Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1894-10-04
HOW PRIVATE HOUSES ARE WORKED
BY INGENIOUS CROOKS.

Some of the New Tricks Well Calculated to
Deceive the Cautious-Calling For Arti-
cles just Delivered-A Cunning Game In
Connection with Lost Articles.
During the cold weather of the 1irly
part of the year an eastern lady visiting
at we'll known house in the heart of
the city ordered from prominent fur
rier costly wrap of Russian sable. AL
terations in the garment were necessary,
and as they would require time and the
lady was about returning east she re-
quested her hostess to receive the wrap
and forward it to her. The long box was
delivered on the promised day, and the
sable wrap was just being packed for ex-
pressage when the front door bell again
pealed sharply, and message, purport-
ing to come from the furrier, was
brought.
1t was to the effect that an alteration,
particularly directed, had been over
looked. The furrier requested the return
of the garment and the mistake would
be rectifed that same afternoon. The
huge box was about to be intrusted to the
messenger when fortuitous impulse
came to it's guardian. She returned word
to the messenger that she declined to take
the responsibility of permitting anything
so valuable to be taken away without a
written order, but would herself call at
the furrier's the following morning.
That call confirmed suspicious. The
furrier had authorized no one to recover
the wrap. 1t was easy to draw conclu-
sions.
Again, and yet more recently, lady
resident Of West Walnut street found on
her return home one mild afternoon that
a valuable jewel watch had fallen from
its chatelaine and left no traces behind.
| That evening her husband fastened to
have the loss advertised In the morning
papers. At breakfast the Lost and
Found" columns were carefully read.
The valuable chatelaine watch was de-
scribed in the Lost" lines, and to the
Joy Of husband and wife another "ad."
was found detailing the discovery Of a
lady's jeweled watch on the street in the
same vicinity. Mr.. and Mrs. Smith, as
they may be called, were still discussing
breakfast and the lost watch when a
man was announced.
about lost watch" 80 ran his mes
sage, picked up the previous evening
on the pavement below"
my watch, I'm confident" she ex-
claimed, springing from her chair.
$50 you said few moments ago, when
you read the Found advertisement" re-
monstrated her husband. But she hur-
ried through the doorway, the caution,
"Be careful what you say" ringing in
her ears.
"You lost a watch; found one" 80
began the man. Describe yours, please"
Mrs. Smith did SO, while the stranger
kept his left hand closed. seemingly, over
the lost trinket.
"Your watch number - that / must
have" continued the man as she finished
a brief but clear description. Quite i'm
pressed by his concise, businesslike man.
ner, she consulted card on which she
had methodically jotted down her treas
ures number. The man repeated the
figures slowly after her.
"After all, this doesn't appear to be
your watch" he said coolly, exhibiting a
cheap timepiece of rolled gold.
Grumbling over the wasted moments.
she quickly donned her street suit and
FASTENED to the neighboring house from
where the found" notice had issued.
She was met on the threshold by the
neighbor herself, whose excited greeting
was:
$50 glad we were the fortunate finders
Of your beautiful watch. Bridget saw 1t
shining on the payementas she was light