Knots Untied; Or, Ways and By-ways in the Hidden Life of American Detectives
by George S. McWatters · English · Gutenberg #46306 · 1,235,692 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: Knots Untied; Or, Ways and By-ways in the Hidden Life of American Detectives
Author: George S. McWatters
Release date: July 17, 2014 [eBook #46306]
Most recently updated: October 24, 2024
Language: English
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KNOTS UNTIED; OR, WAYS AND BY-WAYS IN THE HIDDEN LIFE OF AMERICAN DETECTIVES ***
[Illustration: _Geo. S. M^cWatters_
Photographed by Brady.]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
KNOTS UNTIED:
OR,
_WAYS AND BY-WAYS_
IN THE
HIDDEN LIFE
OF
AMERICAN DETECTIVES.
BY
=OFFICER GEORGE S. McWATTERS,=
LATE OF THE METROPOLITAN POLICE,
NEW YORK.
[Illustration]
A NARRATIVE OF MARVELLOUS EXPERIENCES AMONG ALL CLASSES
OF SOCIETY,--CRIMINALS IN HIGH LIFE, SWINDLERS, BANK
ROBBERS, THIEVES, LOTTERY AGENTS, GAMBLERS,
NECROMANCERS, COUNTERFEITERS, BURGLARS,
ETC., ETC., ETC.
[Illustration]
=HARTFORD:=
=J. B. BURR AND HYDE.=
=1871.=
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, by
J. B. BURR AND HYDE,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
Electrotyped at the Boston Stereotype Foundry,
No. 19 Spring Lane.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PREFACE.
--------------
I am aware that the preface of a book is usually the last portion of it
which is read--if read it is--and, therefore, of little import; and I
have, consequently, deliberated somewhat whether I would encumber the
following tales with a prefix or not, but perhaps it is due to the
reader to say (what, however, is apparent enough in some of the tales
themselves) that the experiences and observations therein narrated, are
not all personally mine; that some of them have, at different times,
been detailed to me by old and tried personal friends, of deep
knowledge of the world, and of extreme sagacity, and that I have
presented them here, together with my own, in special instances, as
being equally illustrative with mine of subtle human nature.
What is specifically my own in these tales, and what little I am
indebted for to my good friends, I leave to such as may be curious, to
determine for themselves. It must now suffice them (for in the
experiment of "book-making" I have nearly lost my best patience--amidst
its multiplicity of perplexities; its "proof-reading," the awful
blunders of the printers, the "bungling" of the mails, the calls for
"more copy" at inopportune moments, etc., etc.)--it must suffice them,
I repeat, simply to know, that whatever experiences here recited are
not my own, are equally authentic with mine, and, in my judgment, add
to the merits of "Knots Untied" (if merits it has) rather than detract
therefrom. So, since it cannot be that the reader will peruse my book
for my sake, but for the book's sake and for his own, let him thank me
for whatever "clearer light" I have accepted from others for his
benefit.
It was only at the instance--I might properly say by the repeated
importunity--of certain partial friends of mine, that I was first
induced to put into readable form some of the notes of my experiences
and observations, particularly those running through a period of a
dozen years of official life, preceded by a dozen more of a
quasi-official character. I would remark here, that no chronological
order has been observed in the collation of the tales composing "Knots
Untied."
Having, from my early days, been interested with various sociological
problems, it has been my wont to fix in memoranda, of one form or
another, such data as I conceived worthy, as simple statistics or
eccentric facts, bearing upon the great general question of human
suffering and crime, and their causes, and the means of their
depiction, and final extinction also (as I firmly believe) in "the good
time coming," when Science shall have ripened the paltry and distracted
civilization of the present into that enlightenment in which alone the
race should be contented to live,--in which only, in truth, they can be
fully content with existence,--and which the now subject classes could,
if they were wise enough to know their rights and their power, command
in concert, for themselves, and the ruling classes as well.
And these partial friends of mine have thought I might do some good,
and that I ought to, however little it may prove, to the cause of human
happiness,--in the intent thereby of enlarging the security of the
innocent from the machinations of the depraved,--by the detail of
certain wily "offences against the law and good order of society,"
while demonstrating therein how sure of final discovery and punishment
are the criminally vicious, however crafty and subtle, in these days,
when the art of police detection has become almost an exact science.
Authors are sometimes sensitive (I believe), about the reception which
they, "by their works," may meet with at the hands of the public; and
not seldom do they, in more or less ingenious ways, attempt to cajole
their readers, through well-studied prefaces, into a prejudicedly
favorable mood regarding the body of their books. Perhaps mine is a
singularly good fortune, in that my partial and importuning friends
before alluded to, have given me consoling courage to "go forward" and
publish what they are so kind as to be pleased with, by the assurance
that they will take upon themselves, and patiently bear, all the severe
criticism, the curses, the wanton blows, etc., which may be aimed at me
by "hypercritical critics," or by vexed and wrathful readers; while I
shall be left to enjoy, unalloyed, all the "blessings" with which the
rest of the public may be pleased to favor me.
I regarded this as so excellent an expression of human[e] goodness upon
the part of these my friends, that I consented to honor it, by
submission to their will. Hence these tales, in their printed
form,--designed at first to beguile an hour for particular friends in
the reading, as the same had beguiled many long hours for me in the
writing,--and not primarily intended to be put into the form of a book.
If any good to the world accrues from their publication, through the
instruction which they may afford to some, perhaps; or by their
possibly enlarging the scope of the reader's charity for the erring, or
in any way, I shall be gratified; and so (it _is_ but fair in me to add
this, for they are human, and sensitive to the joys which "a good done"
brings)--and so, to repeat, will also be my aforesaid partial, good
friends.
GEORGE S. MCWATTERS.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENTS.
--------------
PAGE
PUBLISHERS' INTRODUCTION. 18
=BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.=
=OFFICER GEORGE S. McWATTERS.=
PERSONAL DESCRIPTION--ALWAYS TEMPERATE--IN WONDERFUL
PRESERVATION--"A GOOD FACE TO LOOK INTO"--NEITHER SCOTCH,
IRISH, NOR ENGLISH IN APPEARANCE. 21
=WHERE HE WAS BORN AND REARED.=
NO MATTER WHERE A MAN IS BORN--KILMARNOCK, SCOTLAND--NORTH OF
IRELAND--AMBITIOUS BOYHOOD--"THE BEAUTIFUL LAND BEYOND THE
WESTERN WATERS"--INTENSELY DEMOCRATIC--BECOMES A MECHANIC. 21
=REMOVES TO LONDON.=
FOLLOWS HIS TRADE IN LONDON--MARRIES THERE--HIS INTERESTING
FAMILY--MISS CHARLOTTE, HIS ELDEST DAUGHTER--HER
MARRIAGE--SIGNOR ERRANI. 23
=MIGRATES TO THE UNITED STATES.=
OFFICER McWATTERS' GREAT SYMPATHY FOR CHATTEL AND
WAGES-SLAVES--HIS COUNTLESS DEEDS OF BENEVOLENCE LEAVE HIM NO
TIME TO GET RICH--ANECDOTE OF PROFESSOR AGASSIZ. 24
=SETTLES IN PHILADELPHIA, AND STUDIES LAW.=
A YEAR (1848-9) IN A LAW OFFICE--REVELS IN THE STUDY OF
BLACKSTONE, KENT, CHITTY, ETC.--A BEAUTIFUL DREAM. 25
=A HEART TOO SOFT FOR A LAWYER.=
THE BEAUTIFUL DREAM OVERSHADOWED--POOR ORPHANS AND POOR DEBTORS
TOUCH HIS HEART WITH THEIR SUFFERINGS--DISTRAINING GOODS FOR
RENT--A TOUCHING STORY--McWATTERS' BENEVOLENT DEVICE--HE QUITS
THE LAW IN DISGUST. 25
=DEPARTS FOR CALIFORNIA.=
THE "GOLD FEVER"--IN THE NEW ELDORADO--THE RECKLESS WARFARE OF
GREED AND CRIME--MEN LOST THEIR CONSCIENCES THERE--RETURN. 26
=BACK IN NEW YORK.=
ASSOCIATED WITH LAURA KEENE, AS HER AGENT--FIRST CALLED UPON TO
ENACT THE PART OF A DETECTIVE--HIS SUCCESS, AND WHAT IT LED TO. 27
=MR. McWATTERS AS AGENT AND LECTURER.=
BECOMES EXHIBITING LECTURER, ACCOMPANYING A GRAND PANORAMA--IN
THE CHIEF CITIES AND TOWNS--THE COUNTESS OF LANDSFELDT, OR
"LOLA MONTEZ." 28
=ANECDOTE OF LOLA MONTEZ AND LAURA KEENE.=
AN AMUSING STORY--LOLA BECOMES PIOUS, AND SELLS HER THEATRICAL
WARDROBE--LAURA PURCHASES A PART--A SPLENDID SILK DRESS PATTERN
PROVES TO BE FURNITURE CLOTH--ATTACKS AND RETORTS--THE GOODS
FINALLY BURNED UP. 28
=MR. McWATTERS SOLVING SOCIAL PROBLEMS.=
HIS GREAT INTEREST IN SOCIOLOGICAL QUESTIONS--HOW SHALL THE
GRIEVOUS BURDENS WHICH FALL UPON THE LABORING CLASSES BE MADE
LIGHTER? 29
=OUR SUBJECT AND THE PUBLIC PRESS.=
REMARKABLE RECORD--PUSILLANIMOUS HIGHWAYMEN--TWO KNIGHTS OF THE
ROAD FRIGHTENED BY A SPECTACLE-CASE. 30
=McWATTERS ENTERS THE METROPOLITAN POLICE FORCE.=
DISTINGUISHES HIMSELF THEREIN IN MANY WAYS DURING A PERIOD OF
TWELVE YEARS--OFFICER MCWATTERS UBIQUITOUS--THE STARVING PEOPLE
OF KANSAS (1861) ELICIT HIS SYMPATHIES--A FORCIBLE PUBLIC
SPEAKER. 33
=PERSONAL INCIDENTS.=
RESCUES CHILDREN AND MEN FROM WATERY GRAVES--ALWAYS AT HIS POST
OF DUTY--RECEIVES THE WARMEST PRAISE OF HIS CHIEF OFFICER,
SUPERINTENDENT KENNEDY--THE LATE SUPERINTENDENT JOURDAN. 34
=OFFICER McWATTERS DURING THE LATE CIVIL WAR.=
HIS FORESIGHT--UNDERSTOOD THE MISERIES OF THE
SUBJECT-CLASSES--HIS APPRECIATION OF REPUBLICAN
INSTITUTIONS--PREVENTED BY UNTOWARD CIRCUMSTANCES FROM GOING TO
THE FRONT--NOT OF THE "NOBLE HOME GUARD." 36
=FIRST SEIZURE OF GUNS AT THE NORTH.=
OFFICER MCWATTERS INTERCEPTS DAHLGREN GUNS ON THEIR WAY TO THE
REBELS, MAY 11, 1861--HONORABLE MENTION BY THE NEW YORK
TRIBUNE--FERNANDO WOOD'S INFAMOUS APOLOGY TO TOOMBS--WOOD AND
MCWATTERS COMPARED--THE GRATITUDE OF REPUBLICS. 37
=OFFICER McWATTERS' SERVICES THROUGH THE PUBLIC PRESS.=
ABLE AND SPIRITED LETTERS TO THE PRESS--NOBLE WORDS ADDRESSED TO
THE WORKINGMEN OF THE NATION. 38
=KINDLY AND WISE PROVIDENCE.=
PRIVATE APPEAL FOR LEMONS FOR THE FAMISHING SOLDIERS, MAY,
1863--IT DID A BRAVE WORK--EVENTUALLY INSPECTOR CARPENTER
REVEALS THAT IT WAS ONE OF OFFICER MCWATTERS' BENEVOLENT
DEEDS--OTHER EFFECTIVE MODES OF AIDING SICK AND WOUNDED
SOLDIERS AND THEIR FAMILIES. 39
="RIOT WEEK," JULY, 1863.--OFFICER McWATTERS IN THE
THICK OF THE FIGHT.=
THE STATE OF THE PUBLIC PULSE OF THE NORTH WHEN THE RIOT BROKE
OUT--THE NUMBER KILLED THAT WEEK IN NEW YORK ESTIMATED AT OVER
FOURTEEN HUNDRED!--McWATTERS AND HIS FELLOW-OFFICERS FIGHT
THEIR WAY THROUGH THE MOB INTO THE TRIBUNE OFFICE--McWATTERS
FELLED TO THE GROUND; SPRINGS TO HIS FEET, AND DEALS
DESTRUCTIVE BLOWS UPON HIS ASSAILANTS. 40
=OFFICER McWATTERS AND HIS LITERARY ASSOCIATES.=
COUNTLESS CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PUBLIC PRESS--HIS UNPRETENTIOUS
CAREER--"PFAFF'S," A FAMOUS RESORT FOR AUTHORS AND
ARTISTS--AN INTERESTING SKETCH OF THE PLACE, AND THE HOST OF
McWATTERS' AUTHOR FRIENDS WHO MEET THERE; AN ILLUSTRIOUS
ARRAY--OF THE DEAD OF THIS GOODLY HOST--A MOST INTERESTING
RETROSPECTION--McWATTERS' AUTHORS' LIBRARY. 42
=OFFICER McWATTERS AS THE GOOD SAMARITAN.=
AS A PHILANTHROPIST OFFICER McWATTERS HAS MOST DISTINGUISHED
HIMSELF--HIS ACQUAINTANCE WITH SOCIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
DEMONSTRATES TO HIM THE FOLLY OF FRAGMENTARY REFORMS; YET HE
CONTINUES HIS WONDERFUL INDIVIDUAL CHARITIES--PATCHWORK
CHARITY--HIS VITALITY OF BENEVOLENCE--McWATTERS IN THE RANKS OF
THE HOWARDS OF THE WORLD. 45
=McWATTERS AND THE SOLDIERS.=
THE POOR VETERAN SOLDIER'S BEST FRIEND--McWATTERS' GENEROUS
ENTHUSIASM IN BEHALF OF THE POOR SOLDIERS AND THEIR
FAMILIES--HIS GREAT PASSION--THE POETRY OF HIS CURRENT LIFE. 49
=LADIES UNION RELIEF ASSOCIATION.=
A GRAND CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION--DISTINGUISHED LADIES OF NEW
YORK AT ITS HEAD--ITS SCOPE OF SELF-IMPOSED DUTIES OF
BENEVOLENCE--ASSISTED BY AN ADVISORY BOARD OF THE LEADING MEN
OF THE CITY; OFFICER McWATTERS THE CHIEF AND MOST ACTIVE MAN
THEREOF--SUPERINTENDENT KENNEDY SECONDS OFFICER McWATTERS'
BENEVOLENT WORK--REV. DR. BELLOWS' WARM INDORSEMENT OF
McWATTERS' GOOD DEEDS--THE LATE SUPERINTENDENT JOURDAN
CRUELLY INTERFERES WITH McWATTERS' LABORS OF LOVE--DEATH
CALLS FOR MR. JOURDAN: WHERE THEY PUT HIM, AND WHO FOLLOWED
HIS HEARSE--OFFICER McWATTERS RESIGNS, AND LEAVES THE POLICE
FORCE, IN ORDER THAT HE MAY CONTINUE HIS HUMANITARY
WORK--COPY OF HIS LETTER OF RESIGNATION--APPOINTED TO A POST
IN THE CUSTOM HOUSE--COMPLIMENTARY NOTICES BY VARIOUS
JOURNALS ON THE OCCASION OF McWATTERS' RESIGNATION. 50
=THE SWINDLING BOUNTY CLAIM AGENTS.=
OFFICER McWATTERS' RELENTLESS OPPOSITION TO THE SWINDLERS--THEIR
INFAMOUS MODES OF OPERATION EXPLAINED--McWATTERS' PLAN OF
WARFARE--HE ROUTS THEIR FORCES AND WINS A GREAT
VICTORY--SERIOUSLY THREATENED BY THE SWINDLERS--McWATTERS
APPEALS TO CONGRESS, AND GETS A NEW ACT PASSED--CHIEF MEMBERS
OF CONGRESS WHO GAVE HIM THEIR AID--PAYMENTS UNDER THE NEW
LAW--THE GRATITUDE OF THE POOR SOLDIERS AND THEIR
FAMILIES--"HOW A POOR MAN FEELS!"--THE NATIONAL CEMETERIES AND
THE DEAD VETERANS--McWATTERS' FURTHER WORK FOR THE SOLDIERS. 55
=HONORABLE TESTIMONIALS TO OFFICER McWATTERS.=
PRESENTATION OF A GOLD WATCH BY THE LADIES' UNION RELIEF
ASSOCIATION--COMMENTS THEREON BY THE PUBLIC PRESS--OFFICER
McWATTERS' GREAT POPULARITY--A RESUMÉ OF SOME OF OFFICER
McWATTERS' GOOD DEEDS, BY THE SUN, TIMES, TRIBUNE, ETC. 62
=THE BELLEVUE HOSPITAL INIQUITY.=
THE RASCALITY EXPOSED IN A MASTERLY WAY--THE HORRORS OF THE
HOSPITAL PICTURED--THE WAR CARRIED ON THROUGH THE
PAPERS--OFFICER McWATTERS DIRECTS THE BATTLE--THE SCAMPS
BROUGHT TO TERMS, AND THE SICK POOR AT THE HOSPITAL NO LONGER
TREATED LIKE DOGS--THE CITIZENS' ASSOCIATION, AND ITS
CONNECTION WITH THE FIGHT--BENEFICENT RESULTS. 65
=CONCLUSION.=
OFFICER McWATTERS IN HIS CONTINUING LABORS OF LOVE--HIS FAMOUS
LETTER IN BEHALF OF THE POOR VETERAN SOLDIER ORGAN
GRINDERS--ELOQUENT WORDS OF SOCIAL STATESMANSHIP THEREIN--A
GREAT MORAL DUTY--WHEN IT CAN BE PROPERLY DONE--LABOR MUST BE
PROTECTED--PARTING TRIBUTE TO OFFICER GEORGE S. McWATTERS, THE
TRUE MAN, THE STERLING PATRIOT, AND PRACTICAL PHILANTHROPIST. 68
=THE ORGAN GRINDERS.=
A WORD IN THEIR BEHALF--LETTER FROM OFFICER McWATTERS (REFERRED
TO IN BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES)--A SAD STORY. 72
=TEN DOLLARS A MONTH: A STORY OF GRIEF AND JOY.=
("Man's inhumanity to man
Makes countless thousands mourn")
McWATTERS--PATRICK O'BRIEN AND HIS SUFFERING FAMILY--LADIES'
UNION RELIEF ASSOCIATION--A STORM OF GRIEF QUELLED BY THE VOICE
OF TRUE CHARITY. 74
=MACK AND THE VETERAN.=
A TOUCHING TALE--THE POETRY AND PATHOS OF BARE FEET. 80
=LOST IN THE STREETS.=
OPERATIONS OF THE BUREAU FOR THE RECOVERY OF LOST
PERSONS--MISSING MEN AND WOMEN--TROUBLES ABOUT LOST
PEOPLE--WHERE AND HOW PEOPLE ARE LOST--LOST CHILDREN--THE DENS
OF MIDNIGHT--THE HORROR OF A BREAKING DAWN--MISERY, SHAME, AND
DEATH--FINIS. 89
=AMONG THE SHARKS.=
ADVENTURES OF A FALL RIVER WANDERER--HIS VALUABLE EXPERIENCE IN
NEW YORK--CATCHING A FLAT. 97
=A SMART YOUNG MAN.=
AN AFTER-DINNER COLLOQUY, AND ITS RESULT--A FUNNY AFFAIR. 104
=A SUSPECTED CALIFORNIA MURDERER.=
ARRESTED--CHARGED WITH KILLING FOUR MEN: A GERMAN FOR HIS MONEY,
AND TWO SHERIFFS AND A DRIVER WHO WERE CONVEYING HIM TO PRISON. 107
=EXTENSIVE COUNTERFEITING.=
SEIZURE OF FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS IN SPURIOUS POSTAL
CURRENCY--ARREST OF THE COUNTERFEITER--HIS CONFESSION. 108
=THE GAMBLER'S WAX FINGER.=
CHARLES LEGATE--A FORGER--STUDYING HIM UP--FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS
HIS "PRIZE"--DESCRIPTION OF LEGATE--NO TWO PERSONS EVER AGREE
IN DESCRIBING ANOTHER--A MARK HIT UPON--START FOR ST.
