Evening star., 1927-12-04

area than is included in soEle of the
downtown precincts.
1t is a district mostly of detached
homes with spruce and privet hedges.
leaves ankle-deep on spacious lawns,
holly bushes with scarlet berries ready
for Christmas, and back yards with
washings hung out to dry, and yellow
chrysanthemums yielding their last
golden crop Of blossoms before
Winter.
The streets are none too well
lighted. The back alleys, with their
rows of garages, are not lighted at
all.
This is the ground that the "Cat"
has chosen for his field of operations
and in the forest of homes it is far
from easy to capture him. He can
slip through alleys and around bunga-
lows. hide in the underbrush of
wooded patches, and even mingle with
those who are hunting him.
# X y X
THROUGHOUT Cleveland Park the
lights are left burning in scores
of houses all night, on the theory that
the Cat" will hesitate to enter a resi-
dence where there is a likelihood that
somebody will be up. One woman, it
affixed to the roof of her house by
means of which a close watch can be
kept on the surrounding lawn. A few
cents a night for electricity, the resi-.
dents feel, is cheap insurance against
! d visit by the soft-footed robber.
Some families are having watchers
stay up all night, ready to spring into
action at the slightest noise. Men
who have not handled firearms in
years are extracting old-fashioned re-
volvers from clothes drawers, oiling
them, and even holding a little target
practice. Silver and jewelry are
placed under double lock and most
of the cash kept in the homes for
current expenses is placed under pill
lows before retiring.
do most of the calls come from
women?" reported asked at the four.
teenth precinct.
"Oh, the men are scared, too," was
the answer. I'VE get calls from them
for very slight reasons"
Capt. Stott has a force Of plain
clothes men on duty in addition to
the regular officers, and the precinct
police feel confident that "the Cat"
eventually will be brought to justice.
One great difficulty is that thus far
only one woman actually has looked in
the face OF the prOWler. The Chevy
Chase clergyman with wrom he is re.
ported to have had long and edifying
conversation talked with him in the
dark and would not be able to identify
him. The police are not even sure that
he Is armed. Only once has revolver
been displayed, and this may not have
been the rpme man. In fact, there is
a we'll gounded suspicion that the
Cat" may turn out to have been sew
eral individuals.
In every instance thus far reported
the burglar has followed approxi-
mately the same tactics. He has first
obtained entrance by cutting through
the glass of a door or window suf-
ficiently to enable him to release the
catch. Then, before making any at
tempt to rob the house, he has pro-
vided himself with several exits, any
one of which can be used in case of
an emergency.
This would seem to indicate consid-
cradle experience in professional bur.
glary. yet the police are inclined to
smile al me legend of a master mind"
operating in the precinct Their pri-
vate opinion of the Cat" Is that he
either is crazy or a fool. In all his
robberies, they point out. he has OBJ.
tained hardly a thousand dollars, and