Sharp County record., 1880-09-16
PROFESSIONAL ROBBERS.

Peshawur, which is about sixteen
miles from the Khyber Pass, has q pop
ulation of fifty or sixty thousand. Its
position at the entrance of the chief
gateway into Cabul gathers within its
walls men from almost every district in
India and every country in Central Asia.
About two miles from tho city Is the
military cantonment. 1t Is perhaps
the most important in the whole coun-
try. In general there are stationed in
1t nine or ten regiments and three or
four batteries Of artillery. 1t is not my
intention to discuss the Importance Of
its position or give a sketch of its his
tory. My purpose is to givea short ac-
count of some of the robberies which
took place when l was quartered in it
some years ago.
Arms, horses and money are the
chief things sought after by the thieves
and robbers in the Peshawur Valley
and adjoining hills; and there is no
breach of charity in stating that the
men of the hill tribes are professional
robbers. To secure these articles they
adopt almost every conceivable plan,
and show no little skill and daring, as
NAV be seen from the following illustra-
tions, which, | may add, are given with
out any coloring and are strictly true.
Mr.. Lowental, well-known mission
arv, stationed at Peshawur, was one
night sitting at his desk, when he saw
his dhuree (carpet) quietly lifted up by
a mans head rising apparently out of
the floor. An exclamation of surprise
and a call for help caused the head to
disappear On inspection Mr. LOwen-
thai found that his house had been en-
tered in way somewhat unusual but
by no means new. The thieves there
must have been more than one engaged
in the affair-had dug a hole close to
the study, and run tunnel right under
the wall to the middle of the floor of
the room. Some idea of the skill of the
miners may be learned from the fact
that Mr.. Lowenthal was not disturbed
by any noise until the head of the rob-
Der was actually in the room. A year
or two after the above incident took
place this eminent oriental scholar was
murdered in his veranda by one of his
own servants.
Earthquakes are of frequent occur
renee in the Peshawur Valley, and on
this account nearly every house is built
of mud mixed with chopped straw, the
same material being used for outhouse
buildings, of which the stable is gener-
ally the most important. A mounted
officer has perhaps f2OO invested in
horses and it is therefore most impor-
tant matter for him that these animals
should be protected from the hands of
thieves. Many are the plans used for
this purpose. Perhaps the most sue
cessful, and consequently the most pop
ular, is to fasten an iron chain round
each hind-leg of the horse and paddock
the chains to an iron bar driven firmly
into the ground. This, however, does
not always defy the thieves, as they
know the use Of file as well as their
p&le-faced neighbors. There are in
stances known when the robbers, find
ing all their attempts fail to get rid of
the chains, in their anger have had the
brutality to cut the feet off the horse.
Many officers trust to cbObedhdrS or
watchmen; but these men are only i'm
phcitly trusted, when there is no danger
near. The Sikh watchmen are an ex-
ception, but they are difficult to find.
There has ever been a deadly feud be-
tween the Afghans and the Sikhs, and a
sleeping Sikh watchman found by an
Afghan prowler receives no mercy. A
knife driven into his Heart ends sleep
and life together. In general the watch
men are natives of the district and are
quite aware that the most pleasant part
of their duty is to draw their wages
once month. They may actually see
the thieves loosening their masters
horses and the groom may be lying
within a yard of the horses, watching
with fear and trembling every move
ment; yet neither will interfere. They
will not even show any sign of being
awake, because any attempt on their