Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1892-07-16
Furnishing A THEE.
:0Eow a Burglar Was Very Clever
ly Trapped.


7rtEsn is intrusted the duty of dealing
vv5xA telegraph business at race meet
ahrgx and other events of irregular and
Itinerary occurrence, / have visited
vossxt towns of any Importance in Eng
Exnd, and have been u spectator of, and
sssN some cases n participator in, some
sSsr1z zious incidents, one of which pro-
7Nrss to relate here. Many of the most
eszsncessful meetings, from n racing
gTS1n's point of view, are those held mt
trApces otherwise of very little size or
trzportance. AS an example, it will be
xsgi1ieient to mention Epson. 1t was to
n town in the Midlands ordinarily con-
+fsniRing about six thousand inhabitants,
rSslNt 7, with five colleagues, including
M supervisor, was ordered in the
zIr1tumn of 1877. The event was two
Nfay race meeting. The first day was
s7z,e, with occasional showers; the
racing was good; and as large COM
tpz,ny was present, we had enough to do
unot only at the grand stand, but also
Eater in the evening at the town Office,
vshence we dispatched a large quantity
JzS press-work by means of n Wheat
,seoue," which had been sent for the
NtnApUSe. III was clcNeu " ClOCh DclOTe
hsas finished, and we then had good
E1alf- hours walk to our lodgings.
The second day was awful. Rain fell
In torrents the whole afternoon. OF
S,,Jnrse the programme was carried out;
t1a7t, beyond official results and ''re-
qg.eived" messages, we had very little to
4Su- 1t is the only day ! can remember
.tt,1ring which our boss did not stir out
taf the Office. He generally contrived
Ss1 have some business to transact out
;s7tY. about the time fixed for each race.
This day, however, the persistent down
y71nr was too much for him. After the
-Assoird race, he sent me to one of the re-
gl,1zters on some business. l found my
xRsn in the weighing-room, n small tenn
5psyvary wooden shed at the back of Tat
easrsalrs ring.
Vixen I entered, the jockeys were
E1eing weighed in, and there was ap-
lrzn.ntly some difficulty or dispute, as
1cils process was an unusually protracted
-yne- Iwaited, leaning against the back
wall of the shed, and as did so, be-
.c.1n3e conscious Of voices whispering
-eaz1Tside. / caught the words: "a bloke
-cxiEh big red nose and one eye;" and
Iuy attention was arrested at once, for
a.Sais was description of our counter
<fTeTk. 1 listened attentively and with
EfU.reasing astonishment. The voices
vverss those of two men; and the gist of
s.5s.ir conversation was that plot
eeshfch had been formed to rob our Office
seSS the cashbox on the previous day had
Saaii.G, owing to the fact that Harper,
rlytsr oounter-clerk, had taken the box
7sntm town early in the afternoon, in
;sHssAd of, as was the practice, at the
Ssasclusion of racing He had, how
,acrl.r, been closely watched, and seen to
TpGace the box in the local postmaster's
ssssfe at the town Office. The safe was
an the room in which we worked in the
Nsrening, and was an old-fashioned, al
a1nSsS obsolete contrivance. All our
En.9vements must have been very dill
sazxotly followed, as the men knew not
.{oaiy the exact position of the safe with
respect to the doors and windows, but
also at what hour we closed the Office,
-zad the whereabouts of our lodgings.
They had also ascertained that no one
s,ernained during the night in or near
;Ehs room where the safe was.
Tho upshot of the conversation,
(which occupied less time than it has
taken me to relate it, was that the
taSyn Office was to be entered that
might as soon after we had gone as
SRonId be considered safe. Entrance
TWAS TO be effected from the back yard
s.arough the window of small room
,ls.si joining the larger one in which we
S#0rked. Further details I failed tc
tL,o ;rr1,
nngchair, which had gradually grown
xraxmer, now waxed loud and furious
Taking advantage Of the noise slipped
.s.eaf and hurried to the office. Taking
eslae boss to one side, told him all. He
<wzs for informing the police at once
a:z& having the place guarded and the
stsaieves scared off; but, after lot o.
persuasion, / talked him over, convinc
Ing him how much more to his credit i
Sr,oald rebound if he himself captured
'sslac robbers red-handed and unaided by
-..fra police. / eXpoundcd to him plan
'nise main idea OF which had struck mt
azIS the first moment, to which he lis
Tss0sd attentively, and occasionally
ssIsaiasd approvingly. When ended h'
sad: "It would do very we'll but fo
sIae thing. 1t involves three of us re
.Enaining concealed in the office"
T. assented.
~@You say they watched us leave las
might" he went on, ''six of us2 Wha
'cspEi they think if only three leave
rato-night?"
was nonplussed.
Il rather like the idea," r1sumed thu
zVcSs; but / think we should have help
!-,nppose we get a couple of Schinken'
sszsn?"
Sergeant Schinken was a kind o
'ezrani-public, ,'semi-private officer with I
sa1Sf of men, who were largely EN-
enjoyed by race committees in the tasl
@iS preserving order in the Enclosures
aEznd including bad and doubtful char
iIascers. They travelled about from meet
GAg TO meeting like ourselves, and il
7ss4aiS way sort of intimacy sprang up
''oh, they'd just be as bad as the 10
D.