The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1905-10-11
GENEROUS CRIMINALS
sWlNDLERS WHO GAVE AWAY BIG
FORTUNES IN CHARITY.


Two or three charitable Institutes in
Italy owe their foundation to a famous
swindler named Roselli, whose whole
aim In life seems to have been to bape-
Ut poor children who, like himself, were
cripples. Originally possessed of a
small fortune, he practically beggared
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 disinterestedness of the mo-
tive for his crimes is established by the
fact that he himself lived most frugal
ly In quite humble circumstances while
he was dispensing thousands of pounds
in charity, every penny of his i'll gotten
gains going in this way. Hundreds of
cripples and other suffering children
learned to bless his name, and it is es-
timated that he gave away between
100000 and 100000 to relieve the suf-
ferings and brighten the lives of those
"whom God had not made straight"
During his somewhat brief career
as a man of wealth, Redpath, the rail
way clerk, who swindled his employ
ers of nearly a quarter of a 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 financier,
he was constantly applied to by his
acquaintances to assist charities in
which they were interested, and he
helped others as generously as he had
helped himself. To 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
liable. He 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 humbly
and gave away all he stole. Redpath
lived in such lordly style that one won
ders that he should have managed to
escape detection for so long as ten
years.
Palmer was without doubt the most
successful burglar England has ever
known, not only because his hauls
were generally rich, but because dur
ing a whole decade Of systematic
crime he never once fell into the hands
of the police. 1t is estimated that he
"acquired" more than 100000 In the
course Of his career and almost every
penny of this was given away in char
aty. Norwich, where he lived, owes
him debt of gratitude it is not likely
quickly to forget, for his benefactions
In that town alone ran into tens of
thousands of pounds. No local case of
distress ever came under his notice
without receiving help from him. The
old and crippled particularly evoked
his charity, and it is said that he spent
upward Of f50000 in establishing an
infirmary.
In no small measure was 1t due to
his charitable propensities that Kint,
the famous bank clerk who robbed
the Bank of Belgium Of nearly mil
lion of money, drifted on his career of
crime. 1t was his ambition to be a
great philanthropist, but as a bank
clerk he had not the means, and, hop
ing to get rich quickly, he went in for
rash speculations. Losing, he robbed
his employers to obtain the money
with which to pay his account and to
make another attempt. He found 1t
comparatively easy to get hold of large
sums of money in this way, and he
went on stealing not only to pay his
losses, but also to obtain funds with
which to be charitable while he was
waiting for a great stroke Of luck to
make him rich and thus repay his bor-
rowings.
Luck, however, was against him,
and one day he awoke to the fact that
he had In all robbed the bank of near
ly f1,000,000, which he could never
hope to repay. Discovery being in
evitable, he fed, only, however, to be
caught and sentenced to fifteen years
Imprisonment.
NIilreau, who was said to have been
connected with some of the best fami-
lies In France and to have possessed
considerable means until ruined by
the Panama canal disaster, was one Of
the best friends the beggars Of Paris
ever had, and to obtain funds for help
ing them he became systematic thief.
He used to frequent the fashionable
streets during the day and pick pock-
cts, and by night, dressed in ragged
clothes, he dispensed the spoils to the
first beggars he met. For years he
continued the practice without being
suspected, and it was by pure chance
that he eventually did fall into the
hands of the police. When his lodgings
were searched sufficiently empty
purses were found to fill large pack
ing case, and it was made clear that he
had stolen hundreds Of watches and
scarfpins, while he had been pinching