Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1914-02-27
Have QUEER MAN|As
Robbers Who Only Steal One
Type Of Goods.
Pere Noel, q Frsoeh Cigar THIEF,
Fiiehsd 10000 "Wssds"-crook
Made Rubber Mats Speciality
Other Instances.

Ten thousand cigars, all OF exc0Llen'
brands, were discovered In the house
OF a handsome. white haired. vel
dressed criminal who ID known to the
French police a. Pere Noel (Tathel
Christmas).
Finding himself certain to be sen
fenced. the thief proudly confessed
that he had lived for years by steal
ing cigars, and that during the last IL
years he had stolen at least 100000
All his clothes were full Of secret
pockets and there seems little doubt
but that his confession was no more
than the truth.
The tendency nowadays In all trades
and industries is toward specialization,
and criminals have followed the ex'
ample OF honest men, remarks Pear
sons (London) Weekly.
There is a burglar-still at large, by
the way-who takes nothing but old
silver. He also ransacked over thirty
houses In the West end. most Of them
in aristocratic districts. such as
Queens Gate and Grosvenor Gardens.
One Of these houses was that Of the
Spanish ambassador. Here piles of
silver were found collected on table,
yet the only thing that was missing
was silver vase of great age and
worth many times its weight as pre-
cious metal. The man must have a
very considerable knwoledge of old
silver and its marks. He never makes
a mistake, and the police say that he
must be making at least couple OF
thousand pounds year.
At Surrey quarter sessions man
was sentenced for stealing bicycles. So
many were found on his premises that
a large furniture van was required to
bring them to the court. This thief
seems to have been a very clever me-
chanic, for handle-bars, name plates
and pedals we're altered all around,
making Identification a very difficult
matter. So far as known he stole moth
ing but bicycles.
India rubber mats were the special
prey of man who was sentenced to a
years Imprisonment at the Guildhall.
Twice before the man had been con-
victed of similar offense, yet the mo-
ment he was out of prison he went
back to the same form Of crime. Some
of the mats weighed half hundred
weight and were worth $25 apiece.
In July last newly married couple
went to live In house which they had
purchased close to Cavendish square.
The house was notable for several
beautiful Adam mantelpieces. Imagine
their disgust when they found that
three of these had been removed
bodily.
This was London's first taste of the
unscrupulous collector of antique man
telpieces. A few weeks later an unoc-
cupied house in Mansfield street was
similarly bereft of it's most cherished
piece Of Adam work, and on top, of this
three fine Georgian mantelpieces dis
appeared from house under repair in
Lincoln's Inn Fields.
In each case the theft was accom-
plished by men alfred as workmen.
who drove up boldly and entered the
house without any pretense Of conceal
ment.
Cemetery thieves form class apart
Their prey is the artificial wreaths
placed by Borrowing relatives on the
graves of their loved ones. From
Woodgrange Park cemetery 60 were
taken in one night, and 1900 in little
over a year. The City of London
cemetery lost similar number with
in seven months.
Some of these vreaths, including
their cases, cost as much as $25 each
The question is how the thieves dis
pose OF their plumber.
Every second hand book shop knows
the book thief. The man who steals
books rarely interferes with any other
form of property. Only year ago one
of these gentry was sentenced at Pc
tersborough to three years penal SER
vitude for stealing old books to the
value Of $500, the property OF the dean
and chapter of Peterborough cathe-
dral. s..+...-. .
At Kew and other botanical gardens
watch is always kept for the plant
thief. One caught at Kew in May,
1912, had two small tins Of water fas-
tened under his waistcoat for the pur-
pose OF keeping his stolen cuttings
alive. eh
First Woman Chloroformed.
RN4 mt.