Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1879-07-25
Burglar Porter.

made up the most dangerous and sue.
cessful gang of thieves ever known in
this country. He is handsome young
man, with dark curly hair and nous.
tache, and is not only refined in ap.
pearance and gentlemanly in manners,
but his conversation is polite and be-
trays education. His true name is be-
lieved to be William Morris, but moth.
ing is known to the police of his origin.
He lived in Gothic mansion at 157
Patchen avenue, and the yard OF his
dwelling was dotted with shrubery and
evergreens, and laid out in flower gar
dens. There was a croquet lawn,
where, in the cool of the sumMer even
ings, graceful couples were seen play.
ing lawn tennis and croquet. In the
directory the name of the resident of
the mansion was given as William Park,
stationer of New York. On Saturday
afternoon, August 5, last, a detective
saw Porter, alias Park, and COM
panion of about the same height and
general appearance, passing through
the street, dressed as mechanics. They
turned into hardware store, where they
purchased heavy sledge-hammer, and
then they returned to the Patchen ave-
nue. mansion. The detective, suspect.
ing that they were burglars preparing
for plundering expedition that night,
gained admission to q church which
was opposite, and there watched all
night through one of the windows. At
$40 p. n. the two men came slowly out
of the house and moved off. The night
wore along, and at 4:45 A. NJ. four men
returned. A light was made in the
basement, and after sufficient time for
division of plumber, the front door
opened and two OF the men passed out.
One was middle-aged aud had red hair
and whiskers. The other was young.
compactly built and energetic in his
movements. They hurried away and
the detective followed them, and ar
rested the one with red whiskers. The
other escaped. The police from the
neighboring station then hastily sur
rounded the Gothic mansion, and in
closing upon the house through the
grounds an officer stumbled upon man
asleep in summer-house, and the
detective coming up recognized him as
the escaped prisoner, who, on arrest,
proved to be the notorious "Shang
Draper, who was wanted for compile
ity in the great Northampton Bank
robbery. The house was entered, and
the officers found Porter undressing
and about to retire, and his companion,
John Irving, noted burglar, in the
same condition. The floor was found
Uttered with the fragments OF CASH
drawer from some safe, and with pieces
of checks that had been destroyed.
Porter and Irving made dash for the
window to escape, but the shrubbery
around their house was intcrspersed
with blue. coats, and they concluded to
submit to arrest. All of the prisoners
gave fictitious names in the police sta
ton, and while their pedigree was be-
ing taken, the robbery of the safe in
the feed. store of Martin Ibert's Sons,
in Graham avenue, was reported. The
total amount taken, about 5000, was
found upon the prisoners, and the
owners OF the store identified much of
it as their money. The police also
found in the house an expensive com.
bination lock, made as . model for
study. This was afterward identified
by the widow of George Howard, q
bhllAOu Jul kloI wiz WOO AAuluCkCu Ny
some Of his associates, as her husbands
property. Howard had romantic and
eventful life, always planning the jobs
which other men executed, and it is
believed that the Patchen-avenue gang
of burglars were parties to his murder.
He was king OF the New York bank
thieves, and always worked so as to
escape conviction. A year ago his
body was found beneath the shadow of
Tramp's Rock, in Westchester county,
where it had been concealed after hav-
ing been killed. The police have in
vain sought to find his murderers.
The widow of George Howard was to
have been one of the witnesses in this
trial, and she was deferred from coming
to Brooklyn from Philadelphia, where
she now lives. Draper and Irving, of
the same gang, have not yet been tried.
The former is son of respected pa
rents, who have lived in Brooklyn for
many years. The red.whiskered man,
who gave first the name of John Doe,
then OF John Wilbur, and whose true
name is said to be Gilbert Yost, was
tried once, but the jury disagreed. In
Porter's former trial the jury also dis
agreed.-COurier Journal.
STRYCHNINR.-In Ceylon and several
districts of India grows moderate
sized tree, with thick and shining
leaves and a short, crooked stem. In
the fruit season it is readily recognized
by it's rich, orange. colored berries.
about as large as golden pippins--the
favorite fruit of many birds-within
which are the fat, round seeds, not an
inch in diameter, ash-gray in color, and
covered with very minute silky hairs.
The Germans fancy that they can dis
cover resemblance in them to crows
eyes, but the likeness to them is purely
imaginary. The tree is the strychnos
nux vomica, and tho seed is the deadly
poison nut. The latter was used as q
medicine by the Hindoos, and its ma
ture and properties were understood
by Oriental doctors long before it was
known to foreign nations. Dog killer
and fish-scale are two of its Arabic
names. 1t is stated that at present the
natives of Hindostan often take it for
many months continuously, in much