Part 2

73 opium joints raided and closed; $100,000 spent, and hundreds of persons were wrecked and ruined by the use of opium.

75 girls under age rescued from a house of ill fame and a life of shame, and returned to their parents or guardians, or sent to the Juvenile School or the House of Good Shepherd.

50 home-buying swindles raided and closed; $6,000,000 lost.

48 palmists and fortune tellers raided and closed; $500,000 lost.

45 spurious employment agencies raided and closed; $200,000 lost.

40 bogus charity swindles raided and closed; $300,000 lost.

38 blind pools in grain and stock raided and closed; $500,000 lost.

35 bogus mail order houses raided and closed; $3,000,000 lost.

34 sure-thing gambling devices raided and closed; $2,500,000 lost.

33 fraudulent and guarantee companies raided and closed; $900,000 lost.

30 fraudulent book concerns raided and closed; $1,000,000 lost.

28 panel-house keepers were indicted and convicted.

15 owners of the property were indicted and convicted.

This broke the panel-house keepers' backbone and they never recovered to resume business again.

Emma Ford, sentenced to the penitentiary April 5, 1902, for five years. Pearl Smith, her sister, sentenced to the penitentiary June 19, 1893, for five years. Mary White, May 20, 1893, for two years. Flossie Moore, March 27, 1893, for five years. Seventy-five thousand dollars is said to have been stolen by her in eighteen months.

$8,000 bribe was offered Detective Wooldridge to let Flossie Moore slip through his fingers.

$3,000 bribe was offered by the same woman for the address of Sadie Jorden, who was an eye witness of the robbery of E. S. Johnson, a retired merchant, aged 74 years.

28 wire tappers were raided and closed. These men secured the quotations from the Board of Trade and pool rooms, and hundreds of thousands of dollars were secured from the speculators who were victimized; $200,000 lost.

27 dishonest collecting agencies raided and closed; $200,000 lost.

25 swindling brokers raided and closed; $800,000 lost.

23 lotteries raided and closed; $1,700,000 lost.

$100 per month bribe to run his lottery was offered Detective Wooldridge, April 21, 1900, by J. J. Jacobs, 217 Dearborn street, who conducted the Montana Loan & Investment Co. He was arrested and fined $1,500 by Judge Chetlain, June 21, 1903.

22 promoters raided and closed; $1,000,000 lost.

22 salted mines and well companies raided and closed; $2,000,000 lost.

20 city lot swindles raided and closed; $1,000,000 lost.

20 spurious medicine concerns raided and closed; $300,000 lost.

* * * * *

$30,000 worth of poison and bogus medicines seized October 29, 1904, as follows:

$12,000 worth of spurious medicines seized by Detective Wooldridge from Edward Kuehmsted, 6323 Ingleside avenue.

$5,000 worth of spurious drugs seized from J. S. Dean, 6121 Ellis avenue.

$2,500 worth of spurious drugs seized from Burtis B. McCann, 6113 Madison avenue.

$500 worth of spurious drugs seized from J. N. Levy, 356 Dearborn street.

$2,000 worth of spurious medicines seized from W. G. Nay, 1452 Fulton street.

* * * * *

17 women arrested for having young girls under age in a house of prostitution.

16 fraudulent theater agencies raided and closed; $100,000 lost.

15 procurists of young girls for houses of ill fame and prostitution arrested and fined.

$8,000 bribe offered Detective Wooldridge, September 27, 1895, by Mary Hastings, who kept a house of prostitution at 128 Custom House place. She went to Toledo, O., and secured six girls under age and brought them in the house of prostitution.

One of the girls escaped in her night clothes by tying a sheet to the window. There were six in number, as follows:

Lizzie Lehrman, May Casey, Ida Martin, Gertie Harris, Kittie McCarty and Lizzie Winzel.

After Mary Hastings was arrested and she found out that she could not bribe Wooldridge she gave bonds and fled. Some months later she was again arrested, and the case dragged along for two years.

The witnesses were bought up and shipped out of the state. The case was stricken off, with leave to reinstate. It is said it cost her $20,000.

