The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1900-10-19

II - tl' thllosltl's III crime winch pyNn-
or US most; those ia the plain beaten
track being prosy ard uaromantic enough
and often calling for no special skill in
their unravelment. If man breaks into
jewelers. shop IN the ordinary way,
and carries on part OF the stock there
eau be no doubt as TO his objec, in max
ing the attempt. and thence by inference
tracing the crime 20 the likelicst pest OF
the hour who happens 10 be on the sur
face. There IS p good deal. too, 10 be-
CLEANED from the manner in which the Job
is executed, most cracksmcn having
style Of their own; but occasionally
case arises so incomprebens.hle, so far re-
moved from the ordinary run, that we
make the strangest blunders Ia the un-
ravclment
When the case now before me was re-
ported, he first question which arose I'm
my mind was. What on earth could be
the object OF thief in breaking In there?
A lawyers office in an upper fiat In
George street a simple pair OF rooms con-
tanning nothing but an iron safe full of
W
books, with OF course one or two desks
and writing tables-had been in a mystic
rious way entered and ransaclSed There
was no money taken. from the simple tact
that money was not Kept In the place BY
accident a gold watch belonging TO the
owner Of the chambers, the glass OF which
had been broken the day before had
been left In one OF the desks, and this
was taken, along with an indiscriminate-
Is selected heap OF papers oc great value
to the loser including some railway scrip
only too easily available at It's market
value. Strangely enough. an envelope con-
tanning $500 in bank notes. which had
been left with the lawyer by friend the
day before. and thrust at the moment in
10 the breast-pocket OF his office coat, was
found safe and untouched. The coat was
rather a shabby one. and hung on its nail
behind the door exactly as IL had been
left by its wearer the night before. So
much for the plumber taken: but a greater
staggerer remained I'm the means by
which the burglar had gained entrance.
The rooms formed part of a whole fiat,
kept by "A worthy couple above every sus-
picion, and were not only closed with de-
tector locks, but also guarded by an out
er door. which was found I'm the morning
frrnly locked and bolted on the inside,
wi \ the key I'm the lock, just as II had
been left by the keepers before retiring
20 rest for the night. Nor did the detector
locks show any signs of having been
tampered with. though the safe had cer-
tainly been opened with skeleton keys, or
at least keys not originally intended for
the lock / turned To the window, and
found IL 20 be -four stories off the ground
and could not believe II possible for the
burglar to bring ladder of that length
and use il without discovery. This mar
rowed the means OF entrance to des-
cent from the roof; but after an examin-
alton of the matches | was doubtful of
even that. They were all secured with
padlocks, and all locked. and a burglar
does not generally trouble himself TO close
doors so securely behind him.
Such was the case as IL stood and
though there was cause for congratua-
tion. iEasmuch as the bank notes were
safe, the lawyer was nearly distracted at
his own losses. and prscipitately propos-
ed 10 offer a reward for the return OF the
papers. 'and no questions asked I
could not allow that. and merely coun-
selled patience, while l tried my best 10
trace the stolen property and the skilful
thief
In spite of the state OF things left by
the burglar. ] for some time tenaciously
held In my own mind that the robber was
an amateur. and also some one connected
with the office, and poss cssing means of
admittance suspected by none. Yet /
found that by working in this belief
made absolutely no progress; and getting
the use Of n slater's ladder and ropes,
Al
ination from the hatch 10 the edge of the
roof. with the result that found the
zinc rhone pipe slightly bent inwards at
n spot directly above one Of the office
windows. as II n rope had been there sus-
pended and heavily strained. Assuming
that this had been the means OF entrance
/ promptly decided that no amateur would
have risked his life In this way with only
the teuacity OF few strands oil hemp 10
preserve him from beautiful smash up
on the pavement below. This done,
pondered as to the likeliest man among
my own BARNS" 10 try such a feat, and
wou.l have at once pumped on Fifty
two Tom" had the smallness OF the stake
not staggered me. IL was incredible TO me
that this man, who had no lack OF brute
courage. as we'll as cunning and skill and
a quiclkness OF decision that would have
made his fortune several times over in
much for so little. Still more pUzzling was
Il to me how he should ever have gone
near such a place In hope OF plunder. but
mystihed as 1 was. / thought IL could do
no harm 10 try and see him, and IL possi-
bic "sound" him on the point. / had tried
others without success. and my reasons
for trying him were that I was nearly at
the end Of my tether. and that 1 knew
ne had a liking for working q job single
handed, and thus being bothered with no
division OF profits. The very way I'm which
his odd name was earned illustrates this
practice of his. "Fifty-two" was not
Toms prison number. but the number OF
a shop In the new town, which Tom per-
sisted In trying 10 break into. Tom tried
IL once, and was scared. chased and
caught. and got six months. Then think
ing, perhaps, of Robert the Bruce's spider
and the lucky number seven. he tried it
again, was caught, and narrowly oscap-
cd conviction. lie was detained, and got
two years on another charge. but the
very week after his term expired. he
tried No 50 again, and this time had the
immortal reward. IN the shape of seven
years onal-lanother Illustration of how
perseverance and the number seven are
eternally united.
TO "Fifty-tHo Tom" therefore. I turn