Litchfield enquirer., 1858-04-15
Stolen Property in New York

MT C. Warren. the efficient Property Clerk ot the Police Commissioners has just presented
 hls first r'port. which is full of interesting data The text of the document is as fellows: 10 the Commissioners of Pollce:
 GENrLENEN-A report from the Property Clerk, though not repaired by law, is so accor ,, dant with propricty that ask leave to present the following :- The guardianship of property alleged or sup posed to be stolen, embedded, or lost, proves to be post of much greater labor and impor tahce than was expected. Since July last more than six hundred lots of goods aye been received. some lots numbering twenty, fifty, and some even two hundred valuable articles. Some lots have b. en so extensive and varied that to make an accurate inventory of one has been the work of hours, and to exhibit the ar tic'eS for identification, and then to deliver them to the claimants, has occupied the whole time of myself and assistant for days, and even week, notwithstanding the valuable aid of the officers who made the arrest.
 AmoHg these various articles have been for ty gold Watches, worth from twenty five to two hundred dollars each fifty silver watches, ranging from forty dollars downwards scor,s of gold chains, lockets, pins, rings, bracelets,
 
 wort! from fifty to two hundred dollars each. In the workings of this department, also. as now conducted, the first eff ctual cheek has been gwen to the drprcdations of the numcr- ous band Of river thieves who infest our har- DOT: Several boat loads of wheat, rye and barley from the West and South have been re- covered, and large quantities of merchard zc winch had been slipped to country merchants and which have been restored to their lawful owncrs
 To arrange and reduce to system ;he de- tails Of this department, has been a work of no little difficulty, A faithful and efficient as sistant, MT. J.>P. Conkn, detailed fer this duty by the General Superintendent, has great iy relieved the physical labors of the office {; yet have been obliged to devote to the yar- ous branches of duty connected with this de- partment n.arly twelve hours of actual olfic ; engagements each day for six mon hs. Expe- rience facilitates the discharge of these duties, and, m future, less time will be required for the same service. The Harbor Police also are be- glnnlng to add 10 the receipts of this office. and if the Mounted Police proves an equally efficient auxiliary, as it doubtless wifi to the regular force, then we may expect that the Ia- bors, importance and good results of this de- p'.rtment Of stolen and recovered property will co 'tlnue to increase, till the success of the Metropol'ta', Police shall have essentially di- mln!shed the number of thieves and burglars. Ihere are now in my cust ;dy about forty lots of goods that have been on hand SIX months Which, being unclaimed, are ny law appropriated to the Police Life and Health Insurance Fund" There are also in store several lots Of perishabIe gools-wheat rye, rlcy, tea, butter, bacon, sugar, old canvas, rope, iron, end two barrels of oil-which have been on haud fIom one to three months, and which will probably never have a lawful claim ant.
 Several cart loads of property have recently been brought here from the Po!:c. Corr at the Toombs, that have been accu nulating for many years A large part of this proper y, including trunks, bags and bundles of wool en c'ot!''ng, shawls, &c., time, and mould and moths have nearly consumed And rendered ut tery worthless. From this chaos of n,otli-eat- en garments, broken and rusty watc'es, guns, pistols, dIrks and knives, mouldy pocket books, and almost every conceivable species of things, a large number of quite valuable articles have been, with great labor and care, recovered.
 We have already dsinterred about twenty watches, several of which, aroused from this Kip Van Wrinkle sleep, and separated from the lenobie mass of rubbish, rust and moull by winch they were entombed, and found to be in good running order, have fair external ap- pearance, and keep good time. We have col 'ected also half hushel of rusty pistols i'm mics, slung- dirks, knives, kcps, and vari- ous other implements used by rowdies and bur glars, aud there are some eight or ten trunks yet unopened
 The Comm'rs having ordcreda sale by auction Of all property that can lawfully be sol l, I shall, with all possible diligence put such things in order for such sale, prepare complete and particular inventory, and shall make all ustif able efforts, by advertising and otherwise, to give publicity to the sale, in the hope that handsome addition will be made to the fund for widows and orphans
 This department is so near it's infancy, and has hitherto encountered so many embarrass- ments, that it has had no opportunity to show its expected results: yet the following are among the examples of its efficiency in convict ing thieves and restoring lost property :-
 A valuable gold watch was taken from ali old offender, who, in one week from his arrest. "as Sohf'StSu oi Petit iatCetly anu SeiiG lO Lne pcnitentiary, having assigned the watch to his lawyer. By great effort the importer of the watch was found, and thenthe owner, a gen tleman from Philadelphia, and the ownership and robbery clearly proved Thus a watch, to import which cost more than two hundrtd d dollars, was restored to it's lawful owner fifteen mouths after the robbery, and the thief will be taught such lesson that if he escapes five years term in the State prison, he will harGly dare to resume his robberies in the Metropoll- tan Police district.
 Another watch, which cost, when new, two hundred and fifty dollars. was recovered by our v.glant policemen. Repeated efforts were made to get this watch back to the person by whom it was supposed to have been stolen bat hy r,tiining it iu this office about three