Four notorious negro women, footpads and highway robbers, arrested by Detective Wooldridge, whose stealings are estimated by the police to have been over $200,000. The following are the names of the women arrested:

5 mushroom banks raided and closed; $500,000 lost.

Detective Wooldridge has been under fire over forty times, and it is said that he bears a charmed life, and fears nothing. He has met with many hair-breadth escapes in his efforts to apprehend criminals who, by means of revolver and other concealed weapons, tried to fight their way to liberty.

He has impersonated almost every kind of character. He has in his crime hunting associated with members of the "400" and fraternized with hobos. He has dined with the elite and smoked in the opium dens; he has done everything that one expects a detective of fiction to do, and which the real detective seldom does.

Wooldridge, the incorruptible! That describes him. The keenest, shrewdest, most indefatigable man that ever wore a detective's star, the equal of Lecocq and far the superior of the fictitious Sherlock Holmes, the man who has time and again achieved the seemingly impossible with the most tremendous odds against him, the man who might, had such been his desire, be wealthy, be a "foremost citizen" as tainted money goes, has earned the title given him in these headlines. And if ever any one man earned this title it is Clifton R. Wooldridge.

It is refreshing to the citizenship of America, rich and poor alike, to contemplate the career of this wonderful man. It fills men with respect for the law, with confidence in the administration of the law, to know that there are such men as Wooldridge at the helm of justice.

The writer of this article has enjoyed intimate personal association with the great detective, both in the capacity of a newspaper reporter, magazine writer and anti-graft worker. The ins and outs of the nature of the greatest secret service worker in Chicago, Clifton R. Wooldridge, have been to me an open book. And when I call him Wooldridge, the incorruptible, I know whereof I speak.

I have seen him when all the "influences" (and they are the same "influences" which have been denounced all over the country of late) were brought to bear upon him, when even his own chiefs were inclined to be frightened, but no "influence" from any source, howsoever high, has ever availed to swerve him one inch from the path of duty.

CANNOT BE BRIBED.

He has been offered bribes innumerable; but in each and every instance the would-be briber has learned a very unpleasant lesson. For this man, who might be worth almost anything he wished, is by no means affluent. But he has kept his name untarnished and his spirit high through good fortune and through bad, through evil repute and good.

Wooldridge does not know the meaning of a lie. A lie is something so foreign to his nature that he has trouble in comprehending how others can see profit in falsifying. It has been his cardinal principle through life that liars always come to a bad end finally. And he has seen his healthy estimate of life vindicated, both in the high circles of frenzied finance and in the low levels of sneak-thievery.

TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF WORK DONE.

But the most remarkable thing to me about Wooldridge is the work he has done. Consider for a moment the record which heads this article. Could anything shout forth the tremendous energy of the man in any plainer terms? There are men in the same line of work with Wooldridge, who have been in the service for the same length of time, who have not made one arrest where he has made thousands.

Twenty thousand arrests in twenty years of service, a thousand arrests every year, on an average. A thousand get-rich-quick concerns, victimizing more than a million people, raided and put out of business; thirteen thousand one hundred convictions; hundreds upon hundreds of wine rooms, gambling houses, bucketshops, opium joints, houses of ill fame, turf frauds, bogus charity swindles, policy shops, matrimonial agencies, fraudulent guarantee companies, spurious medicine concerns, thieving theater agencies and mushroom banks brought to the bar of justice and made to expiate their crimes.

That is the record of the almost inconceivable work done by Clifton R. Wooldridge on the Chicago police force. The figures are almost appalling in their greatness. It is hard for the mind to comprehend how any one man could have achieved all this vast amount of labor, even if he worked twenty-four hours a day all the time. And yet it is the bare record of the "big" work done by Wooldridge, aside from his routine.

LIFE HISTORY OF WOOLDRIDGE.

Detective Wooldridge from March, 1898, until April 5, 1907, was attached to the office of the General Superintendent of Police and worked out of his office. During that time over 1,200 letters and complaints were referred to him for investigation and action.

April 5, 1907, Detective Wooldridge was relieved of this work and transferred, and crusade and extermination of the get-rich-quick concerns ceased.

