The San Francisco call., 1896-05-06
WHEN THE HOUSE
IS LEFT VACANT.
Numerous Burglaries Com
mitted for Petty
Spoils.
ELEGANT FLAT LOOTED.
Mrs. Shorts Residence on Van
Ness Avenue Ransacked
by Thieves.
THEY ALL COVET LEAD PIPE
Extensive Damage Done to the Plumb.
ing of Many Houses by These
Malicious LarceniStS.
THEY ALL covET LEAD PIPE

ditions of thieves ply their precarious call
ings within the confines of this City, grad
uating in industry and boldness with the
ebb and flow of police vigilance. Some of
the artful appropriations of other people S
property are not over particular whether
or not they have the cover of night for
their operations, either, and among these
no class is apparently more prosperous
and less molested than the petty burglars
who contine tEeir manipulations to houses
from which the occupants have removed
or are temporarily absent. OF late the
number of 'iobs" executed with success
by this class OF larcenists has been partic-
ularly large and the Complaints OF real
estate dealers and householders have been
correspondingly vociferous. For some
reason the efforts of the police to put a
stop to these trespasses seem particularly
futile and many are the houses entered,
but few are the thieves brought to justice.
A few days ago the elegant fat at 1425
Van Ness avenue, occupied by Mrs. Short,
was made the subject of one of these raids.
Mrs. Short was absent at the time and the
thieves succeeded in gaining an entrance
by prying open window.
They then locked all connecting doors
h.
it was between and 3 O'Clock in the alter
noon. bureau in room occupied by
Mrs. Maynard was looted and $95 was Sc
cured. Three overcoats were also taken.
The matter was reported to the police but
beyond assuring the family 1T was the
work of professionals they were of no
service. Various parties saw suspicious
looking characters about the house.
A row of vacant houses on Turk street,
near Polk, was visited by gang of mis-
creants ~ithin the last few days. There
was nothing in the houses worth stealing
except the lead pipe of the plumbing OF
this they were entirely divested. The lead
on Franklin street, near Fell. In this
instance, the glass globes from the gas
Jets were found to be missing, but the
agent in charge does not attribute this to
professional thieves.
His theory is that they have been taken
one at time by women whoobtained pos
session OF the keys ostensibly with view
OF inspecting the premises preliminary to
renting. Thus gaining ineress they would
seize upon as many globes as they could
conveniently carry, and would then send
boy back with the key. There is con-
siderable complaint of this species of lar
ceny. 1t required 500 to repair the dam
age which had been done to the houses
last mentioned.
The burglary of w. E. Strickland's resi-
dence on Diamond street, near Sussex,
was a particularly aggravating affair.
The family had been from home but few
hours and when they returned the house
had the appearance of having been the
| playground of a cyclone. Bureau draw
ers were pulled out and their contents
scattered around the room in every direc-
| ton. Trunks had been burst open and
looted. bedding had been thrown from the
| beds In search for valuables and the
| entire hOQSe nrpsentpd q scppa Of uyil6oct
confusion.
Fortunately the family had taken all
the money which had been in the house
with them, but everything of value which
was left the burglars got. This matter
was reported to the police, who kept it
discreetly quiet. But no one was caught
| There was a hold-up in that locality about
the same time, and Mr.. Strickland be-
lieves the same parties perpetrated both
outrages. A house at 1S Willow avenue,
belonging to the Burke estate, was a heavy
sufferer from the human pests that infest
vacant houses. In this instance all the
lead pipe was cut and carried away and
with vicious disregard of property, the
water was allowed to remain running. It
was several days before this was dlscov-
! cred, and in the meantime the entire
building had been flooded and almost en-
tirely ruined. 1t will cost several hun
dred dollars to put the structure in repair
The desire for junk has deprived build
ing at 1923 Greenwich street, owned by c.
Milligan, of much material. After the
manner of their kind, the thieves here
| hacked away every available piece of lead
about the premises, and the few pounds of
old metal which they procured will cost
the landlord many dollars to have replaced
by the plumber.
When these covetous prowlers in other
| folks domain struck the old residence of
T. Flnlgan, the veteran horseman, their
hearts probably leaped with Joy. Finni-
gan's residence was particularly well
| stocked with the commodities which are
| the particular delight of vacant-house
burglars. There was lead pipe running all
over the house, gas-hxtures galore and
| globes by the dozen. Evidently they went
to work to take everything in sight, but
| their means of transportation was limited.
| Consequently they we're forced to leave
a large stock of valuable bric-a-brac piled
on the parlor floor. 1t was their obvious
! intention to return for this portion of the
plunder after they had disposed of the
very considerable spoils which they were
| able to take away on the first trip. Before
they could complete their enterprise, how
ever, the burglary was discovered. They
were evidently apprised of this. for they
| failed 10 return.
! A pleasing relief to the long list of un-
detected burglaries Of this class is fur
nlshed by the arrest of the boys who re-
Gently entered the residence of Mrs. X. A.
U O'Brien, at 718 Golden Gate avenue. 1t is
readily seen by the number of these cases
which come to light that the business OF
entering vacant houses is by no means