LOUIS--MUSINGS--CURIOUS INCIDENTS OF MY JOURNEY--A GENEALOGICAL
"DODGE"--ON LEGATE'S TRACK AT LAST--ST. LOUIS REACHED--OF MY
STAY THERE--LEAVE FOR NEW ORLEANS PER STEAMER--A GENIAL CROWD
OF MEN AND WOMEN ON BOARD--CHARACTERISTICS OF A MISSISSIPPI
"VOYAGE"--NAPOLEON, ARKANSAS--SOME CHARACTERS COME ON BOARD
THERE--A GAMBLING SCENE ON BOARD--ONE JACOBS TAKES A PART--A
PRIVATE CONFERENCE WITH JACOBS'S NEGRO SERVANT--A TERRIFIC
FIGHT ON BOARD AMONG THE GAMBLERS--JACOBS SET UPON, AND MAKES A
BRAVE DEFENCE--HOW I DISCOVERED "JACOBS" TO BE PROBABLY LEGATE,
IN THE MELEE--HE IS BADLY BRUISED--HIS LIFE DESPAIRED OF--WE
ARRIVE IN NEW ORLEANS--JACOBS'S IDENTIFICATION AS
LEGATE--LEGATE PROVES TO BE VERY RICH--CURIOUS VISIT TO AN
ITALIAN ARTIST'S STUDIO--A NOVEL MEDICINE ADMINISTERED TO
SIGNORE CANCEMI--HE GETS WELL AT ONCE. 113
=LOTTERY TICKET, No. 1710.=
A DIGNIFIED REAL ESTATE HOLDER, VERY WEALTHY, LOSES SEVEN
THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FIVE DOLLARS--OUR FIRST COUNCIL
AT THE HOWARD HOUSE--VISIT TO HIS HOUSE TO EXAMINE HIS SAFE AND
SERVANTS--A LOTTERY TICKET, NO. 1710, FOUND IN THE SAFE--HOW
CAME THIS MYSTERIOUS PAPER THERE?--CONCLUSIONS THEREON--VISIT
TO BALTIMORE, AND PLANS LAID IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE LOTTERY
AGENT TO CATCH THE THIEF--THE TICKET "DRAWS"--THE NEW YORK
AGENCY "MANAGED"--TRAP TO IDENTIFY THE THIEF--THE SECURITY AND
"SOLITUDE" OF A GREAT CITY--A NEW YORK BANKER--MR. LATIMER
VISITS A GAMBLING HOUSE IN DISGUISE--IDENTIFIES THE SUSPECTED
YOUNG MAN--THE AGENT AT BALTIMORE WAXES GLEEFUL--HIS PLAN OF
OPERATIONS OVERRULED--MEETING OF "INTERESTED PARTIES" AT THE
OFFICE IN BALTIMORE--A LITTLE GAME PLAYED UPON THE NEW YORK
AGENT--MR. WORDEN, THE THIEF, IDENTIFIES THE TICKET, AND FALLS
INTO THE TRAP OF A PRE-ARRANGED "DRAFT"--DISCLOSES SOME OF THE
IDENTICAL MONEY STOLEN--WE ARREST HIM--EXCITING SCRAMBLE--THE
MONEY RECOVERED--WORDEN'S AFTER LIFE. 131
=PAYNE AND THE COUNTERFEITERS.=
AN IDLE TIME--A CALL FROM MY OLD "CHIEF"--THE CASE IN HAND
OUTLINED--I DISCOVER AN OLD ENEMY IN THE LIST OF
COUNTERFEITERS, AND LAY MY PLANS--TAKE BOARD IN NINETEENTH
STREET, AND OPEN A LAW OFFICE IN JAUNCEY COURT--MAKE THE
ACQUAINTANCE OF MRS. PAYNE, LEWELLYN'S MOTHER, AND FINALLY GET
ACQUAINTED WITH HIM--HE VISITS MY LAW OFFICE--I AM INGRATIATED
IN HIS FAVOR--I TRACK HIM INTO MY ENEMY'S COMPANY, AND FEEL
SURE OF SUCCESS--LEWELLYN FINALLY CONFESSES TO ME HIS TERRIBLE
SITUATION--CERTAIN PLANS LAID--I MAKE "COLLINS'S"
ACQUAINTANCE--VISIT A GAMBLING SALOON WITH HIM--A HEAVY
WAGER--$15,000 AT HAZARD, PAYNE'S ALL--THE COUNTERFEITING
GAMBLERS CAUGHT TOGETHER--SEVERE STRUGGLE--PAYNE SAVED AT LAST,
AND HIS MONEY TOO--A REFORMED SON AND A HAPPY MOTHER--TWO
"BIRDS" SENT TO THE PENITENTIARY. 153
=THE GENEALOGICAL SWINDLERS.=
PRIDE OF ANCESTRY IN THE UNITED STATES--IT IS SOMETIMES MORE
PROFITABLE TO OTHERS THAN TO THOSE WHO INDULGE IT--"PROPERTY IN
CHANCERY"--A WESTERN MERCHANT, HIS STORY, AND HOW HE TOLD IT--A
FAMILY MEETING AT NEW HAVEN, AND WHAT A MEMBER LEARNED
THERE--THE GREAT "LORD, KING, & GRAHAM" SWINDLE--THE WAY IN
WHICH THE FRAUD WAS ACCOMPLISHED--A CUNNING LETTER FROM "WILLIS
KING," OF THE FIRM OF LORD, KING, & GRAHAM, TO ONE OF HIS
RELATIVES--THE CORRESPONDENCE OF THIS NOTED FIRM--THE
SEARCH--THE TRAP LAID--THE SHARPERS CAUGHT, AND FOUND TO BE
EDUCATED YOUNG MEN OF THE HIGHEST SOCIAL STATUS--THEY ARE MADE
TO DISGORGE--A PARADOX, WITH A MORAL IN IT. 176
=HATTIE NEWBERRY, THE VERMONT BEAUTY.=
"SOCIETY, FOR THE MOST PART, CREATES THE CRIMES WHICH IT
PUNISHES"--A BEAUTIFUL GIRL ON THE CARS FROM RUTLAND, VERMONT,
ON THE WAY TO BELLOWS' FALLS, BESET BY NEW YORK ROGUES--A
DETECTIVE RECOGNIZES IN HER THE FORMER PLAYMATE OF HIS OWN
DAUGHTER--HE ENCOUNTERS THE ROGUES AT BELLOWS' FALLS, AND
KNOCKS ONE OF THEM DOWN IN THE LADIES' ROOM--THEY ALL TAKE THE
NEXT TRAIN, AND MOVE SOUTHWARD, ON THEIR WAY TO NEW
YORK--INCIDENTS OF THE JOURNEY--A THIRD VILLAIN GETS ABOARD AT
HARTFORD, CONN.--WHY HATTIE WAS GOING TO NEW YORK--AN OLD
TALE--THE DETECTIVE GIVES HATTIE MUCH GOOD ADVICE--A SKILFUL
MAN[OE]UVRE, ON ARRIVING IN NEW YORK, TO PUT THE ROGUES OFF THE
TRACK--A PAINFUL DISCOVERY AT LAST--A DEEP, DEVILISH PLOT OF
THE VILLAINS DRIVES HATTIE TO DESPAIR, AND SHE IS RESCUED FROM
A SUICIDE'S GRAVE--THE ROGUES PROVE TO BE THE MOST HEARTLESS OF
VILLAINS, AND ARE CAUGHT, AND DULY PUNISHED--HATTIE RETURNS
EVENTUALLY TO VERMONT, AFTER HAVING MARRIED HER OLD LOVER--THIS
TALE IS ONE OF THE SADDEST, AS WELL AS THE MOST INTERESTING OF
EXPERIENCES, THROUGHOUT. 192
=ABOUT BOGUS LOTTERIES.=
HOW THEY ARE "GOT UP"--THEIR MODE OF OPERATIONS DETAILED--HOW
THEY MANAGE THE "DRAWN NUMBERS" BEFOREHAND--THE GREAT
SHREWDNESS OF THE OPERATORS--THE SOCIAL RESPECTABILITY OF
THESE--THE GREAT FIRM OF "G. W. HUNTINGTON & CO."--THE IMMENSE
CIRCULATION OF THEIR JOURNAL.--THEIR VICTIM, A MAINE FARMER,
WHO BELIEVED HE HAD "DRAWN" FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS, AND
COUNSELLOR WHEATON, HIS LAWYER, A STORY TO THE POINT--WHO
INVEST IN LOTTERIES? CHILDREN, WIDOWS, CLERGYMEN, BANK
CASHIERS, ETC.--HOW THE FIRM OF "G. W. H. & CO." WAS
CAPTURED--NO. 23 WILLIAMS STREET, NEW YORK--THEIR PRETENDED
BANKING HOUSE--HOW A BOGUS LOTTERY COMPANY SWINDLED ITS OWN
AGENTS--A QUEER TALE. 225
=THE BORROWED DIAMOND RING.=
THE DETECTIVE OFFICER'S CHIEF "INCUBUS"--AT WINTER GARDEN
THEATRE--"HARRY DUBOIS"--AN EXPERT ROGUE EXAMINES HIS
PROSPECTIVE VICTIMS--SOME SOUTHERNERS--HARRY "INTRODUCES"
HIMSELF IN HIS OWN PECULIAR AND ADROIT WAY--HARRY AND HIS
FRIEND ARE INVITED TO THE SOUTHERNER'S PRIVATE BOX--HARRY
"BORROWS" MR. CLEMENS' DIAMOND RING, AND ADROITLY ESCAPES--MY
DILEMMA--VISIT TO HARRY'S OLD BOARDING MISTRESS--HIS
WHEREABOUTS DISCOVERED--ACTIVE WORK--A RAPID DRIVE TO PINE
STREET--A FORTUNATE LIGHT IN THE OFFICE OF THE LATE HON. SIMEON
DRAPER--A SUDDEN VISIT FOR A "SICK MAN" TO HARRY'S ROOM--HOW
ENTRANCE WAS EFFECTED--THE RING SECURED--HUNT FOR MR.
CLEMENS--A SLIGHTLY MYSTERIOUS LETTER--A HAPPY INTERVIEW. 257
=THE MYSTERY AT 89 ---- STREET, NEW YORK.=
"KLEPTOMANIA"--THE TENDENCY TO SUPERSTITION--AN OLD KNICKERBOCKER
FAMILY--A VERY "PROPER" OLD GENTLEMAN, A MR. GARRETSON--HE
CALLS ON ME AT MY OFFICE, AND FINDS A CURIOUS-LOOKING ROOM--HIS
STORY OF WONDERS--"EVERYTHING" STOLEN--TALK ABOUT DISEMBODIED
SPIRITS--THE MYSTERY DEEPENS--PROBABLE CONJECTURE
BAFFLED--VISIT TO MR. GARRETSON'S HOUSE--MRS. GARRETSON A
BEAUTIFUL AND CULTIVATED OLD LADY--WE SEARCH THE HOUSE--AN
ATTIC FULL OF OLD SOUVENIRS--WE LINGER AMONG THEM--MR.
GARRETSON'S DAUGHTER IS CONVINCED THAT DISEMBODIED SPIRITS ARE
THEIR TORMENTORS--SHE PUTS AN UNANSWERABLE QUESTION--A
DANGEROUS DOG AND THE SPIRITS--TEDIOUS AND UNAVAILING WATCHING
FOR SEVERAL DAYS AND NIGHTS--THE "SPIRITS" AGAIN AT
WORK--RE-CALLED--THE MYSTERY GROWS MORE WONDERFUL--THE "SPIRIT"
DISCOVERED, AND THE MYSTERY UNRAVELLED--THE FAMILY SENT
AWAY--THE ATTIC RE-VISITED WITH MR. G., AND ITS TREASURES
REVEALED--A RE-DISCOVERY OF THE "SPIRITS"--THE FAMILY REVIEW
THEIR LONG-LOST TREASURES FOUND--REFLECTIONS ON THE CAUSES OF
THE MYSTERY--A PROBLEM FOR THE DOCTORS. 273
=A SORCERESS' TRICK; HOW SHE WAS CAUGHT.=
CLASSIFICATION OF MEN--THE SUPERSTITIOUS ELEMENT IN MAN--THE
OLD CULTS CONTINUED IN THE NEW--FIRE WORSHIP--THE
SORCERERS--MY LEGAL FRIEND'S STORY A LAUGHABLE ONE
INDEED--THE DESPONDENT OLD MAID, THOUGH ENGAGED TO BE
MARRIED--AN AUNT ARRIVES IN "THE NICK OF TIME"--THEY HUNT UP
A FORTUNE-TELLER--MRS. SEYMOUR, THE SORCERESS, AND HER PRETTY
LITTLE "ORATORY"--THE "PRIE-DIEU"--THE OLD MAID MARRIES--MRS.
SEYMOUR'S PLAN FOR INSURING THE AFFECTION OF HUSBANDS--HER
POWERS AS A CHARMER--THE SACRED BOX AND ITS FIVE THOUSAND
DOLLARS CONTENTS--MRS. SEYMOUR IS LOST SIGHT OF--SEARCH FOR
HER IN BROOKLYN AND AT BOSTON--THE CHARMED BOX OPENED BY MR.
AND MRS. ----, AND THE CONTENTS FOUND TO HAVE CHANGED FORM
MATERIALLY--MY LEGAL FRIEND AND I LOOK AFTER MATTERS--A
PORTION OF THE TRANSFORMED VALUABLES FOUND--A MRS. BRADLEY, A
"MEDIUM" IN BOSTON, PROVES TO BE THE IDENTICAL MRS.
SEYMOUR--THE HIGH-TONED DEVOTEES OF BOSTON--SUDDEN
PROCEEDINGS TAKEN--MRS. SEYMOUR AND HER HUSBAND COME TO
TERMS--RESULTS--RESPECTABLE VICTIMS OF THE SORCERERS
NUMEROUS--DUPES IN THE "ATHENS OF AMERICA." 309
=DISHONEST CLERK AND FATAL SLIP OF PAPER.=
IN AN UGLY MOOD WITH MYSELF--A VISIT FROM A CINCINNATIAN--A LOSS
DETAILED--THE FATE OF A BANKING HOUSE RESTING ON "COLLATERALS"
STOLEN, WHICH MUST BE RECOVERED--A LAWYER FIGURES IN THE MATTER
AND IS BAFFLED--THE THIEVES SPECULATING FOR A SETTLEMENT--THE
SCHEME LAID FOR THEIR DETECTION--A BUSINESS VISIT TO THE
BANKING-HOUSE--THE CHIEF CLERK SENT TO CHICAGO ON BUSINESS--A
SEARCH REVEALING LOVE LETTERS AND A LOVELY LITERARY LADY--ON
TRACK OF MYSTERIOUS "PAPERS"--THE FATAL SLIP OF PAPER--THE WAY
THE STOLEN BONDS WERE RECOVERED--THE CHIEF CLERK, AND HOW HE
WAS "ENLIGHTENED"--A NOVEL AND QUIET ARREST IN A CARRIAGE--THE
CLERK'S CONFEDERATE CAUGHT--THE PROPERTY RESTORED--THE SCAMPS
DECAMP--THE INNOCENT LITERARY LADY'S EYES OPENED. 322
=THE THOUSAND DOLLAR LESSON.=
CHARLES PURVIS: TAKING HIM IN CHARGE AT A DISTANCE--HANGERS ON AT
THE ST. NICHOLAS AND OTHER HOTEL ENTRANCES--A COLLOQUY, SPICED
WITH REMINISCENCES OF "OLD SAM COLT," OF THE "REVOLVER," IN HIS
GAY DAYS; A PARTY AT THE "OLD CITY HOTEL," HARTFORD, CONN., AND
OTHER THINGS--TRINITY COLLEGE BOYS--"GEORGE ELLSWORTH"--PURVIS
AND HE START ON A WALK--"WHERE CAN THEY BE GOING?"--GOING TO
SEE ELLSWORTH'S "FRIEND"--AN EXCHANGE OF COATS--A SURVEY
TAKEN--A FIRST-CLASS GAMBLING SALOON--A NEW MAN IN THE
GAME--PURVIS DRUGGED--HIS "FRIENDS" TAKE HIM "HOME," BUT
WHERE?--PURVIS IS RETURNED TO HIS HOTEL IN A STATE OF
STUPEFACTION; IS AROUSED; MISSES A THOUSAND DOLLARS--PLANS LAID
TO CATCH HIS LATE FRIENDS--WILLIAMS FOUND BY ACCIDENT, AND
QUIETLY CAGED--THE OLD IRISH WOMAN'S APPEAL--WILLIAMS
"EXPLAINS," AFTER PROPER INDUCEMENT--MOST OF THE MONEY
RECOVERED--SUPPLEMENTS. 341
=THE WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING.=
THE ANTIQUITY OF THAT SHEEP'S SKIN AND ITS PIOUS USEFULNESS--A
LARGE LOSS OF SILKS, SATINS, LACES, AND OTHER GOODS--A
CONSULTATION--A LONG STUDY--THE VARIOUS CHARACTERS OF SEVERAL
CLERKS, WHAT THEY DID, AND HOW THEY KILLED "SPARE
TIME"--INFLUENCE OF THE CITY ON MORALS--NEW YORK CENTRAL
PARK--A MOST WONDERFUL SERIES OF THEFTS--THE MATTER,
INEXPLICABLE AT FIRST, GROWS MORE SUBTLE--A GLEAM OF LIGHT AT
LAST--A BRIGHT ITALIAN BOY PLAYS A PART--A LADY FOLLOWED--MORE
LIGHT--AN EXTEMPORIZED SERVANT OF THE CROTON WATER BOARD GETS
INSIDE A CERTAIN HOUSE--SARAH CROGAN AND I--HOW A HOUSE IN
NINETEENTH STREET DELIVERED UP ITS TREASURES--"WILLIAM BRUCE,"
ALIAS CHARLES PHILLIPS--A VERY STRANGE DENOUEMENT--A MEEK MAN
TRANSFORMED; HIS RAGE--A DELIVERY UP, WITH ACCOMPANYING
JEWELS--A "WIDOW" NOT A WIDOW REMOVES--WHAT SARAH CROGAN
THOUGHT. 358
=A FORCED MARRIAGE SCHEME DEFEATED.=
GOSHEN, CONN.--A LADY STRANGER THERE--A PILGRIMAGE TO GOSHEN, VIA
THE FAR-FAMED MOUNTAIN TOWN OF LITCHFIELD--THE BEAUTIFUL
WIDOW--AN UNPLEASANT REMINISCENCE OF DR. IVES, LATE BISHOP OF
NORTH CAROLINA--MORE ABOUT THE WIDOW--SHE LEAVES FOR NEW
YORK--AT THE "MANSION HOUSE," LITCHFIELD--A MARKED CHARACTER
ENCOUNTERED THERE--MR. "C. B. LE ROY" STUDIED AND WEIGHED--THE
BEAUTIFUL WIDOW AND LE ROY MEET--HER FACE DISCLOSES CONFLICTING
EMOTIONS--MR. LE ROY AND THE BEAUTIFUL WIDOW, MRS. STEVENS,
TAKE A WALK DOWN SOUTH STREET, IN THE "PARADISE OF
LOAFERS"--SYMPATHIES SILENTLY EXCHANGED--WE ALL START FOR THE
"STATION"--THE STAGE-COACH "TURNS OVER"--THE AFFRIGHTED LE ROY
REVEALS HIS MANNERS--A PECULIAR SCENE IN THE CARS--AT
BRIDGEPORT I PRESENT MYSELF TO MRS. STEVENS--AT NEW YORK
AGAIN--A TALE OF COMPLICATIONS--MRS. STEVENS IN DEEP TROUBLE--A
FRIEND OF HERS SEEKS ME--REVELATIONS--A FEARFUL STORY--A SECRET
MARRIAGE AND UNHAPPY CONSEQUENCES--THE WRETCH LE ROY WANTS THE
WIDOW'S MONEY--A TRAP SET FOR LE ROY--HE FALLS INTO IT--WEDDING
SCENE DISARRANGED--THE WIDOW SAVED, AND THE INTENDED FORCED
MARRIAGE DEFEATED. 387
=THE MARKED BILLS.=
A LITTLE KEY BEARING A MONOGRAM SHAPES THE DESTINY OF AN
INTELLIGENT MAN--HOW THIS MAN CAME TO BE INVOLVED IN THE MATTER
OF WHICH THIS TALE DISCOURSES--MY PARTNER AND I--FAR-OFF
MYSTERIES MAY SOLVE NEARER ONES--A CONSULTATION--A COMMITTEE
"SEEK LIGHT," AND FIND CONSOLATION--BURGLARIES AND HIGHWAY
ROBBERIES BY THE WHOLESALE--MY PARTNER LEAVES FOR EUROPE--A
TOWN IN OHIO INFESTED--A "DOCTOR HUDSON" APPEARS IN THE
TOWN--HE MAKES A PROFESSIONAL VISIT TO ONE MR. PERKINS--A
COLLOQUY; SEEKING LIGHT--A CALLOUS HAND, AND A CLEW TO
MYSTERIES--"DOCTOR HUDSON" EXTENDS HIS ACQUAINTANCESHIP--HE
MAKES A NIGHT'S VISIT OUT OF TOWN, AND GETS WAYLAID AND ROBBED,
BUT MANAGES TO CREATE THE FATAL EVIDENCE HE WANTS OF THE
ROBBERS' IDENTITY--A COUNCIL OF PRINCIPAL CITIZENS--"DOCTOR
HUDSON" MAKES A DISCLOSURE--A SCHEME LAID--A "MILITARY
INVESTMENT" OF A DOMESTIC FORTRESS; AN EXCITING HOUR--BREAKING
INTO A HOUSE AT MIDNIGHT AND SURPRISING A SLEEPER--THE THIEF
LEAVES TOWN TO GO TO CINCINNATI TO STUDY MEDICINE WITH "DOCTOR
HUDSON"--A SUICIDE--PURITANIC MERCILESSNESS--THE MUSIC
TEACHER'S INGENIOUS LETTER TO HIS LADY LOVE. 414
=THE COOL-BLOODED GOLD ROBBER.=
A SUDDEN CALL--GREAT CONSTERNATION AT THE ---- BANK IN WALL
STREET--TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS IN GOLD STOLEN--A HARD, INSOLUBLE
CASE--"TRY," THE SOUL OF SUCCESS--BANKS COMPELLED TO GREATEST
CAUTIOUSNESS--NO ESPRIT DE CORPS AMONG MONEY-CHANGERS--THE WAY
I "CREATED" DETECTIVES--RAG-PICKERS MADE USEFUL ABOVE THEIR
CALLING--AN UP-TOWN CARRIAGE HOUSE, AND ITS TREASURES--A
LAUGHING COACHMAN--A PRESENT--COMPLICATED EVIDENCE
UNRAVELLED--AN OLD OFFICE-WOMAN INVOLVED IN THE MYSTERY--A BIT
OF FUN FURNISHES THE DESIRED "KEY"--"SMOUCHING," AND WHAT CAME
OF IT--EXTENDING MY ACQUAINTANCESHIP--THE THIEF FOUND--A WALL
STREET BROKER--STUDYING HIM--HIS CLERK WILED AWAY--GOOD USE OF
THEATRE TICKETS--THE SCHEME OF IDENTIFICATION--A PLOT WITHIN A
PLOT--THE BROKER WORSTED--HE STRUGGLES WITHIN HIMSELF; GROWS
PALE--HOW HE EXECUTED THE ROBBERY--THE TERRIBLE "FORCE OF
EXAMPLE" SOMETIMES--THE THIEF BECOMES A MEMBER OF THE COMMON
COUNCIL--A SALUTARY WARNING TO OTHER THIEVES. 442
=$1,250,000, OR THE PRIVATE MARK.=
MONEY-GETTING AS RELATED TO CRIME--A VERY STRANGE HISTORY--THE
MOST WONDROUS PURSUIT OF A MAN BY HIS ENEMY WHICH EVER
(PROBABLY) WAS KNOWN IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD--JAMES WILLIAM
HUBERT ROGERS AND "NED" HAGUE, TWO ENGLISHMEN--"DAMON AND
PYTHIAS" IN EARLY LIFE--A CHANGE COMES--A DEPARTED AND
CONSIDERATE UNCLE DESCRIBED, ONCE A PROTEGE OF THE EMPEROR OF
AUSTRIA--OLIVER CROMWELL HAGUE, A RICH INDIA MERCHANT--A
MARVELOUS SEARCH FOR A LOST MAN--A MAN FOUND AND IDENTIFIED BY
NUMEROUS FRIENDS AS THE ONE IN QUESTION--PLOTTING AND
COUNTER-PLOTTING--A SHREWD VERMONT "LAWYER" MAKES A THOUSAND
POUNDS STERLING--THE INDEFATIGABLE ROGERS COMES TO AMERICA IN
HIS SEARCH--LOST IN THE VASTNESS OF THE COUNTRY--WE MEET, AND
DEPART FOR ST. LOUIS--TROUBLES, AND AN ENLIGHTENING DREAM--A
WICKED LAWYER--THE RIGHT TO REPENT--A SPIRITED COLLOQUY WITH
THE LAWYER--AN ENEMY FOUND AND SET TO WORK--THE GRASPING LAWYER
OUTWITTED--THE LOST FOUND IN A TERRIBLE CONDITION--A LITTLE
PRIVATE FUN OVER THE LAWYER'S DISCOMFITURE--A SHARP EXAMINATION
AND CROSS-EXAMINATION--LAWYER OUTWITTED, AND LOSES FIVE HUNDRED
DOLLARS--MR. ROGERS DEPARTS WITH THE "LOST ONE," BOUND FOR
ENGLAND--DROWNING OF THE LATTER AT SEA--THE CHERISHED VICTORY
OF YEARS VANISHES--OUT, WITH A LAUGH. 461
=WILLIAM ROBERTS AND HIS FORGERIES.=
A MAN OF THE OLDEN TYPE--HIS SAD STORY ABOUT HIS WIFE AND
HIMSELF--THEY ADOPT A BRIGHT BOY--THE WIFE'S PROPHET
SPECULATIONS ABOUT THE BOY--THE BOY GROWS UP AND GOES TO
COLLEGE--A PLEASANT YEAR--HE LEARNS CERTAIN MYSTERIES OF
LIFE--STUDENTS' PITCHED BATTLE WITH THE FACULTY OF THE
COLLEGE--OF THE "WHITE HORSE"--A WHILE IN A LAWYER'S
OFFICE--BECOMES A MERCHANT--MAKING MONEY TOO FAST--A FATAL
HOUR--THE VORTEX OF WALL STREET--SUNDRY FORGERIES--A STRANGE
CAREER--AN IMPORTANT WITNESS LOST, AND FOUND IN THE INSANE
RETREAT, HARTFORD, CONN.--A TERRIBLE COMPLICATION OF AFFAIRS;
LAWYERS AND ALL BAFFLED--I AM CALLED IN TO WORK UP THE
CASE--DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED--FATE INTERPOSES--WENTWORTH, THE
INSANE WITNESS, RECOVERS--A VAST DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BLACK INK
AND BLUE INK--DYING OF GRIEF--AN UNHAPPY HOUSEHOLD. 492
=OLD MR. ALVORD'S LAST WILL.=
THE DESTRUCTIVE GREED OF GAIN--A WEIRD, WONDROUS TALE--"WHAT IF
THEY BUT KNEW"--TELLING STORIES AWAY FROM HOME--REVELATIONS--AN
OLD MAN OF THE HIGH MORAL TYPE--CURIOUS NOTION ABOUT THE SIZE
OF A FAMILY--THE MYSTIC NUMBER THREE--PORTRAITS OF A FAMILY; A
PERFECT WOMAN--DEATH AND INTRIGUES--A "FAITHFUL SERVANT"--OLD
WILLS AND NEW--LEGAL COMPLICATIONS--THE LAST WILL MISSING--A
CRAFTY LAWYER--A THOROUGH SEARCH--A DIABOLICAL COURTSHIP, AND
FIERCE STRUGGLE THROUGH THREE YEARS--A DETECTIVE AT LAST CALLED
INTO THE MATTER--A PLOT LAID TO FOIL OLD BOYD, AN UNSCRUPULOUS
LAWYER--DID IT SUCCEED?--THE READER PERMITTED TO ANSWER THE
QUESTION FOR HIMSELF--A VITAL DISCOVERY--MORE PLOTTING--A
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG LADY MAKES A DIVERSION IN THE PLANS--OLD ANDREW
WILCOX'S FUNNY LETTERS SEARCHED AND A TREASURE "FOUND" AMONG
THEM--OLD BOYD'S CONSTERNATION--THE LAST WILL FINALLY CARRIED
OUT--"NOTHING IMPOSSIBLE"--A FORTUNE TOO LARGE TO BE LAUGHED
AT--A CUNNING WIFE LEADS HER HUSBAND A CURIOUS LIFE--A BIT OF
COMFORT, PERHAPS. 509
=THE CONFIDENTIAL CLERK.=
THE INNOCENT OFTEN SUFFER WITH THE GUILTY--THE DETECTIVES'
"KEYS"--REGRETS--LEONARD SAVAGE, A YOUNG MAN OF NEW HAMPSHIRE,
AND HIS FAMILY STOCK--RICHARD BROOKS, A WEALTHY NEW YORK
MERCHANT--HIS VISIT TO YOUNG SAVAGE'S FATHER--RESULTS--PARTIAL
BIOGRAPHY OF MR. BROOKS, IN WALL STREET AND ELSEWHERE--A SLAVE
TO FORTUNE--A FATHER'S PRIDE--MR. BROOKS' FEARFUL DREAM--MR.
