Los Angeles daily herald., 1873-10-10
4os Anaeles Aerald.
Burglary and Bonds.

Burglary and Bonds.
A most singular case of burglary
and sOmnambulism has just occurred at
Oyster Bay, in which Mr.. Charles J.
Chipp, Justice of the Peace, is the
loser to the extent of nearly $4,000.
The history of this extraordinary ease
is as follows: Mr.. Chipp, gentleman
who has retired ON moderate income
and who holds the Office of Justice
merely for the honor of the thing, no
revenue being derived from it, has spe-
culateda little during the past summer
with SIS, 900 or Sl6,0 worth of United
States bonds, and by watching the
market closely has made good profit
on several occasions. AS he was con-
tinually operating with the bonds,
he kept them at his own house, locked
up in a tin cash-boX, the box being
also locked up in a secretary" The
last operation executed by Mr.. Chipp
was during the first week in July, and
as the market had settled down and
become steady again, he recently de-.
termined that he would take his bonds
to New York and have them deposit
ed in safe place.
In carrying out this resolve he was
too slow, as events have proven. On
"Wednesday last Justice Chipp went
to New York, but not to deposit his
bonds. He remained in the city over
night, and on "Wednesday evening he
attended the Union Square Theater
where he saw the play of Micawber."
That night he stayed with a relative.
In the middle of the night he had a
dream and suddenly found himself
standing in the middle of the room
in state of great excitement. His
relative, who slept in the next room,
was awakened by the noise, but after
Il short time Mr.. Chipp returned to bed
and slept till morning. He returned
to Oyster Bay on Thursday, and was
seen around the village conversing
with citizens as cheerfully rs ever.
That night he had the same dream
over again, and early in the morning
he jumped out of bed in his sleep and
grasped his wife's arm SO hard that
she screamed, she having risen before
him.
On awakening he said he had had
dream, and endeavOred to laugh it off
and think no more about it. When
the family assembled at breakfast
time, Mr.. Chipp was about to relate
his dream, when his daughter spoke
up and jokingly reminded him of the
saying which said dreams told before
breakfast come to pass i'm reality. The
same day Mr.. Chipp invited his
daughter Fanny to sit down and play
game of backgammon. Before they
began the dream was thought of
again, and Mr.. Chipp was asked to
relate it. AT the same moment the
daughter spoke, and asked her father
if he knew the secretary was open.
He replied that he did not, and imme-
diately went to look at it. Before
opening the cover he had a present.
lment Ofjust what he was going to see.
The cash-bOx was locked as ii it had
not been disturbed, but on opening it
upwards of $4,000 Government bonds
were missing. Close by were 500 in
currency and two $50 bonds, none of
which had been touched. On making
this startling discovery Mr. Chipp
said very little, and thus far has not
given notice to any detective official.
The bonds were of the series of 1867.
There We're thirteen 900 bonds and
II few of smaller denomination.
The loser had not kept their num-
hers, owing to the fact of his buying
and selling so often. The next mys-
terry was how could any one have got
into the house and stolen the bonds.
Mr.. Chipp has three dogs, one an inn
mense Newfoundland, which always
sleeps at the door; a Skye terrier,
which sleeps in the sitting room, and
which is always ready to sound the
alarm; and white Spitz, which
sleeps on the mat at Mr.. Chipp's bed
room door, and which always gets up
and walks into the room if any noise
is heard. The keys of both the secre-
terry and cash-bOX were in Mr.. Chipp's
pantalOOns pocket. There were no
marks indicating that the locks had
been picked. The cash-box has a
spring lock which catches when the
cover falls. AS stated before, the secre-
tary was left unlocked. Thus far no
clue whatever has been obtained show
ing how the burglary was comm itted.
Justice Chlpp lives in a very old but
respectable frame house, about q quar-
ter of mile from the village. The
house is in very wild and romantic
looking place, on narrow road lead
ing south from the village, called
Chippewa avenue, and formerly
known as "COon Lane.n The trees
are so large and thick that they en-
tirely cover the roadway, and looking
up this lane from the main road lead
ing towards Huntington it seems to
convey the traveller into the midst of
dense forest. From the west side of
the road rises steep range of hills,
and it is upon those that the old house
stands, almost lost among the dense
covering of oaks and NAPLES. Mr..
Chipp's dream in New York was that
he returned home, and on opening his
safe found his bonds and securities
gone in the same manner that Uriah
Heep makes the discovery in the play
which the draa hn n uitpacuaJ I hot