New-York tribune., 1919-12-12
Thieves Devote Entire Dav
to Emptying Factory
of 10000 Pelts They
Haul Away in Trucks
One Sits 9 Hours
On Watchman
Police Keep Crime Secret; {;
$500, ,OOOLoss in Year;
Other Robbery Aired

A band of thieves swooped down last
Sunday on the fur dressing establish
ment Of Starobin & Dublin in Brooklyn
with a feet of trucks and cleaned out
their entire stock of 10000 skins, it
became known yesterday. The furs
were valued at more than 800, 900.
The skins were moved out by the
gang early Monday morning. They left
the place. once choking with the stocks
of a busy holiday trade. a mere shell.
The furriers have small hope of re-
covering any Of their pelts, being CON
vlnced that they are in the hands OF
expert dyers and cutters, who are con-
verting the skins into coats, muffs, col
lars and other articles for women, to be
sold in distant cities.
S5OO,OOO Estimated Loss in Year
The theft is the most recent of an
unprecedented series of rooberies in
the industry. Officials of the Fur Mer-
chants Association estimate the losses
within the last year as near the half
million dollar mark, placing their
losses in the class with the silk trade
which in a similar period was robbed of
more than S1000,000 worth of material.
Isaac Starobin, member of the
Starobin & Dublin firm, said the only
man who knew anything about the
details of the ransacking Of his n'sce
was the watchman. When the latter
returned from dinner at p. m, on Sun
day, he says, he was overwhelmed just
as he stepped into the building by a
number of men who threw a bag over
his head and dragged him to an upper
!ioor
Sat on Him for Nine Hours
Here, he says. he was tied hand and
foot, and one of the men sat on him
while the rest of the gang busted them
selves with the selection and packing
of the pelts The watchman declares
the men sat on him until 4 o'clock
Monday morning, when the thieves de
parted. Employees returning TO work
at o'clock found him rolling on the
floor, att mpting to eXtricate himself
from coils of rope.
An investigation disclosed that the
crooks gained entrance through trap
door in the roof. They left the build
ing with the goods by an entrance at
715 Herkimer Street. Starobin says he
informed the police CT the robbery im-
mediately, but that nothing so far had
been accomplished. He had kept silent
about the matter, he declared, in COM
pliance with the request of the police
The furriers' association made pub
lie another robbery which the police
had taken every precaution to keep
secret. On November TO- it is reported
a Russian sable scarf, containing
twenty-nine Russian sable skins, and
a moleskln coat, containing about So
skins, were stolen from a dealer in
New York. The furs were valued at
$4,000.
$l.50O Reward Offered
reward Of $500 has been offered
for their recovery and return to the
Higbee Company, of Cleveland, Ohio,
their manufacturers
Richard S. Otto, actuary of the fur
riers' association, said that because
of the great value of the stolen articles
great many dealers failed to make
any report of their losses either to the
police or the association. prcferring
to hire their own Investigations. Little
satisfaction, he said, could be obtained
from the police. who, he. declared ere
fused to be bothered unless the hauis
involve a lot of mOnavn