, 1888-03-03
SAFEGUARDS AGAINST THIEVES.
a Reformed Burglar Tells ~ousehoIde
How TO Protect Their Prnnertv.

a Reformed Burglar Tells Householder
How to Protect Their Property.
First of all, l may say that the house
holder, especially if his house is situated
in the suburbs, should count as next to
nothing he protection afforded by the
night policeman on his beat. l don't
mean to i%nsinuate that the night police
man neSlects his duty. 1 believe that, as
n rule, he performs it as well as he is able
to, and it may be pretty safely relied on
that at each time he passes q row of vii
las he will cast the light of his bulls eye
over the front garden, if there is one,
and over the house front, and the lower
and street dooT. If there is no
front garden, he will see that all is right
and tight in the area as well. But his
beat is a long one, and it is probable he
will not pass that way again for an hour,
or perhaps longer. So that if there is a
job afoot all that those engaged in it lave
to do Is to hide and see the policeman off,
and they then know exactly how much
time they have TO get through their work
before he can make his appearance
again.
Speaking from my experience, and
from that of others with whom | have
been acquainted, 1 should say that at
least a fourth part of the number of pri-
vate house burglaries that are success
fully committed are assisted by servants,
But speaking of ordinary work it is the
female servants who are made useful,
and that quite innocently on their part.
Masters and mistresses nave no idea what
easy simpletons many girls in service
are, or how easily they are induced to
betray the secrets of the house. And not
only girls, but women, cooks and house
maids, who are old enough to know bet
ter. A smart chap, with plenty to say
and with money to spend, has but to
scrape acquaintance with the kind of
servants l am abiding to when they are
out for church or Sunday and meet them
a few times afterward, and he can learn
all he wants to know respecting the val
liable stuff in The house and where it is
kept, and the ways and habits of their
employers and when they arc at home
and when away.
1t Is not often the burglar himself who
in his way goes a-fishing for useful in
formation. Generally speaking, he is not
what may be called a ''ladies' man"
He is very well in his own line, but he
hasn't got the good looks or the i~nsinuat-
ing ways that go down with the fair sex.
That part of the programme is intrusted
to the 'sweetstuff man." He is an affa-
BILE, well spoken young fellow, very re-
specially dressed, and so respectable in
his manner that even if he was caught in
the kitchen with the servants at houses
where followers are strictly prohibited
his appearance would disarm suspicion.
1t should not be forgotten that the
burglar has no particular desire in the
pursuit OF his calling to run his head into
more danger than is necessary, and there
Is nothing that is SO much to his liking
as parapet work-getting in at attic
windows that are screened by the roof
parapet. Not one householder in a score
gives a thought as to the security of the
attic window. He will nave his street
door iron plated, with q patent lock on
1t, and a chain strong enough to hold an
elephant, but a catch that can be pus
back with a bradawl is good enough for
the attic window, and all the time it
is quite as easy to enter by ono
way as the other-if the houses
stand in q row and one of them
happens to be empty. This is ono
of the opportunities the fraternity
are always on the lookout for. Nothing
can be easier than to enter an unoccu,
pied house at the basement, and onco
within all a man has to do is to walk up.
stairs and get out on to the parapet, and
there, well screened from view by tho
coping, he can creep on his hands and
knees, and by means of the attic win.
dows get into any house he has q fancy
for. If it is winter time, and after dark,
he will have no difficulty in taking stock
OF the front windows before he makes
the ascent, and SO ascertaining which of
the front rooms are occupied or if the
family are at dinner. If the latter hn
can be pretty sure that the servants are
all down stairs, and he can explore the
upper rooms without much fear of inter-
ruption. This wouldn't be called in the
profession tip top work, but it is q means
by which householders lose a considerable
amount of portable property, and it very
rarely happens that the robber is caught
in the act.
AS regards house fastenings there is,
in my opinion, nothing safer for windows
than a long thumb screw in q socket,
going right through the frame and deep
into the sash on both sides of the win
dow. l don't know if there have been
any wonderful inventions in that way
since l took an interest in such things,
but l never saw q door fastener except
the thumb screw that should give a
workman a minutes trouble. For the
street door there Is nothing SO good as a
flat bar fastened to a pivot to the center,
SO that it will extend across the jambs
and drop into slots made on the plan OF
a watch and chain swivel. For window
shutters the cheapest and best protection
is a lightly hung bell on a coil spring.
But better than locks, bolts and bars is a
why little dog that, roaming loose, will
open his pipes inc let all the house know
it the moment he hears a suspicious noise
at door or window.-London Telegraph,
The Evil of Chewing Cloves.