The Sketcher.

Otago Witness, Issue 1597, 1 July 1882, Page 26

The Sketcher.

THU ADVENTURES OF AIT AMERI-

CAN 'SPECIAL.'

BY ONE OF THEM.

The profession of journalism in the United States partakes of a character of individuality unknown in England. If we except George Augustus Sala, James Greenwood, and one or two others — war correspondents not counting— we can find no English journalist who fully answers the requirements of an American 'special.' He must be able to undergo excessive fai/igue and hunger, and assume as many characters as Proteus, if need be, at a moment's notice. When his work is done, he must rush back to his office, no matter how long he has been out, and dash off his ' copy ' ere he retires to rest. Politics, the drama, vigorous description, and even religion, must in turn be the subjects of his pen. When 'on the war-path,' his ingenuity must stand a severe strain, in order to devise the means of fei rating out news and steal ing a march on his contemporaries. The New York Herald, for example, pays immense sums for exclusive news, and should its 'special' prove himself worthy, never grudges him the sinews of war. Some ten years ago, the writer received from it five hundred dollars and expenses for exclusive facts relative to the Newfoundland fisheries, the collection of which took him barely a month. The Herald was threatened at the time with no less than twelve lawsuits by enraged 'bulls,' who fonnd the market suddenly going dead against them. The Herald, however, stood by ' the chatterings of an irrepressible bohemian,' and invited them t« test their grievances, if they were so disposed. Needless to add they did noc pick up the gauntlet, and the new commercial treaty —the fish-treaty, as it was called— was indirectly the result. The American special enjoys numerous privileges. He may travel ' dead head,' or without paying his fare, from Golden Gate to Nantucket Shoals in common with those other bohemians the Pinte and Blackfoot ; but I believe these latter only enjoy this luxury on the Central Pacific. "Hotels are glad of him at a reduced price ; and in most cases he is made a present of his bill, mine host being aware that he may get more than its value back in some cunningly worded description. He marches into the theatres on the free-list; and stalks through a crowd of policemen at a fire, as a ship rushes through the unopposing waters. Indeed, the writer remembers one case in which a special was arrested amongst some hundreds of other citizens at a gambling resort, and was immediatly released by the police court judge with an apology, while he censured the sergeant in charge of the raid. ' The mere fact of Mr •So-and-so's having been there, ought to have been sufficient evidence to you that he was there in the execution of his duty,' said the judge to the crest-fallen executive. There was some ground of excuse for this, sad as it may appear to the English reader, from the fact, that in all criminal cases the specials run the police hard in ferreting out the truth ; and in some instances the case is 'worked up ' in a daily journal before they know the full details at headquarters. Often and often the writer has seen a baffled detective accost an enterprising special, and in a mournful tone ask him if he knew anything. Instances have been known, notably in the Nathan murder case— which is still a mystery— in which it was freely alleged that the police themselves set to work to baffle newspaper-men. The remarkable coolness of the special in time of peril is worthy of note. Witness a case in point. On the ever-to-be-remembered twelfth of July, when the Fenians of New York turned out some thirty thousand strong, resolved that three hundred Orangemen should not parade the streets, as they had done on the previous St Patrick's Day, the Empire City witnessed a scene of carnage which is never likely to be seen again. Protected by the ninth, seventh, sixty-ninth — an Irish regiment —and one or two other militia regiments, these three hundred men marched past the grand Opera-house surrounded by a yelling multitude, who fired revolvers and darkened the air with brickbats. At last, patience ceased to be a virtue. Several soldiers had already fallen desperately wounded. The Colonel halted his men, and gave them orders to fire at the mob.

The writer was one of a numerous band of specials— specially sworn in as constables— amongst the mob. A friend in the ranks snouted ' Look out— we are going to fire ! ' a warning which was sufficient to cause him to throw himself flat on his face. The mob vanished, leaving the space clear ; and while he was wondering how to get out of this dilemma, what was his surprise at seeing Pember of the New York Times, in the midst of the fire, calmly roll himself over on his side, produce his note-book, and go from one wounded man' to another, jotting down his name, his age, where he lived, and the nature of his hurt. This, while bullets were flying, and unfortunate specials menaced by the military on one side and the furious mob on the other.^ This reckless exposure of life and limb was in order that the journal Pember represented might be the first to have ' List of the Killed and Wounded!' on its bulletin boards.

