc cessful. Ho hnd nlso concocted nn alibi nnd proved by excellent witnesses that ho hnd loft home 24 hours prior to tho fire. Tho district at torney's office, whllo feeling thnt tho man wns lying, could hnrdly refute tho testimony of the Kvltneasea produced. It was not until tho last (day of tho trial that n member of tho district at torney's office discovered that on tho day tho fmn declnrcd ho left homo by train, owing to a wreck tho train hnd not been sent out over tho regular routo nnd It was thercforo Impossiblo jfor tho man to have taken thnt train, Tho pris oner wns convicted on this ono circumstance, i A woman conducted nn unprofitable) apartment fciduso venture nnd planned for moro thnn flvo months to destroy tho property by fire. Sho placed taore thnn 100 gallons of dlstlllnto and gnsollno In various vacant rooms In the house. Tho plnco Vns n vertical bomb and had It been fired It would have been blown to pieces with great loss of llfo. )Qn the night tho flro wns to havo been Btnrted the womnn opened n stopcock In tho furnnco oom, permitting -10 gallons of dlstlllnto to escapo (into the room. Then sho went to tho top floor of the bulIUIng for tho purposo of overturning tho many cans of Inflammable liquids. I In tho first room sho entered, long vacant, tho jfumes of tho gnsollno overenmo her and she (swooned, falling ngnlnst n table nnd overturning W telephone. Tho light on tho swltchbonrd (ntnrmed the, operator, who, knowing tho room to bo Mfinccupled,mado un Investigation and discovered (the plot The ring and gang of arsonists fired tho homo (of a wealthy fellow-countryman, but In arranging (their plans spilled some of the liquid on their (clothing. When thoy struck n match to light the Mow fuse that waa to hnvo exploded tko bomb Sifter their departure they were both horribly burned. Tho men wero given long prison terms, but were released on n technicality nftcr serving kwa years of the sentence. ' A Jeweler desired to get a quick return on his insurance nnd planned a flro. Ho plnced n gaso llne bomb In a closet, floated n lighted candle In the mixture nnd fled to n neighboring city, thereby fjoplng to establish an alibi. When ho opened the front door of his homo to lcavo draught was cro fted land tho clofcet door blow shut Lack of air iktlagulshed tho flame. A policeman witnessed the flight of the Jeweler nnd mado. nn tnvestlgn fje The r trap was discovered nnd nn olllcer Went In pnrsHlt rf the Jeweler. When apprehended tfee police searched tho man nnd found on him his ire Insurance. P'cy. On tho envelopes were fig mrm that later turned out to bo nn Invoice of tho Herty aa ft stood and a computation of tho Insurance, Indicating thnt the man anticipated n fat profit from the transaction. A well-known detective once over threw' nn Insurance fraud thnt was all but perfect in dctull. The fire was to nil appearances an accident and there wns nothing on the sur face to Indicate fraud. Notwithstand ing, the officer went Into court to contest the claim for Insurance nnd to prosecute tho Insured. The case went slowly along until tho defend ants put In their claim, mostly for expensive furniture. Then the olllcer showed his hand. lie produced the entire remains of tho fire In the form of nsh and churred wood nnd convinced the Jury that tho Hro wns not only of an lncendlury origin, but that there was nothing of vnlue In the building. The owners of tho furniture hnd described a number of brass beds, elaborate, brass-finished furniture, dressers, wardrobes, trunks, tables, lamps nnd other metal-bound articles. The de tective showed thnt there was not n traco of metal In the ash no hinges, knobs or brans bed frames nothing In fnct but several hundred nails, such ns como from pnejclng cases. While It was. Impossible to prove orson, the Insurance was never paid, ns the Insured lied the samo night. Rancher nebbery Victim. Only a few weeks ago n Lankershim rancher saved $2,700 nnd sent n dishonest broker to jail for n long term by brenklng up tho elaborate story of the accused. Tho rancher drew tho money from a local bank for the purposo of purchasing nn ad ditional piece of ground. Ho went to his home to meet tho agent, nnd while nwnltlng his arrival worked about a windmill In the yard. Becoming warm with the exertion of tightening up n number of rods nnd replacing n number of iron pipes tho rancher removed his coijt and hung It on n board At tho well. After n time ho went to a nearby building to securo an nddltlonul section of pipe. On his return the coat wus on tho grouna, tho money missing. The rnnclicr heard the muffled roar of nn nutomobllo driven at a high rate of speed and