Show = 1r1L H MA When two old detcclivcs who chased criminals over the West In the days when railroads vere not arid stijo routes were scarce got together and allc over their experiences there Is 1niind to bo I a deal of Imoreatlne romE 1IIsCCIIC A few fortunate J listeners u Istenels the Cullon hotel the other < lav CIC given to hourB of rare CIlJOymcnt when David r Tcatelel oC 3Ingain 1ngJti tht J X r TioJce lncJcl or San FrancIsco tlii Sol tht detect h vIm hns been Frnclsco on thc orIcInr r01j5 worlclnG fels argo Co In this cIt larro hank Cf How arc yoc jfr Thacicer saId TCtchencl Do you leno YOI no7 Yes said mel yoU in hlcler Ilrompty I B f 11 iC hack In Si5 You WCIC deputy Sheriff there nd I rc membel rou well tioui I wcl 1 cant ra cal oU Itamo Tc Tcachencl furnished lh mIsJng in formnUon and then relatel1 lnG of the CircustL1ce s 01 the cc on which the two mcn wOlkcd tothI tcji story secn or CU Igo 1 vns the tWC11 usual stage held and robbed o th cXJe 11 con up mining 5000 worth oC bullion and gold fusl Tue ugpnl at Bois wrote t the company hoiulquartera it i San Frau cisco and Thaclcer was sent on rL lIe wns convinced upon reading the agents letter thnt the driver of the nSlnls stage Clmrles fiii Down r y w Iljuiiicu stufe this was later confirmed After the holdup Downey drove to the nexL Matlon leisurely ate his din nor and thon coolly announced that he hncl nelthci mall bag ror express box 1 Is tic had been taken by highway ittpn I was several hours before the express officials were notified l und the imndlis had plenty I oC time to get awry tlon his arrival 1 rt Boise Thneker had thu driver arrested and within a few weelcs he had Jailed the rest of the Jfanjr which included Jimmy Trash Crooked Neck Ike and other local celebrities Nearly GOOO oC the stolen bullion was recovered the rest having been squandered IHlnS I TUNNEL UNDER BANK A little Incident occurred at this time Hint led to nothing and which has never before been related While walk hle wtk lug along the streets of Boise one day Thacker saw tvrt men going Into a little lit-tle cabin that stood but a few rods from the First National hank From IonS habit the rictecllve observed them keenly and he didnt like theIr looks The more ho thought 0 the matter the more he wondered at their taking up a cabin so close to the bank The 1he next day he noticed an old well near the cabin with traces of fresh dirt around the curb Then the suspicion became a practical certainty Ke went tot the hotel and sent word to the cashier oc the bank to come over at once The cashier came and learned of the probable plot t to rob his bunk Thacker advised Him toeeltwo or three nieuu with shotguns conceal then in the bank at night and awaitdevelopments The bank official I however was so excited that he went j out and procured several shotguns and carried them Into the bank In broad daylight The nexl Gay the men In the cabin had disappeared Investigation was made at Ihe bank and It was found they had tunneled under the building and were just ready to remove re-move the wall of the vault llov1 3 about the time you caught I Black Bart Tlmckcr Inquired chI ch-I ener At the mention of this famous 1 outlaw the loungers In the hotel drew up their chairs and waited attentively for the story I Black Bart the detective began I Bacl delectve befan wan one of the most original and one of the most successful highwaymen who ever operated on the coast lie was u man of education and Intelligence Intelli-gence had been u captain In the Union army In the Civil war and later drifted to the mines In Montana and still later to California HI real name was C E Bowles LONE HIGHWAY ROBBER Late In the jOg he began In a modest way lo hold up stages along the roads In the unfrequented mountain moun-tain districts of California Ho always worked alone and never robbed the passengers but took only the mall bags and express boxes It Is not recorded that he ever Injured any one or ever was Injured himself except on one occasion oc-casion when h < made the mistake of tackling an armed stage and was wounded woun-ded In the head by l one of the guards rc tH or Smrh An evidence of his eccentricity was the I fact that frequently he would write doggerel verses on the waybills of I stage boxes he robbed Up In Trinity I county for example he left this choice I gem of literature penciled on the waybill Here I Jay l me down to sleep To willl the coming morrow Perhaps sniccers porhaps defeat And everlasting iiorrow Ive labored long for honor and for riches Ulit on my corns too long youvu trod You fmchalrcd Let cOle what will I will try It on If r tbtroa money In that box Its money In my purse l Signed B P ID S The interpretation of the signature Is Black Part poet HELD UP i8 STAGES Despite the boldness antI frequency oC Black Barts depredations the officers of-ficers never came anywhere oJ tcrs 10CI < help near cap turing him nor were they able even to secure an accurate description of the man For several years he car nod on his trade in