HONEST THIEF.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume VI, Issue 28, 12 July 1890, Page 20

HONEST THIEF.

In 1865, when the telegraph was comparatively a new thing in Southern California, the operators of the Los Angeles circuit found their communication suddenly cut off. Linemen were sent out to discover the break and effect repairs, but they returned with the surmising intelligence that the break was a serious one, and called for a lot of supplies. About a mile of wire and poles had disappeared as completely as if the earth had opened and swallowed them up. Further search showed no trace of the missing materials, and at considerable expense new ones were furnished, and the line was reconstructed. Then a detective was employed to investigate the mystery. The country was nothing but a desert, and the detective worked for three w-eeks without success. At the end of that time, however, he stumbled upon a small ranch, at which he put up for the night. He found the ground enclosed with a neat wire fence, and in the morning taxed the ranchman with having stolen the telegraph. The man admitted the fact at once. ‘Oh yes,’ he said, ‘ I’ve been livin’ here nigh onto three year, and have watched that old telegraph wire all that time. I never see nothing go over it, and reckoned it wasn't used.’ There seemed no reason to question the man’s sincerity, and the detective contented himself with giving him a lecture on the invisibility of the electric current. The case was reported to head quarters, of course, but no prosecution followed.