Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 41, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 November 1908 — Thieves’ Shoes. [ARTICLE]

Thieves’ Shoes.

"Shoes have played an important part in the capture of criminals,” said Detective William Barrett of Buffalo. “Had it not been for the footwear of certain thieves they would never have been caught. It is not so long ago that I aid two others were detailed on a case, and before we caught our man another shop had been burglarized. We looked at the marks about the windows and noticed they were scraped by nails. We went back to the other place and found the same conaitions. Later we went into well-known resort and found a man sitting in a chair. He had his feet encased in a neat-flt-ting pair of shoes, but for some reason he had nails put In the heels. We “jumped” him at once, and, searching his rooms, we discovered enough loot to start a store. He later explained that the nails were put in his shoes to aid in roof-climbing. Squeaky shoes have caused the arrest of several thieves right in this precinct. The other night a thief bought a pair of cheap shoes and they were very musical. The man got into a place, and before he got anything his noisy shoes gave him away and he was caught. All clever criminals have a penchant for buying good soft shoes. They pay a good price for them and they are repaid sometimes by getting off with the swag to pay up for what they spent.”—Shoe Retailer.