Some
people probably have labored under the delusion that all that Mr. W. D.
Battersby, the genial manager of the Hotel de Battersby lived for was to
wear good clothes and look pretty. Tis true that there were good
grounds for this belief, but all are now dispelled.
There comes a time to every
man when he may grasp an opportunity and perform a feat that places him
above the ordinary level and causes his name to be inscribed high upon the
scroll which flutters from the topmost pinnacle of fame. That's what
'Billy' has been doing.
Chief of Police Coates,
Constable Tisdale and Slueth Allgeo will now take a back seat. As
thief catchers they are back numbers. Detective Battersby now rules
the roost. Even Sherlock Holmes will need to guard his laurels
closely.
It was midnight. All
was quiet. So quiet was it that one might have heard the door step
or the dew drop. Chief of Police Coates was taking his usual na --
no he was on his rounds of inspection. The electric lights were out
and so were two or three of the boys.
The
chief was looking for something he didn't want to find and as is usually
the case he found it. In the store of the Brook Clothing Co. was a
man leisurely going through the stock of clothing. Thus does the
unexpected happen.
The chief turned and ran --
not to get out of harm's way as would be the case with a Hamilton
policeman, but to obtain help to capture the bold bad villain.
At
the Battersby House some young men, said to be members of the Y.M.C.A.,
were sitting up with a sick friend, but they quickly responded to the call
for help and arming themselves with lemon squeezes, cheese knives, cork
screws, ice picks and other implements of warfare usually found in a sick
room, hastened to the rescue.
The attacking party was
divided. Those who could manage it hid in the alley. Not so
with Mr. Battersby. He boldly ran around the block and hid in a
doorway. In the excitement of the moment he accidentally ran into
the front entrance of the store where the burglar had been at
work.
In the meantime the chief and
his cohorts had arrived at the back entrance and by making a great deal of
noise had frightened the thief out of his job and he was just preparing to
leave as Mr. Battersby came upon the scene.
Who was the most frightened
would be hard to tell but the imperturbable William was the quicker to
recover himself and placing his hand -- the heavy hand of the law -- upon
the burglar's shoulder said in genial tones, "you're just the man I'm
looking for. Come over and have a -- oh, I beg your pardon.
You're my prisoner." And the man collapsed on the
spot.
Subsequently, Police
Magistrate Beemer interviewed the prisoner, who gave his name as James
Kelly, and sentenced him to 20 months in the Central.
