The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1899-01-23
LONDON'S FAMOUS THIEF.
Career of Mnn Who stole Millions
in Jewels.


jewel case with slo5, 0O0 worth of jewelry
in it from a railroad carriage last autumn
He had been found guilty and threat had
been made OF a life sentence if he did not
confess where the sPoH was concealed
On the judges asking what had become
OF the iewelry, he declared that no prospect
of reduction OF sentence would induce-him
to tell where the rest of the jeweiry was.
1t would not make any difference if he
had ffty-iivc years.
o.. 1T will not make any difference" he
exclaimed, when pressed again to confess,
If | have life-not a bit.
The Judge finally postponed sentence to
give the prisoner "a chance to think the
matter over. The next month did not
soften his mood. on all his police court
appearances leading up to the committai
for trial he turned up smiling and laughed
boisterously at the police evidence, and
that. finally, when the woman he was i'll
fatuated with appeared to tell the whole
story against him and describe the jewels
she wore he said he could not for his
loves sake contradict her. In fact. after
ward from Holloway Prison he sent mes
sage that If she would only come up and
kiss him he would be the happiest man
on earth And yet the police say he is the
most expert jewel thief in Europe.
The story OF the detection of his pres
ent crime is worth telling in some detail.
a woman who was once footlight beauty
at the Gaiety Theatre and was on the point
OF marrying a baronet when his family
interviewed. became afterward the wife OF
a gentleman Of blameiess character. When
the present story begins she was passing
as Mrs Ronald. This was in April last,
and it was then she met the prisoner.
His name was -yariously Johnson, Jones,
James, and many others, as prudence re-
quired. To the police he was Harry the
Valet" not that he had ever been in such
employment, but in his younger days,
when learning theving from an older
hand, he showed so fervent and faithful
desire to serve his master that the de-
tectives gave him the name.
1t was as Johnson that he was indicted
and in the present narrative he will be
called Johnson After meeting Mrs. Ron
aid he lived with her at her expense at
Brighton, London. and various places on
the Continent till October of last year. He
was during that time absolutely penniiess
and OF no occupation: she was n woman OF
means and she supported him and supplied
him with money But about the date of
the robbery she separated from him, oT-
ing TO their continuous quarrels Soon
afterward he saw her driving in Paris. fol-
lowed her home, showed her a great guam
tity of iewelry and said it belonged to the
Duchess of Sutherland. She put on the
jewelry.
Soon afterward he came over to London
and appeared at the Sunday morning dia =
mond market in Houndsditch where he
rapidly got rid of many of the best stones.
which he had taken out of their setting.
Then he started TO live like lord. He
might have been doing that STILL but his
weakness for entertaining female society
was his undoing. The woman with whom
he had lived in Paris returned to Brighton.
where he met her, but she would have
nothing to do with him. saying he was Il
thief. She informed Scotland Yard what
she knew of the robbery. He was tracked
to a resort in F'ulham, where he was found
drinking champagne in female society.
Booty Spent in Extravaganza.
The man is an extraordinary combina-
tion of skill in planning and executing the
most difficult railroad jewel robberies and
reckless extravaganza in spending the
booty. Yet until now he has only served
three brief terms of few months for
minor crimes. In his great crimes he
came off scot free. Once only in France
he served fifteen months under the name
OF Villiers for robbing a gentleman Of q
large sum at the gaming table. He is a
ever been known 10 bungle. He has a
frank. engaging look; he dresses neatly:
he has an assured substantial air, like a
man in good way of business, and there
is a shrewdness in his smile which sug-
gests the man with a good story up his
sleeve. 1t is beyond doubt that he has
been concerned in a vast number of jewel
robberies. He reduced the profession to a
science. He made II his business TO know
! arlv- rI,.,Ely Of nd com
quence in Europe. and he rarely made a
mistake thanks 10 his knowledge OF the
comings and goings Of the jewel-c case
owners.
He robbed Lady Brett, wife of the Judge
who. as Lord Esher, was afterward master
Of the rolls, of case containing 5000
worth Of jeweiry and escaped to Amster-
! dam. After some months he came back
| and went unprecedented, for the only porter
at the station who had described his ap-
( pearance had died. and there was no fur
/ Their evidence of Identification. Another
/ time he got into one of the great London
I hotels Just after it was opened. While
1 walking along the corridor he inst a maid
/ servant. a plausible excuse, loOk OF
/ transparent honesty. and he persuaded her
/ 10 unlock one Of the bedrooms. He TOOK
/ away $4,000 worth OF jeweIry from it. He
made good deal of money and spent it
/ ne lCSt several lEiCuS2IUS at a gambling
club in Oxford Street within 4 few weeks
His tastes were lOrdly. He was satisfied
/ with nothing short Of the best dishes and
choice wines and at West End hotel his
bills were frequently over ESQ n week
Then. like Sampson, he fell through a
womans charms. The strangest feature
in the case is his absolute refusal. in
spite Of the prospect of getting life sen
/ tence for his obstinacy, to divulge the
/ whereabouts Of the missing gems. He
had only about $1,000 worth of stones and
EJ00 in money when he was arrested. II
! is most likely that he could not get the
/ others back If he would. and IL -'-ouId
only be rounding on some friends who
have stood him in good stead before wher
he has been in difficulties If he were to
state what he had done with them.
Oxford's Labor College.
One gets almost tired of quoting the OLE
! tags that oxford is the home of los
place to which bad PHILOSOPHERS go wher
they die" Yet every now and then some
thing happens which makes one think O
the Old sayings The latest event of tn,
! kind is the scheme of two young Ameri.
cans W. Vrooman and C. a. Baird which
is about to cross the boundary between
theory and experiment in the senior uni.
versity OF England.
Messrs. Vrooman and Baird are going Il
establish in oxford a college for labor
| leaders. They have leased a property
named st. Ebb's which was built by Sill
Mathew Hale in 1919 1t is beautiful ole
place, with fine garden, greenhous,
and a workshop. The new college viii
have accommodation for forty men. anC
will be opened next month on Washing
toms birthday. Its organizers have nance
it Ruskin Hall, and are going to work OF
the principle that no work is mental. II