The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1920-04-22
BURGLAR NOT
CLEVER ENOUGH

Il like the way you keep your store,
but Oh, Boy, get a different lock on
your safe door" This was the message
which Clarence Berquist, aged 49,,
wrote to David Apple, the keeper of a
store, Gil to GLIB, Selleck avenue on
Sunday morning. Berquist had bur-
4 glarized the store of Apple late Sat
hurday night and he decided to send
back some of the loot Undoubtedly
his intention was well enough but the
! way he took to carry out the inten-
ton resulted in his landing in the city
lock up and today he was waiting
a hearing on a charge of burglary in
the night time. A wrecked interior
of big safe at the Apple store gave
the evidence that the place had been
entered. Berquist himself gave the
police a chance to nab him and get a
confession out of him. Berquist did
not get much for his trouble. In fact,
the burglary did not get him accent and
he admitted to the police that it was
a mighty poor nights business, but
the first he had ever attempted.
How He Happened to Be Caught.
Berquist is a likely looking chap, who
lived at home with his parents, 7o4
Newell street, and he evidently had an
idea of doing something different. Just
after nine o'clock Sunday morning
the men at the police Office were just
waiting for something to turn up and
sure enough, it turned. Somebody
slipped up the stairs leading to the
front door of~the police office and a
minute later Secretary Meissner heard
/ something hit against the glass door
Of the Office of Chief lO'Hare He
thought it was a newspaper, but he
went out to make an investigation,
and he found that it was an envelope
containing some twenty-five dollars
worth of war saving stamps and several
insurance policies. Meissner looked it
over and began to read, 81 like the
way you keep your store;" get that
fellow" he shouted to Officers Wade
and McGivern and Kautenburg, and
the four officers forgot all about the
package and started after the man
who had deposited it at the door of
the chief.
Found Near His Home.
The police went after Berquist with
an automobile, and he was found later
on near his home on Newell street.
i Come on in the carl" shouted Wade,
/ want to tell you funny story" Ber-
quist went right along with his cap
/ tors and when he reached the lock up
he declared that he never heard any
thing of the robbery or the package
thrown at the door Of the chief. Later
on he broke down and confessed every
j thing. He said that after he had rob
bed the Apple store he decided that the
/ insurance policies and war stamps were
of no value to him and he decided that
the way to get them back to Apple
was to turn them over to the police
officers. He waited till Sunday morn
i ing to make the return.
Entered Place Through Window.
Apple had discovered the robbery of
the place long before, his stamps and
policies had been returned and the re-
4 port had been made to the police office
an hour before Berquist disposed of
his loot in the unusual manner. Ber-
4 qnist told the police that it was his
4 first robbery and that he had entered
the place expecting to find a large
amount of money. He went in through
\ one of the rear windows of the store.
The safe door was open but Berquist
4 found it necessary to force the small
err drawers of the safe. He took a tin
stronghold from one of the places in
the safe. Then he broken open the
cash register and the cash drawer,
but found no money. Taking the strong
box and meat cleaver from the store
\ away and broke the box open with
4 the cleaver. There was no money in
the box
i Slept at Down Town Hotel.
Berquist told the police that after
he had rifled the box he went to the
Eannex of the hotel Kenosha where he
secured a room for the night and
that during the night he decided to
4 turn the papers and stamps over to
the police 81 told the folks that | had
gone to Racine" he said in explain
ing how his mother and father and
brother had shown no interest in the
case. II haven't any idea where am
now and am not particular to have
them told"
Berquist told Chief O'Hare that he
was not trying to get anything but
money at the Apple store and that he
did not disturb anything in the palce
but the money boxes and the cleayer.
i The self-confessed burglar has been
employed at the plant of the Nash
Motors company and has, been earning
on an average of sixty-fvc dollars
every two weeks. Il needed more
money to get booze" he said at the
4 police office. where do you get the
liquor?" the. boy was asked. cover en-
the West side was his response" He
said that he did not know what kind
of liquor it was but that il was as
good as it was expensive.
Berquist came to kenosha with his
family from Chicago some four. years
ago and had since resided on Newell
street. The police said that he had
been paroled once before when he was