September 20, 1889, Detective Wooldridge was placed in charge of twenty-five picked detectives, who were placed in charge of the suppression of hand-books and other gambling in Chicago. He remained in charge of this detail for three years.

On December 13, 1890, at the residence of Charles Partdridge, Michigan avenue and Thirty-second street, while three desperate burglars were trying to effect an entrance into the house, Detective Wooldridge espied them and in his attempt to arrest them was fired upon by the trio. One shot passed through his cap, clipping off a lock of his hair and grazing his scalp. The next shot struck him squarely in the buckle of his belt, which saved his life.

NUMBERLESS HAIR-BREADTH ESCAPES.

August 20, 1891, he met with another narrow escape at Thirtieth and Dearborn streets, while attempting to arrest Nathan Judd, a crazed and desperate colored man. Judd threw a brick at him, striking him over his left temple, and inflicting a wound two inches long.

Judd was shot through the thigh, and afterwards was sent to the house of correction for one year.

Detective Wooldridge, alone in a drenching rainstorm at 4 o'clock on the morning of June 23, 1892, at Michigan avenue and Madison street, intercepted three horsethieves and hold-up men in a buggy trying to make their escape.

At the point of a revolver he commanded them to halt. As they approached him no attention was paid to him, or to what he was saying. Seizing the bridle of the horse, he was dragged nearly a block before the horse was checked. A twenty-pound horse weight was hurled at him by one of the robbers, which just missed his head. Another one of the robbers leaped upon the horse and rained blow after blow upon his head with the buggy whip.

Detective Wooldridge shot this man in the leg; he jumped off the horse and made good his escape while Wooldridge was engaged in a desperate hand to hand encounter with the other two robbers. Wooldridge knocked both senseless with the butt of his revolver. They were taken to the police station and gave their names as John Crosby and John McGinis. Both were found guilty a month later and sent to the penitentiary by Judge Baker.

SAVES WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN FIRE.

March 4, 1892, Detective Wooldridge by his prompt and courageous actions, and the immediate risk of his own life, succeeded in rescuing from the Waverly Hotel (which was on fire), at 262 and 264 S. Clark street, two ladies who were overcome by smoke on the second floor of the burning building: also a lady and two children, aged two years and five months, respectively, from the fourth floor.

This act was performed by tying a silk handkerchief around his mouth, and on his hands and knees crawling up the winding stairs to the fourth floor, where he found Mrs. E. C. Dwyer unconscious. Placing the two children in a bed quilt, he threw it over his shoulder, and seizing Mrs. E. C. Dwyer by the hand, dragged her down the stairs to a place of safety, where medical assistance was called.

Sept. 21, 1902, Detective Wooldridge was placed in charge of the Get-Rich-Quick concerns with which Chicago was infested. He also had charge of the suppression of gambling at parks and other places of amusement, the inspection and supervision of picture exhibitions in penny arcades and museums, and the inspection and supervision of illustrated postal cards sold throughout the city for the purpose of preventing the exhibition, sale and circulation of vulgar and obscene pictures, the work of gathering evidence against and the suppression of dealers in "sure thing" gambling devices, viz., loaded dice, marked cards, roulette wheels, spindle faro layouts, card hold-outs, nickel slot machines and many other devices.

Oct. 25, 1893, Detective Wooldridge had a narrow escape while trying to arrest Charles Sales, a desperate colored man, for committing a robbery at State and Harrison streets. Sales whipped out his gun and fired four shots at Wooldridge at short range; two of the shots passing harmlessly through his coat. Sales was arrested and given one year in the house of correction.

RIDES TO STATION ON PRISONER'S BACK.

June 6, 1894, Detective Wooldridge arrested Eugene Buchanan for committing a highway robbery at Polk and Clark streets. A few days prior he had held up and robbed Philip Schneider and kicked out one of his eyes. Buchanan was met in the alley between Clark street and Pacific avenue, where he resisted arrest and fought like a demon, using his hands, club and head. In the scuffle he ran his head between Wooldridge's legs and tried to throw him, but Wooldridge was to quick for him and fastened his legs around Buchanan's neck like a clam. Buchanan could not free himself. Wooldridge pulled his gun and placing it in the ear of Buchanan compelled him to carry him to the Harrison street police station on his shoulder. It was one of the most novel sights ever witnessed, and will be long remembered by those who saw it.