BROOKS IN THE OLD HOME OF HIS CHILDHOOD--HOW A TRUE MAN TREATS
HIS WIFE--FAMILY ASPIRATIONS--THE LOVE OF YOUNG MEN--COUNTRY
AND CITY TEMPTATION--A "NEW SUIT," AND A TRIP TO THE
MOUNTAINS--A SURPRISING PRESENT--A HAPPY SEASON--A FEARFUL
CHANGE COMES--TERRIBLE RESULTS OF AN UNJUST JUDGMENT--STRANGEST
THING EVER KNOWN--A CATHOLIC PENITENT AN ACTOR IN THE
SCENES--REMORSE--UNRAVELLINGS IN AN UNEXPECTED WAY--A SPEEDY
VOYAGE TO EUROPE TO RESTORE THE WRONGED TO HIS RIGHT PLACE. 542
=THE PECULIAR ADVERTISEMENTS.=
THE DOCTRINE OF CHANCE--A NIGHT AT THE GIRARD HOUSE,
PHILADELPHIA--AN INOFFENSIVE GENTLEMAN, MY ROOM-MATE--I
DISTURB HIS SLEEP--A QUEER TALE--NELLIE WILSON AND HER
UNCLE--WILLIAM WILSON, NELLIE'S DISSOLUTE COUSIN--FEARFUL
LOVE-MAKING--A RESCUE--A CALL TO DUTY--A DEAD MAN'S WILL
MISSING--STUDYING UP THE CASE WITH THE GREAT CRIMINAL LAWYER,
JUDGE S.--FATE INTERPOSES--A MYSTERIOUS AND PECULIAR
ADVERTISEMENT--AT THE CONTINENTAL HOTEL, WAITING AND
WATCHING--AN "APPEARANCE"--WILLIAM WILSON AGAIN--AN UPPER
ROOM, AND THE VILLAINS THEREIN--A PRIVATE CONFERENCE NOT ALL
SECRET--A FLASH OF VICTORY BEFORE UTTER DEFEAT--NOTES AND
DOCUMENTS EXCHANGED--BASE REJOICINGS--FATAL NEGLECT--THE
SURPRISE--COMPLETE DISCOMFITURE--END ACCOMPLISHED--"COALS OF
FIRE," BUT THEY DO NO GOOD--VIOLENT DEATH--HAPPY
CONSEQUENCES--PECULIAR ADVERTISEMENTS UNRAVELLED. 571
=COL. NOVENA, PRINCE OF CONFIDENCE MEN.=
THE CONFIDENCE MAN, PAR EXCELLENCE; A REAL "ARTIST"--"COL.
NOVENA," "COUNT ANTONELLI," "GEN. ALVEROSA," "SIR RICHARD
MURRAY," MAKES A VISIT--A MAN OF GREAT NATURAL ABILITY, WITH "A
SCREW LOOSE"--A BIT OF "PHILOSOPHY"--THE MAN DESCRIBED,
VERSATILE, AGILE, BRAVE, DARING--THE COLONEL AS A
GALLANT--CURIOUS TALE ABOUT TWO SISTERS AND COL.
NOVENA--PRESIDENT BUCHANAN, PROFESSOR HENRY, GEN. FREMONT, AND
MR. SEWARD OF THE NUMBER OF HIS FRIENDS--DISHONEST WAYS OF
DOING "LEGITIMATE BUSINESS"--A SHOCKING BAD MEMORY--THE COLONEL
AS A PHILANTHROPIST--COMES TO GRIEF--AT WASHINGTON, D.
C.--SARATOGA TEMPTS THE COLONEL.--HIS SUCCESSES THERE--A CHANGE
OF CIRCUMSTANCES--A VALUABLE DIAMOND NECKLACE LOST--THE GREAT
MYSTERY--HISTORIC CHARACTER OF THE NECKLACE--THOROUGH
SEARCHING--THE SHREWDEST SCAMPS GENERALLY HAVE BETTER
REPUTATION THAN MOST PEOPLE--TOO GOOD A "CHARACTER" A MATTER OF
SUSPICION--"MR. HENRY INMAN, ARTIST," IS CREATED--HEADWAY
MADE--THE NECKLACE COMES TO LIGHT IN THE POSSESSION OF A MOST
REMARKABLE WOMAN--GOODNESS IN BAD PLACES--A LIVING MORAL
PARADOX--AN "UNFORTUNATE" GOOD SAMARITAN--THE GENERAL'S SENSE
OF HONOR WOUNDED--TO CANADA--DOWN THE RAPIDS OF THE ST.
LAWRENCE--A TOMB IN GREENWOOD--RENDERING TO WOMAN HER DUE--A
BLESSED CHARITY--WALL STREET CORRUPTS THE MORALS OF THE NATION. 589
=CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE.=
A ROBBERY--ONE OF THE FEMALE ATTACHÉS OF THE GREAT KOSSUTH--A
WIDOW LADY OF RANK IN HUNGARY--KOSSUTH'S SISTER--A
BOARDING-HOUSE AT NEWARK, N. J., AND ITS INMATES--SUNDRY FACTS
AND CONSIDERATIONS--BEAUTY WINS--AN INVESTIGATION--SERVANTS
EXAMINED--THE PATENT-ROOF MAKER--"TRACING" A MAN--A HOLLOW
WALKING-STICK WITH MONEY IN IT--NO CLEW YET--A PATHETIC
BLUNDER--REVELATIONS IN DREAMS--A BIT OF PAPER TELLS A
STORY--IDENTIFICATION--THIEF ARRESTED--CONDITIONAL
SETTLEMENT--TRIUMPHAL VISIT TO THE WIDOW--"WHITE LIE," AND
ANNOUNCEMENT--DOUBTING--PERFECT EVIDENCE SOMETIMES
IMPERFECT--UNSOLVED PROBLEM; WHO DID THE ROBBERY? 610
=THE COUNTERFEIT MONEY SPECULATORS.=
"MONEY"--THE COUNTERFEITERS' MORAL PHILOSOPHY--THE CUNNING OF
BANK BILLS--NO VALID BANK BILLS ISSUED--A TRICK OF THE BANKS TO
EVADE THE LAW--SWINDLING UNDER "COLOR OF LAW," AND IN DEFIANCE
THEREOF; A VAST DISTINCTION--COUNTERFEITERS AS "PUBLIC
BENEFACTORS"--THE REGULAR COUNTERFEITERS EMBARRASSED BY THE
BOGUS ONES--MR. "FERGUSON'S" MARVELLOUS LETTER--COUNTLESS
COMPLAINTS--THE "HONEST FARMER" OF VERMONT, AND HIS SPECULATION
WITH THE COUNTERFEIT MONEY MEN--WHAT HE SENT FOR, AND WHAT HE
GOT--A SECURELY DONE-UP PACKAGE--A "DOWN-CELLAR" SCENE--THE
"HONEST FARMER'S" CONFUSION--A BIT OF LOCAL HISTORY RELATING TO
THOMASTON, CONN.--THE HONEST OYSTER DEALER THERE, AND THE
NINETY DOLLARS "C. O. D."--A QUESTION UNSETTLED--HOW THE
"HONEST FARMER" OF VERMONT CHEATED ME AT LAST. 626
=THE DETECTIVE SYSTEM.=
THE NECESSITY OF THE DETECTIVE SYSTEM GENERALLY DISCUSSED--STATE
OF SOCIETY WHICH CREATED IT--REGULAR AND IRREGULAR ROBBERS--THE
YOUNG MAN OF INTELLIGENCE ENTERING UPON ACTIVE LIFE, A
PICTURE--HE NATURALLY ALLIES HIMSELF TO THE TYRANT AND ROBBING
CLASSES--NO HONESTY IN TRADE--TRADE RULES; AND ALL ARE
CORRUPT--NO CONSCIENCE AMONG TRAFFICKERS--LYING A FINE ART--ALL
VILLAINS, BUT NONE INDIVIDUALLY AT FAULT--THE DETECTIVE BELONGS
TO THE CORRUPT GOVERNING CLASSES--WEIGHING HIM--GREAT
THIEVES--"THE PURVEYORS OF HELL"--THE ETERNAL TALKERS, AND WHAT
THEY AMOUNT TO--THE USE FOR DETECTIVES AN INCIDENT; "CATCHING A
FLAT"--THE DETECTIVE'S VOCATION FURTHER CONSIDERED--HOW THE
DETECTIVES PROTECT SOCIETY--ILLUSTRATIVE INCIDENTS--A GREAT
DETECTIVE DESCRIBED--STRATAGEMS--WHAT THE PHILOSOPHERS SAY--IS
THE DETECTIVE SYSTEM FROM ABOVE OR BELOW? 643
------------------------------------------------------------------------
List of Illustrations.
1. PORTRAIT OF GEO. S. McWATTERS, _Frontispiece._
2. McWATTERS' SPECTACLE CASE, _To face page_ 33
3. "TEN DOLLARS A MONTH," 79
4. McWATTERS AND THE VETERAN, 87
5. THE BOND OPERATOR, 103
6. THE WAX FINGER DISCOVERED, 127
7. SEIZURE OF YOUNG WORDEN IN BALTIMORE, 149
8. ATLANTIC BEER GARDEN.--PAYNE AND COLLINS' RENDEZVOUS, 165
9. DESCENT UPON BLANCHARD AND THE GAMBLERS, 173
10. PROTECTING THE INNOCENT, 201
11. RESCUE OF HATTIE NEWBERRY, 215
12. RESTELL AT SING SING, 221
13. THE BOGUS LOTTERY OFFICE, 237
14. SURPRISING THE BOGUS LOTTERY DEALERS, 249
15. RECOVERING THE DIAMOND RING, 267
16. THE OLD KNICKERBOCKER IN THE DETECTIVE'S OFFICE, 279
17. DISCOVERING THE "SPIRITS" AT NO. 89 ---- STREET, NEW YORK, 291
18. "KETCH HIM AND HOULD HIM!"--WILLIAMS' ARREST, 355
19. THE WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING, 383
20. BREAK-DOWN ON LITCHFIELD HILL, 399
21. THE CEREMONY DEFEATED, 409
22. DR. HUDSON'S STRATAGEM WITH THE HIGHWAYMEN, 433
23. THE MISSOURI LAWYER OUTWITTED, 489
24. A RASH COURTSHIP, 521
25. FEARFUL DREAM OF OLD MR. BROOKS, 549
26. RESCUE OF NELLIE WILSON, 577
27. RESCUE OF THE WILL, 585
28. THE TWO SISTERS COURTING COL. NOVENA IN HIS LIBRARY, 595
29. THE "HONEST" COUNTERFEIT MONEY SPECULATOR, 639
30. CATCHING A FLAT, 659
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PUBLISHERS' INTRODUCTION.
--------------
Deeming that the public would be deeply interested to know, indeed had
a right to know, something more of the author of the following work
than gleams through the series of entertaining, instructive, and in
many respects unparalleled articles which constitute "Knots Untied," we
applied to him for his Autobiography, in details covering other
portions of, and facts in his life, than are revealed in the wonderful
experiences of his professional career, as brought to light in these
articles.
But we were met by a reply, characteristic of most men of deeds rather
than of words, that it would be wholly against his taste to furnish his
own personal history: he was in 'no wise desirous to vaunt himself,' he
said; 'he had not sought,' he continued, by the articles in question,
to illustrate himself, or to play the part of a hero in any measure,
but merely to contribute to the current literature and the history of
the times a narration of sundry interesting facts, which, in their
hidden and secret nature, are usually withheld from the general public.
Throughout this book Officer McWatters has shown the modesty of a
retiring and unassuming man; making no further allusion to himself, and
his deeds and experiences, than necessary to sustain the thread of the
narratives. He desired that the book should stand upon its own merits,
without any adventitious aid from the high indorsements of his own
daily life and personal character, such as will be found in what
follows. He would, so far as the book is concerned, be judged as an
officer and an author, rather than by the merits of his own private
life, be they great or small. In this he evinced a commendable pride
and a good sense which we could not question.
Nevertheless we considered it fitting that we add to the book such
facts as we might possess ourselves of regarding the career of a man
whose life has been given, in so great part, to deeds of good,
heartfully and freely done, and to humanitary reforms, as has Officer
McWatters'.
For it is not strictly and merely in the capacity of a successful
officer or as a spirited and graceful writer that "the Literary
Policeman" (as the journals of New York are wont to distinguish Officer
McWatters) has done his best works. Officer McWatters is, _par
excellence_, a humanitarian, a gentleman of the widest tolerance and
liberality of opinions, as is evinced in various parts of the
narratives, which exhibit nothing of that cruel and tyrannical spirit
so common to men who have much to do with the criminal classes. It is
rather by kindness than severity that he would deal with the erring.
Officer McWatters, being unwilling to supply his Autobiography; and
being ourselves without sufficient notes to furnish the public with the
biographical comments which we considered so desirable concerning him,
we intrusted the matter of writing his personal history to a well known
literary gentleman of New York, with directions to him to put into form
whatever he could authentically gather of a nature interesting to the
reading public in general, concerning the author of "Knots Untied."
How well he fulfilled his arduous duty, under the circumstances, the
reader of the Biographical Notes which follow will judge for himself.
But we regard it as not improper for us to say, that in our opinion the
Biographical Notes will be found a very interesting addition to "Knots
Untied," not only by the insight they give the reader into the career
of a man, who, filling an unpretentious sphere in life, so far as
technical vocations are concerned, has made himself illustrious by
deeds of good will; but also by their style, peculiar in some respects,
and here and there marked by the utterance of brave thoughts regarding
matters of so much vital interest to the laboring classes, the poor,
who are the "chief constituency," in a humanitary sense, of Officer
McWatters himself,--by his benefactions to whom he has mostly won that
high popular esteem, which is so well recorded in the Biographical
Notes.
It is due to the writer of the Biographical Notes to remark here that,
in view of the very short period that was given him in which to prepare
the same, he accomplished in their production, a task which would be
notable, even without consideration of the peculiar difficulties which
lay in his path. It is not an easy thing to search hurriedly through a
thousand newspapers, for example, for material, and select and arrange
the same acceptably. But upon this point, perhaps, we cannot do better
than to append to this, our Introduction, a copy of the letter which
accompanied the Biographical Notes, from the gentleman in question.
THE PUBLISHERS.
NEW YORK, February 10, 1871.
TO THE PUBLISHERS OF "KNOTS UNTIED":
GENTLEMEN: Concerning the biography of Officer McWatters, which
you requested me to supply, I am compelled to say that I am
unable to give you anything in the "form and order" which a
biography should--that it may be whole and symmetrical--present
to the reader. Officer McWatters belongs to the class of men
who _make_ history,--the actors and workers in life,--rather
than those who merely write history, or who so order their
lives, and keep diaries, that their biographers can readily
follow them from the cradle to the tomb.
Officer McWatters is widely known in New York. Everybody
recognizes him as an active philanthropist, of the practical
school; yet but a few of all, if any, if called upon as I am,
to make detail of the deeds of his life, could place his hand
upon this or that, and say, "This is McWatters' work," without
some investigation; and for the most part of what I have
collected, I have been obliged to search the public journals.
I am indebted, also, for sundry facts, to several of Officer
McWatters's personal acquaintances, and have also drawn upon my
own memory somewhat for facts which have come to my knowledge
during an acquaintanceship with Mr. McWatters of about sixteen
years. But I have not attempted to put things in their order,
to any great extent; for there is no such thing as a "_course_
of events" (the "Declaration of Independence" to the contrary
notwithstanding). Events are individuate, each a completion in
itself, and the great deeds of any man's life are usually
individual, and not dependently connected with each other.
But in the accompanying papers I send you such a hurriedly
executed biographical sketch of Officer McWatters as the short
time you have allowed me would permit, trusting that,
notwithstanding all its literary imperfections, it will not, so
far as it goes, be found wanting in due appreciation, at least,
of the noble career of a faithful, true man, who has done,
earnestly and with loving spirit, his share of good deeds; and
who merits both the respect and affection of all who prize what
is gentle, brave, honorable, and honest in life.
Very respectfully yours,
S.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
--------------
OFFICER GEORGE S. McWATTERS.
The subject of these Notes is now about fifty-seven years of age,--a
hale, hearty, rosy-faced man, agile, lithe of limb, in the full vigor
of life; and were it not for his gray beard and hair, might easily pass
as not over forty years of age. Always temperate in his habits, he has,
notwithstanding the many hardships of his life, some of which would
have broken down less vigorous constitutions than his, preserved to
himself the blessing of health and the hues of youth in a remarkable
degree. He is of a medium height, with a countenance not only always
fresh and rosy, but beaming with benevolence--"a good face to look
into," to quote Carlyle. Judging from Officer McWatters' physiognomy,
and from his style of speech, it would be difficult to declare him to
be either Scotch, Irish, or English; he might, by many, be considered
an American by birth and education, especially if he were to assume the
name "Hudson," "Clark," or "Hyde," for example.
WHERE HE WAS BORN AND REARED.
It matters not in what country a man may have been born, whatever the
institutions under which one is reared may have to do with the
formation of his character; and as to Officer McWatters' place of
birth, we are not absolutely certain, but believe he was born in
Kilmarnock, Scotland, and was taken thence by his parents, at an early
age, to the north of Ireland, where he was reared.
It is easy to conjecture that a man like Mr. McWatters must have had a
more or less ambitious boyhood; and his friends have sometimes heard
him recite the wakeful dreams he as a youth indulged in, of "the
beautiful land beyond the western waters." Officer McWatters was
evidently born out of place, for he is intensely democratic in his
sentiments, more so than most native-born Americans, and manifests an
appreciation of free institutions, which not unfrequently rises to the
sublime, or intensifies to the pathetic. It is doubtful, for example,
that during the late civil war there could have been found in all the
land a man who took a deeper, soul-felt interest in the integrity of
the republic than he. But of this farther on.
Mr. McWatters after receiving a very respectable education in the
schools of the north of Ireland, became a mechanic; but the monotonous
life of a working-man there, was ill suited to an ardent nature like
his; and while yet a young man, full of the spirit of adventure, he
left his Irish home, and proceeded to London, where he pursued his
trade, and eventually married a most estimable lady, who has ever been
to him a helpmeet indeed. By this lady Mr. McWatters is the father of a
very interesting family of some six children, who have been carefully
reared, and have enjoyed excellent opportunities of education. Miss
Charlotte, the eldest daughter of Mr. McWatters, a lady of refined
culture, as well as extreme personal graces and attractions, was
married in October, 1860, to Signor Errani, then the distinguished
tenor of the Academy of Music, and who not only occupies a first class
position in his profession, but is a gentleman of marked
intellectuality and extensive literary acquirements.
