The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1906-12-22
FORTUNE IN JUNK
IN HIS CELLAR
Plumber to the Value of.
Six Thousand Dollars Is
Found at Wright's Cafe
TOOLS OF ALL SORTS

Plumber Of the value of more than
$4,000. consisting of mechanics tools,
electrical apparatus. copper plates and
boilers. plumbers supplies and mis-
cellaneous assortment of junk, was un
earthed yesterday by Detectives Ryan
and ODea in the basement Of the res
taurant and thieves retreat at 455
Ellis street conducted by Chester F.
Wright, q prosperous corset dealer
downtown before the fire. Since the
beginning Of building after the fire
Wright has conducted fence"
where burglars might dispose of stolen
booty and has done such business
that the police themselves are over
come with amazement
The restaurant was conducted as a
blind to give respectability to the place
In reality the establishment was a
rendezvous of crooks and a repository
for the property they stole. The "Old
Curiosity Shop" of Dickens pales into
insignificance when compared to the
junk room in the rear of the premises
owned by Wright. The assortment and
variety OF stolen goods cached in the
basement and in trunks with false
bottoms and tables with false drawers
IS almost beyond belief There We're
probably 300 saws, 500 hammers, ten
tons Of copper wire and plate, 200 car
penters' squares, 400 chisels. 100 planes
1000 plumbing fixtures. twenty trunks,
ten tables and probably 5000 minor
mechanical appliances. Detectives Ryan
and O'Dea spent the entire day in dig
ging out the stolen loot, but after ten
hours work had not even begun TO get
TO the bottom of the concealed goods
II viii take two weeks, the detectives
say. TO dig out the stolen property. and
It viii probably take a month to make
an inventory.
MAN MAY BE INSANE
Captain of Detectives Duke has more
than one theory of the motives that
inspired Wright to go into the business
wholesale plan. In the cellar of
Wrights building there were goods
enough to stock almost any retail store
10 super1uity. 1T is possible" said
Duke, that this man had an organized
band OF burglars at work for him He
says that he had 1000 persons selling
him junk. OF course, this statement is
untrue, but IT is possible that he had
twenty or possibly forty persons in his
employ. The fact that he asserts that
1000 persons sold him the enormous
quantity Of loot leads to the assump-
ton that he may not be quite right
mentally. 1t would seem that no sane
man would do what he did After pur-
chasing the stolen property Wright
disposed Of but little of it, but was
most ingenious in devising means for
hiding the stuff The majority of the
loot was buried beneath the SOIL but
in all of the tables and trunks large
quantities Of tools were found.
What leads me to believe that
Wright may be insane on the question
Of stealing tools is that eight years
ago se committed cruelties upon his
wife. He would strip her to the waist
and then stick pins into her body /
am informed that when he has q fexx
drinks in him he becomes a iend in
carnate. II is possible that Wright
may himself have stolen a large
part of the loot, but ii is
certain that he had trained
corps of burglars who disposed
OF their goods 10 him. Taking
everything into consideration, L think
that this is one of the most remarkable
criminal cases that the department has
ever had to deal with"
EMPLOYEES MAKE STATEMENT
Albert Reichmath, an employee of
Wright was arrested yesterday and
made confession which involves his
employer deeply. The following is the
confession:
My name IS Albert Reichmuth I have worked
for Chester Wright at zs5 Ellis street for about
seven months. he deals in junk tools, etc and
keeps a restaurant
While ! was employed by him be bought
shout 700 pounds Of lead in cakes about ffty
nrty foot lengths Of new finch soil pine and
about Two dozen new brass hinges
told Wright that I thought these articles
had been stolen. He made no reply. About TWO
months ago he admitted 10 me that be believed
that lot Of the tools that he had bought had
been stolen Wright told that the persons
who sold him stolen tools in the back wev
70 his store ] Wright hide tools In t1e
tables. and also under the blankets in room
upstairs IN the rear. Wright told me that he
hid these tools so that no one would see them
The following is partial list of
those who lost property through
Wright and his burglarious gang:
T. J. Peterson and E. A. Shearer. se41 Eieb-
teenth street Louis NJ Healy 1850 California
street; Nitfmore a McVaugh 344a Fillmore
street: William Gosnell. Second and Folsom
streets; Darrell Boyd Vista Grand Ocean Beacb.
a A Anderson. California and Jones streets: 7
B. Garofslo. l02 Thornton street: a f. Mich
OILS Ellis and Webster streets; Charles A Doran.
x256 Bryant street; Hopkins & DinrOck 1853
Suffer street; @. ". Marley 1884 Ninefeenfh
street; /. p. Schneider, 32S Ivy avenue. l. NJ
Boukofsky, 1902 Turk street: Heilburg Building
Company, OFarrell and Jones streets: James
Densing. 1917 Twenty-sixth street; Charles
Ryan. Duboce avenue and Guerrero street: Fred
ntokif. 1905 Turk street; B. A. Dexter 1868
Eighteenth street. Alfonso de EFF To~I,nS