The Washington herald., 1920-03-21
CRIME WAVE
HITS BERLIN
Honest" Poster Describ-
ing Found Articles No
Longer Appears.
THEFT IS INCREASING
Rugs Take First Place as
Commodity Of Grim
inals.
THEFT Is INCREASING
~ 8. n. coNGER,

By 3. y. CONGER,
special Correspondent Of washing-
ton Herald.
Berlin, March 2o.-In earlier days
In Berlin-down to the outbreak Of
the war, in fact--a weekly feature
of Berlin life was the appearance on
the billboards On q colored poster
headed "Das Ehriiche Berlin" (hon-
est Berlin) and containing q long
list of lost articles found by Berlin
ers and turned In to the police for
return to the owners. The announce
msnt covered jewelry. often of con-
siderable value. pocketbooks with
money, securities, articles of cloth
irg. furs and miscellania Of a some
times ridiculous character.
At the same time. at the lost and
found bureau of the street railway
and omnibus companies the careless
or absent minded individual almost
was sure to recover any article
which he had left in a street car or
bus. An umbrella was salient ex-
ception: no laws Of honor or hon.
esty apparently ran for the lost um-
brella, which was certain to remain
lost
"Honest, Poster Seen No More.
The "Honest-Berli poster ap-
pears no more on the billboards and
advertising columns OF the German
capital. Instead, those are now COW
cred with posters offering rewards,
running into many thousands of
marks, for the recovery OF stolen
property, the punishment Of crime
and the arrest of evildoers. Six
months ago these dealt largely with
stolen horses, which in those days
of meat famine could be turned into
immediate cash when marketed as
"beefsteak" or "ochsenfeish'' IL the
thief feared Identification OF the
sorrel or chestnut animal described
In such loving detail. The cart US
ually went with the horse. together
with a valuable lading of textiles.
foodstuffs or other materials easily
turned into cash.
Today rugs play the leading role
in the rubric of crime and along
with jewelry and furs evoke the
largest offers of rewards. Horses
and wagons still are stolen, but
owing to the decreased value OF
meat or greater watchfulness of
owners and drivers no longer donfi-
nate.
other posters on pink, green, red.
purple, yellow and a whole rainbow
of colors advertise the loss Of furni-
ture, paintings. automobiles, chill
dren, dogs-anything worth stealing
and worth advertising for. Inter
spersed with those are the official
red posters announcing crimes and
a. -, l.
The crime Is usually murder, for
merly so infrequent in Berlin that
an ordinary murder case attracted
pers for weeks, but now so common
as to receive only a line of mention,
unless particularly striking.
Rug. Safe Investments.
The criminals partiality for rugs
is explained by a similar partiality
of the investing public, which in
these days of sinking exchange, pos
sible national bankruptcy, and high
taxation has selected the rug as an
article of utility and beauty whose
value Is unaffected by storm and
stress of government. depreciation
Of currency, strikes and lockouts,
or the, demands of the entente, and
which is easily concealed from the
tax collector consideration of
moment in these days when govern
ment proposes to take up to 30 to
so per cent of ones wealth and up
to 20 per cent of ones income in the
form of taxation.
Values OF quite ordinary rugs un-
der that stimulation have risen to
from 5000 to 1000 marks a square
yard, and they are SO eagerly
sought for by the war profiteers
that they are easily disposed OF by
the thieves. Questions may be ask
ed as to the remote pedigree of a
fine Bokhara or Kermanshah, but
none as to the more recent owner.
The police say that the reward of
5000 marks-and their researches
almost invariably leads to the de.
lection of the murderers. Less can
be said of the efficacy of the pri-
vate rewards for the recovery of
stolen personal property, even when.
as today. 10000 marks are offered
for the return of a 7O,000-mark rug,
but the billboard display of Dis
honest Berlin" indicates at least
hope.