Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-02-23
THE ROMANCE OF CRIME.
The Remarkable Career of a Thief WI

THE ROMANCE OF CRIME.
The Remarkable Career of a Thief who
Stole over Quarter of a Million.
A man whose miserable life was recent.
/ ly ended in one OF the prisons of the CITY
OF London, held so prominent a place al
one time in the eye of the public and was
the object OF such solicitOus interest ON
the part Of the police authorities, that his
/ death deserves, perhaps, a few lines be-
/ yOnd the mere announcement of il. Mr..
Dan Noble was certainly eminent in the
walk Of life which he chose for himself.
He was a thief, and, like all habitual
thieves, IN spite of trite and obnoxious
maxim, deirauded his ''palsr as well as
the honest portion of the community. The
origin OF Mr.. Noble is involved in OBSCURE
ty, and it is not likely that his British
I Jallers were Over-particular in marking
the spot where they buried his
body. Mr.. Noble had learned his profess
sion in all its branches before he achieved
nOtOriety by hisi first great deed,
which caused his name to become, for a
time, familiar as household word. On
the morning Of the 10th of December
1866, two decent looking men entered the
offices of the Royal Insurance Company
in New York city, and engaged one of
the officers in conversation. Another
man stood at the door. By the use of
skill which had been labOriOusly -acquir-
ed, the two men, who were both thieves
gained possession of a tin box full of
securities for invested money, and passed
It TO the third man, their confederate, at
the door. The man with the box left the
neighbOrhOOd as quickly as possible.
His associates, bidding the gentleman
whose attention they had held a respect
ful good morning." leisurely left the
Office. The box contained United States
a.
carried the box to the thieves rendezvous
was Mr.. Dan Noble. His companions did
not know the value of the property they
had stolen, 50 their magnanimOus associ-
ate decidedly had the advantage of them.
Moreover, the gentleman with whom
they had talked retained a tolerable ac-
curate impression of their appearance,
while Noble had scarcely been noticed at
all. 1t will be seen, therefore, that Mr..
Noble received more substantial benefit
from the ''haul' than the others.
The three thieves went to Kingston,
Canada, Mr.. Noble. produced
$4,000 in bonds, which, he told his
friends, was the extent of the booty, and
this sum was divided evenly between the
three. 1t is saidthat one of Mobiles as
sOciates is now keeping a hotel in Toronto:
the other at that time established gam
bling house at Evansville, New York. As for
MIR. Noble, he took things leisurely. Nearly
five months elapsed before he returned to
the United States, and then, instead of
making his abode in New York city,
where, in those days, with his ample cap
ltal and agreeable manners, he could
speedily have become conspicuous
in local political circles, he estab-
lished himself in the pretty town of Ell
mira, situated in Chemung county. Here
he could make his money 90 further and
create stronger impression with his
wealth than in the busy metropolis, He
purchased a fine house and bought fast
horses; he gave dinner parties to the
gilded youth, and his table became ia
nous for its fine wines. He clad his erect
and shapely form in brOadclOth and wore
diamonds that flashed in the eyes of the
common herd as he walked or rode through
the streets He delighted to exhibit his
proficiency in what is called the manly
art, and, in short, he became known as
thoroughly ''gOOd fellOw,' not "cul-
tured,r OF course, but manly, indie
pendent and rich, But the villainOus po-
lice were on his track, A clue led them
toward Griffin, that thief who had put
his share of the money in a gambling
house at Dansyille, Griffin was warned
and fled to Canada, but most of his money
was gone, and tidings reached him of the
prOdigality of Mr.. Noble, in Elmira.
Then his suspicious became aroused, and
obtained a tri1e of $2OO,OOO more than he
had of the proceeds of the robbery he
promptly went to New York and made a
clean breast of the matter to the officers
of the insurance company, SO Mr., Mobiles
glorious career was inglOriOusly checked.
Both Of his accemplices turned States evil
dence, and after four trials. Justice being
defeated three times by the powerful
friends the scOundrel had made during
his career as a capitalist" Noble was
convicted and sent to Auburn. After a
years Imprisonment, he escaped and
went to England, but the London police
were too much for him. The Elmira Gazette,
which recalls the events of this mans
life, records the fact that he is remember
ed in Elmira as having been "a devoted
husband and a kind father His death
resulted, to use a familiar form of speech,
from natural causes: in other words. the
tastes which he INDUCED in when he had
money were such that his powerful con-
stitutiOn was undermined, and he breath
ed his last breath on cOnvicts pallet.