The Lampasas Daily Leader (Lampasas, Tex.), Vol. 30, No. 171, Ed. 1 Saturday, September 23, 1933 Page: 2 of 4
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THE LAMPASAS LEADER
JlpV:
A Fall From Grace
Stories of tike 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 1892
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, Mr. Furlong,”
he began, “and want to have your as-
sistance. You know that our firm does
ia large business in this city. A quan-
tity of valuable goods has disap-
peared in a mysterious manner, and
is still disappearing, and we cannot
lay our hands upon the culprit. Mr.
Bolland has asked me to call and put
the case before you, and tomorrow he
will come in person for a conference.”
5 On the following day, when Mr.
j Bolland called, he stated that it was
more than two years since goods be-
gan to disappear from the store, and
that these losses were growing to
alarming proportions. In the endeavor
ito clear up the mystery he had se-
Icurad the services of another local
private detective 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 eviderft 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 and 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
ia 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
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
;jthe auction store,” Mr. Bolland con-
tinued. “Evidently the thief has ac-
jcesa. to both places.”
Y I ...instructed one of my operatives
Jto rtbserve carefully all that he could
''about the auction store, from the time
lit 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,
;jthe 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,
jand 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 cafc 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,
j. On learning these details I in-
structed my oporative to repeat his
-watch on the following day, telling
-him that, in case Erfert doubled back
ion that evening also, he was to ap-
proach him and say that Mr. Furlong
;jwas 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, and that is what
he did.
It was winter, and grew dark about
5:30 in the afternoon. At this time
Erfert closed and locked the store,
and with the other clerks, apparently
started for home. He accompanied
the others, as he had done the night
before, to Sixth and Olive streets, and
then left them, afterward making a
circuitous route and returning to the
store, into which he disappeared. He
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
tof 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. The 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 Erfert
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, “you have
stolen thousands of dollars’ worth of
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 all in
your power to return as much of the
plunder as possible.”
The office was on the 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. He 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
confederatb 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. Bol-
land, asking him to come to my office
at once, as I had succeeded in cap-
turing the thief.
Mr. Bolland 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. Bolland angrily.
“Why, Furlong, you have got your
foot in it,” White continued. “Erfert
surely had nothing to do with these
thefts, and you have 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 1
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-
the store of Mr. Bolland. Our 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 was being removed I
was standing outside guarding the
hack into which the goods were be-
ing placed. A police officer came
along. We knew each other, and he
was somewhat surprised to see me at
that time' of night in that locality,
and asked me, in a friendly manner,
what I was doing there. I replied
that some stuff had been stolen from
a jewelry store, and that it had been
taken to the house, I added that I
had thought it advisable to remove
the goods after night so as not to at-
tract the attention of the neighbor-
hood, as I felt sure that the women of
the family were not aware that the
property which had been placed 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 the chief of police
the following morning. The chief,
becoming exasperated, suspended the
policeman for not having arrested
both the hack driver and myself. He
also suspended one or two of the of-
ficers qonnected 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 understands 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 here to get
"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
i
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 tip with me.”
/
\3
TUf
-s-L~5?T 71;
I
ill
I-/
“FRED, WHAT HAVE YOU IN THOSE TWO PACKAGES?”
“If Erfert calls at this office while
you are here,” I answered, “and if you
have a warrant for his arrest, charg-
ing 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 oflice. 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 city
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
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 H. 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 cured 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. He 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 that horses and
mules resent interference with their
liberty to move their ears at will. It
was noticed that a horse never changes
his course of action without 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 e^ery
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
to arrest him, and that l had said it
was optional with hies Whether he
return the stolen gobdf ^r not, but
that if he refused to da io it would
be my duty to turn Mrs *fer to the
police.
The chief of police wa.$> Neatly ex-
asperated to find that he cofid make
no case against me. At a lAt?^ time,
however, he himself made a coi?i£laint
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 was 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 police 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 valueA
Erfert, it is pleasing to note, lived
an exemplary life after his release.
His confederate, wTio was a mefa u
youth, was not prosecuted. (
all about balking. In conclusion, tlifi
writer said: “This trick will nc^
break a horse of balking, but. it wi*3
invariably start one that has balketv
on the road, provided lie hasn’t al-
ready been whipped and abused to
a point where nothing matters.”
Natural Curiosity.
Joe had been lvorking 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.
Somehowi * * * * * 7 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 on 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 w7as a
cold night, and it was on a road where
the engine takes up wuter 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 qp
with you; but there’s jus’ one ques-
tion I wants to ax. Kin yuh tell me
the name ob that rivuh we run through
back there?”—Youth’s Companion.
Conversational Disappointment,
“I understand that your new servant
is a disappointment.”
“Yes,” replied Mrs. Gatidington Pryp«
“The last family she worked for does*
n’t seen ;1n ietprestinar.”
-ii.
I
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The Lampasas Daily Leader (Lampasas, Tex.), Vol. 30, No. 171, Ed. 1 Saturday, September 23, 1933, newspaper, September 23, 1933; Lampasas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth894574/m1/2/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Lampasas Public Library.