The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1899-08-23
Capturing a Statue
90
With Paint, Wig and Beard
Work of Art May Easily
Be Made Repulsive.

Aaaaa &&A.aesAs =
In the course of my long and event
full career have the honor of plan
ming various schemes which have
taken conspicuous place in point of
audacity in the records of crime, but
perhaps in none of these transactions
was such audacity more prominent
than in the Incident of the carrying off
of the Apollo statue from the residence
of Sir Titus Rlaydcs, Bart, the statue
In question being the work of the
famous sculptor Apelles and being
valued by experts at 100000,
One evening was sitting In II rcstau-
rant flushing an after dinner cigar
when II short, foreign looking man, eN.
penslvely dressed, cane and sat down
beside me.
Excuse the liberty | take In all.
dressing YOU" he began courteously
speaking with strong foreign accent.
but In perfect English. but your fame
has indirectly reached my ears.
think ! have the honor of addressing
Mr.. Godfrey NinceT
"fhat Is my name" returned. much
| ,moyod aNIo,, ost. what ,au Iosi,.
with mn9a
He came very close and, sinking his
voice, said In whisper, Il want you
to carry of for me the Apollo statue
| from thn hougn of Sir fritus nInvdas
ot Jonyworth court
ono ,I,n,,. NJ tbn .,rd told mo al
II horo tbn pain. Of pount tntanio
| Delarocea Tho fauous mIlllonaIrn col
laetar If III. outinuc n7hnsc g,lIn,., nj
| Milan contained u,.ieeIess Charles of
81 roco,,1i,o ,.onr ra,,o count md
shau hp clad Ia ha Of service In ven
Rut ma, osly v-h.t ,,nstr,inod ,ou
to 8v u,an mo ~ tho trstrun,,ut or
vonr d,signsy"
81 CHANGED to he present ot your trial
over the Wi0mnrn casc whom as Won
| Will remember Won nscound with n
llrht sentence thouoh the evidence
showed You to be nm artist in crime. [
kent my eve upon YOU. resolving ia
offer YOU this delicate mission directly
the government no longer REQUIRED
| your services"
Il shall be delighted to do all in my
power for you count, but first of al
you must tell me In detail what you re-
qure done"
Most certainly" he made answer, as
he offered me II cigar and rclit his own
During the past. -four years have
made countless offers to Sir Titus
Blaydes for his Apollo the offers being
made through secret agents or mine,
for naturally the baronet would not
| part with the statue to a rival collector
such as myself. My last oHer was no
less than $25000o, but this also was
unhesitatingly refused.
He paused and blew great cloud
from his cigar. Then he resumed VI
am man OF Iron WILL ana what set
my heart upon ! always obtain. Sir
| Titus has proved unamenablc TO fair
means. | Will now assall him with the
only alternative stratagcm. Yes, mere
ly stratagem, not robbery, for on the
day that you hand over to me the Apol'
10 statue | shall forward him anony'
mously the sum OF S230,000. And you,
| my friend, would receive X2o,OOO,
Come, is the balt sufficiently tempt
ingT
Before we parted he gave me his ad-
| dress In Milan, for which place he was
leaving ON the morrow, and 1t was to
this address that | was to convey the
statue If my efforts proved successful.
| may add that he left with me the
sum OF So, 800 as a guarantee Of good
faith
ON the following Monday | journey
ed down to Longworth court, and,
mingling with the crowd, entered the
spacious mansion, | soon gained ad
mittance to the gallery
| The more | contemplated the bust
ness the further and further away did
the counts reward seem, and by the
time | reached London / was In II de-
spalring mood. 1 retired to bed, resolv-
ed to think no more Of the matter
though on the following morning
visited two of my oldest chums, Jack
| Grimes and Tom Harris, and put the
case to them. They sneered at the af-
fair, declaring IT was impossible
1t therefore came about that the
matter passed out Of my mind until
the end of November, when it was
brought back to me In curious man.
ner
| happened to enter n theater one
night whore a play was being enacted
In which distracted halrdresser, be
Ing pursued by a statue which had
been miraculously endowed with life
suddenly conceived the idea Of paint
Ing her face and dressing her In mod
ern attire, so as to render her appear
ance more conventional when she was
| tracking his steps.