Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1889-07-17
GERMAN ROBIN HOOD.
SOME EPISODES IN THE CAREER OF
THE RHINE ROBBERS.
Several Provinces Invaded by Organized
Bands OF Standardization and
Arrest Retarded by Curious
SuperStitions.
tBoston Herald.l

/ Holland. and the banks of the Rhine had
I long been Of the opinion that the robbers
were not creatures of flesh and blood al
al. The stories told Of these adventurous
outlaws rival in point IF romantic inte-
rest the rectale Of the exploits OF
| Robin Hood and Little John. The court
I annals show that OF 100 robbers finally
/ captured and condemned 10 were Jews,
and these latter displayed al the worst
characteristics Of n section OF their race,
/ their cupidity and neanness being cKcep-
/ tional. 4 Jewish family living a. 6ron-
I ingcn, in Friesland, rs stated 20 have sent
out robber sons and grandsons, literally
I 10y the score, and some Of the West
/ acts Of the criminal crew were traced
| 30 descendants of old Jacob, as the
/ head Of the family was called.
/ Prominent among their achieVolneut7
was the murder of q woman and the
mutilation If an infant which cried out IN
/ terror and n was the cry ~ popular IN
! dIgnation which followed these outraers
/ that led 10 the breaking up OF the gang.
/ The family, or tribe ~ II might almost DO
! called possessed an amount Of energy and
! skill that should have made It's members
wealthy without the aid Of dishonesty.
/ Old Jacob was u skilful cOunterieter, and
many Thousand livres were thus made by
| him in his humble home. The women
/ folks were comely and shrcwd, and their
/ especial duty was 10 pass on the ola man 5
/ money. In groups OF Two or lnIee inel
! would 90 ON trips 10 Instant cilieS' M"Dl
/ they would make purchases, pass on lhe
cOunterfeits and
GIT GOOD MONEY As CHANGE.
| IN, -. ....,u1.o~- &C .tc r,r,iir- man
III i'' CIV, ,I,'"t, - ,'one,. and levels
a. f,l,IIo ,,;,,bt Eovo liv.l i'm
a., .',,l ,,l, roiIod m intervals had
! ,heV, sn desired II But tbey were profe--
/ e;n,'olg i'm crorv eonec of the word. and
/ ontraoo and robbery were to them at once
an ,,rr,,rotion and a recreation. Ban Boe-
/ - ,,od lesd;r, shirt i'm the GANG. and
| l,.o ~ Ia. e,eci.l achicvomenfe was tho
/ NIL ~ 10 ,I,t,rotected Indies In "a
mansion noar Client. Jan and four rcla-
/ f,,os faced Tho f,yo women and demanded
/ ...,.,.,.,.' o,l ;,,.,l, n, resistance WAS of
! t'rll 1.,,t ,.,of tho victims treulled so
.I. '," o,.,,il ,'ot ro,n,,.e her finger and
o'r desired Jan knocked
/ IT,, 49,, .-1 cr+ti,,., og ber FINGERS and
"' 49," i,'' IA J., ,n,role ,To ouiet her
,1i ~ ',' , '..i.' ,r .n1 tbor Killed her
,i.,, NV, '',' s ,..,. ,,,,,t.,,,.l.s
I e.. I~..,,L &c tbc roIi,r. made IFS
[ 49,. a., .,, ,L. -;,Lt hank
/ - NJ irhe ou.la,vs lived
va "a, li,illr.. rboeo silence thew
/ I.,.,,.,i-, ,ortl,, iv tbre.ta and uertlv bv
'uE.'., Lt ~ '-l.l,tio,,. o., tt,.,noors
tr.t. rfa.rl f.rf If
' - ~ i.,'',;.',, - a., fr,rticre
"" i,,'' a., Wy HIN Ian, an tbe fir-f
/ w ''-. 49, G,,,to 80, ar,,,. ,f Jewish
ILL., ,S',fr1 he viiiaoe nj REGULAR i'm
/ tervals and bought all the stolen property
/ without asking any announcement qu"--
| fipue Al first the Ncr~cn contingent
avoided deeds of violence, and made "a
-pecialtv of sneak thieying and burglary.
