News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-12-20
GENTLEMANLY BURGLARS,
FEW OF THEM PICKED OUT OF A
VERY LARGE BATCH,
ROg9es " no Ape the Ways of FUshIona BILE
Lue P"d Tor n Time Live in Clover,
From the New York Hour l

In the play Of the ''Silver KING" a
cultivated gentleman of distinguished
appearance, who has the ye7f75ee Of many
swell houses, is known to his business
associates as Captain Spider" and is
called from delightful party at LADY
0lanche Somebody's" to pick the lock
OF a safe, and, incidentally, to shoot the
safe owner. He is afterward seen takinc
ms ease in atastefully furnished country
villa, and is heard telling his charming
and extensively attired wife that his
possessions are the results of his pa
thence and industry. The critics de-
cIared the character untrue to life.
though why they should have done so is
not clear, for, between the CentlemanIv
CRAFTSMAN and great many other per-
sons, not always gentlemanlv. who
through methods that law is still too
imperfect to obstruct, take all that a man
mas without giving anything in return,
Sne difference IS not great enough to be
discernible.
The burglar who was shot few nights
ago at Woodslde, New Jersey, by a gen
tIeman whose house he had entered
without first observing the triaing for
ma!lty of ringing the bell, was evidently
OF the Captain Spider" class, but he had
= ~ SAA Liz LlBUClS So ltlE as 20
nave no associates. He appears to have
dressed well, conducted himself with
propr1ety in his limited social relations.
and mad no bad personal habits. He did
rot live in the fashionable quarter of the
city, but there were prudential reasons
Tor that; man cannot live and move in
fashionable circles without exciting
much curiosity as to his financial re-
SOTlrPnS
Sagaclous fathers. Spider fell because
he had cOnfederates, for thieves are
pound to fall out sooner or later, even
II they are as safe from the laws threats
as II they stole nothing but railroads.
But no dangerous character seems to
have known the WOodside burglar. even
by sight; neither did the police know
him, although there is nothing strange
about this, for did not Porter, of late
on trial for murder, and his friend
irving go for months unmolested to and !
from Il charming residence on the out |
skirts of Brooklyn At every ferry there |
are plenty of policemen, and detectives |
are supposed to be there too; the por-
TRAITS of Irving and Porter were in the |
nOgues' Gallery" which every officer
In Brooklyn and New York is supposed
TO have IN his minds eye; vet, for a
long time Porter and Irving safely ran
the gauntlet Of the officers at the ferries.
IN the streets and on the cars, and We're
captured only after being seen in COM
pany with other criminals, who, being
more common, were better known.
Their home was found to be luxuriousiy
ttlrn1shed; the grounds were tastefullv
LAID out and planted, and on the lawn
the gentlemen and their wives were
frequently seen playing croquet and
lawn tennis. There Is 10 possible legal |
or moral objection to a burglar and his
family playing fashionable Out-OF-doOr
games; indeed, the community could
wei. afford to support such people, if it
could also pledge them to devote their
entire attention to crOQuet and lawn
tennis. The only strange thing about
the POrteT-Irving set IS hat thew were :
entirely unknown to their neighbors 5
and the police, and there was none to
modest them or make them afraid.
Among other well-known gentlemen" .
whose dOings were not regulated by
iaw-abldlng spirit was the forger Gray, 1
whose financial operations, on the basis l
OF names not written by the men who I
owned them, were the wonder and terror I
OF many bankers In America and Europe. |
Gray was fond of other peoples COM
pany as well as their money, and he Z
never failed to be prominent in society
he might be. He married well,
it is said he married too fire. $
and at one time he even be-
came Magistrate in his English home
His last capture and Incarceration may
be traced more to his social proclivities !
than to any lack of shrewdUess on his
own part, for he was so well known by |
sight to thousands of intelligent people I
that when once described hundreds of I
recognized him by the a
L
New York has habits share-mOre than
its share, some people insist of gentle d
manly criminals. One prepOssessiug t
young man, not of bad family, was a few n
years ago accused of making his cx- L
penses" by sequestrating silver spoons 4
and forks at evening parties; others d
have been known to rife the pockets of S
OyercOats left In gentlemen's dressing $
rooms at large private entertainments. Il
Two or three are believed to have earned o
pleasing incomes by apprOpriating brio S
a-brac during the course of evening D
calls. t
The qualifications of a successful gen I
tlemanly thief are not necessarily nu-
merous. Any man without regular t
means of support and with an unvarying Il
to work comes naturally by e
the Willingness to steal; he then merely t
lacks opportunity, and this he can "
find in a hundred ways if he happens to Il
be IN society. Pawnbrokers' shops are Il
rs numerous as churches, so the booty r
may be disposed of easily. If any single O
article brings but little money, the tenn "
pOrary owner las the consolation of J
knowing that it cost nothing, and that
plenty more may be had at the same
price. The ease and success with which
stealing may be followed as q livelihood i
by young men who have 'the run" of {
the best private residence should sug- t
gest to some fashionable circles the c
Of looking more carefully L
into the credentials of gentlemen with. '
put visible means of support. OF course, d
when any youth of good family is de- Y
-ected in the act of appropriating the n
of others the plea Of ''klepto- :
mania" Will have to be accepted, but K
here is no harm In knowing in time \
VINO the kleptOmaniacs are. n