A FAMOUS DETECTIVE.

NZ Truth, Issue 120, 5 October 1907, Page 8

A FAMOUS DETECTIVE.

Dramatic Incidents m Career.

Schoolmaster and Sherlock Holmes.

By the retirement of Chief Detec-Itivc-Inspector Arrow, Scotland Yard loses one of its most brilliant officers, and London one of its most skilful crime investigators. Mr Arrow, who has served with the Metropolitan police force for over a quarto; of a century, is proceeding to Spain to take up aa important detective position m. Barcelona. His career contains a full measure of romantic . incident, for instance, m ,t he manner: m which his thoughts were first turned to detective work. Mr Arrow was at. one time a schoolmaster, and" wMle instructing Ihis pupils one day, thieves broke in<to the schoolhouse, and decamped ■with some clothing. Master and pupils went m pursuit* and the chase iwas continued until the culprit fell an a plbuehed field from exhaustion. Armed with a hedge stake, Mr Arrow kept guard over the prisoner until help arrived. The thief'proved to be an old offender, and Mr 'Arrow was' complimented and rewarded by the chief of police for the district. That incident determined fthe future career of the young schoolmaster. ; Although possessing fcrood scholastic .qualifications, he decided to become a detective. He ■applied to 1 the Criminal Investigation SDenartment, but found that he could only obtaih: admission to the charm-, ed circle through the ranks of the uniformed nolice. So he came to (London and joined the Westminster division as an ordi^rv constable. !Bu+ he never lost '"sight of • his objective, and m order to develon his 'detective faculties would after his turn of uniform duty, was done, go .out THIEF-CATCHr-'J IN -.-PLAINCLOTHES. His zeal soon brought recognition, if or. at the end of fifteen- months, he was selected to act as a plainclothes officer m assisting. to guard fthe Albert Hall and other important •buildings m South Kensington, during the Fenian scare. Mr Arrow's conduct m a case on Lord Mayor's Show Day m 1883 bro-rght him to Mie notice of. Sir Howard yincent, Uhen cl.'.af of -the Criminal Investigation Department, who appointed him ■permanently, to the 0 T.D. -TWr Arrow made' it his special ' ;mission to break up , low-class gambling clubs, jit was m. connection with this crusade that he had one. of the most exciting adventures of his crcer. He was anxious to clear out a notorious club kept by an Italian off Tottenham Co ,,vf -road, Plans for the raid were carefully made. Mr Arrow was to approach the club with al couple of assistants, manoeuvre for un entrance, and thus pave the way for a raid by a force of constables who were m hiding. Mr Arrow expected a Ion? wait, but »

THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENED. As the three officers approached the club the missive, iron-bound door, ■suddenly opened, and an undesirable member was bundled out by the burly proprietor. Mr Arrow seized the opportunity and dashed m. Sr---pectiiig that the trio weL.~ -detectives the proprietor slammed tho door, and Inspector Arrow and his companions found themselves trapped m a room with a hundred evil-lookinp foreigners. Nothing daun' i. Mr Arrow coolly nroceeded to the gambling room &s though he Itad all th«*

forces of Scotland yard at his back. He seized the bank, the cards, and other evidences of eambline, and told the men that they were his prisoners. It was not until the, inmates saw the constables pouring into the club by means of a ladder that they fully realised that they had been outwitted by the intrepidity of one man. Afternoon clubs were more difficult to approach. On one occasion he had a pantechnicon van loaded with policemen m the station yard ; the van drove up outside the club, and something went ' wrong with the harness. Three decrepit looking old men tinkered about with it until the door of the club opened,' and then the van unloaded m; record time. j A FAMOUS CASE | of which Mr Arrow had charge was the raid on the so-called "University Press, Limited," at Cambridge. The chief of this conspiracy Dr. | Sinclair Roland, amah - mah notorious both on the , Continent and m. England," had sworn never to be taken alive. • He lived m a large house on the outskirts of Cambridge, and although, every precaution against escape had been taken, hewas nowhere to be found—when the house was. searched., Ultimately, however, he was found ; hidden m an artfullyconcealed chamber under' the sloping ropf, by. accident or design—for Roland was a clever medical man— he died directly Arrow pulled him. from his hiding-place. Towards the end of 1899 Mr Arrow was transferred to .Scotland Yard, and m 1903 made chief inspector. In this capacity,, it was- his duty to arrest the unfortunate Benjamin Green Lake, at one time president of the Incorporated Law Society, and also another well-known solicitor m New York, for- Offences committed m London. One of the matters placed m Mr Arrow's hands for investigation was ■THE LOSS OF THE NELSON RELICS, which 1 were so "mysteriously stolen from tlse Painted, Hall of the Royal Naval CoHefe m December, 1900. It was no « till July, 1904, that he obtained a clue, through a man calling at the Yard to make some inquiries regarding them. He was interviewed by Mr Arrow, who quickly arrested him on suspicion. The man was found to have landed from Australia on the previous day, and m his luggage ' Was - a harmless-looking concertina. Although it played tunes, Mr Arrow took it to pieces, to find Nelson's watch concealed inside. The priceless relics were restored to their original places, and Mr Arrow received the personal thanks of. the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. In November, 1903, he was the proud recipient of the personal commendation and thanks of the Queen, conveyed through the Commissioners, for his action m connection with the alleged misappropriation of a public charity m which rthe Queen had interested herself. Mr Arrow is still a young man, and his energies are to he devoted to the detection of crime m Barcelona.