Show rfl T J SHAPING ofK CAREER I By GEORGE T PARDY I John Wilson Murray in an Unusual Achievement f jjHEN the Chevalier DupIn the unequaled I I solver of weird mys W tories made his first bow to the public Introduced by tho k R a skillful hand of Ed v I t gar Allan Poe he became i t be-came at once tho accepted ac-cepted type of the detective of fiction ltd Nor has this type v changed to any great extent since It was set forth In the person of the hereof the Murders in the Rue Morgue Still T doth Sherlock Holmes lurk In the darkened precincts of his superheated rooms consuming tobacco and dallying dally-ing with the Insidious delights of opium at times taking refuge In the profound silence for which Poes astute analyst was noted and emerging i emerg-ing from his reveries master of a new set of brilliant deductions warranted t to furnish a key to the secrets of any criminal case presented for his consideration I consid-eration And even as Holmes followed In the footsteps of Dupln countless hordes of imitators camp upon the trail of Holmes and we are forced to the conclusion that the type is pretty I + hure to be utlllzqd by authors for the next 60 years The question naturally suggests Itself It-self Is the real slnon pure detective like unto the member of his profession who works wonders in the world of fiction 1 Put this proposition up to Wilson Murray chief Inspector of criminal Investigation of the department depart-ment of justice of the province of Ontario Canada and he will answer emphatically In tho negative The solving of these seemingly Inexplicable problems Is a capital exercise for the Intellect but has mighty little to do J with practical police work For trim Inals are not drawn Into the meshes of the official net by virtue of fine drawn deductions and opium bred In splratloitH Murray served through the civil war In the navy He was In the Mississippi Missis-sippi or Gulf squadron a part of the time under Commander Jewett and he fought under Farragut and was In a number of engagements including the fight at Mobile From service In the Mississippi and gulf Murray was ordered to the great lakes aboard tho Michigan He continued aboard herr her-r until after the close of the war and In December 18GG he left the MichIgan Mich-igan and the service The war left Its Indelible Imprint on Murrays life as It did on the life of many another man It tended to mold his ambitions and direct them along the line of what later became S his occupation His career was not cast ashore by any dread of hardship afloat or any dislike of service at sea i It was influenced by an event that Is one of the Important yet little known episodes of the civil war The attempt ot the confederates In 1864 to capture cap-ture the U S S Michigan to take Johnson Island in Sandiibky bay In Lake Erie release 4000 confederates Imprisoned there burn the Island and it I possible destroy Detroit Cleveland I and Buffalo by fire and strike terror to tho heart of the north The man t who discovered the plot was Murray and It was he who unearthed tho identity Iden-tity of the picturesque leader and was Instrumental In frustrating the schemes so cunningly devised The war was at Its zenith In the year 18G4 when Commander J C Carter Car-ter of the United States navy sent for Murray and detailed him to special duty There had been some vague e rumors floating around of a confederate confed-erate plot to blftw up Johnson island liberate all confederate prisoners and land them safely In Canada across u r lake Erie Try to get to the bottom of the Iii conspiracy If there Is ono said Commander I i Com-mander Carter Go to any place and every place where your judgment leads you You have an unlimited commission commis-sion Report to me from time to I time Murray went first to Detroit and conferred with Col Hill who gave him what Information he had It was very meager At that time Vallandingham ti member of congress from Ohio was In exile in Windsor Ont across the river from Detroit Vallandingham was n southern sympathizer Murray garbed as a clvlllan crossed to l Windsor and settled down to loam llrstof alltho ways of Vallondlngham and any other confederate sympathizer gathered there He observed closely all who called on Vallnndlngham Among them he noted a dapper energetic little fellow A fel-low who came and went at Vallnnd inghams headquarters Murray learned that his nurno was L C Cole and that ho was reputed to be a confederate agent Colo was about 38 years old live feet seven Inches tall weighed 135 pounds with red hair and long mustache and gray eyes so small and sharp and bright that they wero the first