The professional world. (Columbia, Mo.) 1901-192?, 1902-10-31
GRIMES FOR
Men Who Have Robbed the Rich for
the Benefit of the Poor.

Few are sufficiently enthusiastic in
the cause of charity as to go to the
extent Of crime in it's behalf. Never
theless, some of the most notable
crimes of the age have been perpetrated
purely from ph~ilanthropic motives.
The unenviable record which Palmer,
the housebreaker, gained for burglary
has never been surpassed wen by Chas.
Peace himself. During his criminal
career, which extended over ten years,
he was instrumental in bringing about
more than 200 successful burglaries, in
Guiding the robbery of the Marsden
bank, without once falling into the
hands of the police, and every penny
of his illicit gains he gave to charity.
When at home he lived humbly in
a small villa at Norwich under an as
sumed name and is remembered as one
of the greatest benefactors that city
ever had. He spent $4,000 in found
ing an infirmary, which he conducted
on the most luxurious lines, and period
ically gave public dinners to which all
the poor were welcome. Moreover,
when he died and his crimes were eX-
posed it was found that nc fewer than
40 infirm individuals were living solely
at his expense, and the total amount
he distributed among other charities
exceeded $50. 1000, all derived from
wholesale robbery.
Gustave Roselli vas the greatest
swindler Italy has ever known, though
his many crimes were perpetrated pure
ly in the interests of children's chart
ties. He was a cripple and from his
earliest days displayed unwonted in
terest in those of tender age similarly
afflicted. When only 90 he set in mo-
ton a scheme of fraud or a gigantic
scale, which relieved the wealthy of
thousands in Is years.
With the proceeds of his crime he
founded and endowed a cripples' home
in Rome, cleared off the debts of three
children's hospitals and instituted
homes for waits in many of the prin-
cipal Italian cities, though he lived in
a di~lapidated cottage and almost denied
himself the bare necessities of life.
When eventually that bubble burst he
was sentenced to lifelong imprison-
ment, but so popular had he become
with the masses that frantic crowds
cheered him as he was led from the
courts. After Is years spent in a dun
eeon he was pardoned by King Hum
bert in 1885, only to succumb shortly
afterward to the hardships he had en-
dured.
Many will remember the case of a
we'll known London solicitor who was
condemned to a lengthy term of i'm
prisonment some years ago, brought
about by his devotion to charity. Well
aware that numbers of discharged con-
victs drifted back into crime from sheer
inability to secure work on leaving
goal, he made a point of waiting out
side the prison gates and offering them
employment as they came out. He be-
gan by beggaring himself in their in
t~erests, till. needing further funds to
carry on the praiseworthy work, he
made serious inroads upon the money
instructed to him by his clients for in
vestment. When eventually he was
pulled up by the law it was found that
he had provided no fewer than IL gaol-
birds with the wherewithal to set them
selves up in business under his super
vision.
The remarkable sequel to this case,