rushing Into the road saw a small ma chlno disappearing In a cloud of dust. The rancher believed he recognized tho broker's auto mobile, nnd going to a telephono ho notified the pollco nnd sJierlffs otllco of the theft nnd of his suspicion of tho broker. But whllo waiting to hear from tho officers the rancher was surprised to observe the broker com ing down tho road in an entirely different car than tho one ho usually rode. Tho rancher for mally welcomed tho broker, made a quiet state ment of the robbery and then declared that he had recognized tile thief. He did not mince words, but openly accused tho broker of tho theft Whllo tho men were wrangling n deputy sheriff appeared. Tho rancher was so posltlvo in his Identifica tion of tho broker ns being tho person that had fled that tho deputy placed tho man under arrest. A search of tho broker's safo revealed several sums of currency that totaled a little moro thnn $2,700. Tho broker fell bnck on the plen that thero could bo no Identification of money unless It wns marked or unless the numbers on the bills were produced. Nevertheless, after n consulta tion between tho rancher and n deputy district attorney a warrant wbb Issued. Tho money in the broker's sufo was seized, placed In nn en velope and marked evidence. At tho trial tho rancher wns unnblo to provo much of a case on tho broker. The machine was ono of several million of tho snmo model. Ho could not swear whether tho broker was In tho machine, nnd he acknowledged thnt ho did not hnvo the numbers of tho lost currency. Then tho broker was placed on tho witness stand nnd on dcuvorcd to show that he was at a certain olllco nt tho very tlmo of the robbery. Then by rela tives ho. tried to show thnt tho money In his safo hnd been delivered to him In several sums. At tills point tho district attorney called on several persons who alleged they hnd paid him monoy. In ench Instnncc they declared the money had been drawn either from a bank or had been se cured on tho dny of delivery from another. The district attorney's representative then arose nnd walking over to the accused broker, broke the seal on the pnclcngo of money held ns evldeuco mid, holding It In front of tho prisoner, demnnded If thcro was nny Identifying mark on the cur rency. Nonplused for the moment, the man re plied there wns none. Turning to the rancher tho deputy nsked the snme question. "Yes, there Is a decided mnrk of Identification on every bill," tho mnn replied. Turning bnck to tho broker tho deputy gavo him unothrr opportunity to Identify the money, nnd n third tlmo appealed to him to know If thcro was nny way In which ho could es tablish ownership. Remember tho mncherjiad not viewed tho cur rency sinjeo It wont Into tho hnnds of tho deputy, district attorney. Tho deputy then cnlled on tho rancher to Identify tho money. "If the bills In that packngo nro mine tho edges will bo found smeared with red lead. I dropped tho roll onto a splotch of the red lend while I wnB working .on my windmill nnd, nftcr cleaning off us much of tho stuff ns I could, I put tho money la a cont pocket letting the damp edges project out so they would dry. That Is how this man (point tng to tho prisoner) enmo to'see the money," Tho bills wero examined nnd ench one was found to have the telltale red mark along tho edge. Moro thnn that, three witnesses enmo for ward to testify that they had observed traces of red on the broker's hands rn the dny of his arrest nnd the broker declared t'lat ho "must havo cut his band." He Forgot the Ratn. In n prepnjed story meant to deceive, quite ns likely ns not the Impostor will overdo his part nnd thus lend to exposure. A youth with a serious charge hanging over his head managed to qulto fog the lsHue of the caso by u cleverly prepared alibi. Two reputable but mistaken witnesses as sisted him. In un effort to find n point on which to nclzi) tho district attorney permitted, or rather, insisted, on a complete detailed account of the mnn's movements on the day In question. Tho story wns glibly told nnd It was Impossible to confuso tho witness. Then came the stumble. Among other Incidents tho prisoner told of visiting a bootbluck and ex plained thnt In addition to having his boots pol ished he hud received a thorough brushing off, nil because It wns an exceedingly dusty dny. Tho records were produced nnd these showed that ono of the heavy rains of the season raged not only on the day of the crime, but on tho days prior and following. The witnesses were recnlled and they nlso remembered thnt It wns n dusty blowly day. This so confused tho prisoner he made sev eral other misstatements which In the end led