feature to draw Murrays attention atten-tion to the suspect Murray finally overheard u scrap of conversation between be-tween Coil and Vallandlngham that convinced him the former was an Important Im-portant and dangerous person Ho communicated with Commander Carter 11I1 Car-ter and prepared to follow Coles trail x11 it I It Id to the end of the earth When Cole alighted from the train In Montreal Murray wad a car length 1 behind him Cule went to the St Lawrence Law-rence Hall hotel and Murray followed suit There the southern agent was joined by a woman The latter was a big stately blonde magnificently dressed n stranger to Murray at tho time although later ho Identified her as the celebrated Irish Llze From Montreal Cole and his female partner went to Albany The Impulse was strong on Murray to seize them aid notify Commander Carter lie thought tho matter over carefully lie possessed pos-sessed evidence that they were confederate con-federate sympathizers but lacked evidence evi-dence as to a plot or their plans Ho decided to follow them half suspecting suspect-ing that they would go far south before be-fore returning to execute any desperate des-perate plans In the north They stopped over ono night In Albany Al-bany then went to Now York took the train to Philadelphia and thence to Washington They met one and sometimes two or three strangers In each city evidently by previous 1 appointment ap-pointment while Murray trailed them patiently from place to place From Washington Cole and Irish Llze went to Harrisburg Pa and from Harrisburg Harris-burg to Buffalo and thence to Cleveland Cleve-land In the latter city they were joined by a young man with whom they had conferred in Philadelphia He was Charles Hoblnson son ot a former judge They stayed in Cleveland Cleve-land two days and then went to San dusky 0 where Cole and his partner stopped at the West house and Hob lnson at a private boarding house Colo posed at Sandusky as an oil king while IrIsh Llze passed as his wife Soon after their arrival ar-rival an assistant joined Cole who became be-came known as G C Beal One week after Cole arrived at tho West house a young man registered there as John U Wilson of New Orleans lie was nono other than Murray who had taken this means of scraping an acquaintance ac-quaintance with his quarry In the course of a few days Wilson met Cole casually as guests staying at the same hotel are apt to meet and they drank together and because quite Intimate In-timate Colo bought fast horses and dually chartered a yacht Incidentally ho made the acquaintance of the officers offi-cers of the U S S Michigan then lying oft Sandusky and also of Col lUll not the Col Hill with whom Murray Mur-ray had conferred In Detroit and the United States army officers In charge of Johnson Island Murray meanwhile had reported to Commander Carter About tho middle of July 1864 Colo arranged a party to tho Seven Mlle house seven miles out of Sandusky He Invited all the officers offi-cers ot tho Island and tho ship A number of them were making preparations prepara-tions to go Young Wilson of Now Orleans was Coles assistant In planning plan-ning the outing Early that morn r ing Cole received a telegram from Detroit De-troit which rend I send you 10 shares per two messengers D BOn B-On this particular morning the steamer Phllo Parsons plying between Sandusky and Detroit on dally trips with a stop at Windsor Ont received ten men as passengers at Windsor and eight more at Amherstburg In Canada Can-ada at the mouth of the Detroit river They were tho shares sent by two messengers to the convivial Mr Colo at Sandusky After the steamer Parsons Par-sons got well out Into Lake Erie these 18 men opened their baggage took therefrom braces of revolvers and captured the vessel making her captain cap-tain a prisoner Then they steamed onto on-to Kellys Island off Sandusky where the steamer Island Queen was lying Several of them boarded the Queen caught the crow unawares gave orders i or-ders to Engineer Richardson and when ho refused to obey shot him dead They took the Island Queen out into the lake and ran her on To Gull fsland where she was abandoned They then headed for Sandusky In the Parsons which was duo there at six oclock In tho evening While all this was occurring on Lake Erie Cole was In Sandusky with his plans designed for tho party that would call practically all the officers on the Michigan and on Johnson island Is-land well away from their posts of duty They were supposed to start on the merrymaking Jaunt from San dusky In the afternoon Cole and young Wilson waited for the tardy guests and finally Cole