perfect safety and the mere mention of his name was I enough to malce the California sheriffs I and police officers gnaiM their teeth in Impotent rage In all It is said the outlaw held up Ientyelght stages The twentyeighth occurred near Copperopolls In Calaveras county The stage was stuck up 7 oclock In the morning and Black Bart got the express ex-press box containing GQO cash and SJ700 In retorted amalgam The latter lat-ter weighing fifty or sixty pounds he carried a quarter of n mile and hid in a buckeye stump It was learned afterward that the man had waited around two weeks to get this amalgam I amal-gam which was the monthly cleanup of the Rawhide mine News of the holdup reached up by l telegraph In San Francisco late In tho afternoon I was detailed on the case and at once prepared to take the evenIng even-Ing train to lon the county sent of Calaveras county I telegraphed ahead and had a team waiting for me at the station HO that I could set off for Coppcropolis without delay About 1 in the morning I reached the scene of the holdup and met the Sheriff who had been searching vainly for clues The next day 1 ran across an old hermit her-mit miner who had seen the supposed I highwayman lurking around In the woods and gave me n good description I of him I TELLTALE LAUNDRY MARK I Later r found the outlaws camp I I I with t his lint and coat and a silk handkerchief I hand-kerchief in whlih was tied up n quantity quan-tity of buckshot perhaps two loads I examined the handkerchief carefully I and found in one corner these letters F x o 7 I knew at once that this J II was < laundry marl and the convic ton grew upon me that the clue wan n moat Important one From careful study of laundry marks In other casen In which I had worked I felt almost certain that the mark was that of 1 San Francisco laundry though which ono I could not tell 1 Immediately wrote to my partner J B Fume told him what I had found and suggested that he put a private detective on the case to find where Chat mark came from This was done and In n few days we had all the Information we wanted The F stood for the name of the driver of the laundry wagon the Jx o for the owner of the garment and the figure 7 for the substation from which the packages were delivered This station was t cigar itorc on Bush street between Montgomery and Kearney Kear-ney streets All we had to do then was to wntch that cigar store for the man we were after It wasnt ten days before Black Dart was caught After the holdup he had gone to Reno then to Sacramento where he bought a new suit of clothes and thence to San Francisco He was living in a boarding house on Mission street not far from the little cigar store where his laundry was delivered He was taken up to Milton to await trial and sent word that he wanted to see me I went up to visit him in jail and he wanted to know how I had caught him When I told him about the handkerchief and its telltale mark he was quite taken aback and then he laughed and said Well I might just as well have f my visiting card with my address and hours at home IN PRISON SIX TEARS We talked over the case and T advised ad-vised him to plead guilty This he did a few days later and was sent to the penitentiary for six years Even this however did not end his career When ho got out of the pen he held up a stage In Sierra county between Camptonvlllo and DownlevIIle and got away with n gold bar worth S9QOvllc as traced lo Ilnlley Ida and then to Seattle where he look ship to Japan and has never been heard of since At the time of his robbery I lme was In Mexico and knew nothing of nnc the matter unlil some weeks later Mr Thacker Is one ot the oldest der tcctlvcs In point of rervlce In the UnIt UnI-t d Stsitcn Pie was Sheriff o Hum bold county Nevada In ISfiO and since 1S75 has been without interruption interrup-tion In the t employ of the Wells Fargo Express comnany During these years he has been engaged hundreds at cases of robbery by highwaymen or by dishonest express messengers and has landed scores of robbers behind the bars of the penitentiary Ills operations ope-rations have extended over every State west of the Rocky mountains and he Is known by sheriffs and police chiefs from British Columbia to the Gila river A most Interesting little book Is the Rubbers Iteport I published some years ago by Thacker and his partner J B Hume giving the records rec-ords of crime In which they had been employed during fourteen years wlth the names nf the thieves I captured the results of their trials ctc Although relentless as a thiefcatcher and absolutely without fear oC the worst desperadoes who ever Infested the sage brush Mr Thacker Is one or the most genial and kindhearted of men personally with a keen 1 I sense of humor and a thoiouph mastery of the delightful art of story telling Notwithstanding Not-withstanding the active and oxcltlns life ho has led he takes more pride and satlsfirtlon In his Nevada ranch thirt saLsf any picturesque and hazardous achivemcnt of his career as detective |