The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-10-09
BURGLAR BAND
Led by a Woman at Glen Cove
Long Island,
ARE BOLD ROBBERS.

Dollars in Six Weeks.-The Track
of an Automobile and the Foot.
prints of a Womansthe Only Tangi.
BILE Clews.-Rich Residents Be-
comes vigi1ants.
In the strangest burglar hunt ever
known about New York posses OF
wealthy cottagers are nightly patrol
ing the shores of Glen Cove, L. I.
With guns on their shoulders and
revolvers at their belts, they have
replaced the paid watchmen of the
villages about the Cove, through
whose lines the looters slipped In and
out like cells, and they are looking
for a daring band of land and water
pirates led by a slender-footed wo-
man of beauty and good taste.
During the past six weeks the
thieves with their woman leader have
secured more than $4,000 worth OF
silverware and jewelry; that In one
of their marauding trips they chloro.
formed a well-known matron and her
maid, and that on several occasions,
by: the aid of swift motor boats or
automobiles, they escaped almost un-
der the eyes of the possess,
None of these wealthy sleuths has
seer the much-feared woman leader
Of the pirates yet, though some SER
wants have. But the rich vigilantes
have found her tracks-made by mar
row, pointed, highheeled No. "a
shoes-leading from their homes to
the beaches, where she got. into the
motor boat or to the roadways, where
she entered the automobile.
The latest of the robberies occur
red Saturday night. The home of Mrs.
John Lille, widow of a prominent
politician in Mineola. was broken In.
to in the usual mysterious fashion,
and $1,000 worth Of silverware car
ried of. Wheel marks, apparently
made by an automobile, were found
in front Of the house the next morn
ing. A well-dressed woman, clad In
a tailored suit of blue, had been seen
walking about the grounds just be-
fore nightfall. Not only does this
fact and the tracks of a pair of dainty
shoes indicate that the woman Is OF
the burglar band. There are other
evidences. For instance, in several
houses rare linens and laces, whose
value few men could possibly know,
were taken. Half eaten bits of candy
were found about one or two Of the
looted houses, indicating the femi-
nine leaders sweet tooth and also her
calmness while on a job.
Her band apparently was not de-
tered by the fate Of that other band
Of Long Island burglars who were
rounded up during the Summer by
District Attorney Coles and Sheriff
Gildersleeve, of Nassau County. They
were sent to jail for terms ranging
from fourteen to forty years. Officials
say no lighter sentences will. be i'm
posed upon this band If its members
finally fall into the millionairesl drag
net. -,
One reward Of $1,000 has been
standing for two weeks. John Alvin
Young Sunday added an individual
reward of $500 more. 1t is expected
that no less than $500 additional will
be gained through the play, 1.-The
Woman Pirate"
A feeling that the burglars are al
most uncanny has spread through the
towns. So completely have they dis
appeared within a few minutes OF the
lootings, that it seems as though they
dematerialize themselves.
IT determined, with some friends,
it would be best to go out and hunt
the burglars ourselves said Mr.
Young, the bank president, Sunday
"They looted my house and got on
clearly, though my coachman fired
upon one of them-a masked man
Last week the burglars were auda'
cious enough to come back after
what they had left from their first
visit. But they were scared of. One
of the band was seen quieting my
watchdog with a piece of meat. We
hope to get them some OF these
nights"
The robbery of the home of Frank
s. Smithers is responsible for the
coming theatrical performance: Mrs
Smithers may be the impersonator Of
the mysterious woman leader.
1t was at their home the feamale
d~esperado's tracks were first discov'
cred. Charles Williams, a Waterman
pointed them out TO the rich Vigil
lantes. Then the procured rules anc
tape measures, did some Bertillor
work in the sand, and learned from {
shoe NAL that the woman wore dain'
ty No. ga oxfords.
81 watched her house for awhile
and heard a whistle that sounded like
a signal when darkness fell" sale
Williams. Three hours afterwar6
the Smithers home was e. robbed
though I could not legally connec'
the woman with it, -"
-: An automobile was used in con
nection with the Weidenfeld ant
Stevens robberies at Oyster Bay
Wheel marks were found on thu
lawns Of the houses next morning
From the Weidenfeld house !;
great chest of silver was taken whose
weight must have taxed the strength