becoming impatient im-patient said to his companion Its strange that these officers havent como ashore before this You go off and see whats keeping them Wilson shook his head dubiously They wouldnt bo likely to como for me ho said You had better take a boat and go yourself Cole who usually dressed In dark attire was wearing a suit of gray Ho discussed the matter of going over for the officers with Wilson who walked down to the dock with him and said Heros a boat belonging to the Michigan now Go off In her and get your men and Ill go with you Colo following out his usual extravagant extrav-agant methods handed n tendollar bill to the coxswain of the crew and told him to take the boys to tho nearest near-est bar for a drink All went except tho boat keeper who waited with Cole and Wilson and James Hunter an officer of-ficer of the Michigan who was ashore When tho crew returned they willing ly pulled off to tho Michigan lying three miles oft Sandusky About halfway half-way out Cole who seemed to have n presentiment of trouble changed his mind about going to the ship and reQuested re-Quested the crew to turn back The pennant of the ship is flying remarked Wilson carelessly to tho coxswain Yes that means that well have ago a-go on now but Ill bring you buck Just us soon nit Ive ropoitid Kald tho coxswain Cole could not advance any ionium abe objection to thin offer i < o tho boat went forward lo the Michigan The ofllcors aboard greeted their wouldbe host coidlully had Invited hIm to have a glass of wine telling him they were sorry to disarrange his plans or delay his party Young Wilson Wil-son hastened to tho commanders cabIn and smiled triumphantly as he saluted that august Individual I have the man he declared upon entering You are certain he Is tho right man 1 queried tho commander Not a shadow of n doubt about It was Wilsons response Then havo him brought hero ordered or-dered Carter The psuedo Wilson turned tOil he orderly or-derly v denyTell Tell Mr Cole that Capt Carter wishes to see him ho said Cole made his appearance debo nalre smiling and merry ns of yore Wilson met him before he reached tho cabin The captain Is anxious to have a little talk with you Cole he remarked re-marked pleasantly At the tone of his voice Colo stopped short and regarded him sharply sharp-ly I wllh curious eyes Then laughed and stepped Into the presence of the r HH J I n 1f 1 I c 1j I I I I t J CC iJ 5 L r T r uGtPTAirt OAWE THIS If 1fCoLE4REPtL Lrp I i commander with Wilson behind him Capt Carter this Is Mr Cole a rebel spy said Wilsons calm voice Murray arrest him camo the captains mandate Colos figure straightened Into sudden sud-den dignity and a proud Hash came from his eyes I am not n spy I am a confederate officer ho said truculently Carter smiled In incredulous fashIon fash-Ion Cole thrust a hand In tho bosom of his gray coat and drew forth a paper pa-per It was his commission signed by Jefferson Davis showing him to boa bo-a major In tho confederate army Murray Mur-ray perused the paper and handed it to tho captain Take him away and search him Murray said Carter Cole accompanied by his former friend Wilson of Now Orleans now Murray of the Michigan went to a cabin and a sentry was placed at the door Murray searched him and found GOO in currency some letters and pa hers und ten certified cheques for 5000 each on the Bank of Montreal payable to bearer He laid them all out while Colo t > ed him and laughed You served me well Murray VII son or Wilson Murray or whatever the deuce your name may be said ColoI I served the best I could responded respond-ed Murray dryly Sit down for a moment requested Cole and Murray complied Now see hero said tho southerner southern-er youro a pretty smart young fellow fel-low to havo worked things out tho way you did You and I got along very well together didnt wo You wouldnt like to see me hanged would you No replied Murray I wouldnt I have no fancy for seeing anyone hanged Well thntB Just what youro trying lo do with mi remarked tho prisoner pris-oner In an Injured tone Its it 1 very iiiiforlttnutc thing returned re-turned Mutiny and I hope I wont be lesponsllile for jour death Cole was game to the care mid his nerve nper ehOiUi nun tel mi instant in-stant Despite the terrible predicament predica-ment In which he found himself placed ds face did not lose Its ruddy color 01 i Jolly carefree expression Its like this ho paid coolly I upposo I ought to shoot you and If I had a gun handy Id do It for busiest busi-est Is business amid war Is hellish justness Wilson But maybo theros another way out of the tangle There IB 60000 In gold represented