REMOVES TO LONDON
London is a world-school in itself. What a man cannot learn there of
arts, sciences, and literature and of all the various phases of
humanity, from the worse or lower than the barbarian, up to the highest
type which "Natural Selection," according to the Darwinian theory, has
developed, he would be unable to learn in any other spot of Earth.
Though young yet mature, and with an active, inquiring brain it cannot
be supposed that Mr. McWatters allowed the grand opportunity for
observation which life in London gave him, to pass profitlessly. Going
from among the stiff Presbyterian forms of life in the north of
Ireland, which must have been galling to a spirit like his, directly to
London with all its social freedoms, the change was a great one for
him, and must have piqued his intelligence to the keenest examination
and scrutiny of his new surroundings.
In London dwell the best as well as the worst people to be found in the
world. The advanced spirits, philosophers and reformers, whom the
civilization of other European countries is not sufficiently developed
to tolerate, seek the asylum of England and make London their home; so,
too, of the criminal classes. The most murderous thieves and burglars
find in London a hiding place and theatre of operations. London, which
was too large even fifty years ago, and was then emphatically one of
those accursed "vampires upon the public weal," as Jefferson declared
all cities to be, has grown marvelously since, and continues to grow to
the wonder of all political economists, who are at a loss to determine
wherefore. But such is the fact, and into this great seething sea of
human life was it that Mr. McWatters plunged in his first essay at
"studying human nature" away from the narrow field of his boyhood's
observations. Whoever resides in London, and acquaints himself with
what is about him, and mingles in the city's strifes, and comes out
unscathed need not fear to trust himself anywhere in the world.
MIGRATES TO THE UNITED STATES.
Mr. McWatters, after sojourning in London for a while after his
marriage, betook himself, with his estimable wife, to this Land of
Promise. In London he had made the acquaintance of many of the leading
men most interested in questions bearing upon sociology, humane
reforms, and philanthropic efforts at the amelioration of the condition
of the laboring classes. His warm heart became greatly aroused in
seconding the needed reforms which his keen intellect demonstrated were
urgent for the good of not only the laborers of London, but of the
working classes everywhere; and he brought with him to this country
what may properly be termed an intense general anti-slavery spirit,
embracing in its sympathy not only chattel-slaves, but wages-slaves, of
every kind and color. And this may properly be said to be the chief
characteristic of Mr. McWatters; and that he has made this felt for the
good of his fellow-men as effectively, perhaps, as any other man
living, considering his means and the sphere in which he has operated,
cannot be questioned by any one who has attentively read our city
journals of the last ten years especially.
The writer has gathered, and has before him, not less than two hundred
and twenty different extracts from the papers of New York, in all of
which Mr. McWatters is complimentarily spoken of in reference to his
benevolent action, his humanitary deeds to the poor and suffering, or
his active coöperation with some great public charity.
Mr. McWatters, though gifted with that untiring industry, clear, native
intelligence, and wide understanding of men and things, which conquer
fortunes in money for their possessors, has never achieved fortune for
himself, so busily has he been engaged in deeds of benevolence. At the
expense of his heart he could never afford the time to make a fortune.
The like fact has marked the history of many other philanthropic
spirits, and should redound as much to their credit, as does the same
to that of certain great scholars whose devotion to science would never
allow them the opportunity for turning their great talents to
money-making. It is reported of Professor Agassiz, the great scientist,
that being asked by some admirer of his vast talents (and who knew that
he rejoiced not in a large share of "this world's goods" in the shape
of money), why he did not turn his attention to money-making, and get
rich, as he would be sure to do soon, he replied, "I cannot afford the
time."
SETTLES IN PHILADELPHIA, AND STUDIES LAW.
Soon after arriving in this country, Mr. McWatters made his way to
Philadelphia, where he took up his residence. After various
vicissitudes, he gave his time (1848-9) for a year to the study of the
law, under William R. Dickerson, Esq., a Philadelphia lawyer of large
practice, but a man of that stamp of character which made him of
peculiar value as a collector of debts, especially in doubtful cases.
He was rigid, exacting, and uncompromising with debtors. Mr. McWatters
reveled in the study of Blackstone, Kent, Chitty, etc., and looked
forward with eagerness to the time when he should be prepared to enter
the "glorious lists" of the Knights of the Bar.
A HEART TOO SOFT FOR A LAWYER.
But a change was to come suddenly over the spirit of his beautiful
dream, and which he foresaw not. Eventually Mr. Dickerson intrusted Mr.
McWatters with sundry collections. He found this branch of the business
unpleasant in its performance. His soft heart ached for the poor
debtors. He could not nerve himself to act the part of an extortioner.
When a poor widow, or orphans, or some discouraged man just arisen from
a sick bed, and in arrears for rent, etc., shed tears in reciting his
sufferings, Mr. McWatters forgot the lawyer in the humanitarian.
Finally, one day he was sent to collect a debt of a poor shoemaker, who
was barely able to get bread enough for himself and his family to
subsist upon. The laws of Pennsylvania exempt from civil process
certain portions of a housekeeper's furniture; but when contracting for
rent, the housekeeper may waive his right to such exemption, if he
likes. The poor shoemaker in question had done so; but in order to
distrain his goods for the debt,--in other words, to take away his very
bed, and other necessary furniture,--it was incumbent upon the officer
to get peaceable admittance into the house; and that he might do so in
this case, Mr. McWatters was sent forward to effect entrance as a
person seeking the shoemaker's service, while the constable had his
post at a corner near by, and was to rush in when the door should be
opened.
The whole thing was sickening to Mr. McWatters. He went, however, as
ordered, and rapped at the door, the officer watching at his post. For
a reason most creditable to Mr. McWatters' heart, but which may be left
here only to the reader's surmise, that door, which was unlocked when
he rapped, became duly locked, without the officer's being any the
wiser as to _how_ it was done, and entrance was not then effected.
This was the crowning grief to Mr. McWatters' disgust with the practice
of the law, and he quitted the further study of the "science" thereof,
feeling that he could never harden his heart to the practice of a
profession which often requires much of unscrupulousness of conscience
and such mercilessness. But his year's study became of great service to
him later in life, when called upon as a detective officer, or member
of the Metropolitan Police force, in sudden emergencies, when a
knowledge of the law in this or that particular was necessary for
judicious action.
DEPARTS FOR CALIFORNIA.
About this time the great exodus from the United States, in fact from
all parts of the world, to the California gold diggings, began. Mr.
McWatters arranged his affairs, and migrated, with tens of thousands
more, to the new El Dorado. But he was not happy there. The mad strife
for gold overwhelmed all other things there. Men, in general, lost
whatever of conscience they carried there, and the whole population was
plunged in vices or crimes of one kind or another. Mr. McWatters found
that he was not constituted to engage in such reckless warfare at the
expense of all that was manly and good, and after nine months came to
New York, which has since been his home.
BACK IN NEW YORK.
Soon after his return from California, Mr. McWatters became associated
with Laura Keene, the actress, as her agent in New York and Buffalo;
and it was while he was at this time associated with her (for he was
connected with her in subsequent engagements) that Mr. MCWatters was
first called upon to enact the part of a detective.
To his success in this instance referred to may be attributed the
series of wonderful articles which constitute "Knots Untied;" for had
he failed on that occasion, it is probable that he would never have had
confidence to attempt again the critical _rôle_ which the successful
detective must necessarily play; and the literature of the age would
therefore have lacked the charming contribution of the mysterious
revelations of hidden life which Mr. McWatters has made in these
spirited tales.
It would be pleasing to the writer to make allusion here in detail,
somewhat, to that incident, and other affairs in which Mr. McWatters
became engaged, and which have come to the writer's knowledge, but
which Mr. McWatters has not seen fit to reveal in "Knots Untied;" but
it would, perhaps, be an unwarranted act to do so. He has conceived the
design of the book to suit his own tastes, of course; and while he has
in these articles struck a chord which cannot but awaken in the popular
mind a rich responsive appreciation of his book, yet he cannot expect
to suit everybody's taste in every respect.
MR. MCWATTERS AS AGENT AND LECTURER.
It is not attempted here to give the current of Mr. McWatters' life as
it occurred, in successive steps; indeed, the writer is not sure in
respect to dates in all cases, possessing only the facts in substance.
But not long after Mr. McWatters' first engagement with Miss Keene was
determined, he became the exhibiting lecturer accompanying a grand
panorama of a "Journey to California by Water and back by Land," and it
is not difficult to conceive that with his experiences as a traveller,
his residence in California, and his gifts as a public speaker, he made
the "Journey" a matter of great delight to his audiences. The panorama
was exhibited in the chief cities and towns of various States.
Subsequently Mr. McWatters became the agent of the late Countess of
Lansfeldt, more generally known as Lola Montez, which he continued to
be until nearly the time of her death. Much has been written about
Lola,--much which is false, as well as much which is true. She was, in
some respects, particularly social ones, a great woman, but had her
weaknesses, like other mortals. Lola, like many, was inclined to
occasional religious fits; and this fact suggests an incident worthy of
recital, since it illustrates something of the life of persons of much
public note.
ANECDOTE OF LOLA MONTEZ AND LAURA KEENE.
Reference has been made to Mr. McWatters' association with Laura Keene.
At a certain time Lola Montez became very religious, and continued so
for a while. During her pious enthusiasm she determined to sell her
theatrical wardrobe, consisting of splendid dresses, and dress-patterns
(unmade-up), stage jewelry, of magnificent description, etc. She
requested Mr. McWatters to offer them for sale to Laura Keene. He took
some of the "goods" to Laura, whose purse at that time was rather
limited. She could not gratify herself with the purchase of all, but
selected a very heavy, rich dress-pattern, for which she paid in part,
but on which Mr. McWatters trusted her for the sum of twenty-five
dollars. When Mr. McWatters reported the sale to Lola, she was angry
that he had trusted Laura.
Miss Keene was then running the Olympic Theatre. John Duff was her
manager, together with Leutz, her husband. Laura wished to surprise
them with the story of her new purchase, and had sent it off privately
to have it made up gorgeously. When she heard that Lola was angry at
Mr. McWatters' having trusted her, she sent for the dress; found it
finished; declared that she had already paid for it all it was worth,
but sent Mr. McWatters to some merchant's to have the goods appraised;
whereupon he found that it was not dress-goods at all, but stuff for
covering furniture,--known by all ladies now as "rep." Mr. McWatters
reporting the discovery, Laura became angry, and sent the dress, with
all its costly trimmings on, to Lola. Lola got angry again in turn, and
tore off the trimming (which she sent back to Laura), and burned up the
dress.
MR. MCWATTERS SOLVING SOCIAL PROBLEMS.
Mr. McWatters was busily occupied in connection with theatres, etc.,
for a long period, more or less interspersed with his enterprises as a
detective officer, and his busy life was richly freighted with
interesting experiences.
Mr. McWatters has ever been greatly interested in social problems,
having in view the emancipation of the laboring classes from their more
grievous burdens, and belongs, in his sympathies, to that class of
humanitarians who see in Association something like a realization of
the teachings of the Founder of Christianism; and at one time was
practically engaged with several other philanthropists, in an
experiment partaking considerably of Coöperation, but which unhappily
failed of its desired success for want of more, and better disciplined
coöperatives therein. It would be interesting to the reader, but out of
place here to present something particular of the history of the
experiment alluded to.
OUR SUBJECT AND THE PUBLIC PRESS.
The writer has before him, clipped from the public journals, the record
of remarkable incidents enough in Mr. McWatters' life to fill a small
volume of themselves, only a few of which can properly be alluded to in
a cursory biography. Such men's lives are often illustrated by
"hairbreadth escapes," or signal good fortune under trying
circumstances; but it is doubtful that a more singular and happily
ending affair has ever occurred in any man's experience than one, the
record of which was made at the time, in the New York Dispatch of June
20, 1858, and which is here copied in full.
"PUSILLANIMOUS HIGHWAYMEN.--TWO KNIGHTS OF THE ROAD FRIGHTENED BY A
SPECTACLE CASE.--At a few minutes to one o'clock yesterday morning, Mr.
G. S. McWatters, late door-keeper at Laura Keene's theatre, was passing
through Bleecker Street, near Mott. Suddenly two men sprang at him from
behind a tree, one catching him around the waist, and the other making
a grab at his throat. With a quick and powerful effort, turning himself
around, he managed to fling from him the one who had hold of his waist;
and quickly taking from his side coat-pocket a silver spectacle case,
he drew his hand back with great emphasis, cautioning the other fellow
not to advance a step, or he would stab him to the heart. The second
fellow evidently mistook the glistening of the spectacle case in the
moonlight as the gleaming of steel, for in double-quick time he took to
his heels, followed by his companion, whose fall, as the result proved,
had not detracted from his nimble-footedness. Mr. McWatters let the
fellows run, very prudently avoiding imposing a task upon his lungs by
calling for the police. It is thought they followed him for his money,
of which he had a considerable amount about him."
[Illustration: McWATTERS' SPECTACLE CASE.]
MR. MCWATTERS ENTERS THE METROPOLITAN POLICE FORCE.
Passing over a period in Mr. McWatters' busy life, checkered with
incidents and exploits of a marvellous kind in his career as a private
detective, as well as much that is interesting of his active
participation in many measures of a politico-reformatory and
socialistic nature, we find that Mr. McWatters entered the Metropolitan
Police force in 1858, wherein he distinguished himself, for the period
of twelve years, up to October 17, 1870, when he resigned his
post,--not only as a most effective and reliable officer in routine
duties, but also by many suggestions and plans of enlarging the utility
of the force to the community in general. For instance, we find in the
New York World, of date November 22, 1860, an article under the head
"Information to Railroad and Steamboat Passengers," which dilates, to
some considerable extent, and most complimentarily, upon the beneficent
results to the public of the operations of a detachment of the police
force, "called the Railroad and Steamboat Squad," by which travellers
visiting New York, and passing through, were saved from the impositions
and robberies of ticket swindlers, hotel runners, unprincipled
boarding-house keepers, etc., by encountering the travellers before
they leave the cars and steamboats, and giving them all requisite
information in regard both to the swindlers, and how best, most safely
and economically to conduct their sojourn in the city. The World's
article concludes with stating, that "this plan originated with Officer
McWatters, who, we know, was for a long time an efficient, and one of
the most popular officers attached to this section of the force."
How well Officer McWatters performed his individual duties in
connection with this squad, might be illustrated by the quotation of an
article entitled "Personal," in the Daily Tribune of July 7, 1860,
which is most highly complimentary of Officer McWatters, but is too
long to be incorporated here.
Mr. McWatters' onerous vocation as a policeman did not forbid his
finding time for earnest participation in many matters not pertaining
to his special duties as an officer. Indeed, it would seem that, with
all his labors, he found more time to devote to good causes outside of
his police duties than many men of leisure and benevolent spirit think
themselves able to bestow. It is said that none find so little leisure
time to do anything as the wholly indolent and unoccupied, and the more
a man has to do of daily labor, the more time can he find to attend to
extra calls upon his services. Officer McWatters seems to have
practicalized this "doctrine," for, judging from the several hundred
extracts before us, taken from the New York journals for the last ten
years, one would be led to think that Officer McWatters possessed the
attribute or faculty of ubiquity, for we find him "here, and there, and
everywhere" in the city, and without it, in attendance upon reform
meetings; or advocating humanitary measures from the rostrum, for
Officer McWatters is a forcible public speaker. The suffering and
starving people of Kansas (1861) we find elicited his warm sympathies
and active exertions in their behalf, expressed by the practical mode
of raising contributions for their aid. In the Evening Post of October
2, 1861, we find allusion to Officer McWatters as the Secretary of the
Patriotic Association of Metropolitan Police (of which, in conjunction
with the late Inspector Carpenter, if the writer is not mistaken,
Officer McWatters was the originator), which was organized to afford
support to the families of policemen who joined the Metropolitan
Brigade in the war for the Union.
PERSONAL INCIDENTS.
Chancing to turn at this moment to the New York World of March 14,
1861, the writer finds that on the day before Officer McWatters
"immersed" himself in the North River, plunging in to rescue a
six-years-old boy, who had fallen off the dock. In the Sunday Mercury
of April 7, five weeks after the occurrence last mentioned, we find
Officer McWatters aiding in the rescue of another boy from a watery
grave; and in the Daily Tribune of March 11, 1861, appears the
statement of still another rescue from drowning by Officer McWatters,
this time of a man, one Captain William Vanname. We might extend,
indefinitely, the list of kindred good deeds by Officer McWatters, as
gathered from the public journals; but these will serve to show the
fact that he was always to be found in the line of his duty. He was
frequently saving life, or performing other noble acts.--But we do not
intend to dwell in detail upon the professional life of Officer
McWatters in his connection with the Metropolitan Police. It is enough,
perhaps, to say in general terms, that he fulfilled his duties nobly
well; that from Superintendent Kennedy, under whom, for the most part,
he served, his official career received the very warmest praise, and
that the public press made frequent complimentary mention of him all
along the period of about twelve years during which he was a member of
the Metropolitan Police force.
We might also refer for further evidence of Officer McWatters'
honorable performance of his official duties and high standing in the
force to the expressed opinion of the late Superintendent Jourdan. This
gentleman's judgment of the merit of an officer's services was, of
course, to a great degree worthy of respect. But though the Latin maxim
is, "De mortuis nil nisi bonum" (say only good of the dead), we are
constrained to feel, that although Superintendent Jourdan's praise had
a certain professional merit, yet his moral character was so
questionable, that his commendation of Officer McWatters could hardly
add to the merit of the latter, while his taste as a gentleman, and his
reverence for the honest and the true, would probably induce him to
prefer the non-production here of the former's testimony.
OFFICER MCWATTERS IN THE LATE CIVIL WAR: HIS FORESIGHT.
Officer McWatters' earnest love of, and reverence for the free
institutions of the United States, are something extraordinary, it
would seem. Reared in the north of Ireland, and having resided in
London long enough to thoroughly understand the miseries of the
subject-classes of that great metropolis and of England, Officer
McWatters was prepared, when he landed on our shores, to render at
least due appreciation to republican institutions; and when the late
civil war broke out, he entered into the conflict against secession
with all his soul. His anxiety to go to the front at the breaking out
of the rebellion, and take a soldier's place in the struggle, was only
equalled by the bitter regret that he was prevented doing so by
untoward circumstances. But what service to the country he was thus
forbidden to do upon the field, he fully rendered, in various forms, in
his capacity as a most active and enthusiastic patriot at home. Officer
McWatters was not of that "noble home guard," so justly and severely
ridiculed at the time, who urged others on to the war, and felt
satisfied with their achievements in so doing; but he was ever alert in
the discovery of ways and means to serve the government, perhaps more
effectively than if he had been in the ranks on the field, or had
headed a regiment in battle; for if Officer McWatters had gone to the
field, such are his temperament, popularity, and capacity, that he
could not long have held a position second to that of many men who
gained distinction and led New York regiments and brigades--to say
nothing of superior leaders.
He was of the number of those (few, indeed, they may properly be said
to have been), who, in the early part of the rebellion, took anything
like an adequate preview of its results. It appears that, early in the
war, he wrote a letter to the press, in which is clearly stated his
opinion, that the war "can have no less result than the abolition of
negro slavery." He was prepared for this: implicitly believing in it,
he ordered his conduct thereby, and throughout the contest manifested
an enthusiasm proportionate to the mighty victory for humanity which he
so clearly foresaw was to be won.
FIRST SEIZURE OF GUNS AT THE NORTH.
Always vigilant, and, everywhere that he was able, ready and prompt to
serve the government, it must have been a matter of proud satisfaction
to Officer McWatters when he made the first seizure of guns which
occurred at the North during the war, and which guns were intended by
their Northern consignors--sympathizers with the rebellion--to be used
by their Southern consignees to shoot down the patriot forces. This
seizure is thus recorded in the Tribune of May 12, 1861:--
"The vigilance of the police was yesterday evinced by the seizure of
four nine-pound Dahlgren guns by Officer McWatters, of the Steamboat
and Railroad Police, on Pier No. 3, North River."
It will be recollected by all who watched the current affairs of the
war, that it was in regard to this seizure by Officer McWatters, that
Fernando Wood, then Mayor of New York, so infamously and cowardly made
an unasked apology to Robert Toombs of Georgia. Communication with the
South was not at that time suspended, and he telegraphed to the
secessionist his regrets at the seizure, and added assurance that if he
had had control of the police the guns should be restored, or that he
would have forbidden the seizure. Such was the substance of his
telegram. But fortunately for the honor of the nation, as well as of
the city of New York, the control of the police had, before that time,
been taken from Mayor Wood. But his telegram sent a thrill of shame
through all patriotic hearts, and added a new lustre to the merit of
Officer McWatters' deed, by the contrast in which it placed the two
men,--the dutiful, freedom-loving police officer, and the poor creature
who, having escaped the issues of a criminal trial by pleading the
statute of limitations, had been borne on the shoulders of a "Sixth
Ward brigade" of repeating voters to the questionable height of the
Mayoralty of New York.
It is, perhaps, worthy of note here that the virtues of Fernando Wood
have since been duly rewarded by an appreciative constituency in New
York, who have sent him for several terms as their fit representative
to the Congress of the nation. It is seldom that the historiographer
has the opportunity of recording such a lofty expression of the
"gratitude of republics;" and the writer hereof takes especial pleasure
in fixing it here "in eternal types." Officer McWatters' due reproof
for the seizure is fitly found in the fact, that a noble constituency
like Wood's, would, if they could, have annihilated him for the deed.
OFFICER MCWATTERS' SERVICES THROUGH THE PUBLIC PRESS.
Not only at his post of official duty was it that Officer McWatters
rendered efficient service to the government, but throughout the war we
find him frequently making noble appeals for aid to the Union in one
form or another, or setting forth some judicious plan of operations to
secure the same, in able and spirited letters to the Evening Post, the
Tribune, etc. It should give the writer pleasure to copy some of these
letters herein, especially one which appeared in the Evening Post of
October 2, 1861, but the limits of these biographical notes forbid.
In the Tribune of August 5, 1864, appeared a letter from Officer
McWatters, from which, notwithstanding our narrow limits, we cannot
forbear to make a short quotation, since it so well evinces his spirit,
both as a man and a writer, as well as his lofty appreciation of the
honor and glory of his adopted country's institutions. A portion of the
letter is addressed to working-men, urging them to loan to the nation,
in its hour of peril, such sums of money as they could save; and the
letter concludes with these noble words: "Fellow Working-men: I have,
by hard scraping, saved one hundred dollars. I am going to lend it to
the government. I ask you, in the name of humanity and patriotism, to
'go and do likewise.' Your country demands your assistance; respond
generously, quickly; think of the proud eminence on which you stand
before the working-men of the world,--_as American citizens!_--and
acquit yourselves as though you felt your dignity."
