The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-07-15
a TERROR 10 THE THIEVES.
jewelers. Banded Together in a Union
to Prevent Robbery.
From the Pittsburg Dispatch.

Il AOAA VIZ AAASbuAS biopabNA-
It is natural tosuppose that those whose
! business leads them to carry about
great deal OF valuable property all the
time will become shining marks for pro-
| fessional thieves and all that class who
aim to live on what belongs to other PEG
! pie. Among all the travelling men it
would seem that none would be more
liable to the assaults of the light-fn-
gered profession than those wis repre-
! sent business houses that deal in iewelry
| and precious stones. Strange to say,
| however, these gentlemen are rather less
| than more liable to be molested on the
road than any other set of persons who
areiworth waylaying.
In the year 1873 the practice of robbing
| statesmen travelling for wholesale jewellers
and diamond merchants became so COM
| mon that it was determined to organize
| an association for the pursuit and punish
| ment of this class of thieves, and with
that object in view the jewelers. Protec-
tive Union was formed 1t is not money
making scheme, but it is intended for the
| protection of its members The method
! of this institution is as follows:
THE PURSUIT NEVER RELAXED.
Any business house in the jewelry trade
| may become a member upon the payment
/ of certain fees. If any salesman engaged
| in selling the goods Of any member of the
/ union is robbed while travelling, the cen
! trail Office of tho union is notified. De-
tectives are at once put upon the tracks
! of the thieves, and 1t is an unaltera BILE
rule that they must not relax their efforts
until the wrongdoer has been arrested.
| tried, convicted ana sent to prison. Some
| times it takes years to apprehend the
| persons sought for, but that makes no
! difference, for the guilty must be pun
ished and an example must be made of
every man who has the temerity to at
tempt any crime against4any person
whom this union has guaranteed to pro
tect. Here are few sample cases.
A year ago last fall w. G. Pollock was
| robbed of about SIS 900 worth of diamonds
in the state of Iowa by fellow named
Shurtcliffe. 1t took just about year 10
bring Shurtcliffe to book, but the union S
detectives never waVered for an instant
| until they saw the doors of the peniten-
tiary at Fort Madison shut him in TO serve
a term of seventeen years. When Shurt-
clitfe regains his liberty, even If he de-
| cides to resume the business that has
brought him to disaster, it is not likely
that he will ever care to ply his trade
again to the disadvantage of anybody who
deals in precious stones.
BOOKS ARE NOW CLEAR.
Last March in Dayton, o., Fritzie
Dhoin began to serve a term of four and
a-half years for stealing $4,000 worth of
| jewelry belonging to a firm in Cincinnati
! The agents of the union succeeded in re-
covering all the stolen goods and in secur-
| ing the conviction of tho culprit, notwiUh-
standing that on his first trial the Jury
disagreed, after which he was let out on
bail and fed to Europe to escape another
trial. He was brought back to Ohio and
tried again with the result above stated
A year and-a-half was spent disposing of
the case of E'ritzie Dhein.
| The last matter of this kind that the
union had to do with was an affair that
occurred in Springfield, Mass. last Feb
ruary, when Daniel F, Cote succeeded in
getting away with iewelry to the amount
OF about $4,000. His conviction followed
IN May, and he will be in a safe place for
the next four years. All but q, 900 worth
of what was stolen was recovered and
returned TO the owner
AS this article is being written the
books of the union are clear, and the man
ager said he would not be surprised if he
did not have another case to handle for a
! long time, perhaps two or three years
for the work of the union has become so
well known to professional thieves that
they hesitate a long time before they
venture to defy it. The association has
! become a veritable terror to robbers, and
has almost eXtinguished the class of
crime with which it has to do.