Evening journal., 1914-08-17
SERVANTS. REFERENCES AND ROBBERIEs.

SERVANTS. REFERENCES AND ROBBERIES.
I INVESTIGATION made y officials Of the National
Surety Company has convinced them that ninety
per cent of all house robbcries by servants result
from neglect by housewives IN investigating thor
oughly their references. II is pointed out
and truthfully that many housewives engage ser
wants without investigating their past records at all
Some housewives have been known to impulsvely
engage household servants, women who have appeal
ed their sympathes In the street New York house
wife recently impetuousiy employed as servant
fearful, crape-clad who told her in the street
a pful tale of having been deserted by her husband
and of having been evicted and reduced to absolute
destitution. The housewife, needing servant, told
the woman to come and do housework The
disappeared with several dollars worth Of jew
clry after being in the house only few hours
The carelessness Of another housewife in inves-
tigating servants references caused the murder of
National Surety Company detective some time ago.
A New York housewife advertised for servant and
intelligent somewhat prepossessng middle-aged
German woman responded The reference she showed
in a small and inaccessible New Jersey town and
the housewife. needing a servant once, engaged
her her attractive appearance the spot When
the housewife returned from social function that
same afternoon. the German had gone with
$1,000 worth of iewelry. After a long search. the
surety company and police detectives traced the
and her accomplice to a Bronx hotel and broke
in upon them. The woman snatched automatic
pistol from under a pillow passed It to her male COM
panion. and in the general fuslade which followed
of the detectives wounded, and another de-
tective and the woman and her male companion were
killed II the housewife had investigated this pre-
tended servants bogus reference I'm the beginning the
tragedy would have occurred other housewives
have been known TO refuse prosecute servants either
through pity through fear Of publicity This prac-
tice, although II leads 70 reformation in cases.
encours ges a repetition Of the theft in others.
TO reJuce the number Of apartment house burg
laries the licensing Of apartment house ,antors hall
boys and elevator boys Is also urged by President
Joyce Apartment houses increasing rapidly
that enough reliable anitors and elevator boys
not app, p,rently, be found TO- them Unreliable men
engaged by landlords and real estate agents be-
of this shortage Several hundred dollars worth
of valubles stolen from fiat by the night Gle
vator man of Harlem apartment house recently.
Merely by looking up the night elevate mans ref
erence, National Surety Company detectives found
that he a professional criminal with a prison rec
ord. Many apartment house robberes of today are
committed by connvance with employees of the build
ing An odd and little known of apart
meu house robberes In New York city is that the
iory OF them been committed by drug-takers or
dope hends" who seek the comparatively small pro-
ceeds-usually several hundred dollars at most-to
buy opium morphine The situation among apart
mont horse employees according to recent National
Surety Company experiences, is in less degree com
parable that which existed formerly among unli-
consed taxicab drivers Among National Surety Com
pany records is the of five brothers with crm-
ina records who in the old days before the icens-
! ing Of texicab drivers, drove taxcabs by day and
forged pay checks by night Apartment house rob
berries could be reduced il landlords permitted tenants
to place their own locks the doors of their apart
ments. Hall boys now, In most cases. have access
to every apartment through pass keys. These pas
keys Of course be loaned to outsiders and dupli
Gated