Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-09-04
IMITATION IN CRIME.
Criminals Follow One Another In Their
Methods.

swers. One sensational crime makes
Scotland Yard watchful for others in
which some of it's peculiar features
will be copied.
One of the most remarkable series
of initiative crimes in modern times
occurred at Windsor. While the
count and countess Of Marella were
one February evening at dinner in
their mansion near Virginia Water,
some thieves ascended by means of
rope ladder to a window in the
countess dressing room, entered the
room and having collected rich
booty Of rings, watches, brooches,
necklaces and other trinkets worth
some thousands of pounds, disappear
ed with them.
For a considerable time past there
| had been none Of these dinner hour
robberies. Now the feat of these
thieves was to make them common.
Strangely enough their imitators
even selected the same neighbor-
hood Within a few weeks, while
| the belSldll dllDdSSluoI, van VIC
Weyer, and his wife were dining in
their residence at New Lodge, thieves
made a clean sweep of madam's jew
elry in precisely the same fashion.
The next gang of imitators were not
so lucky. Through a mistake in the
dining hour of Lord Peterborough
they timed their visit to his lordship's
house too early in the evening. In
stead of being at dinner his lordship
had gone for a drive, from which he
returned later than had been expect
ed. On going upstairs to his dressing
room he found the door locked. When
it was broken open the thieves had
vanished, but his jewelry, scattered
on the bed ready for packing up, was
still there. Similar as these robber-
les were, they were the work of diff
ferent criminals, all initiating the
first They soon had imitators all
over the country.
| Gainsborough's great picture, THE
Duchess of Devonshire," was stolen
one night from Messrs. Agnew's gal
lery in old Bond street by thieves
who cut the picture from it's frame,
rolled it up and carried it off. There
| had been no robbery Of the kind since
1850, when burglars visited the pic
ture gallery in the earl Of Suffolks
with several pictures, Of which they
tried in vain to dispose. In disgust
| they at least abandoned the treasures,
worth some thousands of pounds, hid
ing them under one of the two arches
of Blackfriars bridge, where they
were found. The perpetrators of the
Gainsborough theft were equally un-
| fortunate in their attempts to make
money by their crime. Still, they
had their imitators. The very next
year thieves made an entry during
the night into Woodville Lodge, Clay
ton, Sussex, and cut from their frames
and decamped with pictures valued
at from 10000 to $4,000.
In December of 1874 quick witted,
daring thief who chanced to be at
Paddington station, took advantage
of the hustle on the platform attend
ing the arrival of the prince Of Wales
to lay hands upon the jewel case of
the countess of Dudley, which con-
tanned gems valued at 100000. The
jewel case was in the custody Of two
| female servants, who reached the sta
ton in a cab. The first, alightng
| from the cab. put the case down on
the pavement and turned around TO
assist her companion out Of the vehi-
Gle. When she looked for the case
again it was gone. Selling upon the
arrival or departure of royalty as an
opportunity for theft Immediately
sprang into fashion among thieves.
The very next month at the same
station as the duke Of Edinburgh was
passing through it thieves found an
opportunity to rob an attendant Of
the Russian ambassador, Baron Bu-
low of his dressing case, containing
jewels worth some thousands Of
pounds.
The fact that the man he chose as
his example was rewarded with ten
years penal servitude did not deter
Tarpsy, the jewel thief, from resolv-
ing to initiate his plan. The first
thief ordered several thousand pounds
worth of jewelry from a London shop,
had the precious trinkets brought to
his house, chloroformed the unlucky
bearer and disappeared with his
booty. Tarpsy proceeded on the same
lines. With his wife he took house
in the west end and then, proceeding
to jewelers., requested him to send
a selection of diamonds and emeralds
for his wifes consideration. The un
fortunate jewelers. man when he was
shown into the Tarpsy drawing room
was seized. choroformed, bound and
gagged, while Tarpsy and his wife de-
camped with their previous burden.
| So far the plan had succeeded, but
Tarpsy commenced to fail as soon as
| he began to be original. He and his
wife having stolen away to Leaning
| ton, Tarpsy excited the suspicious of
the landlady with whom they lodged
by the peculiar changes he effected
in his appearance.
SO acute did her suspicious at last
become that she communicated with
the police. When they arrived they
were just too late. The mysterious
lodger had slipped away to the conti-
nent The detectives baffled for the
moment, were not, however, discour
aged. Mrs. Tarpsy remained, and
| they watched her keenly.
Some months later she donned the
deepest mourning, and the informa-
| ton that she had lost her husband,
who had died on the continent spread
around The detectives rightly con-
jcctured that Mrs. Tarpsy was mere
ly taking steps to convince any possi-
| BILE watchers that their trouble would
be in vain and discourage them from
the task They watched her more
! keenly than ever and, following the
widow" one day to a house in the