Rensselaer Republican, Volume 23, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 September 1890 — No Crime in Heligoland. [ARTICLE]

No Crime in Heligoland.

don I ally Kras. Fhat there it practically no such thing as crime in Heligoland we have all heard, but it has been reserved for a writers in Blackwood to tell us why this is. It is, we learn, the inevitable result of living upon so small an island. Even conduct of any seriously improper kind is practically impossible where everybody knows everybody else’a doings and position, since for those who trangress the rules of social .decorum there is Ifut one course open. This is self banishment, and to leave Heligoland for ever is to its sons mbre bitter than death. As to crime of the graver sort every would-be criminal knows that he can not possibly escape from this tiny speck in the North Sea except with the connivance of the whole population. Last year two house breakers from Hamburg ventured to come across on a professional, visit. They had a highly successful evening’s work. Every door stood open. They had only to watch when no one was by, step boldly in, and carry away what they cared for. They got altogether a very handsome booty. But they had forgotten one important detail—there was no steamer leaving Heligoland the following day till 2 o’clock. Long ere then the thefts had been discovered, the robbers lodged in prison, and the stolen property restored to its owners. So the Heligolanders are honest, whether they like it or not, • —• —-