The Springfield herald., 1912-11-01


bling houses, sporting resorts and
disorderly houses OF all kinds. to get
trace or an inkling from some Of the
old-time thieves as to who might be
doing the trick here.
1T was evident that local thieves
capable Of doing this high class of
work were all in jail. 1t was, therefore.
my opinion that the crimes were be-
ing committed by thieves from other
places. Reports were received from
the chiefs of police of all the large cit
les In the east and west, and Canada.
as to the absence of first-class thieves
from their bailiwicks, or as to the re-
cent discharge from state prison of
first-class thieves.
Many descriptions of thieves were
sent to us, with names and pediGrees,
While we had plenty OF work to do
in looking for these outsiders. as 1t
turned out afterward, no one had
given us a tip as to the right man.
was having pretty sorry time, l tell
you, looking up one or two new rob-
berries every day. The only consola-
tion was that other detectives were
in the same boat.
The attack upon the house Of Colo
mel Rogers was staggerer. AT the
time the robbery must have been com.
mitted. between 200 and 800 guests
were in the house. Among these
were several well-known military men
and others, who would have only
been too glad to enliven the festivi.
ties with little diversion with
thieves. Yet the thieves had the nerve
to enter. and they got away without
a soul seeing them.
The entrance to the house was
made from the rear. over a piazza
which extended up to about 1--WE feet
of the second-story window. 1t was
my belief that the thieves had got
ten to the yard from a vacant house
in the rear on the next street. There
was. however. nothing in this house
to show 1t had been entered at all, all
the doors and windows being locked.
THE roof of the piazza had been
freshly painted. 1t showed the foot
prints of but one man. who wore rub
bers or moccasins without heels. The
marks on the paint. where the thief
clutched the top of the piazza to draw
himself up from the pillar, were very
peculiar. The left hand showed four
finger prints, while the right hand
showed only one. This was very puz-
zling. ! thought perhaps 1t was due
to the fact that the thief held a rope
ladder with his other fingers. Tho
piazza did not. extend the full length
of the house, and the rope ladder was
found hanging from one of the win
| dows
THE presents In the house had been
left In charge of a servant. When the
guests all went downstairs to the din
ing room she thought there would be
no further use for her. SO she went
down to take view of the decora-
tions In the parlor and dining hall.
it was during her absence that the
thief did the trick. She wasn't gone
more than ten minutes. When she
returned she did not notice that any
thing had been disturbed. 1t was a
couple of hours after the robbery be-
fore 1t was discovered
Tho colonel offered reward OF
$4,000 for the recovery Of the stolen
goods and the capture of the thieves.
There was a great hustle among
thieves themselves to get bit OF
this $4,000. The fences would have
given up almost any thief for whack
at 1t. But the thieves were cunning
dogs. They had never pawned or
sold any of the stolen goods in this
city.
While | was cracking my skull to
get clue that would amount to some:
thing. l got tip from Joe Foley. an
ex-convict, that big Pete McCracken
and Kid Kelly were in the city, and
that the Kid only had one finger on
his right hand. This was the first
good news l had heard.
The case fairly haunted me- One
Friday afternoon l dropped into the
Astor house for lunch. | glanced
around the room carelessly, and saw
standing at the bar tall, determined
looking man, drinking with man not
bigger than a good-sized boy. When
the little fellow raised his glass to
drink. l saw that he had only his
thumb and forefinger on his right
hand. You can bet | did not let this
pair of worthless get out of sight They
were given an excellent reputation at
the motel; mad never been out eve
nings. and 1t was thought that they
We're wealthy miners from the west. l
got Joe Foley to take peep at them.
He identified them as being McCrack-
en- and Kelly beyond doubt.
"They were booked for passage for
Europe on the following day, which
was Saturday, under fictitious names.
l went with them from the hotel to
the steamer about an hour before the
steamer sailed to see if they had any
confederates in the city No one met
them. When the bells rang to go
ashore l placed Kelly and McCracken
under arrest and took them off the
steamer. They made terrible fuss,
and protested innocence of any GRIM
inal act. | kept a careful watch on
the pair of them while the police
were taking them away, and saw Nc
Cracken drop paper, which | picked
up at once. 1t proved to be a bill of
lading, showing several boxes to have
been consigned to j. r. Wilson,
London
THE men were locked up at police
headquarters and were identified by
several persons who had seen them