The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1890-01-18
was the supposition of the detect

which they were unsuccessful, that
the stone had been stolen, and that
the burglar had devised that ingen-
ious way Of slowing it away. No
criminal charge could be made
against him, and he was given twen-
ty-four hours to leave the city. He
made good use of the time that was
allotted to him, and has not been
heard Of stree. At last accounts
the diamond was being held at po-
lice headquarters in the city where
it was discovered.
"Mollie Matches" the notorious
thief who was recently released from
Joliet prison for robbing the Gales
burg (Ill.) bank of $4,000, for
months carried a 800 bill under a
porous plaster which he had on his
back, and would probably be carry
ing it yet had he not boasted of his
smartness to aparty of friends while
drunk. It reached the detectives,
and "Mollie" was arrested, and the
bill found as stated. Although it
was widely advertised, the owner
never put in an appearance, and
"Mollie," who was not slow to catch
on to a good thing when he saw it,
wisely refrained from reclaiming it.
In speaking about burglars and
crooks in general, few days ago,
an old-time hotel keeper said to the
writer: II will never forget the time
we were robbed. 1t was great
many years ago, when kept the
hotel on Smithfeld street. At
that time it was one of the best ho-
tells in the city. Well, one evening
while my clerk was at supper and
| was behind the counter, fine
looking young man, dressed in the
height of fashion, entered and walk
ed straight up to me. He carried
no baggage and had one finger tied
up in bandages. He asked if we
could accommodate him for the
night. l replied in the affirmative,
and turning the register, handed
him pen with request to sign.
"My name is Harry -. Sign
for me-" he said.
"'It is against the rules, you'll
have to register yourself
"'Well,' replied he, my finger is
healing and | cannot write
II eyed him suspiciously and fin
ally signed the name he told me,
but | believed it to be fictitious.
Baggage said |.
"'No, sir, haven't got any baggage.
"My suspicious were now thor
oughly aroused and Iquickly made
up my mind to put him in room 13,
the room we reserved for such char
acters. The man was shown to 13
and | paid no more attention to
him until later developments
brought him to my mind. | retired
about midnight, and being very
tired was soon fast asleep. About
three O'Clock in the morning was
awakened by my wife tugging at
my arm and loud knock at the
door. | opened my eyes and asked
my wife what was the matter. She
was as pale as death and was so
frightened that she could not speak.
In an instant my door was broken
open and the porter rushed in terri
blv excited. What's the matter?
| almost screamed.
"'Oh massa,' replied the porter,
de house hab been robbed and some
oh de guests am down in de office
raisin' Cain
."After my wife had tainted several
times she recovered enough to tell
me that she had seen man climb
in at the window, go over our eyes
with light to see if we were sleep
ing, and then ransack my clothes
and everything in the room. She
had been too frightened to stir. |
ran down stairs, where the utmost
excitement reigned. Counting my
money and what the guests lost, the
amount of money missing footed up
over $4,000, besides lot of jewelry,
I succeeded in quieting the guests
by telling them that we would make
everything good. Just then num-
Der 13-that unlucky number
flashed through my brain. My
mind was made up. 'Joe,' said | to
the porter, come with me. l know
the man who has done this We
rushed up stairs to No. 13, tried the
door and found it locked. Open
the door, I yelled. No response
came, and again l shouted: Open
the door or I'll burst it in.' With
this put my foot against the door
and open it went. There was the
young man sitting on the bed, qui-
etly pulling on his boots. He made
big kick about being disturbed,
and wanted to know what it all
meant. / told him that robbery
had been committed, and that as he
was the only stranger in the house,
he must be searched. He became
very angry at first, but after being
forced down stairs he was very anx-
ious that a search be made at once.
Well, we searched him, but found
NOTHING ah0nt him. and nv partner