KINDLY AND WISE PROVIDENCE.
Often is it, perhaps, that little deeds of gentle and silent charity,
care for the suffering, and unostentatious benevolence, speak more
eloquently for the heart of a true man, than those of valor on the
field of battle in the noblest cause. In the Tribune of June 1, 1863,
is copied a certain appeal made a day or two before, and which we
recopy below:--
"TO THE POLICE OF NEW YORK: Thousands of soldiers--your
fellow-countrymen--are now lying in the hospitals about Washington,
suffering from wounds received in battle. Their chief torment is a
craving thirst; water is unwholesome, and cannot be given in quantities
sufficient to satisfy the craving. The only safe and effectual remedy
is found in the juice of lemons, and for a supply of this fruit the
kindness of individuals must be appealed to. Twenty-five cents from
each member of the force would afford incalculable relief to those who
now pine for the want of this simple luxury. Will you help? All money
paid over to Inspector Carpenter for this purpose will reach its
destination immediately."
This appeal, effectively "displayed" (in the job-printer's parlance),
and printed upon small handbills, was secretly circulated among the
police, and soon resulted in a contribution by them of the unexpectedly
large sum of over six hundred dollars, for lemons for the sick
soldiers. Though a small affair in the matter of money, it proved a
great one in other considerations. It was not only a beneficent act,
but a very judicious one. From whom the appeal emanated was a profound
secret among the police, until, on the 8th of June, 1863, there
appeared in the Tribune a notice of a "report" by the late Inspector
Carpenter, in which, referring to this matter, he says: "To Patrolman
McWatters, of the Twenty-Sixth Precinct, is due the credit of
projecting this trifling donation from this department to relieve the
sufferings of our sick and wounded soldiers."
In many other quiet and effective ways Officer McWatters administered
to the comfort of our soldiers and their families during the war, but
we have not space to recall them here. Some of them became known, from
time to time, and were recorded in the public journals of the day.
"RIOT WEEK," JULY, 1863: OFFICER MCWATTERS IN THE THICK OF THE FIGHT.
During the whole war nothing of a more fearful nature to the cause of
the Union occurred than the great riot in New York city, which
commenced on Monday, the 13th of July, 1863, and was not subdued until
the following Friday. The people of the North were, to a considerable
extent, becoming weary of the war, and thousands, if not tens of
thousands, who had previously exhibited a good degree of sturdy
patriotism, began to wane in their vigor and firmness of purpose, and
were ready to "let the rebels go in peace hereafter." But the facts of
those perilous days are too fresh in the memory of all to need recital
here. The rioters were exultant, and the people stood aghast for a
while; but finally the Metropolitan Police force obtained ascendency
over the surging elements of the local rebellion, and brought back
peace to the city again. But this was not done without more severe
effort and a greater destruction of life than was generally understood
by the country at large at that time.
Before us is a book, entitled "Record of the Police during the July
Riots, 1863," by David M. Barnes, in the preface of which the author,
speaking of the slaughters during those days, says, "The number killed
by the police and military in the different conflicts, when alone and
united, can never be ascertained; it is estimated by those who
witnessed the scenes, and had the best opportunity of judging, at
fourteen hundred. The bodies of those killed on the spot were hurriedly
taken off, and in many cases conveyed out of the city, or secreted
here, and privately buried. Cases of subsequent deaths from wounds, it
is known, were attributed to other causes. Eighteen persons are known
to have been killed by the rioters, eleven of whom were colored."
We confess ourselves somewhat astonished at so large an estimate of the
number killed during the riot; but those were horrible days, indeed,
and the estimate is, we think, quite probably within the limits of the
truth. The book was published in September, 1863, it appears,--a date a
sufficiently long time after the riots to have allowed much careful
investigation to have been made. Among the other heroes of those days,
whom the author signalizes by especial mention by name,--Commissioner
Acton, Superintendent Kennedy, Commissioner Bergen, Chief Clerk Hawley,
Inspectors Carpenter, Dilks, and Leonard, etc.,--is found our chief
subject, as brave, active, earnest, and efficient in the midst of a
deathly struggle, as he is ever gentle, kind, and tender in his silent
ministrations to the sick, sore, and suffering in the days of peace. On
page eighty-two of the book referred to, and where the special history
of the conduct of the police of the Twenty-Sixth Precinct is detailed
in regard to their conflicts with the mob in the City Hall Park,
Printing House Square, and the Tribune Office, the author says,--
"No mercy was shown, and over a hundred lay in the square and park, the
well-punished victims of their own folly and crime. While the mob were
being thus terribly handled in the street, some of the force turned
their attention to the Tribune Building, fighting their way to, and
entering it. The fire had just been lighted, and was readily
extinguished. Officer McWatters, on entering the door, was assaulted by
a burly ruffian, armed with a hay-rung, who, by a powerful blow on the
shoulder, knocked him down; instantly on his feet again, he more than
repaid, on the heads of the rioters, the blow. The building was cleared
speedily, and not a man in it escaped without severe punishment."
But it is unnecessary to extend comment upon the career of Officer
McWatters, as related to the active operations of the war. As a
patriot, his name is not only "without spot or blemish," but is one of
which the best of citizens might be proud, and of which only such could
have made themselves worthy.
OFFICER MCWATTERS AND HIS LITERARY ASSOCIATES.
Before passing on, in direct course, to the most interesting portion of
Officer McWatters' life, in which the character of the man, in his
intensely benevolent nature, is most beautifully and nobly illustrated
in a thousand ways, we pause here to revert to him as a gentleman of
general literary tastes, and to his friendly and genial associations
with men of letters. Mr. McWatters, in his almost countless letters,
and other contributions to the public press, has ever seemed to avoid
anything like notoriety,--to be, in short, quite unambitious to secure
to himself anything like popular distinction by his pen; for nearly all
his contributions to the press have been unaccompanied by his name, and
when not literally anonymous, published over various _sobriquets_,
known only to a few of his friends at most. Not a few of his most
intimate acquaintances will doubtless be surprised when the spirited
and elegant series of articles which he now gives to the world in
"Knots Untied" reveal to them the man in his higher literary estate, so
unostentatious has he been, and so little merit did his modesty permit
him to attach to the articles in question, until diffidently submitted
by him to the inspection of a few of his critical literary friends,
who, delighted with their engaging style, and appreciating their
practical worth, urged the half-astonished author to give them to the
public, as a duty he owed to his fellow-citizens.
His course has been altogether a too modest one (if we be permitted to
speak in criticism thereof). But, for his own private happiness, Mr.
McWatters has never failed to appreciate the society of literary men,
and notwithstanding his multiplied duties, official and humanitary, has
always managed to find time to cultivate the acquaintance of the most
gifted and distinguished literateurs, artists, and so forth, who,
during the last fifteen years especially, have given lustre to the
great metropolis. A genial man, a good story-teller, courteous under
all circumstances, full of sparkling intelligence, generous to an
extreme degree, a man of excellent habits as well as refined
sentiments, he has always been welcomed by these men of lettered
distinction, to whom we refer above.
And here we should be pleased to introduce the names of the most
remarkable of Mr. McWatters' literary associates, up to the year 1871,
as illustrative of the good taste of our subject. But the record would
be too long for place here; besides, we might, while reciting the names
of some, fail, through fault of memory, in this hasty writing, to
recall those equally worthy of record here. But we have at hand an
article clipped from the New York Illustrated News of August 2, 1862,
in which is arrayed a list of many of those who at that time were
distinguished lights in the literary world, and some of whom have
achieved imperishable honors since, while others of the number have
been gathered to their fathers--borne to their tombs in the "laureate
hearse," after having won and borne upon their brows the bays of many a
literary victory.
The article in question descants upon "Pfaff's;" and its literary,
artistic, and other distinguished _habitues_. But we will quote it
entire for the reader's pleasure, and information, possibly, as well:--
"As so much has been said in the papers, from time to time,
about 'Pfaff's,' it may be well to state that the name is
descriptive, simply, of a 'restaurant and lager bier saloon,'
kept at No. 647 Broadway, by a Teuton of that name, and which,
partly from its central position, and partly from the
excellence of its fare, has been such a favorite resort, for
several years, for artists, literateurs, actors, managers,
editors, critics, politicians, and other public characters, as
to have become quite famous. It is not, as has been often
reported, the rendezvous of a particular clique or club of
Bohemians (whatever they may be), but simply a general and
convenient meeting-place for cultivated men, and one where,
almost any evening, you may meet representatives of nearly
every branch of literature and art, assembled, not by
appointment, nor from habit even, but 'met by chance, the usual
way.' Among the literary men whom we have met there from time
to time, during the last three or four years, may be mentioned
Walt Whitman, Aldrich, Winter, Stoddard, Bayard Taylor, W. Ross
Wallace, W. D. Howells, Frank Otterson, Charles Dawson Shanly,
W. H. Fry, Edward Howland, Charles Seymour, 'Doesticks,'
'Artemus Ward,' 'Figaro,' T. C. Evans, E. C. Stedman, Charles
F. Briggs, E. G. P. Wilkins, Charles Gayler, J. V. Sears, Harry
Neill, E. H. House, Frank Wood, C. Burkhardt, Rosenberg, A. F.
Banks, 'Walter Barret,' George Arnold, Charles D. Gardette,
'Howard of the Times,' and Thad. Glover; among artists,
Stillman, Palmer, Launt, Thompson, Cafferty, G. H. Hall,
Shattuck, Innis, Sewell, Henessy, Loop, Avery, Frank Howland,
Homer Martin, Eastman Johnson, Bierstadt, Van Beest, Hitchings,
Bellew, Mullen, Anthony, Eytinge, Nast, Baker, Sontag,
Boughton, Rowse; and of other well-known characters, Ullman,
Strakosch, Maretzek, Grau, Stigelli, Mollenbaur, H. L. Bateman,
Nixon, Dolly Davenport, Davidge, Young, Fisher, Floyd,
Reynolds, Stuart, Moss, Chanfrau, Mason, the Hanlons, Officer
McWatters, J. Augustus Page, Gill Davis, Schauss, Seitz,
Brisbane, Dr. Wainwright, etc., etc., including a good number
of politicians, and that large class of people, called Germans,
without end."
Of this goodly host, the gifted Wilkins; Fry, the erudite, then so
distinguished in the editorial and musical world; Arnold, the genial
young essayist, poet, and humorist; "Artemus Ward," and perhaps others,
long since made their last visit to Pfaff's--their lights of life going
out in the peaceful darkness of death, while "their literary torches
burn on,"--"stars which gleam forever."
And other of these,--Whitman, Stedman, Howells, Aldrich, and Edward
Howland, for especial example--(the last four being, in 1862, of the
very youngest of the above array), and Bierstadt, Shattuck, etc., have
climbed to the top of Parnassian heights, won bright and solid
victories in the field of prose as essayists, historians, etc., or
transferred nature to the canvas with that beauty and sublimity of
artistic truthfulness which have commanded for them the admiration of
the world.
It is with these men, and others of equal order of intellectual and
social gifts, that Officer McWatters has passed most of his leisure
hours for many years; thus keeping his genial nature and bright
intelligence free from the corrosion and canker which eat into the
moral and intellectual vitals of the mere business man; and preserving
himself physically, too, fresh and buoyant as youth itself. The great
number of personal souvenirs which Officer McWatters' author friends
have presented him, in the shape of copies of their respective works,
constitute quite a "library" in themselves,--a pleasing recognition,
grateful to himself and his family, of the excellent social merits,
intellect, and moral worth of the man and the officer.
OFFICER MCWATTERS AS THE GOOD SAMARITAN.
Whatever are our subject's merits otherwise, as a man and an officer,
and extreme though was his patriotic zeal during the late civil war,
and to which he gave practical expression in the wisest and noblest
ways, all these has he eclipsed, and rendered comparatively unworthy of
note, by his career since the war as a Good Samaritan, a practical
"Home Missionary" (if it be not derogatory to apply to him a
designation, however kindly, which usually signifies but little more
than a sectarian proselyter of one school or another). Always
interested in social problems, Officer McWatters is too intelligent not
to fully understand that the fragmentary reforms and the ordinary great
charities of the times can never subdue the evils which his heart would
abate and banish from society forever. Indeed, it is the opinion of the
writer, (however little this may accord with Officer McWatters' views,
or however opposed he may be to so radical sentiments, for herein the
writer speaks for himself and no one else), that the availability of
charity towards abolishing evil is but pitiable at best. Giving the
beggar an old coat, only to be called on by some other beggar for a
like coat, and never seeking to abolish beggary and its attendant
sufferings by some judicious means of abolishing beggars themselves, by
destroying the causes which create them, is unscientific, paltry, and
in every way unwise at best.
It is only about nineteen hundred years since the advent of
Christianity; and perhaps not over two hundred and fifty millions of
people at the present time profess to be Christians, and belong to some
of the symbolized divisions of the church, while may be not over three
hundred millions more profess to be Christians in spirit; and not much
of good could well be expected to grow up in so short a time, and with
so few advocates to encourage it; yet the writer confesses that, in
some of his weaker moods, he is astonished after all that something has
not been done by Christian people to abolish the proximate and fruitful
cause of nearly all the crimes and sufferings, namely, poverty. The
sufferings of the poor in New York, for example, are terrible to
contemplate; and the much-boasted great charities of the metropolis are
directed only to temporary relief of the sufferers. This is their
highest aspiration even. They proclaim no desire to do more, at best,
than to smooth the bed of the sick, and procure "places" for children
(to grow up and work for others in), or situations for this woman or
that poor man out of employment.
The right of these children and these poor men and women to live at
all, and the duty of society to guarantee to the individual the
enjoyment of that right, are wholly ignored by them. Year after year
they perform their patchwork charities with a patience which would be
commendable in the pursuit of science, and which, while it astonishes
the writer at its stupidity, nevertheless commands from him, as he
cheerfully confesses, a sort of respect, if not admiration; for many of
these charity-doers are really the best of people at heart, and would
doubtless, if they knew how, do better, act more wisely. But they are
ignorant of better means than they use; and, in fact, it has never
occurred to them that better and wiser means ought to be, or could be
taken than those they employ, to assuage human suffering.
With his study and understanding of sociology, Officer McWatters must
necessarily see, we think, and painfully feel, how meagre and pitiful
are the amends which charity makes to those victims whom society has
robbed of their rights; and his sense of this must constantly operate
to weaken his courage and chill his enthusiasm in the cause of petty or
"patchwork" charities. Yet withal so abundant is his good nature, so
sensitive his sympathies, that years do not seem to abate his zeal
therein at all; and here is the wonder. He keeps on in his good works,
though the institutions of society multiply the sufferings he would
abate, and bring to his door ten new sufferers _because_ he has just
aided one old one. As long as such souls as McWatters' continue doing
their good deeds, so long will the rapacious and extortionate thank
them, and continue to create victims for them to practise their
humanity upon. The landlord, whose tenant is poor and sick, is very
grateful, of course, to the "charitable society" which helps his tenant
to pay the rent; and it is a question with the writer, sometimes, if it
were not better that the kind and tender-hearted benefactors of the
poor were less numerous; for if the poor were goaded on by suffering a
little further, they might, dispelling the mists of ever-fallacious
"hope" from before their eyes, come to see their rights, and demand
them.
It is to the advantage of the master to feed his chattel-slave
sufficiently well to keep him in good strength for work. Charity, under
direction of the masters in society, feeds the working classes only up
to the point of usefulness as wages-slaves. It is cheaper for a given
present time to keep a poor man in a working condition than it is to
let him starve to death, and so incur the expense of burying him. That
expresses the _morale_ of the master-classes' "consideration" of the
subject-classes; and here in the United States the "tender love" of the
strong for the weak is just as marked as in other lands, perhaps; but,
alas! no more so, notwithstanding our boasted love of "liberty and
right."
But we remarked that Officer McWatters must understand all this, and
yet pursues his constant course of charities. Not for the wisdom (or
the lack of it, as the case may be) which prompts or permits him to do
the thousand acts of benevolence for which he is noted, is it that he
commands so much of our admiration, but for that tireless sympathy and
wondrous vitality of benevolence (so to characterize it) which ever
bestir him, notwithstanding his clear understanding that he will, and
can alone, only mitigate effects, and not cure causes; that he is
"carrying coals to Newcastle" all the while, or is putting one brick on
a pile, only to see a dozen fall therefrom; and this, though he repeats
it day after day.
As we have before remarked, Officer McWatters is not a rich man, save
in his own good nature and the affection of his multitudinous friends;
and _his_ charities mean something to his purse, drawing from it
constantly whatever he can find time or opportunity to place there;
for, if the writer is correctly informed, Officer McWatters has never
received a cent for his multifarious labors in connection with any of
the several organized charities to which he is attached. As a member of
the Metropolitan Police he received his salary, rendering therefor his
full duty; and this was all he had to support himself and family upon;
and that was constantly depleted by his benevolence, as we have
remarked before. In view of these facts, Officer McWatters is elevated,
in our esteem, to the rank of the Howards, and the other marked
philanthropists of the world.
MCWATTERS AND THE SOLDIERS.
During the late civil war, as we have said, Officer McWatters took a
deep and patriotic interest in the conflict. This was manifested in
many ways, particularly towards the soldiers and their families; and he
has not forgotten them since. Whatever the reader may think of a man
who in this age allows himself to go deliberately into a contest, the
avowed purpose of which is to maim and kill his fellow-men, for any
cause; or what he may think of that order of society which compels a
man to enlist in a cause of cruelty and blood (as hosts of men were
driven into the rebel ranks at the point of the bayonet, or by
conscription, or want of something else to do, however remonstrating),
ought to have but little bearing upon the case of the veteran soldier
now.
Our Northern soldiers went to the war with the assurance of the public
press, and the declaration of hundreds of thousands of those who
remained at home, but who gathered in crowds ("to see the soldiers
_off_") at the places of departure, that they should, on their return,
receive the gratitude of those for whom they fought. Promises were
abundant, and the poor, confiding fellows for the most part believed
them, and on the battle-field found consolation for their hardships and
dangers in the love of those they had left behind, and which, poured
forth in unstinted measure on their return, was to be their "good and
abundant reward." Poor fellows! they have learned, for the most part,
the value of their countrymen's love; they have learned how priceless
is the glory of an arm or a leg lost, since it secures for them, who
only had precarious homes before, a permanent home in the poor-house,
or has led them to the due consideration of the virtue of economy; the
estimable and superior value of rags over the whole coats they used to
wear; of temperance in eating, and other like virtues. Very few care
for the "veteran soldier" now, and his family is left to starve with
those of other paupers, or with those of the imprisoned criminal. This
is the sad truth; and were another civil war to arise to-day, probably
but very few of the old rank and file, who are still strong and able,
would muster around the standard again, but would generously suggest to
those who remained at home before, that they might now win all the
victories, and enjoy all the glory.
But there are a few in the community who have not forgotten the maimed
veterans and their suffering families; and chief among these few is
Officer McWatters; for we hazard nothing in saying, that, all things
considered, there cannot be found another person, male or female, in
the whole land, who has done more for the poor soldiers and their
families than he. He seems to be impelled in his constant care for them
by what amounts to almost a generous frenzy, and which might so be
denominated were it not that his deeds in their behalf are always
directed by wisdom; it is a passion, at least, with him; the poetry of
his current life.
LADIES' UNION RELIEF ASSOCIATION.
Officer McWatters is an active member of several charitable
organizations; but that under which the greater share of his benevolent
deeds have been done for the last five or six years during which he has
been connected with it, is the Ladies' Union Relief Association. This
is an organization, under the directorship of several benevolent ladies
of distinguished social position in New York, such as the wives of
Messrs. Marshall O. Roberts, Ex-Mayor Havemeyer, Dr. Joseph Worster,
Henry Dwight, J. A. Kennedy (President), William E. Churchill, etc.,
with Miss Evelina S. Hamilton, as Corresponding Secretary, Miss
Madeline McKibben, Recording Secretary, and Miss Marianna Hale,
Treasurer of the Association. This organization has an advisory board,
composed of Generals Dix, Van Vliet, Butler, Rev. Drs. Chapin and
Thompson, Hon. W. F. Havemeyer, Drs. Herrick and Worster, Messrs.
Theodore Roosevelt, George Bliss, Jr., William E. Dodge, Jr., and many
other distinguished gentlemen. But the chief and most active man of the
board is our subject, Officer George S. McWatters, with whom, and his
constant aid, this benevolent Association would not willingly part.
The Ladies' Union Relief Association undertake to assist the sick and
disabled veteran soldiers and their families, and the families of
deceased soldiers; and their self-imposed duties are very onerous, and
a vast amount of charitable work do they, visiting the sick and taking
to them the necessaries of life, paying their rents, clothing the
children; finding places of employment for the ex-soldier, or his
widow, or family; furnishing this or that one means of transportation
to the far West, for example, when offered a home there with some
relative, etc., etc. These duties are constant. The field is always a
large one; and in a season like that of 1870-71, when business is dull,
and employment is scarce, the poor of New York suffer extremely. It is
in such a season that the relations of poverty to the wealth which its
labors have created (for the workers are ever the poor), is seen in
painful relief upon the face of society.
In the performance of his voluntarily assumed duties under this
Association, Officer McWatters found nearly all his time, aside from
that strictly required by his official duties, occupied, nights as well
as days. At the police headquarters, where he held a detailed position,
the poor and suffering flocked to him during the day for advice and
succor; and when off duty as a policeman, he gave his time to visiting
and aiding them in their squalid homes.
The Ex-Superintendent Kennedy cordially seconded Officer McWatters in
his benevolent work, and gave him every facility for receiving the poor
at the police office. In this way he was enabled, while fulfilling his
duties as a policeman, to gratify his heart with kindly attention to
the poor. But eventually Superintendent Kennedy was superseded by Mr.
Jourdan. Jourdan was, it would appear, an unfeeling man. He refused to
let the soldiers visit the headquarters in search of Officer McWatters,
and declared that they were "dirty, and smelled bad," and that he would
no longer suffer them to come. Thus Officer McWatters' mendicant
clientage was prohibited consulting with him during the hours of police
duty, and he felt that his dearest, most cherished "occupation," was
almost "gone." His sphere of pleasant, though onerous duties, was
limited, and he fretted under the restraint of the rule which prevented
the poor to approach him--a man whom the Rev. Dr. Bellows declares,
when referring to the poor soldiers, to be "one of their few steady,
laborious, and judicious benefactors."
