Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 34, Number 90, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 July 1902 — Large Business and Small Profits [ARTICLE]

Large Business and Small Profits

Sums Up Ths Burgling Record For Ths Past Two Weeks. No New Attempts Since Wednesday Night. On Thursday morning, for the first time in a week, no case of supposed attempted house breaking was reported. Possibly the moving out of the gang of umbrella menders, and of the on wd of hoboes jailed Tuesday night, may have been the cause of the cessation of the alarms. Monday night was an off night with the burgling industry in Rensselaer. It is reported that their present chloroforming appratus having proved ineffective, a specially constructed tank wagon has been ordered to transport the drug about- from bouse to house, after the manner of an oil wagon. By that means they can carry enough to either anesthetize their victims or drown them, which will be the. next best thing. Be that as it'may, however, and farcical as the whole matter seems to a good many people, yet it is realty a very serious matter, from the fright and nervousness it has caused among the women and children.

The only authenticated case yet reported for Monday night was at J. J. Eiglesbach’s residence, on Front sy*eet He heard the bound of some one walking on the tin roof of his porch. He got up and put up the window curtain opening on the porch, but it was too' dark to see the burglar. He then went down stairs and telephoned fcr Christie Vick. The burglar probably heard the noise of the telepbonev for he suddenly vanished. His foot marks were seen on the porch next morning. Ed Rhoads, the grocer, saw a man lurking about in that vicinity, about that time, which was about 10:36 p. m. About two o’clock in the morn ing the families of J. W. Horton and Mose Tuteur,' in adjacent houses at tbe corner of Cornelia and Division streets, were awakened by a loud noise like tbe cutting of screens or the filing of a door bolt, but the origin of,tbe noise could not be discovered, nor could any evidence of any burglarious work thereabouts be discovered, this morning.

It is reported that Geo. Sharp, tbe painter, saw a uyiu that night, trying to open a window in Mrs. Mary Kannal’s house. But none of the family beard him, and no evidence of his presence could be found this morning, and until Mr. Sharp himself confirms or denies the statement it remains only as a rumor. A case that oocured several nights ago, but has not heretofore been mentioned is that of "Mrs. Jennie Thompson on McCoy avenue. She heard a noise at a window and investigated but'found nothing wrong at tbe time. The next day she found that the screen of a bath room window had been torn loose, across tbe bottom. n To judge from tbe rumors that were circulating this morning, Tuesday night was one of 'unusual activity among the burgling gentry. It was stated for instance, that Wm. Lewellan’s bouse bouse had been totaly cleaned out that the burglars had got a neighboring resident's piano nearly loaded on a dray, when some of the family noticed what was going on and went out and carried it hack into the house. Another statement was that Mrs. Candace Lough.

ridge’s house had been entered and robbed. The Lewellan story, when investigated, was reduced considerable. He heard a man on the walk in hie yanfl, the former Ellis Walton place, on Cullen street, about 8 o’clock in the evening. He ran down town and asked protection of Mayor Eger, and thought the city ought to buy him a revolver. The mayor however did not think it would be advisable, under the circumstances. v The Loughridge story respited from a well known citizen getting drunk and camping on the walk near there until the marshal and night watch took him home. The same party may have been blundering around Mr. Lewellan’s place. Along about this same time in the evening, -Ross Grant who was at the home of his father-in-law, J. Q Alter, on Weston street found a man in the back yard, in the vicinity of some big boxes. The man jumped the back fence, and seemed to go-*<rivay. Ross went back to the house and got his gun and on going back, again found the same fellow, or another like him at the same place. This time he jumped the fence and probably left for good. It was developed that the man whom Tom Hoyes and R. D. Thompson saw soon after Tom’s supposed chloroforming experience, was Night Watch Dillon. Tom took a chance shot out of the window with a shot gun, but Burge hasn’t taken a day off yet to locate the shots in his body with the Xravs, and he is not even sure that any of them landed in him at all. Another report is that another attempt to break into Mrs. Mattie Grant’s house, on Front street, but the members of - the family say that no one was there and that

some little noises they heard were probably made by cats. About 10:30 p. m. Constable Vick and Night watch Dillon puli-' ed four tramps out of their luxurious sleeping rooms in an empty box car, out near the cattle pens, and put them into still more luxurious quarters in the county, jail At one a. m. another of the same gentry was found occuping a special palace box car, in solitary magnificence, and he too was assigned a first floor suite at the jail. When this last one was put in the first four were found sleeping in their underwear which were observed to be new and of the finest texture. Still another instance oocured at the residence of Mrs. L. Benjamin on north' Cullen street. The family was awakened about 2 a m. by a loud noise which they thought was caused by some one shoving up a sliding window screen and then after finding that the windows back of it were fastened. Mrs. Benjamin is sure that this what happened, and that tbe tracks of tbe man could be seen this morning, near tbe window. It is stated that the noise was so loud that it awakened W. 8. Coen’s family across tbe street. Next morning, these captured hoboes were physically examined for articles contraband of war or indicative of wholesale burglary, and nothing suspicions was found. They were also taken before Squire Burnham, to whom they told plausible stories, and he then wisely and properly dismissed them with advice to hit the pikes leading out of town about as quickly as possible which they did. To sum tbe matter up, this whole burglary business is largely to be explained by excited imaginations, and the antics of drunken men, and several of them are now known to have been such. AU the others, except the Hollingsworth case, look like the pranks of some half wittted individuals, like one or two we have here, or of yellow literature excited boys. As

to the Hollingsworth robbery, certain circumstances have thrown suspicion on a man quite well known and who has not been seen since the morning of the day after it occured.