Thomas County cat., 1886-11-18
A BORN THIEF.


The Curious Case Of walter EnSisnos Ans
SON Of Honest Parents.
The massive doors of the Eastern PEN
itentiary have closed upon a man just
crossed the threshold of manhood, who
for the next five years will mediate in
the gloom of his cell on the way of the
transgressor. There are few sadder
cases than that of handsome young
Walter England You may smile when
tell you that the case is a sad one, and
in the same breath add that this man
who will live living death for five.
years has served four years term in
the same institution. eight years in the.
Trenton State Prison, eighteen months
in the Allentown prison. and as a lad a
long term in the reform school at James
burg. n. J. He was born in 1856. near
Orange. N. j.. or within twenty miles
of it. His father was man of some
means, gained honestly. and his mother
was lovable little woman. whose tenn
permanent was sunshine itself. The
father had ever been respected among
his fellows as an honorable man. and
Just after the close of the war he was
reckOned to be worth fortune closely
approaching q million of dollars, but
the money brought him no happiness.
for his only son, then child of nine
years, had given evidence of depravity
as uncOnquerable as it was unexplain-
able.
Nothing extraordinary was developed
in the child until he had reached the age
of six years. when he was detected in
the act OF hiding silver spoon in hole
in the garden. This seemed to be SIM,
ply childish whim. and the indulgent
father provided the youngster with a
dozen spoons to hide any where he
wanted to hide them. Not long after
this the little fellow was caught in his
mothers bed room early in the MORN
ing industriOusly turning his fathers
pockets inside out and aporopriating all
the money he could find in them. For
this he was chided. and it would have
probably been forgotten had not the,
same thing happened half dozen times,
in succession not many days afterward.
Mark you, the boy was not then seven
years old. He had every conceivable
toy that boy of that age could wish.
for. and was humored in every caprice.
At the age of eight he distracted a
purse from the OvcrcOat of a visitor.
and with precocious shrewdncss inno--
Gently declared that he had seen 4 SER
want commit the theft. A few dAys
later the mother to her::unspeakable hor-
ror, discovered the missing purse. to-
gether with a lot of silverware. cleyerly
concealed in closet in the nursery.
Before he had reached his ninth year
the boy had actually robbed no less than
a dozen persons who had visited the
house. He was then delicate-looking
child with big blue eyes. tlaXen hair and
a waxy skin. He possessed none of the
eXuberance OF childhood. but appeared
to be constantly in medtative mood.
When accused of these many wicked
acts, he would at first stoutly assert his
innocence, but when caught would con-
fess without TIE slightest show of emo
ton. The loving entrcaty OF his mother
to tell her why he did such things had
no more effect on him than the slight
punishments inflicted by his father.
The boy would endure whipping with
the stole SIN of an Indian, and at the
very first opportunity thereafter would
repeat the Otfense for which he had been
punished.
At the tender age of ten the little
scamp was known in the neighborhood
of his home as an incorrigible thief.
Although never in want of spending
money. he took delight in purloining
81,
self, and on one occasion was caught in
the act of choking little fellow who
had refused to ..stand and deliver Be-
tween the ages of ten and thirteen. Wal
ter I'll call him that for convenience
sake-was the source of the creates,
grief to his parents. Their tears. their
pleadings, their threatenings and pun
ishments were alike useless. Once i'm
awhile the boy would show slight
symptoms of repentance. but the inter
vals grew further and further apart and
at last ceased altogether. just after his
thirteenth rthday Walter ran away
from home. His poor mother was al
most wild with despair. Detectives
were put to work. advertisements in
serted i'm all the leading newspapers.
but to no purpose. A year later he came
back. He refused to tell where he had
been or how he had managed to live.
In two weeks he disappeared again.
this time in the night, and took with
him a sum of money belonging to his:
father. Nothing more was heard of him
for couple of years. Then. from a.
description given in one of the news
papers. it was learned that he had been
in the interior of New York
State for robbery. After that he got.
into some sort of trouble in TrentOn
and was sent to the reform school. Up
OH his release he went to New York
City and formed the acquaintance of a.
number of notorious criminals. Next.
ne came to Philadelphia. and despite,
MS youth was one of the principals in a.
big scheme to rob the Adams Express.
Company, but was prevented by the
ilertness OF certain detectives. who
thought it wiser to nip the plan in the
Dud than to wait until it was consum-
mated and gain glory by an arrest. 1
I'm unable to tel, you of the details of
he crime for which the depraved youth
pent eight years in the Trenton prison.
No sooner was he out than he was en-