GEORGE HERSOGG'S DOWNFALL.

 FACTS REGARDING THE CONVICTION OF AN INTERNATIONAL

AND GREAT NORTHERN BAGGAGEMAN OF MANY CRIMES.

 

Early in the '80s the railroad companies of the Southwest were troubled very much by the continued receipt of complaints of passengers from all quarters of the United States, and some from foreign countries, and their filing claims for articles which had been stolen from their trunks and other baggage while in transit¹.

 

The Iron Mountain Railroad Company and the International & Great Northern Railroad Company were both[Pg 350] parts of the Gould System, and formed a through and direct line between St. Louis, Galveston and San Antonio, Texas in the winter season both Galveston and San Antonio were winter resorts, largely patronized by health seekers. The complaints became so numerous that they were turned over to my department for investigation².

 

I took the matter up and after a long and tedious investigation decided³ to pay special attention to one George Hersogg, who was employed as train baggage-master, running between Longview and San Antonio, Texas. In my investigation I had noticed that nearly every case of lost articles from baggage were traced to the train on which Hersogg was baggage-master, therefore I concluded to test him first.

 

Hersogg occupied a room in a private boarding house when at Longview, where he had a twenty-four hour layover. I sent one of my operatives, George Herbert, to Longview, who represented himself as a railroad man, and he secured a room in the same boarding house where Hersogg was stopping. After remaining there for a few days Herbert became acquainted with Hersogg and with his runs, and when he would be absent from his room. Having accomplished⁴ this, Herbert became indisposed, and for that reason was compelled to remain in his room for a few days.

 

In the meantime impressions of certain keyholes had been taken, and a number of skeleton keys had been sent to Herbert at Longview. He had noticed that Hersogg had two rather large trunks in his room, and when the proper opportunity presented itself he examined the contents of Mr. Hersogg's trunks, unbeknown to the inmates⁵ of the boarding house, and to Herbert's great surprise he found in one of the trunks a silver mounted Smith & [Pg 351]Wesson, pearl handled revolver, which he immediately recognized as the property of the Hon. Joseph Harris, who, at that time, was Circuit Attorney for the City of St. Louis, but was in San Antonio for his health. Herbert also found a number of articles of jewelry⁶, which he knew to be the property of Mrs. Harris. In this connection I will say that Herbert had been a member of the St. Louis police department prior to his entering my service, and while there he had been on detached service at the Circuit Attorney's office, in which capacity he had acted for about two years, thereby⁷ meeting Mr. Harris daily, and seeing his wife very frequently, and becoming familiar with both Harris' revolver and Mrs. Harris' jewelry.

 

Upon the discovery of the revolver Herbert promptly⁸ reported to me by wire code. Up to that time we had had no report of the Harris robbery, and, in fact, did not know that Mr. Harris had gone to San Antonio. On receipt of Herbert's report, I at once got into communication with Harris at San Antonio, and he verified the loss of the articles which Herbert had reported he had found in the trunk of the baggageman at Longview.

 

Herbert also found other articles, the loss of which had been reported from various sections of the country. The most valuable article was a diamond and emerald ring, which contained one large diamond and two small sized emeralds. This ring was the property of a lady who lived at Peoria, Ill., and who had gone over the route to San Antonio some months before the discovery of it in Hersogg's trunk. She valued the ring at about $800.00.

 

We arrested Hersogg, and he was tried in due time convicted and served four years in one of the state prisons of Texas.

 

Many of the stolen articles which were recovered were fully⁹ identified, and returned to their owners.

 

It developed that Hersogg had provided himself with skeleton keys of all sizes and styles. Having a whole baggage car to himself, he was thus able to open and inspect all the baggage at his leisure. He was afforded ample time between stations in which to loot the contents of the baggage car, and strap¹⁰ and lock them up again, leaving no trace on the outside of the baggage having ever been tampered¹¹ with.

 

The capture and conviction of Hersogg was not only a source of relief to the Gould System, but was an equal relief to all connecting lines.

 

THE END.

1 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

2 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

5 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

7 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

8 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

9 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

10 strap   

n.皮带，带子；v.用带扣住，束牢；用绷带包扎

参考例句：

• She held onto a strap to steady herself.她抓住拉手吊带以便站稳。
• The nurse will strap up your wound.护士会绑扎你的伤口。

11 tampered   

v.窜改( tamper的过去式 )；篡改；（用不正当手段）影响；瞎摆弄

参考例句：

• The records of the meeting had been tampered with. 会议记录已被人擅自改动。 来自辞典例句
• The old man's will has been tampered with. 老人的遗嘱已被窜改。 来自辞典例句