The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-09-02
BIG LAND
 BY POLICE Accused Burglars in the
 Tolls. WHITE MAN IS A FENCE Said to Have Planned Many Depra-
 dationS. Efforts of Depsrtment Result in Ar rests which 1t is Believed VIII stop Crime Wave
 Much PIunder Re-
 covered.
Said to Have Planned Many Depra-
 dations.

Weeks of labor and vigilance upon the part of the police department of Montgomery have been rewarded by the capture of four negro thieves whom. it is. charged. are responsible for most of the daylight burglaries which have puzzled Chief of Police Taylors men for the past several months. J. Bernard Berger. mer- chant who conducts saloon and gro cery, corner of High and Hall Streets, has also been arrested. charged with receiving stolen property.
 During the hot summer months the homes of people who have left the city have been ransacked systematically Burglars have entered homes in an ap- parently reckless fashion, and escaped without detection until yesterday.
 During this time Chief Taylor has exerted himself to the utmost to ap- prehend the criminals.
 The efforts of the Chief resulted in the arrest of four negroes in Mobile, the oldest of which is IS years of age. Their names are Lawrence Gay, How ard Ellis, Alex Bracy and John Daw- son. All of them, particularly Gray, are well known to the police and young as they are. have figured upon numer- OaS OCCdSlOHH HI 6nC IkCOOA0Ct S 1O0A es
 Friday morning Chief Taylor went to Mobile, accompanied by Special Of- ficer Avant. where he had reason to be- lieve he would find the parties of whom he was in search. and returned to Montgomery iast night with his four prisoners securely handcuffed.
 Chance Leads to Arrest.
 Chief Taylor expected to have con- siderable difficulty in locating his men in ba C,s1T hut .nlr tr- constance two of the boys were ar rested a few hours after his arrival. While talking with Chief of Police Rondeau of Mobile, he glanced out of the window and saw Gray and Ellis. The information obtained from these two led to the arrest of the others yesterday morning. When Chief Taylor first determined that the criticism of his department must cease and the burglars who had been pillaging Montgomery homes brought to justice. he placed fourteen men of the department in plain clothes Every morning and evening they re- ported to the Chief
 Developments tended to indicate that J. Bernard Berger, a white merchant, had in his possession a number of stolen articles, and last Thursday morning Special Officer Jackson visited his place of business and demanded the property which the police believed that he had secreted.
 Berger denied any knowledge of the whereabouts of the plunder. Later a negress named Essie Clarke, who rents house belonging to Berger. was arr rested and from her the police gleaned the information which led to the ap- prehension of the criminals and the recovery of a large quantity of stolen property. She informed the police that Berger had several of the articles in his possession and Friday the officers returned to Berger's place of business, and insisted that he turn over the property. This time Berger acknowl-. edged that he had some of the ar- ticles sought by the police, and sur rendered them
 Articles Recovered.
 In the list of articles obtained are one ladies gold watch and chain, set with turquoises; gold locket and chain; one pair of gold and pearl opera glasses, two coral breastpins, three pearl handled fruit knives, two gold rings, one ring set with precious stones of which one setting is missing; one gold thimble, one gold band ring, two pairs of coral buttons, one pair of ear rings, one double barreled shotgun. one bank book marked "F. P."i one silver watch with jeweled movements one open-face gold watch with jew eled movement, diamond stick pin and three razors A diamond bracelet, sev- eraI razors and a quantity of mems wearing apparel has also been recov- cred.
 It has been established, the police say, that Berger purchased the articles found in his possession at ridiculously low prices, paying $1.75 for shotgun valued at from $40 to $50. The four negroes under arrest are said to have sold him the goods, lived in the house rented by the Clarke woman, and It is believed by the police that Berger aid- ed the robberies committed to the ex- tent of planning the raids.
 A large part of the plunder has been identified by It's rightful owners. and the police think they know where a great part of the remainder was stolen.
 Chief Taylor said last night that 1t was largely due to the aid of the Mo bile police that the burglars were promptly apprehended. They had gone to the Gulf City presumably for the purpose of disposing of other portions of the stolen property. The men will be tried in the Recorders Court next week.