Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1905-07-20
IMITATION In CRIME
CRIMINALS FOLLOW ONE ANOTHER
IN THEIR METHODS.
One Peculiar swfndle or Robbery Is
Sure to Beget Its Counterpart by
Another Gang of Crooks-Pfcture
Stealing nnd Body snatching.


| The initiative faculty of criminals /,
/ well recognized by all engaged il theil
!. detection, says the LonGon Answers
One sensational crime makes Scotland
: Yard watchful for others in which
some OF its peculiar features will be
copied.
One of the most remarkable series OF
Initiative crimes In modern times oc-
Cured at Windsor. While the Count
and Countess of Marcia were one Feb
ruary evening at dinner in their man
! sion near Virginia Water some thieves
assembled by means OF a rope ladder TO
window In the countess dressing
room. entered the room and, having
collected rich booty OF rings, watch
es, brooches, necklaces and other trim
kets worth some thousands of pounds
disappeared with them.
I For considerable time past there
I had been none of these dinner hour
robberies Now che feat of these
| thieves was TO make them common.
Strangely enough, their imifators even
selected the same neighborhood. With
I'm a few weeks, while the Belgian am
bassador, NJ van de Weyer, and his
wife were dining In tleeir residence at
New Lodge, thieves made clean
sweep of madam's teweIry In precisely
the same fashion. The next gang OF
imitators were not so lucky. Through
mistake in the dining hour Of
Lord Ellenboroagh they timed their
visit to his lordship's house too early
IN the evening. Instead of being at
dinner his lordstip had gone for
drive, from which he returned later
than had been expected. On going up
stairs to his dressing room he found
the door locked. When 1t was broken
opeus the thieves had vanished. but sis
jewelryr scattered on the bed ready for
packing up, was still there Similar
as these robberies we're they were the
work OF different criminals, adj imitat-
ing tho first. They Soon had mitators
all over the country
Gainsborough's great picture; The
Duchess Of Devonsfifre" was stolen
one night from Messrs. Agnew's gal
lery in old Bond street. by thieves who
cut the picture from its frame; rolled
ii up and. carried 1t of. There had
been nc, robbery Of the kind since
1850, when burglars visited the picture
gallery in the Earl If Suffolk'ss resi-
dence and cut out and decampeI with
several pictures, of which they tried
In vain to dispose. In disgust they at
last abandoned the treasures. worth
some thousands of pounds, hiding them
under one of the two arches of Black
friars bridge, where they were found
The perpetrators Of the Gainsborough
theft were equally unfortunate in
their attempts to make money by their
crime. Stflr, they had their imitators.
The very next year thieves made an
entry during the night into Woodville.
Lodge, Clayton, Sussex, and cut from
their frames and decamped with pic
lures valued at from $4,000 tor f15,-
600.
In December of 1915 quick witted
daring thief who Glanced to be at Pad
dington staeon took advantage of the
hustle on the platform attending the.
arrival of the Prince Of Wales to lay
hands upon the jewel case of the
Countess Of Dudley, which contained
gems valued at 100000. The jewer
case was In the custody Of two female
servants, who reached the station in a
cab. The first, alighting from the cab,
put the case down ON the pavement
and turned around to assist her com
panion out of the vehicle. When she
looked for the case again 1t was gone.
Selling upon the arrival or departure
of royalty as an opportunity for theft
Immediately sprang into fashion among
thieves. The very next month at the
same station as the Duke OF Edinburgh
was passing through it thieves found
an opportunity to rob an attendant of
the Russian ambassador. Baron Blu
low, OF his dressing case, containing
jewels worth some thousands of
pounds
The fact that the man he chose as his
example was rewarded with ten years
penal servitude did not deter Tarpsy,
the Jewel thief, from resolving to ini-
tate his plan. The first thief ordered
5CtCt III tllOdotAA1A DOuhhc W VA ~ w NV
elry from a London shop, had the pre-
cious trinkets brought to his house,
chloroformed the unlucky bearer and
disappeared with his booty. Tarpsy
proceeded on the same lines. With his
wife he took house in the west end
and then, proceeding to a jewelers., re-
quested him to send selection Of dia-
monds and emeralds for his wife's con-
sideration. The unfortunate jewelers.
man when he was shown into the Tarp-
~ drawing room was seized, chloro-
formed, bound and gagged, while Tarp-
~ aud his wife decamped with. their
precious burden. So far the plan had
succeeded. but Tarpsy commenced to
fail as soon as he began to be original.
He and his wife having stolen away
to bennington, Tarpsy excited the sus-
picions Of the landiady with whom
they lodged by the peculiar changes he
effected in his appearance.
30 acute did her suspicious at last
become that she communicated with
the police. When they arrived they
were just too late. The mysterious