to his conviction. A ranch hand accused of the wholesale theft of grain from the fields of California ranches de clared that he was not In California until after the date of the nlleged robbery. He then convicted himself by describing n clilmp of gum trees in one of the fields. The prosecution was able to show that theso trees wero cut down two weeks beforo the robbery nnd that the accused could not have described tho trees except from personal knowledge. His nllbl upset, the unfortunate ranch hand pleaded to turn state's evidence nnd Impli cate what he was pleased to term the ringleaders of an oxtenslve gang of grain thieves. Identify Coin by Perfume. Several weeks ago n woman dropped her purse, containing a Inrge sum of money. A child of ten der years picked up the valuable contnlner and started to carry It home. Two men In an oil dis tributing station saw the incident and managed to get the purse from tho child, giving him a few pennies. Tho men hid the money in un oil can, first extracting a few bills for Immediate use. The same dny the owner of tho money mude a report to the police and also Instituted n persona' search. Sho Inquired nil along the street In which the loss had occurred, oventually embracing the very child that had found the money. The llttlo tot immediately pointed out the two men who hud taken the purse and the womun made n formal demand for the return of the money; Tho men denied tho theft and by their fierce denial frightened the child. Pollco olllcers were summoned, but by this tlmo the child was thoroughly demoralized and refused to Identify the men, declnrlng that he was not now certain to whom ho had delivered tho purse. Tho owner of the money, among other things, declared the bills of currency could be Identified, If located, by their odor. Sho explained that following her securing the cirrency from a bank she had pur chased n bottle of perfume and that this bottle had been accidentally opened In her purse and the bills saturated with the liquid. The police visited tho stores In tho neighborhood nnd learned thnt one of the suspected men had paid a grocery bill a few hours after the money wns supposed to hnvo come Into his possession. On examining the bills that had been paid to the grocer they wero found to bo strongly Impregnated with perfume. Then the officer scan 'lied tho oil stntlon, sniffing Into every can and box In the place. Within a few moments nfter the senrch was Instituted one of the officers found tho bills secreted In a can of cotton oil waste, the perfume being distinctly dls ccrnablo In spite of the oil. Minor Matters Trip Crooks. Instances of a similar nature muy be found la the police court without number. A thief wns con victed recently on u charge of larceny because, al though he had memorized the numbers on tho case and works of n wntch nnd produced what purport ed to bo a bill of sale, still ho did not know that In the scroll work on tho back of tho caso were tho Initials of the owner. Another criminal was" Justly convicted and Inter made n full confession after the pollco had dis palrcd of fastening tho crlmo on him. Ho was accused of cutting open a number of packages In nn express oft- and extracting articles of value, repairing tho damage to the package so that thero could be no exposure for sovornl days after tho theft Whllo the trlnl was In progress tho prose cuting witness picked up n pocket knife, the ac knowledged property of the accused, and on a close examination found a red coral bend In the slot whero the knife hlndo reposed when clasped Ouo of tho bends had stuck to the knife blade sw-i hnd thus been Imbedded In the knife slot. ThU slniplo find resulted In tho man's conviction nni tho return of several thousand dollars of loot. t tho cxprc&i company. EDITS FIRST JERUSALEM DAILY Mar Ittumar Ben AvI, editor of tho first dally paper ever published In Jerusalem, nnd properly n Hebrew pa per the Jerusalem Unov recently visited Boston. It might bo well to ex plain that "Mar" means "Mr." Think of It. If If Mar Ittamar Ben Avl's enterprise hnd flourished 1017 yenrs ago ; and if it hnd kept pace with the current events of that period In Jerusalem, how much of mind spec ulation, personal nnd nntlonnl animos ity, fruitless controversy nnd troublo generally It would have Baved tho world providing Herod did not out Herod himself In the use of n ruthless nnd perverse censorship. However, ns Jerusalem is again passing through n crisis In Its history nnd ns It Is likely to become of more polltiil Importance of more Interna tional Importance than ever after the war, It Is well that It should have so comprehensive nnd capable a