The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1892-07-15
Furnishing A THIEF.
How a Burglar Was Very Clever
" Trapped


ings and other events of irregular and
Itinerary occurrence. i have visited
most towns of any importance in Eng
land. and have been a spectator of, and
in some cases a participation in, some
curious incidents. one of which pro-
pose to relate here. Many of the most
successful meetings, from a racing
mans point of view, are those held at
places otherwise of very little size or
Importance. As an example, it will be
Sufficient to mention EPSON. 1t was to
= town in the Midlands ordinarily con-
tzininC about six thousand inhabitants,
that ], with five colleagues, including
n supervisor, was ordered in the
Antumn of 1877. The event was two
day race meeting. The first day was
fine, with occasional showers; the
racing was good; and as large COM
pany was present, we had enough to do
not only at the grand stand, but also
later in the evening at the town office,
whence we dispatched large quantity
of press-work by means of Wheat
stone" which had been sent for the
~e finished, and we then had a good
half-hour's walk to our lodgings.
The second day was awful Rain fell
in torrents the whole afternoon. OF
course the programme was carried out;
but, beyond official results and RE
ceived' messages, we had very little to
do. 1t is the only day can remember
during which our boss did not stir out
of the Office. He generally contrived
90 have some business to transact out
side about the time fixed for each race.
This day, however, the persistent down
pour was too much for him. After the
third race, he sent me to one of the re-
porters on some business found my
man in the weighing-room, small tenn
porary wooden shed at the back of Tat
tersalrs ring.
When l entered, the jockeys were
being weighed in, and there was APP
parently some difficulty or dispute, as
the process was an unusually protracted
one WAITED leaning against the back
wall of the shed, and as did so, be-
came conscious of voices whispering
ontside. caught the words: "A bloke
with big red nose and one eye;" and
my attention was arrested at once, for
1his was a description of our counter
clerk. l listened attentively and with
increasing establishment The voices
were those of two men; and the gist of
their conversation was that a plot
which had been formed to rob our Office
"a .or .lo,v l., 4
failed, owing to the fact that Harper,
our counter-clcrk, had taken the box
into town early in the afternoon, in
stead of, as was the practice, at the
conclusion of racing. He had, how
ever, been closely watched, and seen to
place the box in the local postmaster's
safe at the town Office. The safe was
evening, and was an old-fashioned, al
most obsolete CONTINUANCE. All our
movements must have been very dill
gently followed, as the men knew not
only the exact position of the safe with
respect to the doors and windows, but
also at what hour we closed the Office,
and the whereabouts of our lodgings.
remained during the night in or near
4he room where the safe was.
The upshot of the conversation,
which occupied less time than it has
taken me TO relate it, was that the
town Office was to be entered that
night as soon after We had gone as
wonld be considered safe. Entrance
uraS 80 10 offan4al fr>,,, .l,o hal, ,,a~a
through the window of small room
adjoining the larger one in which we
worked. Further details / failed to
ovcrhear, as the dispute at the weigh.
ing chair, which had gradually grown
warmer, now waxed loud and furious.
Taking advantage of the noise slipped
out and hurried to the office Taking
she boss TO one side, told him all He
was for informing the police at once,
and having the place guarded and the
thieves scared off; but, after lot of
persuasion, talked him over, convinc-
ing him how much moro TO his credit il
wonld rebound if he himself captured
1he robbers red-handed and unaided by
tho police. expoundcd to him plan,
she main idea of which had struck me
at the first moment, to which he lis
tened attentively, and occasionally
smiled approvingly. When / ended he
said: 1t would do very well but for
one thing. 1t involves three of us re.
manning concealed in the Office
assented.
''Nou say they watched us leave last
might" he went on, six of US: What
will they think if only three leave
to-night?"
was nonplussed.
II rather like the idea" rcsumed the
boss; but ! think We should have hela.
Suppose we get a couple of Schinken' 5
knen?T
Sergeant Schinken was a kind of
:scTni-public, rsemi-private officer with a
staff of men, who were largely en-
ployed by race committees in the task
of preserving order in the Enclosures,
and including bad and doubtful char
acters. They travelled about from meet
ing to meeting like ourselves and IN
1his way a sort of intimacy sprang up.
oh, they'd just be as bad as the To-
Gals" said. They'd want to boss
the whole affair, and very likely spoil
1t IN tell you what: I'll ask three
young fellows know to come and have
a game OF cards at our diggins tonight.
TIL toll them To call for Ms at the os;cD