Ho much for pluck. Now for yvit. _ But the cases are so numerous, that it is difficult to know where to choose. When the' Siamese twins died,[Philadelphia surgery had the honour of dissecting them ; and under the peculiar circumstances — one having died of horror consequent on his brother's death — the public were in a fever-heat ot expectation to learn whether they could have exi&ted apart. Various were the artifices resorted to by the specials to gain a knowledge of this fact, the doctors having sternly declared that they would not admit the press, as it looked like pandering to the morbid appetite of the public. Medical students and full-blown doctors with duly 'vised' certificates from other cities increased to an alarming extent. Hospital porters were offered premiums to vacate their positions for one day only, But all was of no avail ; the doctors plosed the doors, and the operation began. At its conclusion, j$

was ascertained that the twins could haye undergone a successful severance in life. At that interesting moment, or in the debate which followed, one of the doctors observed an unusually life-like hue upon a subject waiting for dissection. But what was his horror, and indeed the horror of them all, as the remark fell from his lips, to observe the corpse suddenly jump up and make for the door. He opened it in time and fled, followed by the enraged doctors. A cab was waiting outside, and into this popped the supposed corpse, to be driven like mad to the railway station,_ where the complacent special safely arrived with the knowledge that he had made a big ' beat.' Another, though not so startling a case, was the impudence of ' Joe ' H , who having been thrust with his male companions out of a woman's suffrage meeting, returned half an hour afterwards as a delegate from New Hampshire and was requested to take the vice chair ! It was not until the meeting waß half over, and Joe, in the enthusiasm of the moment, forgot his trick of voice, that the fraud was discovered, and he was forced to fly from the room, pursued by indignant amazons. Joe subsequently distinguished himself by bringing about the memorable 'Blue Monday,' in which New York was for three days in a state of revolution, and the newspaper offices were filled with soldiers, while their editors were under arrest. Joe languished at Fort Lafayette for this ; and had it not been for the immense political influence of his friends, would have been shot. Thus much by way of showing the pluck and wit required by a special ; and now for a personal reminiscence or two. In the summer of 1873, a man appeared at the office of the journal on which the writer was then engaged, and stated that having gone down to Connecticut to assert his claim to some property left him by his father, he had been arrested at the instance of his relatives, and transferred to the Middletown Lunatic Asylum. He had made his escape ; and nothing daunted was going down again to press his claim. He wished the aid of a powerful journal in case he should a second time be locked up. His statements were so alarming, that it was resolved to send a special to ferret out the system by which a citizen could suddenly be deprived of his liberty. A week after his departure, as nothing more was heard of him, the writer received orders to work up the case. ' But first of all,' said the managing editor, ' we must be able to get you back in New York State on requisition, in case you get locked up ; for, if you get entangled in the meshes of the State of Connecticut Blue laws, it would take even a Philadelphia lawyer months to get you clear. Accordingly, the writer went up to police headquarter 3, and while talking to his old friend the Chief of Police, contrived to pick the pocket of Sergeant A ; for which he was promptly arrested, and the proof of his guilt beine found on him, conveyed to a cell. A window had been carelessly left unfastened. The special lost no time in getting out of it and making his way to the railway station, whence he was speedily carried to the State of Connecticut. Stamford was the place in which the alleged lunatic had 'been last heard of ; and accordingly Stamford became the base of operations. Before the evening was out, the special found that the escaped lunatic had been re-apprehended ; and that ' the first select' man/ with the alleged lunatic's brother, and a lawyer, had been the means of getting him out of the way, and were interested in keeping him out of sight. ' The first select man ' answers to an English justice of the peace, and held in his hands an amount of power which was simply alarming. By an old law, he could order the commitment of a vagrant to the State prison for so many weeks ; but should a doctor certify that the vagrant was not responsible for his acts, he could be sent to the Middletown Lunatic Asylum, there to be detained until the commission which examined cases quarterly decided that he was not insane. The State paid half his expenses, his relative the other half. Now, it so happened that the first select man in this case was also a duly qualified practitioner. He had merely as a doctor to certify to the man's insanity, and Jin his magisterial capacity to commit him. The two respectable citizens who were required by the Act to testify to the fact that the person was a fit subject for incarceration were the alleged lunatic's brother and his brother's lawyer. These facts were ascertainedby a purely American processknown as interviewing, and deadly indeed it is in finding out truth. It must be borne in mind that the various persons interested were interviewed separately on one pretence or other, and their answers taken down on the reportorial notebook as soon as uttered. Patches of conversation taken here and there made in the aggregate very damaging testimony against themselves. The writer will never forget the sounds of rage which greeted his ears at the old Homestead — the property in dispute — when the virago, who had been pouring forth her account of ' the doings,' under the impression that he was the first select man's clerk, suddenly discovered, by the arrival of her brother, that- it was 'a pizen-preSs feller.' Some two hours previous, he himself had opened his mouth rather too much, believing that he spoke to a land-speculator who had come to him from his lawyer, and had only just been undeceived by him. Indeed, had it not been for the presence of a loaded revolver, a pitchfork which the man picked up might have cut short the writer's career. The next move was to rush down to New Haven and get a lawyer to take out a writ of habeas corpus. While that was pending, Middletown was visited, and the chief of police taken into confidence. ' I'm glad you've come to write up that sink of iniquity,' he said ; ' some of the goings-on there are awful.