But death came, and laid Superintendent Jourdan in the grave--the
common earth--as lowly as the graves of the "dirty," poor soldiers whom
he despised. It is a significant fact that this man Jourdan's remains
were followed to the tomb by many distinguished citizens of New
York,--politicians, men of wealth and professional good standing, and
others. But perhaps it is not so strange after all that he should have
been so honored in New York, for Fernando Wood has been mayor of the
city; and many who have grown rich by political thieving are kept in
office, and Jim Fisk, Jr., is not only suffered to live within the city
limits, but has been elected to the post of colonel of the Ninth
Regiment, and is actually extolled by great numbers of the people.
Crime is no great stain to any man in New York if he but have money, or
is in the "line" of making it fast. The city's moral worth reposes, for
the most part now, with the few members of the churches who are what
they profess to be, and with the benevolent and Christian
women,--comparatively few in number,--like those of the Ladies' Union
Relief Association, and the few Howards, whose best representative is
Officer McWatters.
Jourdan's death, however, did not abate the unjust rule he had made,
forbidding the poor to seek their friends at the headquarters of the
police, and Officer McWatters, unwilling longer to follow for a
livelihood a calling by which he was prevented from honoring the
dictates of his heart by doing all which he might do in some other
vocation for the poor soldiers and their families, determined on
resigning his post. While he was casting about for such a position,
some of his friends, among whom were Rev. Dr. Bellows, President of the
United States Sanitary Commission (and who cheerfully says of Officer
McWatters, "The evidence is overwhelming that few private persons have
given so much time and effectual aid to the friendless class as he"),
Wm. Cullen Bryant, and other gentlemen of high character; and the
ladies of the Relief Association, who were unwilling to part with his
invaluable coöperation, sought, for Officer McWatters, a place in the
custom-house, where the lingering sway of no heartless Jourdan would
oppress him. Officer McWatters' desire being made known to Collector
Murphy, he, be it said to his honor, immediately and generously offered
him a situation which would enable him to earn his living, and continue
his benevolent work; and on the 17th of October, 1870, Officer
McWatters tendered the resignation of his place as policeman to the
Commissioners, by the following letter, a copy of which we take from
the New York Dispatch of the 23d of that month:--
"NEW YORK, October 17, 1870.
"_To the Hon. Board of Police Commissioners of New York._
"GENTLEMEN: I beg respectfully to offer my resignation as a
patrol policeman, the same to take effect on Tuesday, October
18, 1870.
"This step has been rendered necessary for the following
reasons: I have been prohibited by your representative, the
late Superintendent, from employing my spare time in the
fulfilment of a duty which, in common with all good citizens, I
owe to the defenders of our country, the sick and disabled
soldiers, and to the widows and orphans of those who perished
in the late war; and being determined to fulfil that duty, I
have obtained employment elsewhere, under circumstances that
will enable me to continue to assist and advise these poor
people.
"Respectfully asking your acceptance of my resignation, I
remain, gentlemen, yours, &c.,
"GEORGE S. MCWATTERS."
The public journals of the times made most complimentary allusion to
Officer McWatters when noticing his withdrawal from the police force
and acceptance of a post in the custom-house. They spoke of him--but
perhaps it were well to let some of them "speak for themselves." We
reproduce here the following (all we have space for in this article)
from the New York Evening Post and the Daily Times. The former remarked
thus:--
"The resignation of George S. McWatters deprives the police
force of one of its most faithful and efficient members; but,
on the other hand, it enables Mr. McWatters to continue his
benevolent and gratuitous services in behalf of the wounded
soldiers, and the widows and orphans of those who fell during
the late war. Mr. McWatters proposes to open an office, under
the auspices of the Ladies' Union Relief Association, and of
General Butler, in his capacity of President of the Board of
Managers of the National Homes for Disabled Soldiers, where, at
certain hours each day, he can be consulted, and will offer
relief and assistance. There is now no place in this city where
this class of persons can get advice without paying roundly for
it, and running the danger of falling into the hands of
unprincipled claim agents. Mr. McWatters intends to give his
service gratuitously in this good cause, as he has been doing
for the last five or six years. He is now filling an office in
the custom-house, and Collector Murphy has shown his
discriminating good sense in making the appointment."
The Times said:--
"The appointment of Mr. George S. McWatters to the position of
storekeeper, under the New York custom-house, was most
judicious, and will be heartily approved by those who are
familiar with the man and his good deeds. He has been connected
with the police department of the city for the past twelve
years, and never had a charge preferred against him in all that
time. Since the war, in addition to his police duties, he has
been an indefatigable worker for the interests of sick and
disabled soldiers, and the families of those who died in
battle. Hundreds of cases have been investigated by him, and
relief obtained for the unfortunate in scores of instances. For
these services Mr. McWatters received no remuneration whatever,
save the gratitude of those who were the object of his
beneficence. His merits were recognized by the collector, and
hence the offer of an appointment, which was accepted a few
days after."
Thus it was that Officer McWatters ended his connection with the
Metropolitan Police, with the honor of the public for his faithfulness
and efficiency as an officer, and the applause of all good people for
his benevolence and laborious services in the cause of philanthropy.
This brings us to the month of October, 1870; since which time Officer
McWatters has been attending to his duties as an officer in the
custom-house, and pursuing his career as a "Good Samaritan" as usual.
THE SWINDLING BOUNTY CLAIM AGENTS.
In these biographical notes it has not been attempted to preserve
chronological order throughout, as the reader has observed, and we now
revert to sundry important facts in Officer McWatters' history, which
have been passed over by us without allusion. Perhaps the chief service
which McWatters has rendered to the soldiers is the successful war he
waged against the Bounty Claim Agents in 1868-69. As the law regarding
bounties then stood, the agents were able to grossly swindle the
soldiers. And many of these agents, all over the land, and probably the
most of them, did swindle them. To appreciate the full merit of Officer
McWatters in circumventing the swindling agents, it is necessary to
understand how they operated with poor soldiers; and as we find in the
New York Times of March 21, 1869, a succinct explanation of their mode
of operations, we transfer a portion of the article containing it to
these pages. It will be found interesting as an item in the history of
the times (as well as a comment upon the beauties of civilization in
general). The article is headed "Bounty Swindlers," and goes on to
say:--
"Herman, who is well known as a former claim agent in this
city, is now at large, under forfeited bail of ten thousand
dollars, for swindling discharged soldiers, who were credulous
enough to trust him, out of their well-deserved bounties. It is
estimated by the authorities that he made nearly twenty
thousand dollars by these operations, which he has so carefully
disposed of that it cannot be recovered by his unfortunate
victims. There are, perhaps, fifty others of the same stripe in
this city, who have gathered small fortunes by thus defrauding
the soldier or his widow and orphans.
"To protect the soldiers from these sharks, Mr. French, Second
Auditor of the Treasury Department at Washington, has, from
time to time, suspended all business transactions with them.
This had the effect of stopping the frauds for a while, but the
swindlers soon found a method of overcoming the obstruction.
This they did by procuring willing tools through whom they
operated as successfully as ever.
"There are said to be thousands of dishonest agents all over
the United States, who are continually engaged in this
nefarious business. They are principally lawyers who have no
reputation to lose, and who, therefore, are indifferent to
public opinion.
"The _modus operandi_ by which these swindles are carried on is
as follows: A. is a discharged soldier, B. the claim agent. A.
calls on B., and requests him to procure his bounty money for
him. A. is informed that, in order to enforce his claim, it
will be necessary for him to intrust B. with his certificate of
honorable discharge, to be forwarded to Washington as a
voucher. Thus far the transaction is legitimate; but now comes
the trickery. B. further informs A. that there is another paper
to be forwarded with the discharge, a blank, which he (A.) must
sign. It is merely a matter of form, B. says, which the
government requires, for some reason best known to itself. The
signature is given, and the soldier goes away, assured that
within a few days his check will be ready for him. The paper to
which, in his ignorance, A. signed his name, turns out to be an
absolute power of attorney conferred upon B., not only to
enforce the claim, but also to indorse the draft when it is
received, and to collect the money therefor at the bank. Thus
authorized, B. draws the cash at the proper time, puts it into
his own pocket, and keeps it there. A. calls for his money at
the appointed time, but is put off with the excuse that the
return has not yet been made by the department at Washington.
This explanation is repeated each time that A. calls, until,
finally, he becomes suspicious of unfair dealing, and
peremptorily demands either his certificate or the bounty. As a
rule, this demand leads to the speedy unfolding of the base
villany. B. acknowledges that he has collected the money, and
adds that he has spent it, but that he will refund it as soon
as he is able to do so. The claim agent having acted by full
power of attorney in the matter, cannot be prosecuted
criminally, and the only remedy open to the victimized soldier
is a civil suit for the recovery of the amount of his claim.
The remedy is ineffectual, however, by reason of the fact that
the swindler has no property out of which to satisfy judgment,
and the soldier being too poor to prosecute the case, the
affair ends at this point.
"There are now in the Second Auditor's office as many as
sixty-five thousand unsettled bounty claims, representing about
four millions five hundred thousand dollars, and by the recent
passage of another bounty act, that sum will soon be augmented
by nearly five hundred thousand dollars. It will thus be seen
that, unless some measures are taken by the government to
prevent it, five million dollars more will pass into the hands
of swindling agents, to the great loss of those for whose
benefit it was intended."
But long before this article appeared in the Times, Officer McWatters
had been reflecting upon a measure for rescuing the poor soldiers from
the despoiling grasp of the agents. He had laid his plans before the
Ladies' Union Relief Association, and the good ladies, at once
appreciating it, commissioned him to go, in the name of the
Association, to Washington, and procure, if possible, the immediate
carrying out of his plan, which consisted of certain changes in the
law. He went at once to the Capital, and called upon President Grant,
who kindly received him, and to whom he unfolded his plan. The Military
Committee of the Senate were also visited, and they, as the President
had likewise done, gave Mr. McWatters assurances of their sympathy with
his designs, which they proceeded to directly express, by a proposed
change in the law, which was in due time made. Messrs. Wilson and Howe
of the Senate, General Butler and General Logan of the House, were
particularly earnest and active in aiding Officer McWatters to
accomplish his great aim in this matter. A resolution "for the
protection of soldiers and their heirs," according to Officer
McWatters' plan, after passing both Houses of Congress, received the
approval of the President, and became a law on the 10th of April, 1869,
and thousands of soldiers have since blessed their ever warm and
judicious friend, McWatters, for one of the very best deeds that has
been done in their behalf since the war. Lodges of the Grand Army of
the Republic, in all parts of the country, passed votes of compliment
and gratitude to him; and the press, also, was everywhere laudatory of
him.
The new law forbids the Treasury and Pay Departments paying bounties
due the soldiers to any claim agent, or upon "any power of attorney,
transfer, or assignment whatever;" but provides that the money due
shall be sent directly to the soldier or his heirs, by draft, on their
order, or through the Freedman's Bureau, or state agents appointed
specially for that purpose, etc., at no cost to the soldier or his
heirs. The law also provides, that the government shall retain in its
hands such proper fees as may be due to the claim agents for their
services in procuring bounties, which fees are subject to the agents'
order; thus securing to them all that is justly their due, while also,
in a truly Christian or motherly way, shielding them from the
temptation to rob the poor soldier or his heirs of everything. (One
object of governments, we are told by sundry "great writers on Law," is
to protect the morals of the people; which we are very glad to be
assured of--sometimes. It is refreshing to be told that a divine power
has a hand in the governmental institutions of the world; for if we
were not so informed by the great writers, we might not always be able
to discover the fact.)
But this victory over the claim agents was not won without much hard
fighting on Officer McWatters' part. The rascally agents harassed him,
threatened him, and attempted to bribe him, etc. But without going into
details, we will content ourselves with transferring to these pages an
article which we find in The Sun, of April 10, 1869:--
"The thanks of hundreds of soldiers who have been defrauded by
the bounty thieves, are due to General John A. Logan, for
pushing through Metropolitan Policeman McWatters' bill,
requiring that all moneys due them shall be paid to the
soldiers direct, the government reserving to itself the fees.
While Officer McWatters was in Washington, the bounty thieves
pretending to enjoy influence with the Metropolitan Police
Commissioners, threatened him, and tried to buy him off, one of
the fellows offering him five hundred dollars to 'go home and
mind his own business.' We reproduce two of their threatening
letters, as follows:--
"'MR. MCWATTERS. Dear Sir: You are in a business that don't
suit you--something you have no right in. The men you are
working against are a large and influential class; have power
where you least expect it. You have a good position on the
police. As you value it, quit your present action. Let the
_soldiers_ take care of themselves; it don't pay _you_, nor
will it. You can't afford to play philanthropist. Leave that to
men of means, and women, if you like. A word to the wise.
"'Yours, a friend,
"'NEW YORK, March 27, 1869. H. B. L.'
"'MR. MCWATTERS. Dear Sir: Your visit to Washington will do you
no good, but may possibly result in great harm to yourself. You
have a good position now, and I think you had better let the
soldiers' matters alone, as you are interfering with the
business of those whose power and influence can be used against
you to disadvantage. If you think anything at all of your own
welfare, leave Washington immediately, and pursue the matter no
further.
Yours, etc.,
P. G. W.
"'NEW YORK, March 29, 1869'"
But Officer McWatters' labor for the soldier and his family, in regard
to the laws regulating payments thereto, did not stop here. In 1870, in
conjunction with others (he being the proposer of the same, we believe,
as he was surely the most active mover thereto), obtained a change to
be made in the time and frequency of the payment of pensions; the same
theretofore being paid only semi-annually. There were evils attending
these semi-annual payments. Some recipients getting so much of their
dues at a time, were led to improvidence, spending the same more freely
than they would have done smaller sums; and their families often
complained about the matter. Officer McWatters urged the proposition of
monthly payments, but was unable to secure his object; but the law was
changed, making the pensions payable in quarterly instalments. This was
a great improvement over the old law. Officer McWatters received
numerous letters of gratitude on the passage of the law. We clip the
following in relation thereto, from the Tribune of December 9, 1870:--
"The first payment of pensions under the new law making the
payments quarterly instead of semi-annual, began last Monday,
and many grateful letters, illustrating the beneficial working
of the new plan, have already been received by Mr. G. S.
McWatters, who was instrumental, in conjunction with the
Ladies' Union Relief Association, in procuring the passage of
the bill."
The payments were made formerly in March and September; and how the
pensioner welcomed a quarterly payment coming on the first Monday of
December, is perhaps as feelingly told, in its own homely way, as it
well could be, in the following extract from one of those letters to
which the Tribune refers. A pensioner, writing to McWatters, says:
"Nobody but a poor man can appreciate the feelings a poor man enjoys in
the consciousness of having a clean rent bill, a ton of coal, and a
barrel of flour, in the first month of winter."
Ay! there _is_ an eloquence in those words--an eloquence which touches
the softer chords of the heart,--"The poor man enjoys"! Nobody more
than Officer McWatters, the philanthropist, could appreciate the poor
pensioner's letter. But is there not in that letter that which touches
other chords than those of sympathy--the chords of justice in all
decent souls? a sense of justice which regards with horror, and burns
with indignation over, the wretched order of things, or disorder the
rather, which creates these suffering poor? Very likely that pensioner,
who tells us so touchingly of "a poor man's feelings," has done more
for the world, created more for the good of his fellow-men, through his
labor, in the form of agricultural products, necessary work of one kind
or another, etc., etc., than all the millionnaires of New York
together,--the mere cormorants, who fatten upon the toil of the
laboring classes. Is it not a shame to our common humanity that a
barrel of flour should, in any family, become a subject for their
rejoicing? "How a poor man feels!"--in this world of wealth! in this
age of Christian teaching! in this era of churches! Bah! it is enough,
one would think, to make the apostles of the Nazarene arise from their
graves, and seize the sword of Peter, to put an end to the villany
which still enslaves the masses and keeps them poor. But we do not hear
that they are disturbed, nor do we learn that there is pity anywhere in
the universe for the poor, save in the souls of the poor themselves,
and in those of a few philanthropists here and there. But that is well,
for it is not pity which is to work the good reformation which must
some time be wrought; it is justice, the justice which shall yet demand
_rights_, and banish even the name of _privileges_; justice, with
science as its means. All else has signally failed to achieve any great
good.
Froude and other great writers admit that but little real progress has
been made under our social institutions. Changes have come along the
line of the centuries, it is true, but the "poor man" (and the term
generically comprehends the vast majority of the race), the poor man
suffers as much in these days as in those of Moses, or in Caligula's,
or in the dark ages, or any period of feudal times; and yet we boast of
"progress." In no period of the world's history has anything more
reprehensible than the suffering of the Irish people at home, in these
days, occurred; and there is no reason found in the organic structure
of our government why our own poor suffer less, or shall suffer less in
the future, than the Irish people now, save that there is a little more
mercy in the laws which the tyrant or governing classes of this country
make for the laboring classes, in the matter of certain household
goods, for example, exempt from levy of attachment or execution; (but
this is true only of the laws of certain States, not of the national
laws). And this very hour, as we write, the National Congress is
contemplating putting millions of acres of the public domain into the
hands of the tyrant forces, thus robbing the future millions who will
need the soil to live upon.
"The poor man's feelings"! But we dismiss the subject here, with the
simple words,--eloquent enough to stir every decent soul to indignation
over the wrongs of the laboring classes,--"The feelings of a poor man"!
But more work for the soldier and his family remained for McWatters to
do, and he is at this writing (February, 1871) attempting, with the
support of the ever noble and active Ladies' Union Relief Association,
to get an act passed by Congress, by which an honorably discharged
soldier, too poor to buy his own grave, may console himself, in his
last moments, that his family will not be obliged to follow him to a
pauper's last resting-place. Now, only such soldiers as die in actual
service have a right to be buried in the National Cemeteries. The
veriest villain may have enlisted in the service yesterday, and died,
and be buried to-day in the National Cemeteries. But the honorably
discharged soldier, who served through the war bravely and nobly, is
not entitled to be buried therein, and if he dies poor, goes to the
potter's field. Such is the nation's gratitude!
There's an awful sarcasm in this last work of McWatters. We do not know
whether, in the overflowing kindness of his soul, he sees it or not.
Memorializing "The Honorable the Senators and Members of the House of
Representatives in Congress assembled" to provide a place to bury the
nation's heroes in, by a sort of legal fiction, which, while they do
fill paupers' graves, technically, obscures a little the fact of their
abject poverty, by giving them graves "free of cost." Poor fellows!
After death they get more rights than they had when living! The
government takes away the soil from the living man, robs him of his
right to it,--a right, the true title to which is in the fact of his
existence,--his being born, if you please,--and makes restitution with
six feet of subsoil to the dead man!
But the merit of Officer McWatters' work is not decreased by this
consideration. He does the very best thing he can do under the
circumstances. But the nation--the community--civilization--what of
them?
HONORABLE TESTIMONIALS TO OFFICER MCWATTERS.
We have somewhere said that Officer McWatters has received not a dollar
for his years of constant, active benevolence. This is literally true:
but it is not exactly true in the interpretation which some readers
might give it; for Officer McWatters has not been wholly without
substantial rewards other than those of the joys of his own happiness
in well doing. But we have not space to notice all of these. The one
which we presume is most dear to the gallant heart of Officer
McWatters, is a testimonial of his benevolent services given him by the
Ladies' Union Relief Association, in July, 1868. We copy the following
article regarding it from the New York Times of July 31, 1868:--
"TESTIMONIAL.--The well-known services of Officer George S.
McWatters on behalf of disabled soldiers and of the widows and
orphans of fallen ones, received a handsome acknowledgment, a
few days since, at the hands of the Ladies' Union Relief
Association, with whose invaluable labors he has closely
identified himself since the organization of the institution.
Mrs. John A. Kennedy, who is President of the Association,
presented Mr. McWatters with a very valuable gold watch,
purchased for him with private contributions of the ladies of
the Association, as a testimonial of their appreciation of his
energetic labors in the work they have so much at heart. The
watch is richly chased and bears on one side of the outer case
the monogram 'G. S. McW.,' and on the other, also in monogram,
'1868.' The inner case has the following inscription:--
"'_Presented to George S. McWatters by the members of the
Ladies' Union Relief Association, in appreciation of his
services to the families of Union Soldiers._ 1868.'
"It is pleasing to note this handsome recognition of the quiet
energy and modest worth of Officer McWatters, who has in many
ways and frequently, during the war and since, given remarkable
evidence of how much good work, in a humble and unpretending
way, is within the compass of a single individual, impelled by
a spirit of true philanthropy."
We also append a notice of the same testimonial, taken from The Sun of
the same date, since it very succinctly sets forth Officer McWatters'
great worth as a philanthropist.
"HANDSOME AND WELL-DESERVED COMPLIMENT.--A few days ago Officer
G. S. McWatters was surprised by a request to attend at the
residence of Mrs. John A. Kennedy, the President of the Ladies'
Union Relief Association. There he was presented with a
beautiful gold watch, as a token of recognition of the valuable
work done by him in assisting the objects of the society. Ever
since the war Officer McWatters has devoted all his spare hours
to the benefit of Union soldiers and their families. _We could
fill columns with stories of his work and its good results, but
have only room to say that no man of equal means has worked so
hard and so successfully._ To the assistance and encouragement
of that noble institution, the Ladies' Union Aid Society, he
has given every moment that could be spared from his official
duties. It is a fitting and graceful compliment, when such
ladies as Mrs. Wm. F. Havemeyer, Mrs. Marshall O. Roberts, Mrs.
Kennedy, and others of similar standing, so generously
recognize the faithful services of their co-laborer. Of course
Mr. McWatters has official permission to accept his well-earned
present, and long may he live to wear it."
We also subjoin the following from the Tribune, inasmuch as it makes
allusion to certain benevolent acts and plans of Officer McWatters, to
which we have not referred in these biographical notes, but which are
most worthy of record. So good a summary is the Tribune's article of
Officer McWatters' claims upon the public esteem as an active
philanthropist up to the period of its date, that we copy it entire,
though it embraces several matters upon which we have descanted more or
less extendedly in these Notes:--
"It is always gratifying to see genuine and unpretending merit
recognized and honored. We are therefore specially glad to
record the fact that the Ladies' Union Relief Association of
this city have recently, by the presentation of a valuable and
appropriate gift, so recognized and honored the services
rendered by Officer G. S. McWatters to the peculiar cause of
benevolence to which they are devoted. The gift is a handsome
gold watch, and the presentation was made on Thursday evening,
the 23d inst., by the President of the Association, Mrs. John
A. Kennedy, at her residence, No. 135 West Twenty-Second
Street. The Ladies' Union Relief has been established two
years. It was instituted with a view to the relief of sick and
disabled soldiers, their families, widows, or orphans, from the
evils of extreme poverty. Great good has been accomplished by
the Association; and, in its peculiar charity, it has had no
ally more efficient and indefatigable than Officer McWatters.
