The sun., 1916-12-05
LENS EXPERT HELPS
NATIONS FOIL PLOT
Detects Binoculars Used mt
Winter Garden as Missing
Russian Property.
SHIP DISASTER TRACED
Brooklyn Pier Thieves Believed
to Have Blown Up Breceni
One Arrest Made.

n woman at the winter Garucn sur
veyed the dancing girls through a pair
Of expensive BINOCULARS a few nights
ago. A few feet from her AZ artisan In
such lenses and unoficially q detective
for the evening studied the glasses the
woman held to her eyes,. Identifying with
a trained and expert eye their charac.
t~eristics and make.
The result yesterday wal the arrest Of
a Brooklyn junk dealer charged with
Illegal possession of binoculars hat had
been consigned to the Russian Govern
ment for military use and should have
been a part Of the cargo OF the Russian
steamer Baron Breceni. which was mys-
~teriously sunk at her pier In the port Of
Archangel early in November. causing
the death Of $50 persons and the injury
Of $50 others.
Agents Of the Imperial Russian EN-
bassy and Of the police here suspect
that there was a connection between the
| theft Of a consignment of binoculars
from a pier OF the Bush Terminal Com
| pany in South Brooklyn and the de-
struction NJ Archansel Of the Russian
, munitions steamer The suspicion IL
that a time bomb was planted in the
hold Of the Baron Brecini for the pur-
pose OF wrecking the ship and 10 de-
stroying evidence that the cargo had
been depleted by pier thieves.
On the watch for Thieves.
For the present. while lacking evil
l ln-on ~ ,nr.nleacu 80 stply atao 20
from which valuable articles ave been
stolen. the Russian authorities and the
Police Department are contenting them
selves with protecting the piers from
further thieving and with prosecuting
the persons charged with definite acts.
The man arrested yesterday on the
charge OF stealing 200 binoculars from
the Baron Breceni's pier at South
Brooklyn is Samuel Cater. who lives
at 275 Forty-eighth street. Brooklyn. and
whose junk shop 10 at 50l5 Fourth ave.
nue.. Brooklyn. II vas one OF these
glasses. the police assert. that the
woman at the Winter Garden. Mrs. Cat
ter, was seen to use a few nights ago.
Last week c. I. N~edzikhovsky. com
mercial agent Of the Russian Embassy,
called at Police Headquarters to confer
with Fifth Deputy Police COMMISSIONS
Guy Scull as to ways md means to pre-
vent thieving on the piers.
lie alluded to the stolen binoculars r.,
the 200 consigned to the Baron Breceni.
and valued at about $4,000. and at the
same time he informed Deputy commits
sioner Scull that the destruction OF the
munitions steamer In Archangel harbo.
was not caused by a German submarine
or mine, but was the result OF an inter.
nal explosion. possibly from a time bomb
/ pya ptaI tr thA ahtn'0 carQn whila she
wal loading at South Brooklyn. The In
teresting speculation arose between Mr.
N~edzikhovsky and Mr.. Scull as "a
whether or not the sinking OF the shit
was planned to cover the theft. Tit pc
lice are at work now seeking evidence tc
support that guess.
Meantime, however. Deputy Commits
sioner Soul put Capt. Thomas Tunne>
and Il stan OF detectives at work on the
pa rticular theft mentioned. Capt. Tun'
ney spent several days around the Busf
Terminal docks and visiting junk shops
where stolen goods might REASONABLE,
turn UP. lie along with Lieut.. Rusb,
got enough information TO lead him T.
suspect that Cater. the junk dealer. hat
obtained the stolen glasses. Then he EN-
ployed a professional lens maker TO hell
the police.
Lens Moker as DetecStNe
, lie sent the lens maker to the Win
ter Garden one night when 1t had beei
ascertained that Mrs. Cater was goinI
to see that show. and by a little ma
npuvsring the amateur detective oh
tanned a seat a shorv distance from
, Mrs. Cater. When she exposed
pair OF binoculars the expert satisfied
himself that they belonged TO the miss
i, ing consignment and so reported to Capt
, Tunney. The arrest of Cater followed
yesterday. He was arraigned before tn
Federal authorities in Brooklyn and hell
on n charge OF grand larceny.
Capt. Tunney was pretty sure las
I night that Others have been concerne'
In the thieving and said that several ar
rests VII be made within a few hours.
! At the office OF the Russian CONNER
; clal agent. Mr.. Nedzikhovsky. inven
> tories OF various cargoes revealed tina
! one shipment OF 200 binoculars. manu-
! featured by the Bausch 4 Lomb Optlcs
Company of Rochester. and consigned
. the Russian Government, had been dc
= livered to the pier where the Baro
. Breceni was loading, but that the glasse
. never reached their destination,
I MIR. Nedzikhovsky said last night thG
the main purpose OF his Government wa
to prevent future thievery here, sine
3 thousands of dollars worth OF variOt