' How am Ito get in ? ' demanded the writer. ' I must see the ; unfortunate man ; for I fear that now they know there is some one on the track, they may try to make him mad. I have heard of such things.' • I'll fix it,' he replied ; ' they can't refuse me.'

This proved to be the case ; and by pretending that he had a message from the alleged lunatic's sister, the writer was enabled to see him. But there deception ended ; for the unfortunate man fell on his knees in a passion of joy, crying, ' God bless you, sir ; I knew you would not let me be buried alive and tortured out of my mind.' ' Tortured out of your mind ?' ' 'Yes, sir. Because I got angry, they pretended I was dangerous, and clapped mo in the straight- jacket in a dark cell.' ' It is only due to you, sir,' the writer said, turning to the governor, 'to tail you that far from being a relation of this man, I am a reporter of the , bent on exposing the nefarious practices which have resulted in this man's imprisonment ; and J warn you that any ill treatment of him will be at your peril.' ' This deception is most unfair, 1 responded the governor, a benevolent-looking man. ' The man is a dangerous lunatic' At that moment, the alleged lunatic called the special over, and in an agitated manner gave him a piece of paper, on which a used stamp was pinned. ' Take it,' he said ; ' I was going to throw it out of the window.' Slipping it in his pocket, the special bade him keep iris courage up, and took his leave, To his astonishment and disgust, when he

1 «To the Pope, No. 1 Printing House Square, i New York.— l am in Purgatory. Get me out, or the Queen will never forgive yon.— A. LIN- ; Cor.N. This was a crusher. Clearly, one who could write such nonsense must be mad, after all. There was nothing for it but to go back to New York, and confess that one had been on a wildgoose chase. The chief's dictum put a new face on the matter. 'He may bo mad/ said he, ' but there's villany in it somewhere. Anyhow, I can give you facts enough about the place to make people open their eyes.' Under the fear that the habeas corpus would be too slow in its operation, and thatin the meanwhile the unfortunate prisoner might be driven mad, the special resolved to return to Stamford, and by threats of exposure compel "his release. On the following morning, he presented himself at the office and stated his case," accompanying the same with an intimation that it would be as well for the parties to 'knuckle under.' ' Have you any fixed residence in Stamford.' demanded the lawyer.

'No.' ' I should like to know that you are a duly authorised agent of the paper you 'mention. Will you show me ypur papers ?' The special explained that he had none ; at the same time informing 'the lawyer that he might ascertain for himself by writing to the editor of the journal in question. :/ 1 know nothing about the State of New York,' replied the lawyer ; ' the State of Connecticut is good enough for me ; and by the law, you are a .vagrant, and guilty of an attempt at black-mail. You'll wish you never entered this State, young fellow.' Two constables were in waiting, as the special's appearance had been anticipated. He was hauled before ' the first select man,' and by him sent into custody. But ere the week was out he had the satisfaction of seeing two detectives come with a requisition for him, on a charge of pocket- picking at New York ; and hearty was the laugh at head-quarters when he related his adventures. . With the exposures that followed, this article has nothing to do ; but the extraordinary part yet remains to be told. Some New York lawyers took up the case ; and the alleged lunatic, who had in the meantime made his escape from the asylum, received ten thousand dollars ; while his brother and the lawyers were indicted for conspiracy, and convicted. A year after that, the alleged lunatic went really mad in Chicago, after relating his adventures to a reporter of the Chicago Tribune: Whether he was always mad, as his relations declared, or whether the excitement proved too much for him, the reader must judge. The probabilities are that he was one of a numerous not over-strong-brained class of men who get along well enough if they are let alone. _ There if one thing certain, however — if the writer had been consigned to that horrible asylum, he would not have answered for his own sanity at the end of a month.— Chambers' Journal.