Indeed, from the very beginning of the late civil war, this
officer has consistently and faithfully devoted himself to the
cause of the Union soldiers. In 1861 he was associated with the
late Daniel Carpenter in the mission of raising money from the
police force for the support of the families of policemen who
had gone to the war. In 1862--an assessment having been levied
on the police force for the purpose of raising and equipping
the Metropolitan Brigade--Officer McWatters subscribed more
money to this fund than any other patrolman on the force. In
1863, when our military hospitals around Washington and
elsewhere were in great need of lemons for the wounded and
suffering victims of battle, Officer McWatters collected six
hundred dollars from among the police towards supplying this
want; and the lemons so procured were gratuitously forwarded to
the hospitals South and West by Adams Express Company. A letter
of thanks from Dr. Bellows, representative of the Sanitary
Commission, was, on this occasion, addressed to the Police
Commissioners. In 1863, also, Officer McWatters was a member of
the little band of police officers that rescued and defended
our building from the miscreants who attacked it during the
July riots, and in that affray he was badly wounded. In 1864 he
was one of the originators of the New York Sanitary Fair, and
he served as one of its committees, with so much devotion and
success that he won a letter of thanks from Mrs. Lane, the
President of the Fair, Mrs. Jessie Benton Fremont, and Colonel
Le Grand Cannon. Officer McWatters, it should also be
mentioned, is the originator of the Police Mutual Aid Society,
a very useful institution, founded on the principle of
fraternal benevolence. The society has served as a model for
similar societies--of firemen, post-office clerks, and other
bodies of men all over the country. A plan of practical
benevolence has likewise been formed and matured by Officer
McWatters in the Masonic Fraternity, and has won the
commendation of some of the highest officials in that
organization. These facts strongly attest the humane spirit,
active intelligence, and earnest devotion to duty which have
characterized Officer McWatters in a highly creditable career
of practical benevolence. The ladies of the Union Relief
Society have no less justly than gracefully acknowledged the
worth of his character and services, in making the gift we have
recorded. Every lover of this country, we may add, and every
friend of mankind, will naturally wish the amplest success to
all these workers in the good cause of charity."
THE BELLEVUE HOSPITAL INIQUITY.
Charity, holy though the poets sing her, and beautiful the painters
picture her lineaments, is, after all, a hag, if real; or only an ideal
being, at best, if we are to judge her by her precious, favored
children, the almoners she sometimes employs to dispense her bounties.
In New York a great many vulgar wretches are, from time to time,
officially connected with the charitable institutions under control of
the city government. Bellevue Hospital was, in 1869, the theatre of
some of these base fellows' operations.
These men were protected by the "Citizens Association," so called,--a
self-constituted body of very respectable gentlemen, whose business it
is to see that everything in the city is properly conducted; gentlemen
of high moral tone, the hems of whose phylacteries (made of invisible
or abstract "great moral worth," "solid character," "piety," "good
standing in society," and visible and real amounts of greenbacks, all
interwoven in some mysterious way, and which together constitute
"dignity," we believe), are broad enough to out-Pharisee those
marvelous gentlemen in Christ's time who made Jerusalem such a genial
place of residence, with their "long prayers."
In July, 1869, the Citizens' Association published, through the
newspapers of the city, what they called the result of an investigation
of the several institutions under the control of the Commissioners of
Charities and Corrections, in which they assured the public that these
institutions were all properly and well conducted, and felicitated the
said public that the said institutions were in charge of such high
toned and efficient gentlemen as they named.
But there was a man in New York, who, when he read the Citizens'
Association's manifesto, thought it a most astonishing falsehood,
either of the kind known as a lie, or of that kind which people tell
sometimes when they are talking of things about which they know
nothing; for his duties had called him to Bellevue Hospital on sundry
occasions, and he had there witnessed, with his own eyes, sundry things
which made his blood boil with indignation; and when he read the
manifesto of the Citizens' Association, he determined to correct it.
Of what this man had seen at Bellevue Hospital, some faint conception
may be formed from the following facts: There was scarcely a bed
there, in any of the wards, which was free from vermin; patients who
took most care of the beds, were always liable to get lousy in the
water closets; only a single clean sheet a week was allowed, no
matter how filthy a bed might become through the poor patient's weak
misfortunes; the blankets were dirty; to keep the coverlets clean,
for "whited-sepulchre" purposes, when visitors called, they were
taken off nights; the cooking of the institution was done by a
drunken, filthy cook, and was served to the patients on what had once
been tin dishes, but had been so often polished "clean" that they had
became rusty sheet-iron plates; the "orderlies," who were paid to
attend to the sick, were tyrannical, and little or no attention was
paid to the complaints of the sufferers. The only thing a poor sick
man had to sit on was a stool, with a seat of about twelve inches by
fourteen inches in size, without a back (and most of the sick had
weak backs). The sick poor, picked up in the streets, for example,
and carried there, had their outer garments taken off, and were put
to bed without washing, with their under clothes on, and had no
"change of raiment" till they died! The wards were cold in winter,
and the poor were glad of even their filthy rags to keep them warm.
Generally the bed in which a poor fellow died remained as he left it,
unchanged, for the comfort of the next occupant and corpse! But this
is quite enough, we opine, for the reader's entire satisfaction.
Of course this "Augean stable" needed cleansing, and the Citizens'
Association needed enlightening, or reforming, whichever is the proper
term in the case, and that man to whom we have alluded knew how to do
it. The Tribune and Evening Post, when informed of the true state of
affairs, cheerfully gave space in their columns for the facts, and
appealed to the Citizens' Association to revise their work of voluntary
report-making. We have before us a copy of the Evening Post of date
September 1, 1869, containing a long editorial article on "Bellevue
Hospital," mostly made up of a letter (which was written by a poor,
disabled soldier, then "confined" in Bellevue Hospital), setting forth
some of the luxuries, conveniences, the neatness, etc., enjoyed at
Bellevue Hospital. (It appears that the only decent thing connected
with the hospital then, was the medical care which was pronounced
excellent.)
The article alluded to, called on the Citizens' Association "which, by
a recent publication, has made itself in some sort responsible for the
good management of the city charities," to "investigate" the matter
(out of courtesy it ought to have said, "_re_-investigate," but it
didn't).
The secretary of the Citizens' Association visited one of the editors
of a city paper, and stated that Bellevue Hospital was the only
institution under the Commissioners of Charities and Corrections which
he had _not_ personally visited! and after two weeks' delay, the
Citizens' Association sent a committee of investigation to the
hospital, and found everything all right, of course, and drew up a
report, which, however, was never published; for when they presented
the same for publication, the wary editors required that the report, if
it were to appear in their columns, should be followed by affidavits of
proper parties, showing that the iniquities complained of existed at
Bellevue Hospital when the complaints were made.
The result was, that reforms so much needed at Bellevue Hospital were
made there; for which hosts of patients have since been grateful. It is
said that the authorities of the hospital offered a hundred dollars
reward for the person who wrote, or instigated the writing, of the
various letters to the press, exposing the state of things there, and
which wrought the reform. But they were not successful at the time in
discovering their enemy, and the poor patients' friend; for the
bringing to light, and subjecting of these outrages at Bellevue
Hospital to public condemnation, was one of Officer McWatters' many
silent Good Samaritan deeds, and he did not intend to have them or the
public know who wrought it. Besides, the officials were powerful, and
might do him great harm, in their indignation at his exposure of their
wickedness, and it would not have been wise in him to act too openly.
But time enough has passed now, we presume, to calm their animosity;
and having possessed ourselves of the facts without Officer McWatters'
knowledge, we think it proper that the credit due him in this matter be
acknowledged here.
CONCLUSION.
In these meagre Biographical Notes we have done but partial justice to
Officer McWatters. Our readers were duly assured that no attempt would
be made by us to write a fitting biography of the man; and we have
only, in a hasty way, and in a manner wholly unsatisfactory to
ourselves, alluded to certain incidents in our subject's life, which
serve to stamp him as a man far above the average of even good souls,
in his active, practical benevolence. But it is often in little things
that the generous soul demonstrates itself most eloquently--in the
usually unremarked, quiet acts of a man; and, in our judgment, a letter
from Officer McWatters, which, in our search of the public journals for
most of the material of these Notes, we found in the Evening Mail of
October 23, 1869, bespeaks for him as much respect from the good and
charitably inclined as anything he ever did.
We judge from the opening sentence of the letter, that some "good
enough" fellow, "S. W. H. C.," soft of heart, perhaps, but limited in
judgment, had found fault, through the columns of the Mail, with the
poor organ-grinders' "plying their vocation" on the public streets. Of
course there was nobody in all the great metropolis to come to their
defence, except some man like Officer McWatters. And so he came, it
seems, seasonably. The letter shows not only the tender, generous
spirit of the man, but his ripe good judgment and comprehensive view of
things as well, and is worthy of preservation here in these pages,
along with the masterly efforts of his pen, which, in "Knots Untied,"
have not only given us,--his present readers,--the liveliest
gratification by the mysteries they unfold in a lucid style, but have
made one of the best possible records of certain phases of now current
life, for the information of the future historian.
The old Romans (as well as other peoples) had their secret police
service; and how interesting it would be to us, in these far off
centuries, to read of their deeds in the empire, or during the kingdom
of Rome. History, for the most part, is made up of the deeds of great
conquerors, etc. We know too little of the domestic and "hidden life"
of the past. But the future historian of these times will have all the
_materiel_ his ambition can desire for weaving the thread of his story.
And what a _resumé_ of crimes and outrages of all kinds will that of
the 19th century be for the historian of the 40th century to make!
The letter to which we refer above, regarding the organ-grinders, will
be found appended hereto, together with some other matters of interest
regarding Officer McWatters, which we have collected in our examination
of the public journals. We place them in connection with these
biographical notes, as in some respects presenting our subject in a
more graphic manner than we are able in this hurried writing, to make
him known to the great reading public of his adopted country.
The concluding paragraph of the letter referred to regarding the
organ-grinders, as will be seen by reference to it, is, "Until the
country has reached out her helping hand to all to whom she owes
assistance as a right, it is in bad taste to find fault with the mode
in which the disabled soldier tries to earn a living for his family."
In these words, so just and wise, is embraced more than the casual
reader will be apt to perceive. They are, in our opinion, very
remarkable, and involve a great principle, one which Officer McWatters,
as a student of social science, as we have remarked him, must clearly
understand.
"To all to whom she owes assistance as a right," are words eloquent
with the great truth of social statesmanship which they suggest; which
is, that a country, a government, should recognize the right of its
subjects (or component parts, to speak more decently, for there is a
hateful sound in that word "subjects") to life; and the great moral
duty of all these parts to assist each other; a duty which is clear and
imperative in the nature of things (but we cannot here go into the
subtleties of the matter, and show why); a duty, however, which can
never be fitly performed till some nation or people are so organized,
politically and socially, that each shall receive all he merits
therein; till the labor forces, the creators, the only really worthy,
are honored and protected; and not, as now, when the chief villains and
the worthless tyrants live upon the fat of the land, enjoy all the
honors, and are shielded by the laws in robbing from and exploiting
upon the poor, the laboring classes.
Healthful and buoyant of spirit, Officer McWatters doubtless has many
years of active life yet to enjoy. The record of his past is abundant
assurance that his future will be just, generous, brave in good deeds,
sternly and patiently laborious, and benevolent to all mankind; and
when he ceases to be, when the organized atoms which make what we call
the man, and are discriminated by us from all other organized atoms as
"McWatters," shall have been resolved into their original conditions,
and his individuality is lost forever in the ceaseless processes of
continuing creation, his good deeds shall live on still, and make for
him a place in the reverence of those who honor good works far above
that of most men; above that of all the talkers, the self-elected
teachers, who heed not their own doctrines, however noble these be. One
such man as Officer McWatters is worth more than an army of
self-proclaimed saints, who do nothing but prattle about virtue, and
preach, to use their own figure of speech, but live not out in their
lives, nor exemplify in their deaths, "Christ and Him crucified;" but
who think more of Christ _on_ the Cross, in the "triumph of faith,"
than of the nobler Christ-come-down-from-the-Cross, and still battling,
with untiring spirit, against the wrongs which men do to one another.
With this hasty sketch, and the appendices which we may see fit
to make (as before indicated), we leave Officer George S.
McWatters,--the kind of heart, the merciful, the dutiful, the
intelligent and honest man; the patriot of the true type; the
practical and great philanthropist,--in the hands of our readers,
trusting that some able biographer will yet write his history, in
a style and with a particularity commensurate with Officer
McWatters' nobility of character and multifold great good works
in the cause of humanity.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE ORGAN-GRINDERS.
A WORD IN THEIR BEHALF--LETTER FROM OFFICER MCWATTERS (REFERRED
TO IN THE BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES)--A SAD STORY--WHY THE ASYLUMS
CANNOT BE HOMES FOR ALL THE DISABLED.
To the Editor of the Evening Mail: The communication signed "S. W. H.
C.," in your issue of the 19th, breathes a good spirit towards our sick
and disabled soldiers, but evidently was not written understandingly.
By far the greater number of the street organ-grinders, clad in
soldiers' garb, have been true and honest soldiers, but being husbands
and fathers, they cannot take advantage of the asylums. The article on
this subject was in all respects correct. Until the nation furnishes
homes for this class of our disabled soldiers,--homes which will not
necessitate their parting from their little families, dearer to them by
far than their own personal comfort,--we must look for such street
exhibitions as we see, and which are not disgraceful to the soldier,
whatever they may be to his country. That some of these are impostors,
I do not doubt; but it is the duty of the police to satisfy themselves
who are and who are not, and to treat them accordingly. On the other
hand, there are no more deserving objects of charity in the world than
some of these are.
In evidence of the reluctance which those who have family ties feel in
entering any of the asylums, I now narrate you an incident. Some six
months ago I found a poor fellow in this city who had lost his health
in the army, in which he had served four years. He had just been sent
out of hospital incurable--a consumptive. He had a wife and four
children, the eldest a boy of twelve, a cripple, and three little
girls. Some one of the customary blunders at Washington had hitherto
delayed his pension. The sole income of the family, when I called, was
what the mother earned by scrubbing. The father had evidently not long
to live, and poverty was hastening him to the grave. When I called, and
saw how things were, I advised him to go to the Home, to which I would
find means to send him. He said he would consult his wife. He did so,
and then said that he had resolved to go; that he was only eating the
bread his poor wife earned, and which his little ones needed. I took
the necessary steps, and received from General Butler the coupons for
his transportation. By this time I had had several interviews with his
family; and seeing how much misery the threatened separation was likely
to entail,--for they were deeply attached--father, mother, and
children--to each other,--I resolved to try and prevent it. To this end
I consulted Mrs. J. A. Kennedy, President of the Ladies' Union Relief
Association, who, having heard the pitiable case, consented to extend
the aid of the institution to the family, that they might stay together
as long as the father lived. Freighted with this news, I went to the
miserable home. They were waiting for me; had been sitting, weeping in
company for hours, expecting the separation. I cannot describe to you
the joy that filled that poor home when I told them that the father was
not to go. Their joy was more touching than even the preceding grief.
Had "S. W. H. C." been with me then, or had he seen so many of just
such cases as I have seen, he would be much slower in coming to
judgment of the poor organ-grinder. For it is this love of wife and
children, which we honor, or ought to honor, which sends the married
soldier on the street to beg in this way, rather than take life easy,
and "fight his battles o'er and o'er again" in an asylum. The soldier
above referred to is still alive, thanks to the assistance given him by
General Butler and the good ladies of the Association.
The asylums, as they are at present ordered, cannot meet cases like
these; but they merit help, and should have it in some fashion. The
Ladies' Union Relief Association does much to keep a great number off
the street who would otherwise present much more disagreeable pictures
than the organ-grinders to the eyes of your sensitive correspondent;
but their means are limited. They cannot reach all who need. Until the
country has reached out her helping hand to all to whom she owes
assistance as a right, it is in bad taste to find fault with the mode
in which the disabled soldier tries to earn a living for his family.
MCWATTERS.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TEN DOLLARS A MONTH: A STORY OF GRIEF AND JOY.
It is a painful comment upon the state of society, or the character of
our civilization, that our most cherished literature, both of poetry
and prose, has its origin in human woes and wrongs. "Man's inhumanity
to man Makes countless thousands mourn." Dickens, with all his wealth
of genius, so much prized, would have found no use for it in a decent
world, unless, perchance, it might have shone as brightly upon the face
of Joy, as it beamed pathetically upon the tortured visage of Misery.
Hood, in his immortal "Song of the Shirt," and the "Bridge of Sighs,"
and in many other of his verse; Tennyson, in the best of his poems;
Mrs. Browning, with her vast power of thought and feeling, to say
nothing of many other great writers of the past and present; our own
blessed poet Whittier, etc., have given us their noblest works with
pens dipped in human tears, or sharpened by human sufferings. So, too,
of the great good deeds of the other philanthropists--the Howards, the
Nightingales, the McWatterses. They could only have had their origin in
the wrongs which man does to his fellow-man; in the outrages which the
tyrant classes do to the weaker; in the riot of wars for governmental
supremacy; in the sufferings of the outraged, trampled into the dust by
the powerful robbers of society in their mad greed for wealth, or
cheated by pious and talented hypocrites out of their moral as well as
physical rights.
Society should be so ordered, as it might readily be, that all the
pathetic literature now so much cherished, would be obnoxious to us, as
belonging to a state of things which once existed, but which all were
anxious to forget; when only the songs of joy should find birth, and
when the basilar principles of Christianity should be practically
recognized, and everywhere expressed in our institutions, or organic
social life. But this we cannot hope for till superstition shall be
done away with, the "money-changers" driven from the porches of our
"temples;" the poor and ignorant made aware of their rights, and
earnest in claiming them; and the tyrant classes come to learn the
falsity of their chief "motto," namely, that 'tis "better to rule in
hell than serve in heaven."
We had thought to give in the foregoing Biographical Notes some
touching instances of the experiences of the good women of the "Ladies'
Union Relief Association" and Officer McWatters, in their noble work of
succoring the needy, and binding up the wounds of the suffering. We
have before us, furnished by the kindness of a friend, a partial record
of the Association's deeds (never intended for publication), freighted
with notes of bitter sorrows which they have assuaged, and which,
written out, would fill pathetic volumes; but we have no space for them
here. One, however, so enchains our interest that we cannot forbid
ourselves to recite it here, as an exemplary instance, which, if
multiplied in his mind by hundreds and thousands, will give the reader
something like an adequate understanding of the vast work of kind and
tender ministrations which these philanthropists have done, and are
constantly doing.
Officer McWatters had two or three times visited a poor, sick,
emaciated veteran soldier, by the name of Patrick O'Brien. Of course
Patrick could earn nothing for his own support, and depended wholly
upon what little his good wife (a comparatively young and fragile
woman) could earn by washing and scrubbing, and which she shared with
him and their three young children. McWatters was greatly moved by the
condition of this family. He saw that the wife could not much longer
sustain the burden she was bravely attempting to bear, and finally
advised that, as the best thing to be done, the veteran should be sent,
at the expense of the Ladies' Union Relief Association, to the
Soldiers' Home at Dayton, Ohio. This was consented to by the soldier
and his suffering wife, but not without great reluctance. The sympathy
of sorrows is tenderly cohesive and sensitive. After leaving with the
family some money for their aid, and fixing upon a time, two or three
days thereafter, to call with a carriage, and take the soldier to the
cars, Officer McWatters bade good day to the family. They expected him
to come for the veteran in the night, for the poor man preferred
travelling then, as he got no sleep in the night season.
Officer McWatters was so greatly impressed by the innate pride, high
spirit, and profound love of the soldier for his family, so deeply
reciprocated by them, that he could not bear to see that poor household
separated, and at once interested himself to get an allowance for the
soldier from the Association, and thus enable him to stay with his
family; and he succeeded in procuring ten dollars a month for him,
assurance of which he received by letter, just at the time appointed
for taking the soldier from his poor home to the cars. He went to bear
the good news to the family. It was so late when he got to their
miserable little room (for one room, one bed, served them all), that
they had retired, thinking that he would not come that night. He
rapped, and announced his name, and the poor wife arose from the bed,
and admitted him. The poor children awakened before he could announce
the good news, and supposing that he had come to take away their
father, rushed off from their couch, and sobbing and weeping, implored
him not to take their father off, the violence of their and their
mother's grief preventing Officer McWatters explaining his present
errand for the space of a full minute or two. The poor soldier, moved
by his family's grief, had risen from that one bed, and added his
prayer to the rest, for something else possible to be done than the
sending of him away.
[Illustration: TEN DOLLARS A MONTH!]
At last Officer McWatters succeeded in quelling the passionate storm of
wailing and grief for an instant, which he seized to tell them his
errand in. It is not probable that pen or pencil could ever do faintest
justice to the picture of the gleeful, tearful gratitude which that
family exhibited in their sudden revulsion from broken-hearted grief to
wild joy, as McWatters finished reading the letter he had received
assuring the monthly allowance.
"Ten dollars a month!" A pitiable sum, yet it brought joy to that whole
household at that dead hour of night, in the city of mingled sorrows,
and vanities, and debaucheries, when hundreds and thousands of the
pampered sons and daughters of luxury (worthless members of society)
were wasting each more than ten dollars an hour in worse than useless
ways,--in riot and "ribald revelry."
The poor man remained with his family nearly two years; when he died,
and was buried by the Association. Upon his death his grateful widow
wrote to the ladies a letter (a copy of which was taken from the
archives of the Association without their special knowledge, it must be
confessed, but by "no robbery" after all), and which we think most
worthy a place here, in honor of the good ladies whose charities it
acknowledges.
"NEW YORK, May 3, 1870.
"_To the Ladies Union Relief Association_:
"LADIES: It is my painful duty to inform you of the death of my
husband, Patrick O'Brien. Allow me to express the deep sense of
gratitude that I and my children feel towards your Association
for the assistance you have generously extended to us during
the last two years of his illness. The value of that assistance
has been enhanced by the manner of its bestowal. Mr. McWatters,
the kind dispenser of your bounty, has smoothed to the grave
the pilgrimage of a proud spirit; but for the many delicate
assurances he gave my husband that your generous assistance was
not charity, but the poor soldier's rightful due, the last
years of his life would have been embittered by a sad sense of
destitution and dependence.
"My husband served the republic for nearly four years, during
which service he was maimed in its defence, and died at last of
disease contracted in the service. He could not have borne the
thought that he and his little ones were subsisting on the cold
charity of the world, and thanks to the delicate tact with
which your aid was bestowed his mind was smoothed, and his last
days on earth made peaceable.
"Please accept the sincere gratitude and blessings of a
soldier's widow and three children.
MARY O'BRIEN."
This scene of the poor family, with their single bed, and as they stood
in their night-clothes before Officer McWatters, as, choked with
mingled feelings of sympathy and a sense of the joy he was about to
give them, he read, with tears, the welcome news, ought to be put upon
canvas, and hung upon the walls of all the haunts of sin, the gold-room
of the Exchange, the brokers' offices, bankers', princely merchants'
ware-rooms, sectarian churches, and the other meeting-places of pride
and robbery throughout the city, and underneath it should be written,
"A chapter of our civilization in the 19th century."
