The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1905-09-27
SEPT. 2Z. 1905.
GENEROUS CRIMINALS
SWlNDLERS WHO GAVE AWAY BIG
FORTUNES IN CHARITY.

Many Instances of Men who became
Outrageous Robbers For the Pur-
pose of Relieving Misery and Dis
tress with Their Ill Gotten Gains.
Two or three charitable institutes In
Italy owe their foundation to famous
sWindler named RESELL. whose whole
aim In life seems to have been to bene
fit poor children who, like himself, were
erlpple5 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 30, however.
lie embarked on series or gigantic
frauds, by which he became possessed
Of many tens Of thousands OF pounds,
which lie devoted TO the cause OF Grip
pies The dislnterestedness OF the mo
tive for his crimes IL established by the
fact that he himself lived most frugal
~ 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
learned to bless his name. and 1t Is es-
tlmatcd that he gave away between
$4,000 and 10000 to relieve the suf-
ferings and brighten the lives OF those
"whom God had not made straight"
During his somewhat brief career
MS man OF wealth, Redpath. the rail-
way clerk, who swindled his employ
ers OF nearly quarter OF million
pounds by means of forged stock GER
tlncates, dispensed very consider
able sum OF money In charity Lead
Ing n double life and, out OF office
hours, posing as a successful hnancier.
he was constantly applied TO by his
acuualntanccs to assist charities In
which they were Interested, and he
helped others rs generously rs he had
helped himself To beggars he rarely
gave less than sovereign, and time
upon time he went stunning" In or
der to help cases OF distress.
But II cannot, OF course. be asserted
TINT 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, 1t would seem, EN-
barlted on his wonderfully successful
career of crime solely from perverted
phllanthropic motives. He lived humbly
and give 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 hnuls
were generally rich. but because dur
Ing II whole decade of systematic
crime he never once fell into the hands
of the police Ii IL estimated that he
"aeuulrcd" more than 100000 In the
course Of his career. and almost every
penny of this wns given away In char
ity. Norwich, where he lived. owes
him debt of gratitude II IL not likely
quickly TO forget, for his benefactions
In that town alone ran into tens OF
thousands of pounds. No local ease OF
distress ever came under his notice
without receiving help from him. The
old and crippled particularly evoked
his charity, and 1t is said that he spent
upward Of $4,000 In establishing an
lnlirmary.
In no small measure was II due TO
his charitable propensitIes that Kint,
the famous bank clerk who robbed
the Bank of Belgium OF nearly a mil
lion Of money. driftcd on his career OF
crime. 1t was his ambition to be a
great phllanthropist but Us a bank
clerk he had not the means. and. hop
ing to get rich quickly. he went In for
rash speculntions. Losing he robbed
his employers to obtain the money
with which to pay his account and TO
make another attempt. lie 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 great stroke Of luck TO
make him rich and thus repay his Dor
rowlngs
l4uNh. uDMtNtls Muh ukulHNl MN,
and one day he awoke to the fact that
he had In all robbed the bank OF near
ly f1.O000O0, which he could never
hope to repay. Discovery being In
evitabl1 he fled. only. however. TO be
caught and sentenced TO fifteen years
Imprisonment.
Milrcau 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 Il systematic thief.
He used TO frequent the fashionable
streets during the day and pick peck
cts, and by night. dressed In ragged
clothes, he dispensed the spells TO the
first beggars he met For years he
continued the practice without being
suspected, and II was by pure chance
that he eventually did fall into the
hands of the police When his lodi ings
We're searched sufficiently empty
purses We're found TO I'LL Il large pack
ing ease and II was made clear that he
had stolen hundreds OF watches and
scarfpins. while he had been pinchlng
and contriving TO live respectable
man on few francs week saved
from the ruin OF his fortune.-London
Tit-BIts.