Journnl- Ist ns Ittamar Ben Avl to chronicle the events and the news. For he believes that Palestine has n new message to give the world, and that It Is destined to piny n largo and Important pnrt, not only In the future history of the Jews, but in the future progress of humanity. He is an nrdent Zionist nnd he believes that out of tho success of Zion ism will como not only a regenerated Jewish nation, but a force that will react In a fine way on the Intellectual" world. He may be n dreamer, as his father, Ben Zehudn, wns, nnd as Hcrzl was;' but as the dreams of both these men were being realized when tho wnr broke out, Ittamar Ben Avl believes that their dreams nnd his own will be fully realized when the wnr Is over that the war will provo to bo the thing neces sary to the full fruition of these" dreams. MRS. L0N6W0RTH DOING HER "BIT" J;x'tjHBHisflLH Jfc -xy-tt jtwapjppBsssssssjv Two daughters of ex-President Theodore Roosevelt nro showing their colors; they are not allowing all tho1 glory to fall to the share of the three brothers, Theodore,, Qucntln, nnd .Archie, who nrc now in France. Mrs. Nicholas. Longworth, who as Alice Roosevelt wns tho most popular girl In tho White House since Dolly Madi son, has turned her home In Cincin nati over to the Red Cross for war relief work. The war has had a so bering effect on the original and dar ing daughter of Theodore Roosevelt, who, in her reign in the White House,' attracted general attention, no less for her Independence of manner nnd scorn of conventional rules as for the charm' of her unusual costumes. t In London, where the society of the English capital lionized her, she was hailed as the most daringly fraoj young woman who hadover been ad'' mltted to the inner circles. She de clined to wear a wedding ring, smoked cigarettes, and declared that a cock tall was not necessarily an Instrument of evil. Today sho is one of tho most: ardent workers In tho Red Cross, giving of her time, her energy, and her money. Her sister, Mrs. Richard Derby, the former Ethel Roosevelt, has served In France as a Red Cross nurse, going oyer with her husband, Doctor Derby, at the beginning of the wnr. Doctor Derby had charge of a Red Cross unit and together the young couple worked in ttbelr mission of mercy. Mrs.; Derby has been back twice since her first trip over and the pitfalls of tho ocean do not seem to daunt the valiant daughter of Colonel Roosevelt mm mi sfiraw M mmtM tm i sni im j WAR SECRETARY'S BOYHOOD .aBBHaHC!HtNk jBBBBBBBBBH&'' tJv A Newton D, Baker, secretary of war, got his first military experience when he accepted tho office President Wilson offered him. Ho never even played with tin soldiers when he waa a boy. He was always peaceable. Ills own mother, Mrs. Mary D. Baker, says so. "I hate war," tho mother Of tho war chief said, "but I wouldn't have a son who would hesitate to fight for hli country." Another son, Capt Frank H. Baker, Is on his way back to his post In Paris. Her husband was a noncommissioned officer In the ConfeQerate cavalry, and 13 of her cousins served In the Civil war. "Nonsense I Nol" she said when asked If she thought her son, Newton D would bo the next president "I don't think he wants It The only person who Is confident hell be the next president Is his old black mammy down In Virginia. Newton has aged in the last year. There are lines In his forehead which wero not there before. He always had such a boyish appearance. "I don't worry nbout my boys, though. . They can all take care of thorn "Selves." Mrs. Baker, though seventy-five, hasn't a gray hair In her head. "That's; because my "boys aro so good," sho explained. COMMANDS REGIMENT IN FRANCE - - I mm JLm m m Col. George D. Duncnn, now on nc tlve detail, was born In Kentucky, October 10, 1801, and nppolnted to the, Military academy from that state in, 1882. In 1880 ho was commissioned a second lieutenant In tho Ninth in fantry, and has Bcrvcd continuously in thnt arm of tho service. Colonel Duncan was recently re leased from detail to tho general staff corps to Join ono of the Infantry regi ments to be sent to the French front and Is now on the field nt the head of. a regiment of regulars. Colonel Duncan Is nn exceedingly active officer and maintains a wonder ful control of his men. Ho first dis tinguished himself in tho Pldllpplno Islands, where, nfter serving for two, years in the Held, ho was in 1000 ap pointed chief of scouts, In which ca-. pnclty he did credltablo work. General Pershing and Colonel Dun can have lone been close friends, llio commanding general having rocugnlzed the worth of his subordinate when) they were serving In the Philippines together.