The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-10-08
HINTS BY A BURGLAR;
"ToM THE DoDGER" TELLS HOW
HOUSES ARE ROBBED.

Householders Often Help the Thieves
b. Neglecting Second Story Win.
For Ladders.
Thomas Simpson, alias "Tom the Dodg-
ur," who is known In police circles all
over the country, was In town the other
hight but no got away before any Of tho
"fy coppers" got on to him. He met sew
oral persons In down town resort and
after indulging In few drinks he became
confidential In his talk. Toms hints TO
householders were quite interesting.
Among those whs listened to him was an
0x-deteotive, who had often locked him up
years ago.
"You see, said Tom, "the public them
selves assist us great deal or men in my
line wouldn't be able to bring off success
fully one-tenth Of the jobs they do now.
For instance, however careful housekeep-
ers and their servants may be with regard
to window fastenings on the. ground floor,
as rule they pay little attention to those
Of rooms up stairs. for even when tho fas-
Jennings are in good order they are often
left undone. Now, man who knows his
business never tries the ground floor for an
entry unless he IL perfectly we'll acguaint-
ed with the run of the house and the
habits Of the household, and even then he
nearly always enters by one OF the doors
for which a key has been procured or the
look and bolts Of which can easily be
forced.
"What is the best window fastereri
Well, there amt none any good, unless
it's two wedges forced down between the
eashes, one on each side Of the window,
The screw to fix the sashes, as we'll as the
other safe lodges, can easily be undone
by cutting out piece Of glass. Now, the
wedges, II you 'tumbled' at once that they
we're wedges, could only be got at by cut
ting two holes In the glass, and then, II
properly fixed, they can't be shifted with
out making more noise than we care about
doing while on business More especially
is this tho case II a bell with coil spring
Is attached to the window. Sl
1.-THE last time I was 'copped' was
through one Of them coil spring belle
but not on window. 1t was like thie:s.
1.-THE house went for was occupied by
an eccentric old man, well to do and own
ing tidy lot Of plate The 'spotter' EN-
ployed managed to get around and walk
out with one Of the servants, and from her
he learned that tho master was very s,is-
picious Of the domestics, laying traps to
catch 'em giving way dripping or odds
and ends and so on and making all Of 'em
go to bed before he did.
"Well, felt as II this was rather a
ticklish job, but as I'd got key made to
fit tho back door decided to risk it.
did and got into the house as easy as
winking.' Reaching the drawing room,
where knew tho plate was kept, hauled
1t from the cupboard, and, as everything
had gone of so well, sat down to have
rest before packing 1t up. Walking on tip.
toe is firing work, you know. hadn't
sat there five minutes when bang! felt a
crack on tho head, and knew nothing
more until found myself tied hands and
feet and two policemen standing over me.
when my trial came on, and not until
then, discovered that my capture was due
to the fact that the master of the house in
order to find out If any of the servants
came down stairs after no had retired had
placed cotton across the passages and
staircases about six inches from the ground
and attached 1t to u coil spring bell fixed
in his bedroom. In my journey up stairs
had without knowing it broken the cot.
ton and sounded tho alarm. Yes, it was a
neat cop
"Are there more attempts at burglary
and housebreaking during the dark daysi
Yes, but whyp Just then the not overpar-
ticular, rough laboring class get hard up,
and they arc open to take to anything
from purse snatching upward, If there is
even remote chance Of making money.
Tho consequence Is that directly an oppor-
tunity offers to carry out burglary they
go for it'-go for it without taking any
precaution and relying on brute force, the
knife or even the revolver to effect an
escape II disturbed. That is why there are
SO many brutal assaults and murders by
SO called burglars just at that time of the
year.
"Of course the particulars as to rooms,
valuables, locks, windows and habits Of
those living in likely house, together
sometimes with wax impressions of keys,
ETC., are obtained by the spotter, a man
who has nothing to do with the actual
burglary, but takes share in the haul
nevertheless. A 'spotter' may be anything
from hawker calling at the servants ell
trance, the gas man como to take the
meter, a water inspector to sec II there is
any leakage or simply the flor the time
being) devoted follower Of one Of the serv- |
ants.
"Just remark about ladders. In large
have particularly noticed
the care with which all ladders arc locked
up, while just around the corner, perhaps |
lying in the open, are the clothes posts
used for drying or sun airing the clothes
from tho laundry. Now, it's as easy to
swarm up good square clothes post to
reach first floor window, and when in u
hurry it's lump quicker to slide down
one than down q ladder.
II tell you what will shake the nerves
Of a burglar as much as anything and
perhaps make him drop his tools-that is
kicking against sheet of crumpled news.
paper carefully laid in the passage. got
bad that way myself once and Inado
such noise that Immediately bolted.
But If you yourself are frightened of
burglars paying your house visit" he
concluded confldentially, ''the best tip Il
can give you Is to lay in little yelping,
dog-one that will rouse every
body directly door or window is tried
md lot him have the run Of the house in
'i,lo every night. That's the best safe
guard there ia. "-Cincinnati Enquirer.
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