The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-07-20
SOPHIE LYONS.

Copyright, 1918, by the Star Company.
n TO honest man can accumulate mill
IN lon dollars without constant indus
try. sef-den!al. perseverance and
ability.
The same is true OF the professional
criminal. In addition. he must possess in
genuity, tact and resourcefulness OF q
high order.
In the course OF these articles 1 have
mentioned number Of professional Grim
inals who. in the course of their careers,
obtained over n million dollars apiece. l
shall have occasion in future articles 10 re-
fer to many more OF them. Although
these men accumulated vast fortunes, there
was not single one Of them who really
derived any lasting benefit out OF his i'll
gotten gains. Many of them spent large
portion OF their lives in jail. Behind
prison. walls. their buried loot avalled
them nothing. Others dlss!pated their for
tunes almost as rapidly as they made them
and their last years were spent in poverty
Some OF them died violent deaths.
Yet every one OF these men, as I have
animated. possessed valuable qualities
which, had they been put to legitimate
use, would undoubtedly have brought
them wealth without any OF the penalties
incident 10 life Of crime. Living honest
~ they might not have accumulated mill
ions, but their skill. ingenuity and perse-
verance would undoubtedly have Melted
them large incomes, and they might have
enjoyed the peace OF mind which none but
the law-ab!ding can know
Without the ability which these men
possessed. 1t would be useless for anyone
to hope 10 achieve the success" which at
tended their criminal operations. But any
one possessing their ability would be most
ill-advsed 20 attempt TO follow in their
footsteps when their careers have so clear
ly demonstrated that CRIME CANNOT
PAY. Whereas, ii properly applied. such
ability must inevitably Bring success
To-day intend to give you some idea of
the skill and resourcefulness these men
possessed by referring in detail to some
OF their more remarkable exploits
In the course OF q criminal career cover
Ing some forty years, Harry Raymond, all
round burglar, committed several hundred
important burglaries. 1t was he who stole
the famous Gainsborough painting, as l
have previously related. The magnitude Of
his crimes will be indicated by the fact that
his booty aggregated between two and
three million dollars Yet despite the
number and Importance OF this mans Of
lenses. ne was caught only once in the
whole forty years. and then through the
carelessness Of an accomplice. No better
proof Of the Judgment and resourcefulness
of a professional criminal could be pre-
sented than such record as that
His robbery OF the Cape Town Post
Office will illustrate this point more con-
cretey
His first step was to cultivate the friend
ship Of the Postmaster OF the Cape Town
Post Office He went at it very systemati-
cally and patiently, but at the end OF two
or three months he had made such prog
ress that he readily found an opportunity
to get temporary possession of the Post
Office keys That was all that was neces-
sary. He made a wax impression OF them
and put the keys back without arousing
any suspicion.
His next step was to prepare three par
cells addressed to himself and mailed them
by registered mail from out of town. He
came in on the same train with the pack
ages. He waited until the registered mail
sacks had been delivered to the Postmaster
and locked up for the night, and then
just as his friend. the Postmaster, was
leaving for the day, he stepped hur-
riedly into the post office and explained
that 1t was OF great Importance for him to
get that night certain packages he under
stood were arriving by that day's'regstered
mall The Postmaster readily consented
and went back into the office with the bur
glar. He, opened the safe and ascertained
that the packages Raymond had described
we're there and while he was making Ger.
tain entries in his book, Raymond sue
ceeded in making wax impressions of the
keys to the safe.
Raymond now had wax Impressions OF
the keys to the post office itself and of the
keys in which the registered mall and other
valuables were kept Making the keys
from the Impressions was not very diff
fcult task, although 1t required many sub
sequent visits to the post office and the
exercise OF a considerable amount of pa
tience before the keys were properly fitted.