The Lottery Ticket.

Auckland Star, Volume XVII, Issue 298, 18 December 1886, Page 5

The Lottery Ticket.

The story lam going to give was related to me by a «rook named Jim Davis, alias " Littio Jim," and I have every reason to know that he told the truth. I will give 16 m hia own language. - "Before the war, when thousands of tickets in the Royal Havana Lottery were sold in the United States every month, and when everybody knew the drawings to be square, every gambler, pugiliat, thief, and burglar made it a solemn duty to invest in at least one ticket per month. I happened to be in New York with my ' pal 1 in May one-year, and each of us bought a ticket for the May drawing, paying theretore five dollars each. Our stay in the city was brief. We had a job laid out in an Eastern State, and went to Gotham after tools to do it with. When wo purchased the tickets each of us took tho number of both on a slip of paper. After a few days we got down to our work. We had planned to crack the safe in tho office of a big iron mill, and we had gone over the ground and worked out the details until we felt sure ol the boodle. The pay-day at the mill came on the 20th of the month. The money was drawn from the bank' on the 19th, and of course kept in the safe overnight. It wae fheaigbtof the I9th we tackled it. There was. a watchman on the premise*, and we bound and sagged h*m a»d laid him in a corner, and went to work. The safes of those days were mere shells, while the tools were almost as perfect as now.' Wo had the door opan in an hour, and in ten minutes more we should have been off with the cash, but that infernal watchman -worked himself loose while we were busy, and gave the alarm. There was another watchman across the street in another mill, and between the blowing of whistles, ringing of bells, arid, shouting for help we got rattled, and started off without getting a dollar. . - > <• \v e ran out. the back way and through the yarde, but were pursued by three or four men; some of them fired at us^with revolvers. We cut for a ravine, tripping and stumbling, and in the dark became separated. My pal ran along the edge of it, and was shot through the body by one of the men, while I plunged down among the rocks and bushes and got safe off, though badly used up by several falls. _ J did not know until next morning that my partner had been hurt, and I learned of his;, shooting and his death at the same. time.. Che body was taken in charge by ,the undertaker, and I deemed it wiee to leave that locality. I was in Boston when I saw a list of the lucky numbers for May, and while , my ticket was not named,, my partners had hit 30,000 dole. I compared the numbers over and over again, and there was no mistake. An in New York stood ready to cash all prizes, but where'was -the ticket? I had seen it in my partner's wallet only the day' before he was killed. As the coroner had taken' charge of the body, he must also have the man's personal effects in his possession. I went over to New Yorkand cookedup a planwith a sharp, shrewd oM woman, who at once proceeded to the place I have not thought beat to name to you and passed herself off aa the dead man 8 mother. She had eyerything so straight that the coroner did not doubt her, but we reaped no profit from the plan. Nothing had been found on the body except a few keys and a knife. The man had probably thrown his wallet away while running, that no compromising papers might be found.' "As we didn't want the body, which . had of course been buried, the woman dropped out of sight and I began to. hunt for the wallet. In one disguise and another I hung, around the mill and ravine until I had looked every foot of ground three times over. If the coroner hadn't the wallet s some one else had. By a series of lucky turns I finally discovered that one of the, watchmen, a man named Islinger, had the wallet, I got 'on to' this fact just the day before he started for New York to get the lottery ticket cashed. He had quit bis job on pretence of sickness, and evidently proposed to keep the matter very quiet. I followed him to Gotham,~saw him get his cash, and then followed him to. a brother of his, 200 miles away. He had that money in his possession just four, days." "How did he lose it ?" I asked. . " A burglar got into his brother's house in the night and secured it." " And the burglar was " "Uml" ■ •' ■■ ■ - - -V ■ :rs' He was silent for a moment, and then he Ba £d -y- ----- •' ". - ■}■ ■ ■'■ -'"■■■ "Poor Bill's body waß taken out of the pottersfield, re-buried in a lot costing 200 dols., and the monument erected over his remains cost 1,600 dols. to a cent. That was all anyone could do for him.'' , -..■*.■ " And the rest of the money T"Ob, that went for a trip to; Europe, a lot of 'diamonds and into the hands of the jamblers. No crook gets any good out of iia boodles."—An ex-Detective in the " De* , troit Free Press." ;