Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1905-10-01
GENEROUS CRIMINALS
sWiNDLEas WHO GAVE AWAY BIG
/ FORTUNES IN CHARITY.

pusc OK hctcSlhR Misery and DiB-
trcss With Their Ill Gotten Gains.
TWO or three charitable Institutes In
Italy owe their foundation TO Il famous
swindler named Rosclli, whose whole
aim IN life seems to have been to benc-
iii poor children who. like himself, were
cripples. Originally possessed Of a
small fortune, he practically bcggarcd
himself with this most worthy object.
But there, Of course, lie should have
stopped. Instead of doing so, however,
he embarked on II 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 disintcrestcdncss of the mo-
tive for his crimes is established by the
fact TINT he himself lived most frugal
~ in quite humble circumstances while
lie was dispensing thousands OF pounds
in charity, every penny Of his Ill gotten
gains going in this way. hundreds of
cripplcs ana other suffering children
learned To bless his name, und 1t Is es-
Iimatcd that lie gave away between
tS0,UUO ana 100000 TO relieve the SUI
fcrinSs anu brighten the lives of those
whom Cod had not nude straight"
During Ills somewhat brief career
rs Il man of wealth, Redpnth. the rail-
way clerk, who swindled his employ
crs of nearly quarter of million
pounds by means of forged stock GER
tificatcs. dispensed II very consider.
able sum OF money in charity Lead
Ing double life and. out Of office
hours, posing rs successful 1inanclcr
he was constantly applied to by his
acauaintances 10 assist charities In
which they were Interested. and lie
helped others as generously as lie Ind
helped himself. TO bcggars he rarely
gave less than sovereign. and time
upon time lie went stunning" In or
der to help cases OF distress.
But 1t cannot, of course. he 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 lie gave
away In charity would have kept him
in luxury all his life. Palmer, the
daring burglar, II would seem, en-
bnricd on hs wonderfully successful
career OF crime solely from perverted
phlanthropic motives. lie lived hunbly
lived In such lordly style that one Won
ders that he SHOULD have managed TO
escape detection for SO long rs 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 Il whole decade Of systematic
crime he never once fell into the hands
Of the police. II Is estimated that lie
''ncQulrcu" more thnn 100000 in the
course of his career. and almost every
penny of this WINS given away In char
lily. Norwich, where he lived, owes
him debt OF gratitude 1t Is not likely
quickly to forget, for his hcncfuctions
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 ana crippled particularly evoked
his charity, and II Is said that lie spent
upward OF 100000 In establishing an
inlirinnry.
In no small measure was 1t due to
his charitable propensitlcs that Knit,
The famous bnnk clerk who robbed
lion Of money, driftcd on his career OF
crime II was his ambition to be
great philanthropiSt. but us Il bank
clerk lie had not the means, and, hop
ing to get rich quickly. hc went In for
rash speculatlons. Losing he robbed
his employers TO ohtnin tile money
with which TO pay his account and to
make another attempt. He found it
comparatively easy to get hold of large
sums of money IN this way. and he
went on stealing not only to pay Ills
losses. but also 10 obtain funds with
which TO he charitable while he was
waiting for a great stroke of luck TO
make him rich and thus repay his bor-
rowngs.
Luck, however, was against him.
ana one dry he awOkc to the fact that
he had In all robbed the bank of near
~ El,00O000. Which he could never
hope To repay. Discovery hcing in
evitnblc, he fed only, however to be
caught and sentenced to fifteen years
imprisonment
AIilrcau, 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 II systematic thief.
lie 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 bcgGars he met. For years he
continued The prnctlce without belng