West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1885-11-13

from murder except as the very
last means of avoiding capture. There
As one little thing about systematic
burglars which few people know of.
They never address each other by their
real names when engaged in IA crime.
N usual way is TO give each one a
number Then the leader can talk
without giving the police a olew to the
identity of his confederateS. He can
say Here, No. |, You gag this man.
NO. :, you bring that jimmy and lantern
n the next room You sec. i'm order
to carry out II big plan several men
must be IN the conspiracy. and this is
the way they communicate with each
other"
THE boss BURGLAR
who do you think IS the best burglar
in the worldP''
Dan Noble He is AT present living
against his will in England. Dan was
caught in AN attempt upon the Bank of
England. You don't know what a man
he was
The lawyer shook his head sadly.
How about Bill Nosburgh; wasn't
he a clever BURGLAR"
'Oh don't, don't mention such "A man
IN the same breath with Dan Noble"
cried the lawyer, with an expression of
pam upon his face. at simply disgusts
me. What. Bill Nosburgh compared
to Dan Nobel A common sneak thief
compared TO the king of scientists!
why, Noble could do anything. Many
Il time he sat i'm the very chair you're
sitting in and talked to me. Some of
the great bank burglars become cleo
trlcians and chemists. A man who was
once celebrated burglar, but who is at
present an honored physician, told me
when | was defending him that he could
90 through II steel shutter with IA phial
OF acid, a piece Of silk and "a spring saw
gust as If he was cutting through so
much tissue paper. Burgulsrs study
electricity in order to cope with patent
alarms.
HOW THE SwAGn Is OF.
" But there are some things in which
the poor burglar is misunderstood. He
seldom gets the lions share of the profit
Take n sample case. I'll give you one
founded upon fact that will illustrate
scores OF others. A burglar breaks into
a SILK house and gets away with two or
three cases that cost the owner. saw.
S2,OOO. Tie has to pay at least two
coniederates. Before the burglary no
had to hire a floor ia some CHEAP tene-
nlenl mousse and IAN express wagon.
Inc SILK rs taken in the wagon to the
tenement house, for no receiver of stol-
en goods or fence, rs we call such a
person, would allow so many goods to
he carried to the receiving place. II would
attract too much attention. If the
wagon and horse belong to a trusted
friend the burglar returns them; if
no.. he lets them 90 in the street
and don't bother his head about
them. Now, the next thing to do
IS to call in three or four fences
TO hid for the silk. IL is a curious fact.
but a true one, nevertheless. that when
Il mar Is robbed he always saws that his
loss Is greater than it really is. In this
ease the merchant claims that the silk
stolen from him is worth over 80, COO. in
stead OF $1,000, its real value. The burg
lar reads the newspapers, for he must
always keep up sharply with the news of
the day. and gets from the merchants
Misrepresentation an exaggerated idea
OF what his booty is worth. The first
fence to arrive surveys the silk and
says, Mine friendt, dose goots are wort
$4,000; | elf you ~, 200, vor ] hat to
sell vOr -, 500 to a friendt of mine who
knows all apout dot roppery.' The
fence is perfectly honest i'm his state
ment, but the burglar doesn't believe
him and refuses to sell.
WHERE I'll DETECTIVE COMES IN.
Now, what does the fence dop /
don't want to be too explicit, but
the chances are that within n few
hours a detective taps the burglar
on the shoulder. Say, wasn't that a
curious burglary in So-and-so's silk
warehouseP' says the detective. Il
don { know anything about it saws the
poor burglar, who is now inwardlv
quaking. Yes, YOU do SAYS the de-
tectiye, 'aud you've got the stuff. Now
give you till tomorrow TO fork over
the stuff to the owner or IN collar it
and you, too You see. the detective
doesn't know where the silk is hid. but
he pretcuds he does. What Toes the
poor burglar do now? He either sends
for the fence aud sells the silk for
whatever he "a get, or he agrees
with the detective to return the goods
10 the owner for say -, 900 reward. III
the latter course is decided upon, the
public suddenly learns Of a very brill
liant piece Of detective work through
which two detectives have unearthed
the headquarters Of a gang of burglars.
The thieves managed to escape. but all
their swag was captured. Thus the
SILK is returned TO the owner, who paws
the reward, in which the burglar and
the fence share. You see what a dis
couraging thing it is TO be a burglar.
a BURGLAR AT HOME.
"a man like Dan Noble sometimes
becomes prominent i'm his own com
munity. Dan lived i'm Elmira and
owned trotting horses there. have
often heard 10 said that he was so pop
ular iu Elmira that the authorities
could not get q conviction against him
there. Once when / was on my way to
BinghamtOn to get q famous burglar
out on bail / met Dan Noble ON the
train. lie had q whole section i'm the
car, had two splendid dogs, and was
waited upon as il he was a Prince. /
told him where ! was going. and be
laughed m on my way 10 my resi-
dencc. he said. It's too bad that
people will get themselves in trouble.
ISL it.' Noble, YOU will remember.
stole over - 200, OOO i'm bonds from Mr..
Lord.
rErNcE OF SNEAK rHIEvE-.
wv no is another remarkable criminal
Of your acquaintance2''
'Chauncey Johnston Hes dead
now
The lawyer turned hi. head away
Ihon there was a moment Of silence
Then Doc pressed 90 piece OF blOtting-