S.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
MACK AND THE VETERAN.
A TOUCHING TALE--THE POETRY AND PATHOS OF BARE FEET.
The following, taken from the New York Dispatch of October 16, 1870, is
not only to the point as illustrating the noble traits of Officer
McWatters' character, but is too well told not to be preserved here. We
think best to make no substitution of "McWatters" in the place of the
familiar _sobriquet_ by which the genial writer was pleased to
designate him.
In one of the big public institutions set apart for a branch of the
Municipal Government of this big, overgrown city of ours, there is one,
among the many departments of this, that, and the other thing, presided
over by our friend Mr. Mack.
Mr. Mack is a gentleman, who, though old in years, is not old in
infirmity, and he walks about with a vim and spirit that might be
profitably imitated by many listless young men of the period.
Besides devoting his time and talents to his official position, he
takes an active interest in everything of a philanthropic nature. We
are ignorant of the number of societies which have these objects to
attain, of which Mr. Mack is a member; but in all of them he is among
the most active.
Among the charitable societies, is one composed of ladies, who attend
the wants of disabled soldiers, their widows and orphans. The ladies
have selected our friend Mr. Mack as their almoner, and his office is
visited every day by scores of poor people.
On a late visit to the good man, we found a poor veteran just
approaching his desk.
"Mr. Mack, sir," said the man.
"That's my name sir. Take a seat."
The man stepped forward briskly, but with a limp. He was sixty years of
age, with gray hair, shabbily attired, lame in the leg and arm, and, as
it afterwards appeared, one half of his right foot gone; a wreck of the
human form divine, but with much manliness left about him.
"What is your business, friend?"
"That's it, sir; and I'll thank you if you can do it," he replied
cheerily, as he handed a letter.
"You want to go to New London?" said Mr. Mack, after reading the
missive.
"That's it, sir; my darter lives there. I've walked all the way from
Philadelphia, and my legs have kinder give out. One of them ain't of
much account anyway, but I've got to make the best of it."
_Mr. Mack._ "Were you a soldier? You know my business is principally
with soldiers, although I should be glad to assist you if it is in my
power."
_Veteran._ "Well, I guess so, sir. I got knocked up in this kind of
shape doing service for Uncle Sam."
He raised his arm with difficulty, and pointed to his leg.
_Mr. Mack._ "Have you your discharge papers?"
_Veteran._ "I'm sorry to say that I haven't got them with me. I had
them framed, and after the old woman died (tearfully), I sent them to
Mollie for safe-keeping. But they're honorable, sir--they are, indeed."
_Mr. Mack._ "I might give you a letter that would insure you an
entrance to the Soldiers' Home. Would you like to go there?"
_Veteran._ "O, dear! no, sir; although it may be a good enough sort of
a place. I've got a home with my darter Mollie, who is well married,
and settled in the place that I am making for; and I know that she will
never go back on the old man, for she used to think too much of me, and
be too delighted to see me when I came home from a long voyage in
happier days. O, no, sir! (brushing the tears from his eyes with his
coat sleeve), Mollie will make room for me."
During the colloquy, Mr. Mack was busily engaged in writing a note, and
after finishing it, went into an adjoining room to obtain a necessary
signature. He returned without getting it, and was obliged to delay the
veteran until the official, whose name to the letter was wanted, came
in.
_Mr. Mack._ "You will have to wait a little while until I can get this
note signed."
_Veteran._ "All right, sir; never mind me--I'm used to waiting. I
learned that some time ago, when I waited through the long watch at
sea, till my turn came to climb into my bunk, and when I was on post in
the army, till the relief guard came around; and when I've been away
from home,--in times past, you know, I had a home of my own once,
sir,--I've waited for the day to roll around when I would see my wife
and Mollie (who was a little bit of a thing then) again. And all I'm
waiting for now is the time when my shattered old hulk shall be laid
aside as used-up timber; and all I hope for, when that time comes, is,
that my darter Mollie may be alongside, and I shan't mind it much."
_Mr. Mack._ "Are you a native of Connecticut?"
_Veteran._ "No, sir; I'm a Baltimorean. I was born opposite the old
Independent engine-house, in Gay Street, and my father and mother
before me were born in the city, too, for that matter."
_Mr. Mack._ "A great many from your State fought in the Southern army."
_Veteran._ "That's so, sir; they did. But how do you think it was
possible for me to do so, after having followed the old Stars and
Stripes through the Mexican war, and having sailed under its protection
for going on thirty years? O, no, sir! I had too much love for it. Why,
sir, every port I ever entered respected that flag. They couldn't help
it; besides, they knew they had to!" (Drawing himself up proudly.)
_Mr. Mack._ "Did you enlist in a Maryland regiment?"
_Veteran._ "No, sir. I'll tell you all about it. You see when the
Massachusetts regiments passed through Baltimore, the brig that I
sailed on had just returned from a voyage to Rio, and we were unloading
in Smith's dock, near Centre Market. The soldiers had disembarked from
the cars at the Philadelphia depot, and were marching along Pratt
Street, towards the Washington station, when the attack was made on
them. As I looked from the deck of the brig I saw the old flag pushing
and dodging along the street, with a shower of stones and bricks flying
around it, and I heard the sound of pistol-shots and the hissing and
hooting of the mob. I happened to turn around, and I saw the same
colors proudly flapping in the wind from the mast head, and I tell you
it was too much for me--I couldn't stand it. I went to the captain,
almost choking, and I told him I wanted an order for my pay; I was
going home. I was the second mate of the brig; and the captain was a
little wrathy at the idea, for he wanted me to stay and help him
superintend the unloading of that part of the cargo that was to be left
on the dock, before dropping down to Fell's Point the next day. I told
him I must leave; and as he had no further hold on me, he had to give
me the order. The owners were surprised, too; but after some talk they
paid me, and I went home to the old woman. She said, 'You look excited;
what's the matter with you?' 'Well,' said I, 'I am going to enlist in
the Union army, and try and help to pay these fellows that fired on the
American colors in Pratt Street to-day, back in their own coin.'
'That's right,' said she; 'I wish they'd let me carry a gun, and I'd go
with you.' And I wished for once in my life that Mollie was a boy; for
I might have made a drummer out of her, anyway, for she was too small
for anything else. Well, you know;--but I hope I'm not tiring you with
my long yarn, sir?"
_Mr. Mack._ "No; go on with it."
_Veteran._ "They were not raising any regiments in Maryland; and I fell
in with a Hoosier, who was going home to Madison to enlist, and I
promised him ten dollars if he would get me past the surgeons. I'm
sixty-six years old; and you know I was too old for them, because they
were more particular in the early part of the war than they were later.
Well, when we got to Madison, to make matters sure, I went and got my
hair dyed; and as luck would have it, the recruiting officers were a
little drunk, and I passed without any difficulty, though one of them
asked me how old I was, and I told them a lie, God forgive me, that I
was thirty-nine years old! I went into the Army of the Cumberland, and
at Chickamauga a shell burst near me, and I was knocked up in the way
you see."
_Mr. Mack._ "You have served with General Howard?"
[Illustration: McWATTERS AND THE VETERAN.]
_Veteran._ "Yes, sir; and a good, noble-hearted man he was, too, sir.
There was no airs about him. He was just like one of the boys,-- moving
around among the men in a blue army blouse and the regulation cap, with
a kind word for everybody; and when there was a battle, wherever there
was the most danger you were sure to find him."
Mr. Mack stepped out, and returned with the letter, which he handed to
the old veteran, with some money, which he took with some hesitation,
saying, that all he wanted was to get a passage to New London, and
Mollie would attend to his wants.
"When I get there," said he, "Mollie will find me some clothes to wear,
for these are getting rather soiled; and I'm kind of ashamed to be seen
in them, for I've been used to wearing a little better."
Mr. Mack told him that he only gave him the money to buy some food on
the way, and keep him strong enough to look for his Mollie when he
arrived at his destination.
"That's so, sir," said he; "I ain't got as much as will buy me a good
supper. When I left Philadelphia, I didn't have enough to pay my
passage, and I have made many a longer march. I didn't think it was
much to walk a hundred miles, so, sooner than beg my passage, I thought
I'd walk it. My lame leg made it rather harder than I expected, and I
made slow work of it. I soon spent what money I had for meals, and I
was obliged to part with a bull's-eye watch, that cost me twelve
dollars a good many years ago. It was pretty old, and I only got a
dollar and a half for it. Bull's-eye watches ain't worth as much as
they used to be. I sold my old pocket-book, too; but as it didn't have
anything in it, it was no good to me. I got my breakfast this morning,
and have a small balance in my pocket, off of my spectacles, that I
sold to an old fellow that they suited exactly; and I tell you I missed
them this morning when I tried to read a newspaper with an account of
the war in Europe. I think that war is going to do our people some
good. They'll want some of our corn and wheat, and I tell you the crops
did look amazing fine in the country that I passed through. I'm getting
interested in the way things are going on on the other side of the
water, and I think I'll buy a pair of specs with some of this money you
gave me, and read to-day's news about it."
"Do you know," said Mr. Mack, "that you are entitled to seventy-five
dollars for the loss of your foot, under the law to supply soldiers
with cork legs, when they have sustained the injury in the line of
duty?"
"Well, sir," said he, "I didn't know it, but you can see whether I am
entitled to it;" and he pulled off his boot, and showed the stump of
his foot, with the same pride that we remember to have seen a general
officer display the stump of his arm lost in action.
The exposure showed that he was without socks, his foot being wrapped
up in a handkerchief.
While he was exhibiting his stump, we observed Mr. Mack pulling his
shoes off, and we expected to see him display a wounded foot also, when
he hastily pulled off his socks; but instead of so surprising us, he
handed the socks, which he had evidently but just put on that day, to
the veteran, and against that individual's earnest protestations,
forced him to take them to wear.
We are certain that the same angel who dropped a tear on the record of
Uncle Toby's oath, will enter those socks to the credit side of Mr.
Mack's account, at a large increase on their market value.
Shaking hands with the battered old veteran, and wishing him good speed
on his journey to Mollie, we left Mr. Mack in his office in a
meditative mood.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOST IN THE STREETS.
OPERATIONS OF THE BUREAU FOR THE RECOVERY OF LOST PERSONS, ETC.--OFFICER
McWATTERS IN CHARGE.
During a considerable portion of his connection with the Metropolitan
Police, Officer McWatters had charge of the department denominated
"Bureau for the Recovery of Lost Persons;" a position which both his
experience and active sympathies with sorrow peculiarly fitted him to
fill. Its duties were very onerous, as will be seen by the following
article copied from the World newspaper of December 12, 1868, and which
cannot fail to greatly interest such of our readers as are not
conversant with life and its mysteries in the great Babylon of America.
--------------
In a side room of the main hall of the Central Police Headquarters, on
the second story, in Mulberry Street, is a desk, at which sits an old
rosy-cheeked, white-headed police officer, named McWatters. Officer
McWatters is famous in New York. He is a theatrical critic, and his
opinions on music and the drama are greatly esteemed by artists; but,
like most critics, he is a little dogmatic at times, perhaps.
Officer McWatters is detailed by Inspector George Dilks to take charge
of a department organized in November, 1867, to supply a great want,
and which is now in successful operation. This department is known as
the "Bureau for the Recovery of Lost Persons." Officer McWatters was
formerly in the City Hall Precinct, under Captains Thorne and Brackett,
and is very well acquainted with the city, so his services have been
made available in his new bureau.
MISSING MEN AND WOMEN.
The manner of investigation in regard to a missing relative or friend
is as follows: As soon as a person disappears from home, the nearest
relative, on learning of the missing person, goes to police
headquarters and makes application to the "Missing Bureau" for
information. The age, height, build; whiskers, if any; color of eyes,
dress, hair; the place where last seen, the habits and disposition of
the person, are given to the inspectors, and Officer McWatters makes
proper entries on his register, which he keeps for that purpose, of all
these facts. The personal description of the missing one is compared
with the returns made by the Morgue every twenty-four hours to the
police inspectors. Should the description answer to the person and
clothing of any one found at the Morgue, word is at once sent to the
relatives of the joyful news. Besides this, another very necessary
precaution is taken to find the person or persons missing. Cards are
printed, five or six hundred in number, and sent to all the police
offices on special duty in the different metropolitan precincts, with
instructions to the captains to have his men make active and energetic
search for the person.
TROUBLES ABOUT LOST PEOPLE.
Over seven hundred people have been reported as missing, to police
headquarters during the past twelve months. Of this number the majority
have been found, it is believed, as no record can be kept of those who
are not reported when found, by their relatives or friends, to
headquarters. Occasionally, a person who reports some one missing
belonging to them, will give all the details about him, but if found,
will fail to notify the authorities, from a sense of shame where
domestic difficulties have occurred in families, or from laziness, or a
sense of forgetfulness. Thus all track is lost of those who have been
found unknown to the police, and accurate statistics are baffled in the
matter of inquiry.
WHERE AND HOW PEOPLE ARE LOST.
The manner in which missing men are advertised, is as follows: A card,
of which the following are fair examples, is circulated among the
police.
"MISSING.--Morton D. Gifford, about twenty-five years of age,
light hazel eyes, brown hair, full beard and mustache same
color, five feet six and three quarters inches; has lost two
first joints of the middle fingers of right hand. Had on a
light brown cloth suit bound with black, the vest cut without a
collar, a black cloth overcoat made sack fashion, with black
velvet buttons. Was last seen on board the steamer City of
Norfolk, running between Norfolk and Crisfield, in connection
with the Crisfield, Wilmington, and Philadelphia Railroad
Annameric line, on the 3d of February, 1868. Had with him a
black leather satchel, containing a full suit of black clothes,
hat, linen, &c. Was a soldier in the Union army, and has
recently been in business in Plymouth, North Carolina. Any
person having any information regarding him will please
communicate with Inspector Dilks, 300 Mulberry Street, New
York."
"OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF METROPOLITAN POLICE, }
300 MULBERRY STREET, NEW YORK, January 11, 1868. }
"MISSING--since Thursday evening last, Mary Agnes Walsh, 23
years of age, residing at 281-1/2 Elizabeth Street, five feet
high, medium size, slim built, dark complexion, dark-brown
hair, dark eyes, had on a black alpaca dress, black plush coat
(or cloak), black velvet hat. It is supposed she is wandering
about the city in a temporary state of insanity, as she has
just returned from the Lunatic Asylum, where she has been
temporarily confined for the last three weeks. Any information
of the above to be sent to her brother, Andrew Walsh, 281-1/2
Elizabeth Street, or to Inspector Dilks, 300 Mulberry Street."
"MISSING, since Thursday, November 14, John F. McCormick. When
last seen, he was on board the steamtug Yankee, at the foot of
Charlton Street; age 24 years, eyes and hair dark brown, height
five feet four inches, heavy eyebrows. He was dressed in a
brown sack coat and brown vest, black pants, flat-crowned black
hat. Any person knowing his whereabouts, or having seen him
since the above date, will please call at the residence of his
uncle, Robert McCormick, No. 12 Talman Street, Brooklyn, or to
Inspector Dilks, Police Headquarters, 300 Mulberry Street.
November 30, 1867."
"FIFTY DOLLARS REWARD.--Missing from Bay Street, Stapleton,
Staten Island, since Wednesday, November 25, 1868, Willy
Hardgrove, a boy eight years of age, medium size, dark hair,
dark, clear complexion, blue eyes; has a recent scar on his
cheek, made by the scratch of a pin; dressed in a dark striped
jacket and pants; the pants button on the jacket with light
bone buttons; old, strong boots, no hat. He is rather an
attractive boy, and very familiar with strangers. It is feared
he has been abducted, from the fact of his musical abilities.
He can sing, in a good tenor voice, any tune he may hear once
played, but can't speak plain. The above reward will be paid by
his father, Terence M. Hardgrove, Stapleton, for such
information as will lead to his recovery. Information may be
sent to Inspector Dilks, Police Headquarters, 300 Mulberry
Street."
"MISSING.--Annie Hearn left her home on Monday last. She is ten
years of age, dark blue eyes, black hair cut short; has a
slight scar on her left temple. Was dressed in a dark alpaca
frock, black woollen sontag with white border; black velvet
hat, no trimming, high laced boots, striped stockings. Any
information relative to her will be gratefully received by
Richard Burk, 217 Madison Street, or Inspector Dilks, 300
Mulberry Street."
"LEFT her home, at Hyde Park, Scranton City, Pa., on Monday,
June 14, Sarah Hannaghan, aged 15, tall for her age, short
brown hair, light eyes, and fair complexion. Had on a
tan-colored dress, light cape, drab hat, trimmed with ribbon of
the same color. Had with her a dress with a yellow stripe, made
short. Information to be sent to Inspector Dilks, 300 Mulberry
Street, New York, or to James Hannaghan, 152 Leonard Street."
"TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS REWARD will be paid for information that
will lead to the arrest or recovery of Henrietta Voss, aged 16
years. She left Secausus, Hudson county, New Jersey, Tuesday,
July 21, about 7 A. M. She is tall, slim built, and a little
stooped; brown hair, blue eyes, long, thin, pale face. Dressed
in a full suit of black. The gratitude of a father, who desires
to save his daughter, will be added to the above reward. JOHN
VOSS."
"TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS REWARD.--Missing, an insane man, named
Frederick Liebrich, native of Germany, speaks English, German,
and French. Supposed to lodge at night in the police station
houses about the lower part of the city; is very stupid
looking, and clothed in rags. Was last seen in Washington
Market, about the middle of last November. He is about 38 years
of age, eyes and hair black, large, regular features, and very
dark complexion; about five feet ten inches high, stout built,
straight and well made. The above reward will be paid for his
recovery, or direct evidence of his death, by Frederick
Kummich, 82 Washington Street, Brooklyn. Information to be sent
to Inspector Dilks, Police Headquarters, 300 Mulberry Street."
LOST CHILDREN.
Hundreds of "lost children" bear testimony to the carelessness of
mothers and nurses, who are more intent on other business, when their
charges stray off, to be found afterwards, in out-of-the-way places, by
stray policemen. Quite often a pedestrian will notice, on going along
one of our side streets, a young child, its eyes bubbling over with
tears, and red from irritation and inflammation, who has strayed from
its parents' residence. Sometimes it will have a stick of candy in its
infantile fist, or else an apple, or a slice of bread, butter, and
molasses, to console it in its wanderings. It is very seldom, however,
that these children do not find their way back to their parents, unless
that there is foul play, in such instances where a child may be
kidnapped by people who are childless, or through their agency, for the
purpose of adoption in barren families. The practice of baby-farming
has not as yet attained, in America, the height that it has reached in
England, and therefore the lives of children are not yet so endangered
as they are across the water. It is calculated that at least one
thousand children are missing every year in this city, but they are
nearly all returned before the close of the day on which they are first
missed.
THE DENS OF MIDNIGHT.
If the thousand and one noisome crannies, nooks, and dens of this great
city could be exposed to view, day after day, the body of many a
missing man and woman might be found festering and rotting, or their
bones bleaching, for want of decent burial. Where do the bodies come
from that are fished up, bloated and disfigured, night after night, by
the Water Police, in haunts of the docks, and from the slimes of the
Hudson? It is fearful to think of men, influenced by liquor, who, with
their gold watches, pocket-books, and other valuables, exposed in the
most foolish manner, are to be seen, night after night, in the dens and
hells of this great, sinful city. Many of these men are from far-off
country villages and happy homes, and when thrown into our streets at
night, under the flare of the gas lamps, and among crowds of showily
dressed women, whose feet are ever downward into the abyss, it becomes
almost impossible for them to resist the thousand and one meretricious
temptations that are placed before them.
THE HORROR OF A BREAKING DAWN.
Instances may be related of how men disappear, and are never heard of
to be recognized. A well-to-do person from Ohio, who had never visited
New York before, pays a visit to this city, and stopping at a down-town
hotel, sallies out in the evening in search of what he has been taught,
by his limited course of reading to call "adventures." He believes, in
his Ohio simplicity, that he will meet with a beautiful and rich young
lady in New York, who, struck with his rural graces and charms, will at
once accept his hand and farm. Well, he takes a look at the "Black
Crook," or "White Fawn," or "Genevieve de Brabant," and, returning late
to his down-town hotel, is struck by the beauty and grace of a female
form that glides before him on his way thither. Pretty soon she makes a
signal to him that cannot be mistaken, and our Ohio friend, rather
astonished at the freedom of the aristocratic and well-bred ladies of
the metropolis, but nothing loath, hastens to her side, and accompanies
her to her richly voluptuous mansion in Bleecker, Green, Mercer, or
Crosby Streets. In the watches of the night he awakens to find the
aristocratic lady fastened on his throat, and a male friend of hers,
with a villanous countenance, poising a knife for a plunge in his neck.
The work is done quickly; a barrel well packed, or a furniture chest,
placed in a carriage at night, can be taken up the Hudson River road,
and there dropped in the river, and after a day or so the head of
another dead man will be found eddying and floating around the rolling
piers near the battery, his face a pulp, and no longer recognizable.
The sun shines down on the plashing waters, but the eyes are sightless,
and never another sun can dim their brilliancy or splendor. It is only
another missing man, without watch, pocket-book, or money on his person.
MISERY, SHAME, AND DEATH.
Another missing instance. A beautiful girl, born in a village on the
Sound, where the waters of that inland sea beat, and play around the
sandy pebbles of a land-locked inlet, is reared in innocence and
virtue, until she reaches her seventeenth year. She is as lovely as the
dawn, has had no excitement--but the Sunday prayer-meeting, and her
life, peaceful and happy, has never been tainted by the novelty of
desire. At seventeen she visits New York for the first eventful time in
her life. She is dazzled with its theatres, its balls, its Central
Park; the Broadway confuses and intoxicates her, but opera has divine
charms for her musical ear, and she is escorted, night after night, by
a man with a pleasing face and a ready tongue. She is yet white as the
unstained snow. One night they take a midnight sleigh ride on the road,
and stop at a fashionable-looking restaurant in Harlem Lane. She is
persuaded to take a glass of champagne, and finally to drink an entire
bottle of champagne. That night the world is torn from under her feet.
She has tasted of the Apples of Death. She returns to her peaceful
home, by the silken waves of the Sound, a dishonored woman. To hide her
shame, she returns to New York; but her destroyer has gone--she knows
not whither. Then the struggle begins for existence and bread. She is a
seamstress, a dry-goods clerk, but her shame finds her out when an
infant is born to her unnamed. One night, hungry, and torn with the
struggle of a lost hope, she rushes into the streets and seeks the
river. On a lone pier she seeks refuge from her "lost life." The
night-watchman, anxious about the cotton and rosin confided to his
charge, does not hear the cry of "Mother" from a despairing girl, or
the plunge into the gloomy, silent river below. She is not found for
days after, and then her once fair face is knawed threadbare with the
incisors of crabs, and the once white
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