The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-04-23

she would resume the inspection Of the pre-
| cious stones, make some small investment and
I prepare TO depart. Usually the salesman
| would discover the sbssncs of from one 20
] three costly gems, and dEtain her. She would
| grow indignant, he more firm and iusistens.
| The messenger boy sent for 4 policeman would
| find ''bobby" right at the door and csll him
| in, He would place the woman under a.
! rest, and she would beg him TO spare an in
| nocen5 person the flsgrace of being dragged
! through the streets to Jail. A cab would be
| at hand, and in it the policeman and his
! prisoner would drive away, after the former
| had warned the jeweler to be in court prompt
! " next morning. And that was the last the
merchant would ever hear Of the woman, the
organ grinder, the policeman or the cab
| driver
! All, Of course, were confederates. When
| the female customer SGT out the parcel to
| the street musician it contained, beside the
| coDpers the stones she had distracted from
| the tray. With these in MS pocket the organ
! grinder promptly disappeared, tae bogus po-
/ liceman took his station within call, and
| humble but useful member Of the gang took
! care that meanwhile the genuine bobby on
! the beat was getting has Ell Of bitter beer at
| the most convenient public housa. The grand
| exit to the waiting cab OK the stern officer
| and the weeping female completed the arts
tic details Of the swindle. In two days thirty
! eight complaints reached the authorities OF
thefUs Of this sort, but by the time they got
| ready to act no one could be found for them
20 arrest.
Speak of the "spendthrift Yankee to a
London pawnbroker and the cold chills will
| go down his back il squadronS He and his
brethren have reason to remember the man.
| Mr. Leighton, as the American was known,
dropped into q loan Office one day and desired
an advance on his diamond ring until he re-
| ceived remittances from home. The proprie-
tor examined the jewel carefully and ac-
cepted it as a pledge for ESQ. 1t was re-
deemed and again pawned then put in pledge
once more and the process kept up until the
money lender grew well acquainted with the
ring and It's owner. One day Mr.. Leigh
ton" sauntered in: Same thing, same sum"
he remarked in his usual manner. ''All right,
sir" was the reply, the pledge was laid aside
without scrutiny and the cash turned over.
This time no redemption followed, and the
ring, on examination, proved to be paste. It
afterwards came out that the 'spendthrift
Yankee" had disposed of eighteen other imita-
tions elsewhere by adopting similar methods
Chicago had a sensation some years back in
the way of e jewelry robbery that shool, up
the city. The large sample trunk of New
York travelling man stood at the outer door
of the Clifton house. An express wagon
drove up while the owner was registering his
name in the Office, two men dumped the trunk
into the vehicle and drove away. Thirty
thousand dollars worth Of jeve!ry had disap-
peared as if by magic. A few weeks after
ward Charles Aldrich, an ex-detective, and
Walter Mcdonald, city sealer of weights and
measures, were arrested for tine crime. Aid
rich secured an acquittal, but Mcdonald was
convicted. Divers found the trunk at the
bottom Of Lake Michigan a few rods from
the shore. It's contents were intact.
Only the other day bold attempt was
made to rob a Chicago jewelry firm. They
received a letter asking them to send several
diamond rings and pins to a room at the
Palmer house for inspection. The writer,
who signed himself Ralph a. Allen, explained
that he was unable TO leave the hotel because
of a sprained ankle. The clerk who under
took the filling of the order discounted the
probability of robbery by statiOning a stall
wart porter in the hallway while he went
into the room. Ellen looked at the gems, Sc