/ Houses were entered quietly, Ha.uables
removed. and no trace left upon which 20
( clc,y could he based.
Long prior TO 1880 those crimes were
| committed. House after house was bur
! slarIzp1 and 1aluablcs were seized. But SID
/ smart we're the thieves that they were
: never CAUGHT red handed. and II began 90
! he uoieed abroad that they were cmissAric-
Of Satan and only partly human. Missing
rrouortv could often be- found az Mcrsrn,
/ ttt vac ono could say how 10 cot there.
I and this fact served AS q fresh proof of tlc
/ hand work Of Satan. The heated MINDS
soon formed fable Of Witehcratt. and the
belief became general that tine hulf-humau
robbers took "a fearful oath OF compact
/ over ID bleeding corpse. Satan was paid 20
preside in person over all meetings and -
/ both plan the r0bhcries and assist in their
eyccution. The fable further asserted that
each member Of the ro5ber band had q
black shaggy ooat Of great sine. ON which
he rode through the air Ina order 20 fetch
his plumber from long distances. and th"
coat WAS SO heavily loaded 40 times that lts
heavy breathing could be
ur,t.n H,tP LEAGUE AWAY.
r....:...,..o- ,l.,,,. j., ,toee dovs and oven
80. ,,.''e IL ~ ,ro. diflict,lt ia
VIZ al ',.id.,c. sn rouuletelv wcr. the
procure l"Cuoi &c ia ',tl.rs, ,.,.,,,..,.
Id, da,na,1. of venoeonce. But at
''".i "''' -. 1,,ordpr,lie and
!4s' NV s,' - s ,ic icoend aLout The
VIZ t-.o',sal Inn, "a Je called were uer-
Elies ',,S,J tj,ei dyoIiinoe DESTROYED
cug'SlA pun 49,, a.. Vii 81. n,ant,
iu;i 49,, ...rt,rol AMI evocnt,J in Iaf-
~ - .. ~ ..,'o,,,h esconed to
9M"uS mann ~ 80 tri. ,,,,,,
keep 'H' u""', ,.,,.,. NJ, ,,o.
mem w. tn l'.,.''','rs e o. .,en,, If
ny Iii'' 80 ,''D t,ii.J ntbars sn,ed o,it
a.. ar tLc richness of HE land
~ III - .l;..,,-od If tha enoiIs Trade
"n" "''' l -, - th.. mon buiIt
was EOoui 49, '..,,,ii,i't.5 er,1l f,,rtnues
H. Lr"tbere {osLeck carried ON a series
e t-Il4 o,,J VOC tI.ss -,bberics i'm the Rhine
va pD,' ~ ;,,,"ro5 To Tradition az the
,1iIVS e. irI',,,.. 80 .tt..l,ol omen
h'I1 uHiI., ,,r,.J ,rJ ,,,,rI,r
NJ =, ~, r'ssted 4t The trials of can
'u " 'nOi -. -r,,roor6inorv stories
1ulr" ~ ~ - th(so r.l,toJ tn n f,n,i.
were l"lu, C Cno i M. i,'J - H..
~ il'.iie y ,i,f ,.ord Ill ,arrvino with
them fine wooden cross they bad stolen
from the village church. With this they
beat open one Of the house doors and took
possession. Quaak was seized and tor
tured and his wife was treated IN the same
manner. Both protested there was no
money in the house, but the robbers kept
mp their fortunes until the woman died and
the man became insensIble. They stripped
the house of everything ate AL the food
and drank all the wine they could ind, ana
then went of unm0lested.
Rumors reached the Bosbecks that
money-changer in Cuypen had "A consldera-
bic sum of money deposited with INN log
safe keeping. That night they marched
down the street of the rather popuiouS
town and shot down the money--changeI.s
door The very success OF tins exploit
nearly led 10 its failure for the money was
in nine or ten sacks, each SO bulky and
heavy that no one man could carry It,
The leader of the well-disciplned gang
was. however. equal to the emergency, for
he ordered the coins 20 be empued INTO
smaller bags. This was done, and the rob
beers got away Just as o crowd, attracted py