The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1884-10-11


meath picture, or between the portrait
and the back, appears to be favorite
place of concealment. Articles are
often ''planked'' in the chimney behind
the CRATE; and watch has even been
tossed into glowing coal-iire when
pursuit was close, although in at least
one instance the Latter device was I'M
availing. Two detectives were once
searching the house of a well-known
thief for some stolen jewelry. The
scent was keen, and the examination
searching. High and low they rum
mayed, but without success. From
the air of the thief the officers were
satisfied the stolen property was con-
cealed in or about the room. One of
them observed that the interest of the
Suspect" got always most intense as
they approached the window. Taking
this as his cue, the officer narrowly eX-
| amined the shutters, and even tore oft
the straps that kept in the window
| sashes, but without result. Suddenly,
a thought struck him, and lifting the
lower sash, he scanned the outside of
the wall closely. About three or four
feet below tine window-sill he saw a
stone in the wall that appeared to be
loose. Calling his comrade to hold
him by the legs, he reached down,
pulled out a small square stone, thrust
in his hand, and found a nice little
"hide," containing not only the articles
he was in search of, but also other
property sufficient to connect the thief
with several "iobs, and to procure
! him long term of quiet contempla-
ton.
A smart female thief once very nearly
Outwitted an officer by wrapping a
crumpled and dirty five-pound note
around n candle and stul1ing it into q
candlestick, which she then obligingly
handed to him. He searched consid-
cradle time before discovering that ne
had the object of his search in his hand
Another detective, after in vain search
ing house for some trussed poultry
that had been stolen, cast one parting
glance around, when his eye CHANGED
to alight on a cradle in which q woman
was yainly trying to hush a sQualing
baby. A thought struck him. He asked
her to lift the child. The woman made
some excuse, the officer insisted, and
was Immediately rewarded by finding Il
couple of the stolen fowls.
A slight clew, sometimes discovered
by the merest accident, often helps to
unravel not only one, but whole series
of thefts. A peculiar button, foot
mark, or a portion Of dress, will spring
a mine under the feet of a rascal who
thought he was Off scot-free. OF late
years, thefts of money by young clerks
or statesmen from their employers have
become increasingly common. There
are several causes for this. Beyond
doubt the tastes and habits of the Young
men of to-day are more expensive than
those of their fathers. With small
means, or no means at all, they dress
up as ''mashers' and smoke choice
cigars, attend theaters, concerts balls
and race meetings. If often INDUCED
in, these are rather expensive luXuries;
and as the supply of youths anxious for
genteel employment is always in excess
of the demand, the salaries given are
in many cases low. Then firms are
sometimes very lax in the oversight of
young men who have large sums of
money daily passing through their
hands. 1t seems 50 easy to take the
| lOll VI IL Nlltll SUN. HIGH, VI COuISc,
is to be put back again. After the first
false step the descent is rapid; and
many a young man fills felons cell,
or has to fly the country under circum-
stances due to his masters carelessness
as well as his own folly.
The plea of kleptomania IS now put
forward in defense of thieves much
oftener than it used to be. OF course
there are some cases in which kleptO-
mania is indisputable, as, for instances,
when we hear of a nobleman having to
be watched by his valet to prevent
him from pocketing his own silver
spoons. We know a respectable book
seller who had for q considerable time,
at intervals, been missing books from
his shop. He was satisfied some of his
customers were helping themselves,
but he could not say which. At last
his suspicious rested on reverend
gentleman of great abilities, but rather
eccentric character. He watched him
narrowly, and one day caught him in
the act of surreptitiouSly carrying off
a volume. The divine tried to explain
it away; but the bookseller, after list
ening gravely, called a cab, and in
sisted on accompanying him home and
examining his library. He limited that
otherwise he would be under the painful
necessity of calling in the police. The
clergyman made no further .obe elton.
They went to his house; and the book
seller brought back number of valuable
books, some of which he had not before
missed, and said no more about the
matter. The thief was a wealthy man,
and had large library; but he was a
bibliomanic.
Some thefts, however, are of differ
ent character, and in these the plea of
kleptomania, like that of insanity in
cases of murder, is sometimes pushed
rather far. Without attempting to
argue the matter on scientific principles,
it seems rather strange that klepto-
mania appears only to affect those who
are rich enough to pay an able advo-
cate, and that the morbid desire to
steal something instead of moving
them to carry it off openly-appears to
be accompanied by an equally morbid
desire to secrete the article stolen.
We shall conclude this paper by one
or two instances which show that
q = I