New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-05-25
DARING BURGLARS FOlLEb'
c.prrRE OF A DANGEROUS CRIMINAL

po.oct;,,c- Sergea ants King anu Lynn ,,,ar,ors
- ssrrpes,s staff, brought 10 ro"V0 - hort
spoo sp'iav morning a stout. ruddy-laceo man -
YESTERDAY '" ~ .ho bore the appearance OF beng a
rosnerous hanic, and rather goouiooAi"E
ounp woman Of respectable appearance aoo 10
;nr Years old The man was GustNus ho"'' ", -
=. Frenchv Gus" alias Frank Leroy anaS ''" n 49,,
.,ou who Inspector Byrnes says, Is to-uay '0 -
ahoric aud the most dreaded bank burglar KNOWN W
che poliee The young woman was MS u""sn'oi' -
Rose Kent age twentyfour, who was arreS'ou 80 ."
occompice The crimes for which keh'z was ar ~"
, time are the burglary In the store OF smith w.
No AZ Park-place, the night OF Aprl ~ w M oao ~
,o was blown open and railroad bond 1Or @o'V'o' "
I estate bond for 81 $50, gold and silver ""'on
and about $50 in cash were stolen; ana inc ouns.
the establishment of G. b. Horton Coz NO. % , r
forst on May 81, when the safe was broken opo" au
1924 in cash and seme postage stamps ana reiin' '--
railroad annex truck tickets were stolen %
Kentz was released from Sing Sing OIL FEBRUARY -
1854 and was first seen in this city afterwaru ny ~
tiyesergeants King and Lyon In January hs~ as ~
os INSPECTOR Byrnes discovered that he was mere o W
tailed sergean;s King, Lyon, siauson ana oOohnoi ~
keen watch of him They have followed MN CLOSELY
over since They first found him In house III Ias'
Onehundred and. twenty yeighth-st, where lie hau Ao
ROOM Since then he has changed MS ADDRESS seNei
,mes At the time Of his arrest he hved AT NO DO
Ntortet-st The detectives certain that nc
roit,ed the burglary in Park-place, but had not
ruob evidence TO convict him and did not arrest h'
After the Frankfor-st. burglary, however tue! n"o
mn their minds that they had their man ana yesterday
noning arrested him his home. They found IN MS
possession number of wax impressions OF Keys pi
NJ black ONYX sleeve buttons marked with the luti'i
aFp small bronze bear holding ball. and circular
safety lock and key of his invention whch was eA
tremely complicated and which, he said coulu not Pos'i
by be picked The detectives next went TO 'he rooS
of his daughter Mrs Rose Kent, at NO 40 East
Twelfthst There they found among other Things set
~ remarkably perfect burglars tools including peeui
instrument which puzzled all the detectives until hehN
explained that 1t pick-lOcR OF MS own lnNen'on
with which he could open any combination lock- no d
ter how complicated II might be. There were also
number Of nuely tempered less that o
on inch wide which could be easily carried in the sole
of shoe seventy-hve skeleton keys sectional JinieS
of the finest make and all the proceeds OF boh lhe oe
lares except the cash. She had also blue enameHeu
locket ornamented with bunch Of grapes IN slnail
diamonds The young woman stated that the stun louu
had beep left with her by father When confronted
with the evidence Of his guilt Kenz confessed 10 Ooth
burglares He sad however that there was so u esh
IN the Park-pacc safe and Sl99 04 in the one III crank
forrest. .,
The poice records show to be man of great in
cenutv and bravery and a dangerous criminal.
Before 1869 he was employed mechanic Ia the "ach
case factory of Wheeler Parsons In state-st brooA-
lvn In that year he arrested on charge OF sea
ing quantity Of watch eases and other jewey ana was
tried convicted and sentenced TO ten years in sing sing
In 1871 he escaped by cnttng the bars OF his
cell with saws which had been smusged in for hiIn
He was next heard Of in october H. 1872 when he was
arrested in Hackensack, n. j.. for the robbery OF
iewery factory in that city, Before he came 70 Ual
however he was identified by New-York detectives anu
delivered NewYork authorizes TO serve out
his term being taken back TO Sing sing he deVoled
his mechanical genius to the invention OF system o
locks by which cells in prison could be opened
at once by the simple turning OF lever. SO much
pleased were the prison authorities with tue IN
xention that they agreed TO bring ahout
Kentzs pardon provided he could perfect tne
system so that series Of cells could be opened WIN
ont opening all. weeks more OF work served 10
complete the and application was maze 10
Governor Tden by prison authorities for his pardon
While much pleased with the invention. the Go'crhor
decided that much too clever thieI 10 pe
NJ liberty and he declined 20 pardon him ana kenU kept
his invention Desparing OF pardon, early In lo'o' oy
brbing some Of the prison officials with $500 when nc
managed to raise again made his escape ana THIS te
went TO Canada His theyish prOpensities were 100
strong and committed burglary In the pawnoroker
shop OF one Lazarus, in Nore Damc-st.' Montreal ie
was arrested eonvcte and sentenced for term oi three
years in the penitentary which he served While III 'he
Canadian prison he introduced the system Oh !OeAS "o
he had invented in Sing Sing.
The procees of the Montreal robbery were sent TO his
daughter in this city and Canadian detective accom-
panied by Detective Sergeant Philip Reilly succeeueu III
getting back twenty yseyen diamonds hha tue! "e'o io
turned 20 their owner When he released from the
Canadian ia he went TO ST. Albans, VT where he was
discovered and ON February $780, Detective Jackson,
OF New-York was sent to take him TO sing sing "heh
the train reached Troy the journals OF the locomotives
driving wheels became heated and the train had TO STOP
Kentz improved the opportunity by breaking away from
Detective Jackson Tie detective gave hot chase ana
brought down the fugitive by well-directed shots
from his revolver one Of which took effect In his left
check and the other in the back OF the head hehN
arrived at Sing Sing dangerously wounded ANA this time
served and discharged on February
2l 1854 He was taken to Hacensack answer for his
bnreary there but after having been confined there for
about Two months was released the evidence available
not being enough to convict him. kenn was much
sourbt after by bank burglars. lie invented the pump
bloger with which powder Is blown into the cFevces OF
.ac doors so that they be blown OPEN and various
other contrivances which have been used in all the
prominent bank burgares for and has often
said that no safe could be invented that he could not
force
After his arrest Kentz told Inspector Byrnes that
Frank Mccoy, a welknown bank burglar who received
sixty lasbes in the public square Wilmington Del for
a sburslary there and has twice killed his man.,
once mere and once in Philadelphia had come to him some
time ago and had proposed to break open the vaults OF
the butchers DrOvers' National Bank, at No l24
Bowery They had made Investigations and found that
while the place wired that Is connected by cleo
trie burglar alarm wires with the Central Burglar Alarm
Office It was easily entered Mccoy had told him that
the ianitor of the bank although he had wife and two
children was somewhat OF lusher and could be easily
handled and altogether the job easy one. He
was 10 meet Mccoy at the New-York entrance Of the
Brooklyn Bridge this morning to make the final arrange
uents for the plant" Kentz Is "a Belgian by BIRTH
He will be arraigned IN the Jefferson Market Police
Court this morning The penalty for his offence will be
Imprisonment for life, this will be his second convic-
ton.
ASOCIALIST WHO DREW PICTURES.