The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-08-14
SIMPLY HAVE TO STEAL.
4 CIVIL ENGINEERS EXPERIENCES
WITH THIEVES IN INDIA.

brluSc, Another a Trntu-l sclCSs
Plumber Hidden Awny-AttacISs on
strong Room by Experts.
From the New York sun
After living in India for fifteen years"
said the civil engineer, IT am firm in my
belief that in no other country on the face
of the globe has thieving been brought to
such a point of perfection. No matter what
province the native halls from, whether
high caste or low, the faint is in his blood.
and has descended to him. through gener-
ations. Now and then | have met a Hin
doc who would speak the truth by acct
dent, but never in all those years did
meet one in whose honor ! could put i'm
phcit trust There was punishment for
thieves before the English came. and the
punishment has been Increased from time
to time. but were it a hanging offense to
steal the thief would stnl continue to do
so. | have figured il out that he cant
help it. and have had a hundred expert
ences in proof.
AS a civil engineer l was brought into
direct contact with the masses, and passed
weeks and months in their villages For
several years | was on the land survey,
and had my gang of assistants and serV-
ants. The thiev.ng began with my body
servant. He would steal my clothing, my
money and my toilet articles No matter
whether we We're in a village or away out
i'm the jungle, ne would steal Al first /
used to reason with him, but found that
he was a liar and a hypocrite Then l
resOrted TO personal violence. [ had one
man with me for five years and never a
week passed that he did not steal some
= &c. It'll. O..
regular programme. When | found any
thing missing l called him up and stated
the fact and gave him five minutes IN
which to return the article. He would
weep and protest, and / would take him
by the neck and slam him around When
he had been half killed he would agree
to restore the property. To threaten
him with discharge or the law had not the
slightest effect The cook and the boy
came next They would steal and sell the
provisions, the cooking utensils or what
ever else they could pick up. | had three
or four cooks sent to jail and | discharged
three or four others, but the last one
was as big "a thief as the first. The only
way to deal with them was TO use a whip
Then came my gang. There was nothing
for them 10 steal except the field outfit
but they stole that about twenty times a
year. No matter If we were out in the
jungle, and no matter that no native
fence in India dared 10 buy the loot they
would steal just the same and bury the
instruments under the ground. A hundred
different mornings | got up to find the
gang sitting around and everything gone.
The foreman always explained that
thieves had entered The camp as he slept
and he would weep and lament and excuse
himself in Il way 10 convince you that ne
was telling the solemn truth. He wasn't
though. He was lying straight from the
lfqnt Il 1y ~ Oh J., H..
the neck and boot him. After about twenty
kicks he would agree TO turn up tho stuff
Perhaps il would be dag up within fifty
feet of my tent, ana 1t was laughable 10
witness the pretended establishment of
every man in the gang. 1t was the same
with the villagers with my servants
and employees. Men, women and children
wound steal from me. Every village has a
head man, and l held him responsible In
many instances he was the thief himself
When some article had been sto'en
would call out the head man and tell him
of IL aud give him ten minutes to make
restoration. lie would swear by the beard
OF His father, the bones Of his mother and
the souls OF his children that such thing
as theft WAS unknown in his viiia &c. Then
he would hustle around and command and
appeal and use up the ten minutes. There
was only the one method 10 put in prac-
lice. ] would catch nod of him aud give
him the boot, and after a few Kicks the
property would turn up. Non alive high
OF low feels he slightest disgrace in be-
Ing found out, nor is he elated when his
th!cveIy is success.
What we call petty larceny is practiced
from one end Of India TO the other, and
eXcites no surprise and but little com
ment Your valet, your cook, your nurse,
your native soldier or government EN-
p.oye viii steal anything from a bunga-
rev..t a % h.
peans take the situation philosOphically.
II the little thieves annoy you, the big
ones who perhaps should be called rob-
bers, excite your admiration. For some
months / had a bungalow in Allahabad
whGe completing my field notes. Not far
away was storage yard and among the
stuff was a steam boiler to go with a five
horse power engine. One night this boiler
was stolen You may figure it out thai it
would take q big truck, two horses and
five or six men to load and move that
boiler on what may be called the Euro
ptan plan. How many men the native
gang numbered | never knew but what
they did was to work beaps under that
boiler and pick II up and walk off with
il, and il was found In yard a mile
away. 1t had not been sold and could not
be- but the idea was 70 steal IT, and
plan was made and carried out At a
foundry In the same city come iron grid
ers weighing 1900 pounds each had been
constructed. Native thieves stole one and
carried It four miles Into the country and
buried t. The gang numbered ten, and
the police arrested the suspected leader.
iIs was firm In his innocence until
whip was applied to his naked back. When
asked why he stole a thing which he could
not possibly sell he replied that he couldn't
help il. On one of the branches Of the
Gauges, In the province or Dude, a Euro
pean built a saw mill to get out contract
lumber. He tried to run things with ma
tive help and made a funny mess of IL.
The natives began by stealing his lumber
as they floated il down the stream. They
could not sell 1t, but they hid it In the
Jungle and left II TO rot. Then they stole
nuts, bolts shafting, pulleys and saws,
and the day before / arrived at the mill
they actually stole the waterwheel. In
about six hours one night they lugged
off the log carriage, two circular saws
and a ton OF shafting. The stun was load
Cd on a flatboat and the boat was hidden
away in a creek Thirty or forty men
worked ike Troians for five or six hours
without the slightest hope Of reward sim
HaH