Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1880-01-01
a FAIRLY CAUGHT.

as My employment is that of q carver in
stone. Many years ago, soon after
- 7 had learned my business, the firm in
-,r Il. whose employ was undertook the erec-
tiOn of a gentleman's mansion, and |
was sent to execute the ornamental
1"st work. The village near to which the
80 mansion was built was on the shore OF
an estuary of the Bay of Morecambe,
not far from a market-tOwn whose name
need not give. As my work would keep
me from home for several weeks, good
ra lodging was most desirable thing; but
1saf although tried to get accommodation
81 in private house, l failed, and was
& = z forced to lodge in the village inn, the
9e 'a9 Lord Admiral.
s'aHt Among those who were in the habit of
~. = frequenting the aforesaid hostelry was a
man Of singular habits and odd temper.
: D. His home was about a mile from the
village, on the side of lane leading to
Irgr couple Of farms. His house, like HIM
- self, was queer one. Originally it had
~ been built for the storage of corn, the
produce of fields at a distance from the
farmstead. Somehow it had ceased to be
needed for that purpose; so its owner
turned it into a dwelling-house, and as
such it was now occupied by the afore
said strange man. 1t was divided into
three apartments on the ground-hoor,
one ofswhich, a very large one, was set
7s apart and used as kind of museum, its
occupant being suffer of birds and
> smaAs quaasupeds When he had no
work OF this sort for other persons. he
r4 IA worked for stock, and this large room
4 was his warehouse. #t
He was man of ill-temper and loose
habits, and for some time had borne a
dubious character. When people were
asked why he was suspected, they could
ne ts thev would say Without doing
work equal to his expenditure, which
@i = looks bad As got to know him,
found that he had an unamiable tenn
per; was morOse, sour, and at times
.g passionate. He was also fond of dis
3a play, given to betting. and, like all such,
led u loose, uneven life, Oftener lOiter-
ing about than at work. So l did not
wonder that well meaning people did
not like him.
He mostly came on wet nights to the
Lord Admiral. AS we became acquaint-
ed Inc invited me to look over his col
lection Of birds and quadrupeds. Twas
: 4 pleased with what Isaw. He had, in
deed, good collection, and, as well as
could Judge, had done his work well.
He had also a good assortment of but
ternies and moths; and, in a corner,
close to the ceiling, had what he called
a butterfly breeding-box, which he said
belonged to his son, a young man of my
own age, also given to bird-stufing
aTnnsements t1
But was most taken up with two ami
mails which differed from the rest. One
was a beautiful dog, and the other a
lisus ndturts--a lamb with the rudi-
Inents of a fifth leg, and some other alb
5. normal characteristic which have for.
gotten. The old man said he had stuffed
both for their original owners, who had
somehow failed to take them away.
s@~ EThey were placed at one end of the
room, one in each corner, away from
the window, and close to the wan, where,
y except III strong daylight, they could not
u ~ be easf}* seem The connection of these
particulars with my story will be in
the seauels "a sss
f,,s weeks, when the neighborhood was
aroused and alarmed one morning by
the report of the robbery of q jewelers.
shop in the markettown already re-
ferred to, that had been effected during
the preceding night. Much valuable
property had been taken. This robbery
had been effected in such way as led
to the belief that a gang of practiced
thieves had done it. The prevailing
question was,-..po the robbers live
among us, or have they come from
distauce?'' This query wasstill going
from mouth to mouth when w. were
startled, astounded indeed, by the e@EeS
,.f port of a second robbery Of the same /
premises, and on the night following by |
the breaking into and purloining of 3 |
provision warehouse in our own village.
Z Nefesl wrlunE nctlon, i IwOul0 not nave
Madethe robbers pay so soon a second
: visit to the jewelers., as such an act
would have been deemed preposterous;
Wit am nelating what really occurred, |
- and 50 am forced to say what have
Il 4 SAIL, IL Al = bsog
The jewcler had been so taken up by |
efforts to find out the thieves and re- |
ts7sh gam his first loss that he had not placed
9 additional guard over what was left
mss besides, he was sure, he said, that |
% thieves would not think Of revisiting
j him for long time. As for the pro- |
vision dealer, he said in my hearing that |
-. he had no. fear of his place being en-
|lE tered, sses he believed robbers would not |
sSsA care TO touch property SO bulky and OF
such inferior value as his.i But he had !
reckonedf without his host; for he had
e,s ia lost a fine ham, a large lot Of tea, a /
deal Of spices, few boxes of cigars, |
and indeed portion of most of what |
he dealt irf The excitement and alarm
occssioned by these robberies were great |
! ! and Widespread.
Two baiches of detectives, one from |
I as,ssss1 !. lancaster and the other from Kendall,
a.i,,e 10 our village to see what they
l1G uld lind but. They were not short Of