The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-08-16
FOOTPRINTS IN THE SNOW.


There had been no less than SO thefts
and burglaries in the eastern suburb of
the city, all evidently by the same hand,
and yet the police had not succeeded in
making single arrest. No; 1 am
wrong there. They had made SO arrests,
hauling in tramps, peddlers, loafers and
every one who fell under suspicion but
their drag net had not caught the guilty
party.
The audacity of the criminal was
something to be talked about It was
agreed that he worked entirely alone,
except having some one to help carry
off the plumber when it had been gath
cred. AS for the thefts, they included
clothes from the line, garden tools, lawn
mowers and whatever was portable.
Many of the things were taken in broad
daylight. AS to the burglaries, there
had been seven of them when the papers
demanded that something drastic be
done In each case money, jewelry,
clothing, clocks and table linen were
taken. 1t could be figured by the de-
tective on the case that bundle weigh
ing 200 pounds could not be carried far,
and that consequently the burglar was
not far away But that wasn't catch
ing him. 1t was also to be figured that
the plumber might be taken away in a
carriage or wagon, but that was not
tracking it.
I know that the police worked hard
on this case, and that every seeming
clew was. carefully followed, and that
they let a boy Is years old take all
the credit away from them was not
their fault. I was that boy, and that
1 solved the mystery was owing to luck.
The crimes began about the middle of
September, and / gave them no atten-
ton until about the first of November.
Then 1 happened to be talking with a
man who had had his pushcart stolen.
This, in fact, was at the beginning Of
the thefts He mentioned that the tire
of one of the wheels had been wrapped
with wire to tighten it.
On the night of the talk another
house was robbed. It was only two
blocks from my fathers house, and 1
went there, with others. The police re-
fused all information, but during the
day I was told by a son of the house
holder that they had found tracks I'M
der a window. It was an open fall, and
the ground had not yet frozen. The
tracks were those of a boot, and the
sole of one had been mended- / went
up and down the alley in the rear of
the house with this boy, and in the
dust we found the impress of what look
ed to be buggy tires. They were some
thing else, however They were the inn
press of the tires of that pushcart At
every revolution one of the wheels left
a sort of smudge, and I justified in
believing that it was the wire that did
it.
NY theory was that all the stolen
goods had been taken away in the
there Where had they been taken?
Who was the man who had left the
tracks? The police had kept their eyes
on every suspicious dealer in the city,
but not a stolen article had been offered
for sale or pawn. They had been on the
lookout for many nights for wagons or
other vehicles driving about. but had
failed to attach any significance to
pushcart Had I gone to them with my
theory [ should have been ridiculed.
The detective who can't find a clew
himself doesn't want any one else to
find one When had lain awake
dozen nights trying to figure things out
| luck helped me. The streets were still
| dusty barn had been broken open
| and a lot of bedding temporarily stored
| therein had been taken.
I happened to be passing the place
when the discovery was made and the
police telephoned for. There were the
/, tracks of the pushcart again. In the
dusty road, following the cart, were
! boot tracks. and one of them had