Buchanan was convicted and sent to the penitentiary for three years. Upon his release he applied to Wooldridge to assist him in securing a position. Wooldridge took him to his home, fed him and secured employment for him with Nelson Morris & Co., where he remained three years. He afterwards committed a highway robbery in Washington Park and is now serving an indefinite term in the penitentiary.

HANGS ON WINDOW SILL.

May 16, 1895, Detective Wooldridge, accompanied by Officers Kern, O'Connor and Cameron, located Matt Kelly at 411 State street, who was wanted for a criminal assault. Kelly was a hold-up man, ex-convict and a notorious safe-blower, who several years prior to this shot two officers in St. Louis, Mo. Kelly was found behind locked doors on the second-floor and refused to open the doors. Detective Wooldridge went to the adjoining flat, opened a window and crawled along the ledge until he had reached Kelly's room; with a revolver in his mouth he pushed up the sash and was faced by Kelly and his wife.

"Go back or I'll kill you," said Kelly as he pushed his revolver in Wooldridge's face.

Wooldridge had meanwhile secured a good hold on the sill of the window, but was not in a position to defend himself. The Kelly woman tried her best to shove him off; she succeeded in loosening one of his hands, and for an instant Detective Wooldridge thought he would have to fall. With an almost superhuman effort Wooldridge broke in the window and covering Kelly with his own revolver ordered him to throw up his hands, which he did. He was taken to the police station and heavily fined.

A PLOT TO KILL DETECTIVE WOOLDRIDGE.

A dozen of the highwaymen and robbers on whom Wooldridge was waging a relentless warfare gathered together on the morning of July 4, 1895, and formed a plot to kill Wooldridge and get him out of the way. They concluded that the night of July 4, when everyone was firing off revolvers and celebrating, would afford the best opportunity. They imagined it would be an easy thing to shoot him from one of the windows or from a housetop while he was on duty patrolling his post, and no one would know where the shot came from, as there was shooting from every direction.

An oath of secrecy was taken by all present, and lots drawn to see who was to do the deed. In all probability their plan would have been carried out had it not been for a colored woman, who was watching them and heard the whole plot, and who went with the information to the Harrison Street Police Station.

Captain Koch and Lieutenant Laughlin were notified and upon investigation found the report to be true. They took immediate steps to protect Wooldridge by placing three additional officers in full uniform with him, and also placing six men in citizen's clothes on his post. Every man they met was searched for a gun; every crook, vagrant and thief that they could lay their hands on was placed under lock and key in the station, and by 11 o'clock that night there was no square in the city quieter than the one this officer patrolled, and in two weeks' time "Coon Hollow" and the whole neighborhood for half a mile in every direction had undergone the most remarkable change known to police history, and this change was apparent for a long time thereafter.

February 11, 1896, Detective Wooldridge, while trying to arrest a panel-house keeper and three colored hold-up men at 412 Dearborn street, was fired upon by one of the trio, Kid White, the shot striking the bar of his watch chain, which was attached to the lower button of his vest. When the bar was struck the bullet was diverted from entering Wooldridge's stomach, and it glanced off and passed through his overcoat.

DETECTIVE WOOLDRIDGE ROUGHLY HANDLED.

In 1896 Wooldridge's fiercest fight came when he arrested George Kinnucan in his saloon at 435 Clark street. A dozen roughs, henchmen of Kinnucan, who were in the saloon at the time, came to the saloonkeeper's rescue. The officer was knocked down, his billy taken from him and himself beaten unconscious with it, and his face and head kicked into one mass of bruises. Through it all he managed to hang on to his revolver. This alone saved him. He finally managed to shoot Kinnucan through the hand and forearm, and a moment later a uniformed man burst in and evened up the battle. Six of the toughs were arrested, and Wooldridge was left alone by them for a long time.

FINE WORK IN A THIEVES' RESORT.

