The Washington herald., 1908-01-11
LOOT MURPHY HOME
Burglars TerrOrize Neigh
bOrs of Tammany Leader.
ROBERT J. COLLIER A SUFFERER
Gramercy Park and Stuyvesant
square in New York Resemble
Armed Camp-Detectives, Police
men, ana ''StOOI Pigeons on Every
Hand-Exsmine Politicians Papers

New York. Jan. 1O-The neighborhoods
bordering on and near to Gramercy Park
and Stuyvesant Square somewhat re-
semble an armed camp these days De-
tectiyes. policemen, and stool pigeons
are seen on every hand, while the resi-
dents walk to their homes looking back
ward and to ali sides. All this is caused
by frequent visits Of burglars
Beginning with New Years Eve. the
neighborhoods mentioned have been Wis
tied by burglars more than fourteen times
that are known OF.
Hence the presence Of the detectives
and others, waiting for the burglars 10
walk up TO them and introduce them
selves. And the burglars in question
have all but done just that very thing.
as, in one instance. a policeman had tho
! pleasure Of talking 10 them. The burglars
/ have even become so bold that on Thurs
Gay night man. who said he was one
iof the burglars. called a reporter on the
telephone and advised a trip to the home
Of Robert J. Collier.
Burglars Got There First.
The reporter called. and found that the
/ burglars had been there first. Incl
dentally. the Collier burglars were IN
fortunate in that while they accom-
plished nothing more than the e -rifying
of Mrs. Collier in a little hallway. There
stands a safe in this hallway, behind
a thin partition. in which on the night
Of the burglary there was a really fine
collection Of silverware and cut glass.
/ While the police. eight in number, were
finding out the facts at the Collier home,
the burglars themselves were next door.
calmly going through another house.
Unless the burglars give themselves up
the residents have little hope of safety.
Rob Tnmmany Leader.
we really had some hope for the dis
triCt,' said a prominent resident yester-
day, until they had the nerve to go into
the home Of Tammany Leader Charles F.
Murphy on Wednesday night and carry
away $500 worth Of bric-a-brac. while
the Murphys We're in Good Ground.
What chance have We when they are not
afraid Of the owner OF Tammany?'
The gang Of thieves is believed TO be
composed Of desperate criminals, who
carry paraphernalia for scaling walls and
fences, instruments to cut the hardest
steel bars, and acids for testing their
loot.
The Tammany boss home. 305 East
Seventeenth street. is a tall brownstone
structure, with a large porch. such as
they used to build years ago. 1t is
equipped with burglar alarms, but de-
spite these and the fact that a house
keeper and two other servants were sup
posed to be IN charge. the thieves entered
between > and o'clock in the morning
and spent fully three hours inside.
An investigation disclosed the fact that
the thieves had entered the house through
a rear window. They scaled a fence to
get into the rear yard, and found that
il would not be necessary to saw the
iron bars. as they forced them apart
with a 'spTeader" They are said TO
have cut the wires Of the burglar de-
vices and telephone.
Once inside, they disturbed nothing In
the lower part of the house, but ascended
TO the sleeping room OF the boss" They
passed considerable silverware in going
to the leaders sanctum, where he keeps
his big desk supposed to contain so many
dark and mysterious secrets.
His Papers Examined.
The desk was forced. and many of the
papers inside scattered over the floor. Il
is not known whether the thieves found
anything in the nature of documents that
were wanted or not, But in cash. jew
elry and tTinkets they made haul OF
about 5000. Apparently papers were not
sought, but money and jewels. num-
Der of articles bearing Murphy's name
were passed over as too dangerous to
try 10 get away with.
This was true of the silverware. which
they apparently were afraid to load VI
with
Leaving the contents of the desk scat
tered, they left as quietly as they came
japanese Crown Prince III.