The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1900-04-22
Criminal Tracked
By Perfumes. ~ ~

| 50 nfinitesimally slight are some Of thu
| clews that have led TO the arrest and ulti-
! mate conviction of notable criminals that
| one may not be surprised TO learn that by
! the diseing Iishing and ineffacabIe odor Of
| certain perfumes and scents m,rderers and
thieves have ere now been brought to book
for their misdemeanors
| Probably The dneerest case in this con-
| n-ctinn Is. SAYS answers that of a no.
! t"rious burglar who WIS arrested in Paris
| q few months back solely because he had a
| partially fer eucalyptus. The facts are
these: An elderly lady awoke one night
20 ,ird that the jewel box at the side ef her
n"i was in the &c, of hoinc robhei by a
buriy and closely masked man. The lady
had tie seif-coutrn, To feisn sleep and make
4 mental note Of the fact that There was
nne distinguishing feature o. the marauder.
! This WIS the strong odor VI eucalyptus hat
per,a1et his garments.
" soon IS No had effected his departure
the woman -".r and summoned . policeman
to arr assistance by calling loudly from hs,
bedroom window. However. her efforts were
in vain. for on the arrival of the police il
was found that the burglar mad di.ar-
r-aYed with the isdy's Jewels. Nor was
tie man captured for a considerable period.
GA.u. one afternoon there called an the Of
flee "t u Hebrew pawnhrokcr in a am1li
way of business e gcutlcrnanly looking man.
VIII" was desiroIts of pled-ing a few articles
Of icw,lfv.
Now the broker had been supplied with A
list of the articles stolen on the occasion,
HUd at once saw that the trinkets the pres.
cnt customer WAS inteIdin: to pledge were
none Of those that mad been taken from the
rU.f- s-,-a, No.. tp,t no N.I AaI thA
story of III" burglary. and recalled the re-
marks of tue lady arent tn. odor pervuling
the thicf's Clothes.
Now. this mans garments also smelled of
III, fragrant oil. one would hardly have con-
silered this similarity such as to- warrant
'hc apprehension of the ~piehger. but pawn
brokers arc u vautureSoule set of mon. and
the on. referred to Called a policeman and
gave the customer in charge. Nor did he err
in So doing. for the man proved to be 4 no.
tnrious burglar. and. indeed. the thief of the
gems The articles he was on the point Of
piedging were the result of another bur
gIlry. and the chances are that the misfe-
iueanant would have continuously cvaded
capture but for the fact that. being strange
" frightened OF the universal epidemic-in-
fluenza-he had resorted to a liberal use Of
eucalyptus oil.
An even oddcr case in point is one which
halls from India. a merchant returning to
his home from Calcutta took with him a
small flask of spikenard, a costly perfume
Ised in Hindoo religious rites. The unfor-
tunate fellow never reached his home. for
on tn" way thither he was attacked by a
E1rc of prisoners. who killed him, and. after
throwing his body into a river. carried of
his goods. including the flask of scent.
Months afterwards the criminals. who had
come under suspicion of other crimes, re-
ceived an informal visit from the police,
when the strong odor of the costly scent was
a .--, - I-- A. tie
being eventually unearthed beneath a stack
of fuel in one of the rooms OF the house. The
discovery led TO the.execur1on Of three mem.
hers Of the gang. g.