St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1895-04-19

CAME HUMoRs OF CRIME.

Iast wear Frehch Sehli1ineN '''''
N" .;ous. but withal amusing, eX-
ea ance and one which would lead
Pel''r ~ paw particular attention in
hln ,tnre when selecting chapeau.
w !. seems that he went into a matters
- I'm at Budapest ana bought d nat
s" ,h,rrh by its peculiar color and
" Sdnn had taken his fancy. Shortly
sEaapr,yards he was walking up and
s snnr in the railway station, wear
Wv !'o his new purchase, when ne was
l"s much surprised TO find we'll
s'Icd purse in one pocket and a gold
,yatch in the other.
He straightway went to the sta
.,an.master, with a view to eluclda'
t;no the mystery as to how these ar
80" "e had come INTO his possession,
and was greatly astonished to find
maj official listening TO d country
'nan who was complaining that ne
had lost purse. The purse the
Ersncbman had found in his pocket
1.as the one missing, but, strange TO
say when it disappeared from its
ri5htful owner its contents comprised
n9Iv ten shillings, whereas now 1T
obtained nearly as many pounds.
This transformation scene was
coon explained, for a policeman al
most Immediately reported the ar
rest of pickpocket, who admitted
tne theft OF the purse and watch.
The contents of the former had been
,ncreased by the addition of previous
robberies; and the stolen property
then passed into the Frenchmen' S
jackets. simply because he was wear
Ing the peculiar hat! The tibet stated
that this style of headgear was made
only BIZ one firm, and constituted the
badge of an international gang OF
Dckpockets, so he had mistaken the
Frenchman tor a confederate. This
statement was supported by the
halter, who had shortly before sent
. large number of similar hats to a
foreign place named by the pick
Docket, although he himself did not
Share in any way, and probably did
rot know for what purpose they
were intended.
On another occasion some thieves
were detected in a very peculiar man
rer A chemist was returning home
one night in the coach with boz
containing a quantity OF pills ane
other connections. Some Londor
thieves saw the box, and, under the
impression that its contents were
valuable, determined to annex 1t
Wien the coach stopped they were
one the spot, and as the chemist go
cut at one side they seized the boz
at The other and made of with 1t.
The contents were Disappointing
ia more ways than one. The thieves
believing them to be some kind o
confectionery, partook OF them yer.
Literally and distributed then
amongst their friends. The result
can be better imagined than dc
crDed, for the pills attended strict.
to business, and all who had PAL
taken thereof were soon suffering II
tense agony. The services OF doc
tor were enlisted on their behalf, an
lie found the thieves like "a nest {
POISONED rats" Having heard OF III
robbery, he took steps to secure III
arrest of the robbers, and the polk
were thus enabled to place the
hands on very desperate gang
thieves. In this case the pills oil
ii!
There was a touch of humor, to-
in The thefts which took place at tn
late Archbishop OF York funeral, tC
the pickpockets rose equal to II
occasion, and, knowing that iart
number OF clerics would be presen
four OF these light-hngered sentr
actually attended attlred as clerg.
men. After extracting the content
empty purses were placed IN 9th
peoples pockets, SO as to remove OF
evidence of the crime in the event
the arrest of any ofthe thieves, Sill
ilarlv, at a bazaar held in Londo
four ladies were relieved OF the
purses, and one of these, with all /
contents missing except a lew co
pcrs, was found by the Bishop
London in his pocket. A gent
mans gardener had been treated
like manner, while the remaining "
Empty, OF course-were found
meath stall,
A Partisan locksmith was neat
duped recently. A gentleman, w
protessed to have lost his door-ke
asked him to go to his house, ia
off the lock, and make new ke
The locksmith acted according
but when he returned with the 10
and key, he was seized by the thro
and designated thief and "o'
glar," and handed over to the co
missary of police. The indiyldl
who had ordered the key, and TT
gained access, had robbed the pl'
OF all valuables, and the untortuni
locksmith was threatened with
action to recover the amount OF
loss.