The Washington herald., 1908-05-17
Western City AdYertises for
All-around Burglars.
GOOD SALARY IS OFFERED, TOO
Man who Responds to Newspaper
Ad Is One who Thinks He Knows
Something About the Business.
Takes the Job, RObs Bank as Per
agreement, but Fails to Return.

Cal
AS / prided myself that I could be
classed as an all-round burglar. except
that had not been around in the West,
I determined 20 answer the ad, says
writer in the Chicago Tribune. However.
was little afraid that was not notori-
Gus enough. for previously had not ap-
preeiated the value Of notoriety in my
profession.
In fact, far from carrying on a general
publicity campaign" so that my name
might become a household word. mod
estly had refrained from letting even my
best friends know OF my famous exploits
in the line OF till tapping and safe blow
ing. Still. I decided to take a chance:
and. although in my letter carefully ex-
oluded any Of the details OF my claims
for fame, my general outline of my abil-
ity as a frst-clsss burglar was enough TO
bring a favorable answer from c. E
Smith.
Mr.. Smith said that il I would meet him
IN Hasta Manane he would explain more
IN detail what the Job would be like. It
pleased ME to find that he inclosed n
ticket TO that town, as I had been un-
lucky in burglarlzing just previous to
that time
] found Hasta Manana was a pleasant
but sleepy little town situated among the
orange groves of Southern California.
Mr. Smith, who, learned, was one of TIE
most prosperous and progressive citizens
Of tie place told me that the Commercial
Club had decided upon an advertising
campaign to boost their town.
Want Real Advertising,
"All we need is advertising he told
me- IT we can get the name Of this
town before the public it will jump from
q small hamlet to a large and prosperous
city. We have here the greatest climate
in the world We have the healthiest wa
ter supply. q surrounding country OF
great wealth, q school system that"
Yes, I know all that I can get all
those facts from the pamphlets OF any
real estate man in the town. What
want 10 know is where / come in. What
DO you want Of a first-class burglar?''
Why. don't you see. we want TO ad-
vertise the town. We figured out that if
we could have a number OF chicken fights
or dog fights and then have some sensa-
tiOnal raids on them by our police force
we would get the name of our town in
tie papers. Or if some famous baseball
player, prize fighter, or race horse would
proclaim to an interested public that the
fair and prosperous city OF Hasta Manana
was his home he would gain additional
advertising.
1T is Tor the same reason that we want
q Grst-class burglar. Now, If we could
secure criminal with the fame Of Tracy,
the outlaw, or the James brothers. how
far-reaehing would be the fame % our
little eity."
Gets $3.50 a Month.
But what do I get out of it2'' in
CURED.
why, the Commercial Club is willing
TO pay you $50 month to arrange
series Of mysterious robberies We want
you 70 stay here two or three months
ana perpetrate some startling crimes
which. by means Of the connivance Of
the police, can be made mysterious IN the
extreme.
"Of course. the police are fixed: they
arc ia favor Of the ad campaign, for they
want to see our town boom as much as
any one. In fact. We want you to work
with them and give them advice.
The Commercial Club will make ar
rungements with John Stanton so that he
night and the silverware in any conven-
lent place you may designate, but in COM
hitting this robbery you must leave be-
hind a number of misleading clews.
Then when, according to agreement,
Mr.. stanton calls in the police you must
instruct them just how, judging from
your previous experience in being hunted
is tie best way TO trace these Clews so as
to make the case the most mysterious.
OF course. the local papers viii make
much Of the battling burglary. and we
hope the papers in the large cities will
be attracted by the unusual and mysteri-
Gus aspect OF the case As soon as the
larger papers lose interest in that bur
gIary we will make arrangements with
some other members Of the Commercial
Club for another robbery.
Wants Variegated Programme.
You ear intersperse the straight bur
glaries with hold-ups. bank robberles, and
other interesting crimes that In your
judgment VIII attract attention"
Well. the burglary game started with q
grand huTTah. drew 800 expense money
for a frst-elass burglar kit, in spite Of
the Commercial Clubs protest that as
the windows would be left open for me I
wouldn't need the tools. for I explained
to the club members that the work must
appear TO be that OF an expert.
On the first night excursion which was
made TO Mr., Stanton's house I cleaned
up 500 worth OF siiverware, 81 cents in
cash, and a Teddy bear. This was fol-
lowed by several other housebreaking .ex-
ploits. the mysterious aspect of which
drew a few notices from the larger pa
pers, so that the members of the robbery
and advertising clique were enthusiastic
~ an enthusiastic meeting of the Com
mercial Club few nights later, after
giving me a vote Of thanks for my ex-
cellent and efficient burglarizing. It was
decided that l should rob the Citizens
state Bank. OF course. I Immediately
put in a plea for an expense account of
500 for dynamite, special drills and other
tools, but Mr.. Kenton, the president of
the bank, objected on the grounds that.
although he was perfectly willing to al
low his bank TO be robbed he didn't want
ii to be blown up.
It was suggested that the expense OF
repairing the bank could be charged to
the advertising campaign account, but
Mr. kenton insisted that he wouldn't like
TO have his private papers and letters
blown all over town.
Effects "a Compromise.
Finally compromise was effected. In
order to give a mysterious aspect to the
case, Mr.. Kenton was TO make a mistake
when setting the time lock of the safe
on the night before the robbery. so that
the door could be opened at / q. IN. Ar
the appointed hour / was TO break into
the bank. open the safe without harrainx
1t, take out the money then set the time
Tor g. m, and leave. OF course. the safe
would be found locked in proper style the
next morning. and when it was opened