The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-03-15

gentlemanly appearance called at one of the
big jeweiry shops there and asked TO have
shown him a number of diamond rings.
intimating that he intended purchasing one
OF considerable value. A case was pro-
duced by the clerk containing rings vary
ing in price from 500 to 500 in our money
After spending a good deal of time In ex-
aiming them. trying them on his fingers
and questioning the clerk concerning them,
ne finally said that as he was making the
purchase for a friend and not for himself,
il would be best for him TO ascertain his
friends choice before making the final Sc
lection, and arranged 10 come back 10 the
shop in day or two TO complete the deal.
He paid two more visits 10 the shop and
still seemed unable TO make up his mind.
laughingy remarking that il was no little
thing for him 10 make purchase of such
Importance and that he wanted to be sure
that he made no mistake Finally, upon
his fourth visit. he made his selection, pay
ing over 800 for a very handsome ring.
We'll, il was not until the next day that
the proprietor of the establishment made
the discovery that he had been the victim
of a well-planned robbery. CHANGING to
out for the customers inspection his sus-
picions were aroused by noticing a little
popularity about one of the rings that he
had never observed before. and close in
vestigation disclosed the fact that four of
the costliest rings in the tray had been re-
placed by skillfully prepared counterfeits.
He at once concluded that the robbery had
been committed by the gentlemanly looking
in deciding upon the ring he wanted. as no
other visitor had examined these particular
rings since the purchase had been made
The thief was run down three months later
by clever detective, and upon being con-
victed for the crime he explained, not with
out considerable pride, how he had en-
gineered his robbery. Now, just mark the
trouble this fellow took and notice his care
as to the perfection of every detail in un-
dertaking his big job His first visit was
for the purpose of taking models of the
rings which he intended to steal. How he
managed to take the models under the
watchful eyes of the clerk / don't know,
but he was successful in doing it somehow
or other. His second visit was for the pur-
pose of testing the accuracy of the coun-
terfeits. He dropped into the shop the
third time for no other earthly reason than
to impress the clerk with his unsettled
state of mind regarding the purchase, for
on that occasion he didn't even ask to see
the rings. but merely remarked that as he
was going by he thought he would step in
and tell the clerk that he had about con-
cluded to buy one of the $500 gems and
would return on the next day with the
money. During the final visit he found
time to effect the change while the clerk
was bringing out a new tray of samples
to show him, for he asked-and the question
was wholly in keeping with his apparent
anxiety to make the best selection for the
least money-to be allowed to see some
more rings before finally making his choice.
1t was one of the smartest tricks ever
worked in England or anywhere else
think.
ATTENTION TO DETAIL.
But for elaborate attention to detail there
have been few robberies that will COM
pare to the one which occurred in London
about ten years ago. A travelling repre-
sentative of big jewelry house was in the
habit of visiting retail firms in the neigh
| borhood of Hatton Gardens, driving from
| one shop to another in handsome
| him a quantity of very valuable samples
| and this knowledge, reaching the ears OF
| a gang of expert thieves, led to a very
| carefully planned robbery. In the begin
T! ming the thieves rented a brougham re-
| sembling in every particular the one used
| by the travelling salesman and, after find
1 ing out the character of the packages he
| usually carried about with him, they had
| their vehicle loaded with parcels of sim
| liar kind. While the salesman was engaged
| in showing his samples to one of his regu-
| lar customers these clever rogues, by some
| means, got the driver of the salesman's
| brougham to leave his seat long enough tC
have little liquid refreshment at near
| by bar, and during the mans absence they
substituted their imitation brougham fol
| the original one and drove of with the
| vehicle. containing the packages worth
| thousands of dollars The coachman. upor
| his return, failed to notice the changt
| until he happened to discover that the horse
| was not his own. although wonderfully
like the one he had been driving. By thi.
| time the thieves had got safely away with
their booty, which. by the way, was never
| recovered.
There is still lots of work for detec
| tives," added Mr.. Davidson, but you viii
| notice that it is seldom nowadays tina
you read of jewel robberies on big scale
being successfully worked. The criminal.
of to-day are bold enough in their way
they are willing to sandbag a man or Il
| burglarize house. but they haven't the
brains to plan a spectacular jewel robber!
and carry out their plans in the face o.
| innumerable Obstacles
| True.