The sun., 1919-06-25
$275,OOO LOSS AS
GEMS DISAPPEAR



engaged rooms at the Biitmore. They
had closed their Park avenue home, and
! after the funeral of Mr. Millhiser on
May 25 they went to Elberon.
The Biltmore's safe deposit boxes are
within the enclosure Of the room clerks
desk, just back Of the mail box cabinet.
They are made of steel and each 10
about four inches wide and three inches
high. They can be seen from the main
ground floor stairway through the glass
OF partition barrier. The name of the
clerk whom Mrs. Millhiser asked for a
| box is not disclosed.
The custom as to the safekeeping Of
| patrons valuables at the Biltunore does
rot differ materially from that of banks.
The clerk brings a safety deposit box to
the desk or counter and gives the APP
piicant guest a key which fits no other
lock. The guest tucks into the box
| whatever he wishes to leave. locks It
and retains the key. No questions are
asked as to the nature or value Of the
contents. That Is the guests business.
1t is said at the hotel that the customary
lack Of curiosity was manifested by the
| clerk to whom Mrs. Millhiser applied.
No box can be opened, except by vio-
| lence. without the use Of both the indi-
vidual key In the possession of the guest
and master key which Is kept in the
| hotel Office The master key releases a
set Of tumblers, but the operation is not
completed until the Individual key IL in
serted and turned. Mrs. Millhlser, the
! story goes, came down from her room
on May 20 with two packages in her
| hands and put them into the safety box
herself and then permitted a clerk to
| turn the lock- Then, confident that her
jewels were in good keeping, she went
about the preparations for her husbands
funeral
/ Only the person in whose name the
box stands, which IL recorded In that
persons handwriting at the ONCE. can
have the box opened. There was n hint
yesterday that It will be asserted in a
certain quarter that somebody had ac-
cess to the Millhiser box between May
20 and June 10. when Mrs. Millhiser
! again presented herself. Mrs. Millhiser
is handsome woman of unmistakable
face and carriage and 10 we'll known to
the Biltmore clerks. They agree that no
| imposter could fool them. however we'll
| disguised. No official assertion Is made
that there is any suspicion Of imposture
1 or PRESERVATION but hint in this direc-
! ton that was thrown out yesterday Is
not the least mystifying feature OF the
| case.
Woman Discovers Loss.
! On June IS, when Mrs. MIllhiser re-
turned for her Jewels. she had her indi-
vidual key. 1t Is not clear, because OF
the secrecy everybody is maintaining,
| whether she dealt with the same clerk
| as on her previous visit or whether she
| personally manipulated her key after
the master key had been turned or per-
mitted the clerk to open the receptacle.
l CT L.. 70 rtfxht at he
desk. There were still two packages.
She opened them. scrutinized everything
carefully and cried out that part Of her
| treasures had disappeared.
The Biltmore management was nat
| urally perturbed. 1t was suggested to
| Mrs Millhiser that she might have been
mistaken as to what was In the pack
| ages, but she was sure she was not
| There was also a theory that II rob-
berry had been done 1t might have taken
| place before she took the Jewels to the
hotel office. She was conndent Of the
exactness Of her Inventory and Of the
| presence of the whole collection in the
safety box when 1t was closed. To be
] on the safe side hotel detectives searched
| her rooms and questioned upstairs EN-
ployees without result. Since then out
| side detectives have ransacned parts OF
| the Biltmore to no account
| !. II will be noticed that In the formal
statement from the hotels attorneys the
fact of robbery is not conceded. Mrs
Millhiser "alleges' that she placed jew
| elry in the box, It says Her good
faith Is not questioned. That $275.0oo
| worth of her jewels has disappea red rs
not doubted. Edwards. Murphy & Min
| ton did not begin their investigation
until Monday. which explains Mr.. Muir
phys saying yesterday afternoon, We
do not know the facts ourselves: we
only know what we have been told"
| A house detective OF another hotel
| said he knew of the robbery six hours
after It was reported. indicating that all
the hotels were asked to cooperate in
the hunt ....
THE Biltmore detectives have done
everything they could" this man said.
| THE birds who took all that jewelry
have flown. Europe, for them. guess
Duplicate keys were evidently. used, rs
there are no marks. so far as I know.
| around the lock Of the strong box. 1t
is one of the biggest Jewel robberies
in the history of New York hotels and
when the police say they know nothing
about It they are not sticking to the
facts. I know positively that the smart
est thief catchers in the department
have been sweating over this thing ever
since It was reported"
Mrs. LOUIS SunDel OF DO fdtk AVENUE
a relative Of Mrs Millhiser. was asked
yesterday afternoon II she knew about
the robbery. Yves. I knew about it."
she said, "but I must refer you to Mrs
Millhiser for any information"
! Clarence Millhiser's WILL executed on
February g. was filed for probate in
the New York Surrogates once yes
terday. He made his wife executrix
without bond and asked that there be no
appraisal. He left $4,000 to Edgar
Leigh Lambeth Of 1863 West Eighty-flrst
street IF he be living and in my EN-
ploy at the time OF my DEATH" The
rest of the estate is left in trust to the