The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1899-11-18
TROPHY OF. BURGLARY.
4 Commercial Traveller Carries q
Gold Watch ns a-Souvsnir of -
His Misfortune.

-
"ThiS watch was part of the spoils OF
q burgls-y in which 1 participated in
1884," said a guest in the st. Charles
lobby to a Times Democrat reporter,
drawing out a handsome gold time
piece with a curious spiral pattern en-;
graved in heavy relief on the lid. 'It
was my first affair of the kind, and 1
regret to say I bungled it and got
saught almost Immediately. What is
the joke, did you asks? There is NO
joke;'i it is perfectly true. 1t Happened
like this: In the fall OF 81, when L vas
quite young and green, I got a job trav-
cling fora. Chicago grocery house, and
one of the first places 1 visited was a
small towp in.northern Ohio. Iarrivsd
about IL at night, and went ont to. take
a stroll and smoke a cigar before go
ing to bed. Passing through a side
Street 1 noticed a'1fgkt in the little
jewelry store, aha:alsr that the door
was .a.iar. That reminded me had re-
!. Gently broken the naipspring of my
watch, and I sauntered in to leaYei it for
repairs. AsIehtered a young man arose
from the ftrthef ena"of the eohhter.
He seemed startled, which Was not un-'
natural at such a late call, but he re:
gained his composure while ! explained.
the purpose, of my visit, and told m he
had closed some hours before, but hap
pened to remember some things that
had been left out of the safe and re-
turned to put them back. When 1
handed him my watch 1 asked him to
lend me another to wear in the mean
time, and he gave me one at random
from a tray on the counter. This is it
on my chain now.
Next morning." continued the story
teller. Il was .lounging in the hotel Of
fee when the town marshal tapped me
on the shoulder.
"'Let me see your watch he said.
81 pulled it out Immediately, and was
at once placed under arrest on the
charge of robbing the jewelry store.
1t seemed hat it had been burglarized
during the night, and somebody in the
hotel had noticed my peculiar-looking
watch and reported it to the police. 1t
was promptly identified as part of the
stolen goods, and, needless to say, my
story as to its acquisition was laughed
to scorn. 1 was obliged to admit that
it seemed a little gauzy myself, and l
can't say l blame the authorities for
declining to give it credence. At any
rate, I found myself in the deuce of a
fix. My old watch had been carried off
by the thief, and there was absolute
ly nothing to confirm my statement ex-
cept the bare fact hat none of the other
goods was found in my possession.
That, however, went for very little, for
it was argued that | had abundant time
to conceal my plumber. In my agitation
ard excitement | must lave presented a
perfect picture of guilt. ard the towns
people came near mobbing me on the
way to jail. They kept me there for
exactly three hours. the agony of which
will dwell with mt if | live to be a hun
dred. Meanwhile the s~ure-enough bur-
glar had been bagged in an adjoining
town with all the loot, including my
timepiece. in his ~valise, and when l was
released he was bundled into
my cell. If he hadn't been caught /
don't know what might have happened.
| don't like to think about it. The au-
thorities made groveling apologies and
the jeweler was especially abject. To
me he offered to let me keep
the new watch in exchange for my old
one. and | accepted the proposition. /
carry it as n sort of traei-comic SOU
yepir."-N. O, TimeS-DemOcrat.