The southern sentinel. (Winnfield, La.) 1883-1910, 1903-12-04
SUMMER HOTEL EPISODE.
Mysterious Disappearance of Guests
valuables Traced to . Girl
kleptomaniac.

A series OF thefts began weeks ago in
. country hotel occupied chiefly by New
Workers who wan. to be near the city.
About 800 persons were in the hotel.
states the Sun.
Jewelry. chiefly, was taken. Silver
from bureaus. small ornaments and
various articles of value disappeared.
One woman lost jewelry worth more
than $1,000, but the average loss was
not so high.
When it became known that thief
was in the house. the guests were more
careful of their possessions and some
of the women sent their jewelry to the
city. The local police were called in. de-
clared that the thefts were committed
by somebody in the house and had
later the satisfaction Of hearing their
opinion backed up by the detectives
brought down from the city to see IL
they could not identify the thief.
Two days after the arrival Of the two
city men the thefts ended a. inexplic-
ably as they had begun. The detectives
took their departure. The more valu-
able jewelry stolen from the rooms was
returned to its owners.
There were no explanations beyond
the fact that the detectives had found
some Of the property. Most of the
guests were glad enough to get hold Of
what they had lost and were satisfied
with the meager explanations made by
the hotel proprietor.
Life was going on there in the usual
way when woman and her young
daughter who had been stopping in the
hotel q month went away. The rumor
started that this girl, still in her teens.
was the thief.
1t travelled about in whispers until It
could no longer be kept down to q sub
dued key. It had to come out. It did.
and the landlord admitted that there
was a connection more or less definite
between the departure Of this young
girl and the robberies that had taken
place two weeks before.
She was believed to be q kleptomaniac.
unable to control her tendencies, and
had. 1t seems. previously got her family
into similar scrapes. The thefts began
with her arrival and came to an end
when one of the detectives, finding
traces Of the young woman in every case
they investigated. told the proprietor,
who in turn spoke to the father.
The father is wealthy man and there
was no reason in the world why the girl
should have stolen. The discovery Of
this fact was surprising enough. al
though what happened afterward
proved still more astonishing to some
Of the guests Of the hotel.
The proprietor insisted that the young
girl should leave, although she indie-
nantly denied her guilt and declared
that the jewelry had been put in her
room by an enemy with the idea OF
damaging her. The rest Of the family.
with the exception Of her mother. flst-
ly refused to 60.
There were no charges against them
and there were no grounds on which
they could be elected. So they stood
on their rights and the father and sew
eral other daughters are still guests Of
the hotel They associate with the VIC
TINS OF the thefts. refer casually to the
departure OF their sister and mother.
do not hesitate to mention the thefts II
the subject comes up. and are apparent
" enjoying themselves a. much = they
ever were.
Whether their conduct II Intended to
deceive the other guests or they do not
desire to be disturbed in their summer
plans IL something that the rest OF the
guests have not been able to fathom.
But the Indifference Of the family under
the circumstances IL . cause Of cease
|oQa am a1nvnnu%