by those hcqucs They lire as good this min uto as the gold In tho Bnnk of Mon real You can keep them No ono m board here knows I have them You may cash them whenever you wish All I ask Is that you wont know enough to get the ropo around my neck and that It the chance conies roull do mo a friendly turn to help no escape Once Im out you can give no 500 or enough to get south or you > neednt give me five cents Its a fair bargain isnt It Wilson My young friend youll never got such a golden chance again In your life Murray merely smiled glanced at tho tempting bait Fortune was dan gllng before his eyes and shook his headYou You may bo telling tho truth Mr Colo he said quietly I may never get such a chance again Ill do what I can for you In as far as It may be consistent with my duty but I cannot can-not make you any promises For the first time since his arrest a frown darkened tho prisoners brow Wilson youro a fool ho said sharply Murray turned upon him swiftly That may be your view of tho matter mat-ter ho said grimly so we wont argue But let mo ask you one ques lion Would you be willing to sellout sell-out the confederacy 1 Coles Imperious manner changed ho put out his hand and grasped Mur rays shaking It warmly No I wouldnt he said frankly and I respect your patriotism Wilson Wil-son Wo understand each other bettor bet-tor now Captor and prisoner now Imbued with a mutual admiration sat and chatted In friendly tones Cole asked Murray where he had first seen him and the youthful detective narrated the story of tho chase giving him full details even to the numbers of the rooms In tho hotels the southerner had stopped at When ho had finished fin-ished Colo laughed Its a straight yarn ho acknowledged acknowl-edged and youve got everything right But I could swear on a stack of Bibles as high as this ship that I never saw you before wo met In San dusky Capt Carter alone had been In the secret of Murrays masquerade as Wilson Ho had arranged for the boats crew to bo waiting at the landIng land-Ing to take Cole to tho ship and Murray Mur-ray Intercepted telegrams to Cole and thus learned of the message concerning the 1G shares His quick Intuition Intui-tion enabled him to read between the lines and transform the shares Into men to arrive aboard the steamer I Parsons With Cole safely In duranco vile Capt Carter now made ready to capture the raiders who had seized tho Parsons Neither ho nor Murray was aware at the time that Cole had arranged ar-ranged for the Parsons to stay outside until ho should venture out ot the liar tor with his yacht and signal them to come In Ho was to slip away from Ills guests at the Seven Milo house drive swiftly to Saudusky and go out to meet the Parsons while the Union olllcers were enjoying themselves miles away It was agreed that the confederates In possession of tho Parsons upon meeting Cole were to go In small boats to tho Michigan capture the ship and then run over to Johnsons Island and release the 4000 southern prisoners chiefly officers Imprisoned there They intended to land them at Point Peleo In Canada across the lake Not much difficulty was anticipated antici-pated In capturing tho Michigan as when the approaching boats were challenged chal-lenged Cole who was known to all on board her would answer and disarm dis-arm all suspicion Once aboard the confederates believed be-lieved they could easily carry the hatches with a rush The Michigan had 14 cannon aboard her six parrot rifles six 2t pound howitzers two light howitzers and over 100 tons of ammunition They had no other heavily heav-ily armed craft to fear on tho lake und believed thoy could not only lib orate their 4000 comrades on Johnson Island and land them in Canada but could also sail the lako safely until they bombarded and burned Detroit Cleveland and Buffalo But the Parsons did not go In at Sandusky Her confederate crow waited I wait-ed In vain for tho promised signal I from COIl They became alarmed scented disaster went back to the Detroit De-troit river under cover of darkness scuttled the Parsons and landed In Amhorstburg Canada That night Murray accompanied by another officer offi-cer wont ashore and arrested the man Robinson at his boarding house In Sandusky Irish Llzo and several other southern sympathizers concerned con-cerned In Colos plot wero also taken care of Cole was transferred from the Michigan to Johnson Island and thence to Fort La Faelte at Now York and from there to Fort Warren at Boston where ho was held until after Lincolns proclamation and then released re-leased without being brought to trial Copyright by W Q Chapman Copyright in Groat Britain |