In the same year of 1896, Detective Wooldridge, disguising himself as a cheap thief, entered a Clark street criminals' resort and fraternized with thieves, murderers and vagabonds of all kinds, in order to obtain information, leading Wooldridge into the most amazing school of crime ever witnessed by a Chicago police officer. He was accepted in good faith as a proper sneak thief by the brotherhood, and for his benefit the "manager" of the den put his "pupils" through their "lessons."

These lessons were in shoplifting, pocket picking, purse snatching and other forms of larceny requiring skill and deftness. When he had seen enough Wooldridge generously volunteered to "rush the growler" and went out--and called the patrol wagon. Twenty-three crooks were arrested this time. Each one of them swore he would have killed the detective had his makeup or conduct for an instant directed suspicion toward him.

MAKES HIGH DIVE.

November 20, 1896, Detective Wooldridge made a high dive.

To offset his aerial stunt he took a high dive from the top of a building, landing on his head in a pile of refuse with such force as to go "in over his head" and stick there so tightly that it required the combined strength of two officers to pull him out by the legs.

It was near Twelfth and State streets while pursuing two women across a roof that his remarkable stunt took place. The women jumped from the roof into a pile of refuse. They landed on their feet. Wooldridge came after them. He landed on his head. As he landed he grasped a woman with either hand, and held them until the arrival of his brother officers effected his release and their capture.

But these are only humorous incidents, things to laugh over when the day's work is done. In the parlance of the detectives, they belong to "straight police work." As a direct antithesis to them is the story of the murder and the black cat, which is in real life a weirder and more startling affair than Poe's fantastic tale of the same subject. A black cat helped solve a murder in a way which puts a distinct strain on the credulity of the uninitiated.

STORY RIVALS POE'S "BLACK CAT."

A rich man had been murdered in a certain part of the city. He was in his library at the time of the crime. His family was in an adjoining room, yet none of them heard any noise, or knew what had been done until they found him lifeless on the floor. Investigation proved that he had been shot, but not with an ordinary weapon. The missile in his heart was a combination of bullet and dart, evidently propelled from a powerful air rifle or spring gun. But no clew was left by the perpetrator of the crime, and Wooldridge carried the strange missile in his pocket for several months before a single prospect of apprehending the murderer appeared. Then it was the black cat that did it. What strange coincidence or freak of fate it was that impelled the cat to literally lead the detective to a little pile of dirt in an alley that night Wooldridge never has attempted to explain. But lead him it did, and when he dug into the disturbed ground he found something entirely new in the gun line, the weapon that had discharged the fatal bullet in his pocket. Eventually he traced the gun to its inventor, and from there to the man who had purchased it, a young fellow named Johnson, and a supposed friend of the murdered man's family. The consequence was that this man proved to be the murderer. When arrested he at first denied his guilt, broke down under the sweatbox ordeal and confessed, and--killed himself in his cell next morning.

For mystery and good fortune in bringing an apparently untraceable criminal to justice this incident perhaps has never been equaled in Chicago's police records.

ON DUTY IN GREAT STRIKE.

In 1900 Chicago's great building trade strike occurred in which 60,000 men were thrown out of employment. Many acts of violence were committed. Several men were killed and many maimed and injured.

Detective Wooldridge was placed in charge of thirty picked detectives from the detective bureau with orders to suppress these lawless acts and arrest the guilty offenders. Through his vigilance and untiring efforts law and order were soon restored, and he was highly complimented by Chief of Police Joseph Kipley and the public press.

Literally speaking, the darkest situation into which his experiences have led him was the tunnel by which inmates of Mattie Lee's famous resort at 150 Custom House place escaped when the place was raided. Mattie had decided that it was a nuisance to go to the station every time the police wanted to arrest her, so she had the tunnel dug.

After that when the police called on her Mattie greeted them with an empty house and a sweet smile, while underground the inmates were crawling on their hands and knees to safety. Wooldridge found the tunnel and, crawling in, "snaked out" six colored men and women whom he found in the darkness. Versatility is a requisite with the successful detective.

REMARKABLE WORK AS A RAGPICKER.