The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-11-11
SpORTTVE ELEMENT IN CRIME.
GREAT THIEVES WHO PLAY TEE
= GAME JOYOUsLY.

OF WANT, ana Cnere are many WhOcS Uuuoc
cannot be attributed to any special
whatever. but the d~epredations Of no q
few are due neither to want nor to wanton-
ness. 1t is a love OF adventure that gives
this particular turn to their activities. The
u~nfortunates who are driven to steal by
pressure Of circumstances find no pleasure
In their evil deeds and they would like I o
forget them a soon as possible. But Just
as the sportsman enjoys the anticipation
OF his sport, writes Sir Robert Anderson.
late head Of the criminal investigation de-
partment Of Scotland Yard. IN the London
Daily Graphic. and delights in talking over
his successes and even his failures, so is il
with the criminal Of sporting tendencies.
My friend Frank White, so long the
esteemed pastor of Talbot Tabernacle,
Noting Hill, has told me OF an experience
he had in a recent visit to America. He was
invited to conduct the Sunday services In one
OF the large prisons, for in the jails Of tho
United States religion in not laid on OIL
cially, a. In England. like the water and
the gas. After the preaching he was asked
to visit some Of the convicts in their cells.
One Of tho number was a q Of good edu-
cation and Of exceptional ability.
To find such q man In such circumstances
was distressing and deplorable and in talk
ing to him Mr.. White sought to improve
the occasion. When he had finished his
homily the prisoner asked hin il fox
hunting was still practised In England.
Yes said my friend, distressed at what
he took to be a broad hint to change the
subject. But don't they get q nasty fall
now and then2' Yes, but that does not
stop the hunting well, that's just like
me- said the convict. rive had a nasty
fall and no mistake, but l hope for better
luck another time / need not point the
moral. It was not with a dangerous trade
but with a dangerous sport that he COM
pared his life "a a criminal.
With a convinced disciple Of HOBBIES,
who ignores the Ten Commandments and
suffers from no tvinges Of conscience.
stalking a deer is poor work in comparison
with stalking a millionaire. The brutal
criminal who covets the rich mans hoard
will murder his victim and break open his
safe with a sledgehammer. But that 10
utterly unworthy of the sportsman. And
the Dick Turpin Of the present day cannot
take to the highway. like his prototype.
He must have recourse to modern methods.
l need not draw upon my imagination here;
for truth IL stranger han fiction" and my
memory will supply illustrations.
The hero Of my first story rented a bed
room near the railway station from which
the Dives he was stalking travelled daily
to town. Well dressed and we'll groomed,
he took his seat in the same compa 1T ment,
attracting notice only by his apparent desire
TO remain unnoticed. while he dealt with
t~he'papers he carried in a handbag.
One morning after a few such journeys
he gave vent to his annoyance at having
forgotten his keys. A stranger sitting in
the opposite corner politely offered him his
bunch in the hope that he would find on il a
key to open the bag. But none of them
would At the lock. At the suggestion Of
the stranger (who, Of course, was an accom-
plice), Dives then produced his bunch Of
keys, n a few seconds sutficed to enable
the thief to take a wax impression of the
key Of Dives's safe. A few weeks later the
safe was rified, n before the crime was
discovered the thief was across the Channel
with his booty.
This trick has been often played, but the
plot l nm about to describe is absolutely
unique. The genius who planned it claimed
to have discovered the master secret of
alchemy; he could double the weight Of gold.
Dine of our great city houses, on being ap-
preached in strict confidence, offered him
facilities TO test his scheme. But he
thought scorn" to treat a few hundred
sovereigns; IL would not be worth his while
to deal with less than 10000. OF course,
the merchants ran no risks, for they could
take adequate precautions against pilfer-
ing or fraud. The fellow stipulated that
no one but himself should ever enter the
laboratory. provided for the purpose OF
submitted to a rigid search after each OF
hia dailY yiaitS.
One Monday morning he failed to put
In an appearance, n when after an inter-
val the laboratory was opened the tanks
in which the 10000 sovereigns had been
deposited were found to he empty. How
the gold had been spirited away was q
mystery which perhaps would never have
beer solved had not the sporting instincts
OF the thief compelled him To boast OF his
success.
A letter posted In territory that knew no
extradition treaty brought a full disclosure
Of the plot. A -gentlemanly" sort Of letter
it was, expressing regret at the credulity
of his victims n congratulating them
that the loss OF 100000 was OF small ao-
count to them. He woul maintain abso-
lutte secrecy in the matter, for II the story
were known they would become a laughing
stock in every capital of Europe. / may
here say that they took the hint. The
crime has remained a secret to the present
hour. The only police officers who had
KNOWLEDGE OF IL are ueau.
But how wa the gold abstractedf The
thief explained that the handsome walking
cane which he nvariably carried was
the biggest sovereign purse ever anu
featured and every time he visited the
laboratory he filed 1t with coins.
A still more elaborate plot was that by
which one Of the greatest criminals OF our
time achieved his greatest coup. I refer
to Raymond, who gained notoriety by the
theft of Mr.. Agnew's picture. Gainsbor-
ough's Duchess OF Devonshire." His
cupidity was excited by the accounts Of the
Kimberley diamond mines. He sailed for
South Africa, visited the mines, accom-
panied q convoy Of diamonds to the coast
and investigated the whole problem on
the spot. Dick Turpin would have recruited
a body OF bushrangers and seized n OF
the conveys, but the methods OF the sport
ing criminal OF to-day are very different.
The arrival OF the diamonds at the port
was always timed TO catch the mail steamer
for England and II q convoy were acct.
dentally delayed q route the treasure had
to lie In the post Office until the next mai
left.
Raymond's plan OF campo ign was soon
settled. He was a man who could make
his way in n company, and he had not
much dif,culty in obtaining impressions
Of the postmaster's keys. The postmaster,
indeed, was one OF the admiring friends
whom he entertained at dinner the evening