St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1894-12-01
AN ARTISTIC BURGLARY.
4 Church Member Tells How He
Might Have Dore It.

4 Church Member Tells How He
Might Have Dore It.
We were resting on seat by the sea
shore at Eastcove, whittier !, the
rector of Old StaLwick, had gone fol
. short holiday, accompanied by my
friend and parishioaer, James Ola
chant of our city. He had been out OF
sorts for some time. and this fact,
suppose, caused him to make the rev.
elation to me which have attempted
to record hereunder
When he had finished his tale came
to another conclusion.
You may talk as you like" said my
friend, ''of the abilities of Campion ol
any other detective. and the very much
over-rated intelligence with which
some men are endowed. There is
however. a great deal more of it, as
sure you, in the novel than in real
life. Now look around you." con
tinued Mr.. Ollacram. land consider
how many of our great crimes are
brought to light. Why, not one
tenth of them, il we were dependent
on this wisdom and sagacity of Police
man XXX. If the criminal brings in
telligence to his job the force is i'm
medfately at fault"
looked At my friend earnestly. He
seemed to speak with ali air OF warmth
and knowledge which alike surprised
and interested me.
"Yes," he continued, II am an au.
thority upon the subject have been
burglar myself"
"You?" l exclaimed in horror.
Then, rising from my seat, l almost
started upon run. He was man
whom had esteemed and respected,
and one of the very pillars of my
church. Mr. Ollacram laughed quietly
at my excitement His GOODNESS was
irresistible. and l could only excuse
him on the grounds that he had gone
suddenly mad.
you may stare" replied Mr.. OLA
cram, smiling. but ! assure yon there
is nothing out of the way in my as
sertion. Sit down again calmly and
will tell you short story.
''In the early part of my life l was
an artistic burglar, and l made con-
siderable sum of money at the probes
sion. The authorities never caught
me, and / win tell you further that
they never even suspected me Of a
crime. The reason is simple. thought
out my plans well before put them
into execution. invariably laid little
traps for the police who were to fol-
low on my trail, and Sherlock Holmes,
the prince of modern tstory) detectives.
would as surely have been landed in a
quagmire had he come on one of my
burglaries, as he was in his adventure
over the yellow Face"
reseated myself on the very end of
the form and listened to the following
revelation:
I'm those days dismissed the qucs-
tion of morality from my mind alto
gether. ! ignored all restraint except
the restraint of public observation and
public opinion.
my part was studied from the be-
ginning, alternative situations pro-
vided for, and, once planned out. per-
mitted myself TO make no deviation.
lit was in this way that carried
out the burglary in the residence of
our mutual friend and neighbor. Chum-
leigh, in Browns terrace"
''ChumleigL. Yes, / knew Chum-
leigh"
1.-THE houses in the terrace were all
alike. and Is I lived in one of them
with my parents ! was perfectly ia.
miliar with the features of the others.
could 20 through them by night as
we'll as by day. Mr.. Chumleigh was y
respectable merchant, whose wife had
recently died, leaving him with three
children, the youngest of whom was
an infant of but few weeks old
''His wife during her life had been .
very fashionable woman, and was al
ways very lavish in her display Of jew
elry. 1t was this jewelry thatattracted
me. concluded that these articles of
value would still be found in the room
on the third floor, lately occupied by
that lady. also came to the con fusion
that Mr.. Chumleigh now occupied .
different apartment. l therefore de-
termined to gain access to the room in
which Mrs. Chumleigh had breathed
her last l trusted myself to be able
TO do the rest.
Il sent our maid servant on one oc-
casion to the honsekeeper. requesting
her to let my father try Mr.. Chum-
leigh's latch key. on the plea that our
latch key had been mislaid and we
n2u.>n,ouflx, mn a blo ~ c,>au %h>
door. In a few minutes the girl re-
turned, had obtained the impression
in wax, and the latch key, with many
thanks, was back in the custody of MIR.
ChumleigL's 5 shousekeeper. To manufac-
ture q similar key was not a work Of
great trouble to me. and l thus OBJ
tanned the means of quiet access.
'As have said. I always arranged
my burglaries with a preconceived
idea. Accordingly ! now picked up
an old pair of boots that had seen their
best days on the feet of u costermon-
ger, doubtless. and cap that would
have been kicked bv a workhousc mes
senger. also obtained surreptitious-
ly the awl. hammer and twine, or
'waxed end,' from shoemaker who
lived in the country.
81 next supplied myself with used
envelope. bearing a postmark, and .
portion of country newspaper With
these articles in my possession l felt
satisfied, as an artistic burglar, that
could outwit the most skillful detec-
tive. / had, Of course, also the usual
and necessary instruments which per
tain to the faculty of housebreakers,
including a leather sucker and q
glaciers diamond, for the purpose Of
removing pane Of glass noiseiessly,
If it should be necessary to do SO. My
kit also included q small crowbar or
Jimmy
Mr.. Chumlcigh stayed late at his
club on certain nights. and, knowing
this fact, one night cleared for ac-
tion.' ! smudged my face. donned my
old clothes and sailed forth by the
back door. which, like all the doors
Of Browns terrace, opened ont on a
back lane.