Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1921-06-17
SAFE ROBBING
OTHER ROLE OF
SHIFTY ARTIST
Sketches Captors and Tells
Them art Is Long, Life
Expensive

NEW YORK, June 17-"Art is long
and life is short"
b So runs the proverb. It tells only half
the story. Art doesn't always pay: the
charges for living are fixed and immut-
able.
Joseph Benedix, artist, knew the pro-
verb and knew the fact. He felt the
need, until art was self supporting, OF
taking on some remunerative side line
not exactly trade" He found one. John
Bauer, the burglar, was born
Mr.. Bauer was at work late in the
afternoon in the offices Of the Interna-
tional Commercial Company on the TWEEN
ty-fourth floor Of the Metropolitan tower.
A few def twists Of his wrist had opened
the door of the big "burglar-proof' safe
in the corner.
DAsHEs FOR
ELEVATOR.
The office door opened. e. N. Desher-
binin. general manager Of the concern,
had forgotten something. The man who
belonged in the place and the man who
didn't saw each other at tae same in
slant.
The burglar made dash for the door
and squeezed through. He had good
start up the corridor An elevator hesi-
tated long enough to ADMIT him, then
shot downward.
Several seconds passed before another
elevator took Desherbinin aboard He
begged the operator:
MAKE it On express for the rest OF
the way. I'm after burglar In the
other car"
local" BEATS
EMPRESS"
The local" nevertheless, was the first
elevator at the street level. Desherbtnin
landed in time to see his man run from
the building. He followed. A block
away the fugitive ran into the arms OF
Policeman William Potter.
Detectives looked first at the office
safe and then at John Bauer, burglar,
whom they recognized. They asked.
How in the world did you get that
box openf Jimmy Valentine COULDN'T
even have done it in a story"
Bauer smiled. The police say he re-
Piled:
."Tbat took lot Of science. But IN
LET Won fellows in on the secret. This
afternoon, early, I broke into an office
in the Metropolitan Opera House Build
ing-no relation to the tower, of course.
On q check stub I found an address and
something that looked like combina-
ton. The office I was just in was the
address. The combination worked.
simple, dea- Watson"
RETURN FOR TOOLS
HIS UNDOING.
Then the young burglar called attsn-
ton to the fact that a comparatively
weak door. within the safe, had baffled
him. He said he'd given up the Job
once and gone away, only to discover he'd
left some tools. That. combined with the
unfortunate circumstance that the gem
eral manager had forgotten something
himself, had led to his undoing.
For John Bauer, who had in his pocE-
cts keys TO three rooms in the Hotel
Bristol, the detectives had a long record.
They remembered he had worked
rooms" in evening dress. in the Hotels
Plaza and. Astor some years ago. They
knew he had done time Internationally
since 1912
But it was the burglar himself who
told them about Joseph Benedix, the
artist. Just to prove he wasn't lying
he called for pencil and paper. One after
another he sketched his captors. To
them lis Hkenesses were marvels OF
fidelity. In one voice they asked the
question:
why should a man who can draw
like you want to steal?"
Said Benedix-Bau quite softly,
Art is long, and life-is expensive"