The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1905-11-22
GENEROUS CRIMINALS
SWlNDLERS WHO GAVE AWAY BIG
FORTUNES IN CHARITY.

Many instances of Wen Who BecRme
Outrageous Robbers For the Fur
pose of relieving MISERY and Dis
trcss With Their Ill Gotten Gains.
Two or three charitable institutes IN
Italy owe their foundation to a famous
sNlndlcr named Rosclll. whose whole
aim In lie seems 10 have been 10 heue
fit poor children who. like himself We're
erlpPlcS originally possessed nf Il
small fortune. he practically bcggared
himself With this most worthy object.
But there. of course he should have
stopped Instead of doing So. however,
he embarked ON a series OF gigantic
frauds. by which he became possessed
of many tens OF thousands Of pounds.
which he devoted TO the cause Of Grip
pies The dtsiutercstcdness of the mo
tive for his crimes is established by the
fact that lie himself lived most frugal
ly In quite humble circumstances while
he was dispensing thousands OF pounds
in charity, every penny of his Ill gotten
gains going in this way. Hundreds of
cripples and other suffering children
learned to bless his name, and It Is es-
tlmatcd thai lie gave away between
$4,000 ana 100000 to relieve the suf-
ferngs and brighten the lives of those
whom God had not made straight"
During his somewhat brief career
as rutn of wealth, Redpath, the rail-
way cek. who swlndled his employ
ers of nearly n quarter of million
pounds by means of forged stock GER
tificates, dispensed a very consider
able sum Of money in charity. Lead
ing double life and, out of office
hours. posing as a successful financler
he was constantly applied to by his
acquaintances TO assist charities in
which they were interested, and be
helped others as generously as he had
helped himself 10 beggars he rarely
gave less than a sovereign. and time
upon time he went stunning in or
der to help cases of distress.
But it cannot. OF course, be asserted
that his gigantic frauds were operated
by him with the object of being char
table lie was undoubtedly generous
and the total amount of money he gave
away in charity would have kept him
! in luxury all his life. Palmer, the
daring burglar, it would seem, EN-
barked on his wonderfully successful
career of crime solely from perverted
philanthropic motives. He lived humblJ
and gave away all he stole. Redpatf
lived In such lordly style that one won
ders that he should have managed L
escape detection for SO long as ter
years
Palmer was without doubt the mos
successful burglar England has eve
known, not only because his haul'
were generally rich, but because dur
Ing whole decade of systematic
crime he never once fell into the hands
of the police. 1t is estimated that III
acquired" more than 100000 i'll thu
course of his career. and almost ever.
penny of this was given away in char
ity. Norwich, where he lived. owe
him a debt OF gratitude it is not likel.
quickly to forget, for his benefaction
In that town alone ran into tens o
thousands of pounds. No local case o
distress ever came under his motto
without receiving help from him. Th
old and crippled particularly evoked
his charity, and 1t is said that he spen
upward of $50, 900 in establishing al
inlrmary.
In no small measure was it due t
his charitable propensities that Kint
the famous bank clerk who robbie,
the Bank of Belgium of nearly mi
lion of money, drifted on his career o
crime. 1t was his ambition to be
great philanthropist, but as ban
clerk he had not the means, and, hoT
ing to get rich quickly, he went in 70
rash speculations. Losing, he robbie
his employers to obtain the none
with which TO pay his account and t
make another attempt. He found
comparatively easy to get hold of larg
sums OF money in this way, and h
went ON stealing not only TO pay h
losses, but also to obtain funds wit
which to be charitable while he wa
waiting for great stroke of luck
make him rich and thus repay his boz
rowings
and one day he awoke to the fact tha
he had in all robbed the bank of nea
ly 100000, which he could neyt
hope to repay. Discovery being IL
evitable he fed, only. however, TO |
caught and sentenced to fifteen year
imprisonment.
Milreau, who was said to have bee
connected with some of the best fam
lies in France and to have possesse
considerable means until ruined b
the Panama canal disaster, was one {
the best friends the beggars of Par
ever had, and to obtain funds for he'll
ing them he became systematic THE
He used to frequent the fashionab
streets during the day and pick poe
cts. and by night. dressed in raggt
clothes, he dispensed the spells to Il
first beggars he met. For years !
continued the practice without beir
suspected. and it was by pure cham
that he eventually did fall into ii
hands of the police. When his lodging
were searched sufficiently emp
purses were found to fill a large pac
ing case. and 1t was made clear that
had stolen hundreds of watches al
scarfpins, while he had been pinchil
and contrivlng to live n respectful
man on few francs Il week saw
from the ruin OF his fort1me.-Lond'
Tit-Bits