Reading for Everybody.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2401, 16 January 1909, Page 10 (Supplement)

Reading for Everybody.

MASTER BURGLAR’S AMAZING ADVENTURES. DARING RAID AT MIDNIGHT. BOOTY WORTH £3OOO. CONVICT GIVES CONFEDERATE AWAY. A thrilling story of the “Master Burglar’s” greatest coup was told to the magistrates at Leicester recently, when Ernest F. Humphrey was accused of breaking into Brooksby Hall, the residence of Captain David Beatty, lt.N., Naval Adviser to the Army Council, and stealing diamond and pearl rings, gold snuff-boxes, and other jewellery, valued at, over £3OOO. John Frederick Spencer, draper arid Sunday school teacher, who is now undergoing twelve years’ penal servitude, in the witness-box gave the most minute details of how ho and the prisoner carried out the burglary. The most remarkable part of Spencer’s story was that lie found so many jewels in the bedroom that ho came down with one armful and returned for moro when THE LADY AWOKE AND RAISED AN ALARM. In making off, Spencer almost ran over a policeman in a village, when he had nearly all the jewellery on his bicycle. Mr Rowlatt, who prosecuted, explained that full statements had been mado both by the prisoner Humphrey and the convict Spencer. Dennis Hugo Larking, retired naval lieutenant and private secretary to Captain Beatty, stated that two pearl rings which had been worn by Mrs Beatty the night before the burglary wero worth over £IOOO each. CONVICT’S STORY. John Frederick Spencer then entered the witness-box, closely guarded by two warders. He gavo his evidence with great composure. “We went to Brooksby, and took out tools with us,” said the convict. “They included a large jemmy, two pairs of gloves a special electric lamp, two screwdrivers, and a key turner. Wo buried them by the side of the road. Ou December 3 Humphrey and I went over again. We met by appointment on the outskirts of Leicester and cycled. When we got to Brooksby we hid our cycles in a field. We waited' there until all the lights except one were turned out about midnight. After we had our supper we went and DUG UP OUR TOOLS. We went to the hall, and a window was forced by Humphrey, whilst I was at the front watching the lights. ] then went up to the window and entered the room. First I pulled hack some heavy tapestry curtains so that we could get in properly. Humphrey then got his boots off and" he also came into the room. We began collecting the things together which were in that room. We also entered othei rooms downstairs and took some further jewellery. After we had got all the things together downstairs and Humphrey had got them into bundles, I went upstairs. Humphrey stood al the bottom of the stairs so. that, in case I was disturbed, I should know which way to tur,n. I WENT INTO A LADY’S BEDROOM : she was’ asleep in bed. I took come rings of great value from the dres-sing-table, and a number of othei articles, including pearls. Thajienrls were in a drawer in that room. J took these articles downstairs and gave them to Humphrey at the bottom of the stairs. I went back a second time and found a lady’s leather bag, -which I took. When I was in the lady’s bedroom the second time the lady spoke. She called, ‘ls that you, Molly?’ There was no light in the room, because I had switched off the electric light. As' soon as the lady ispok# she switched on the electric light, and I got behind a screen and then bolted downstairs. The first time I went into a room that was empty, and I also went into the bathroom. When I got upstairs the electric light was lit on the landing, but I turned it off. W r e both left the house by tho window by which yve had entered, got on to the road, ana th„eiL to where our bicycles were hidden. V r e both had our boots off, arid we. put them on against a wire fence. We then hid our tools in a hedge bottom. V’e . got- down arid looked, by the aid of my electric lamp, at the things which we had taken, and put the most valuable things in a hag, which I fastened on to my bicycle. Among the articles-which we found in the hag which I took from the may's bedroom was a gold purse, and it contained gold, which ivc snare;.. ! was going to - THROW AWAY THE GOLD BAG when Humphrey said —‘Don t do that; it will lead to our being traced. Humphrey then took the purse- and hid it under some- turf. Tim less valuable part of what we tooi-r we buried near to where we buried trie purse. After this I rode oft m my bicycle to Leicester. Humphrey followed some distance behind, as ho was afraid to go with me, as I had the stuff. At Rearsby, near the post office, I sounded my bell, and nearly ran over a policeman,. and that would have been a bad job for botii of. ns. We wished each other good morning. I got homo about 6 o’clock, and at 9.30 the -same morning I mot Humphrey outside his house by arrangement. With Humphrey i took the stuff to London the same day. About a .fortnight .afterwards I hired ,a pony and trap from a man named Wood, and drove over to the place where we had hidden the remainder of the jewellery. Humphrey was there waiting for me. He got the stuff out of the ground and put it m the trap, and wo both drove to my honso iii Leicester. Wc both, ’uciiu inside, and I by -arrangement afterWa TOOK THE VALUABLES TO LONDON.” ' . t Humphrey —Did you plan this burglary or not? —You, I, and 0 •planned it,-alter reading m the paper at C V house, where wo met almost every morning, that ,a lot -c.t rich people were coming to' Melton l;u the -hunting season. Humphrey it you will toll the truth 1 don t mind. Sat JOU arc telling lies, a"d ,011 ba>o Tjcen parson. X ow n to there. Lu would give yonr own ther away, you would. „ over there to force a way m for me said ’Spencer; and Humphrey replied, “You had all the money. „ ~ I AYA*S YOUR BILLY MUGGING. Spencer— You said I was the liest imm upstairs there because there uas

rrf} 111 ;- Iffat is why I had to go. Humphrey—You vent out on your own freo will. After these and other lively exchanges Superintendent Agar produced Humphrey’s signed confession . In it he said :— ‘ ‘Wo broke into Brooksby Hall, and I got £4O for my share of what < Spencer took to lipnclon. x'ho policeman wlio >vislied spencer “Good morning” and a number of other witnesses were called to verify the details of the confession. Later on in the week three men— Humphreys, Crosslcy, and Cooper—were committed for trial in connection with the burglaries Spencer confessed to, while a fourth man named Jacobs iras remanded for a week.

HOW PRIZE-FIGHTS ARE FAKED. TRICKS AND DODGES OF THE RING. With the exception perhaps' of dorse-racing, there is ho sport with winch s° ma:uy sllad tl ] cl J boxgf: a^, ns professional “noble* art*? in' ° f tJie with that class of mm, 1S -u° A co P ]od no standing bacl-m- "U.! JO v laes,: ' of uey. and V lth bttle nioalthoiigh pleiitv S of clia racter, reduced to a verv gl °J° 3 has heen made m .regard^/f am ' d assertion over, was thnf on, fak .° W Bums nftprAi mmmning Tommy Moi " Patad- '!u,Ko l ’ c^ O SU' mner jion. The report wa? efreulaU'tlS bis oyos leS ßn, l!!ed Er o rP°ueuts ivitli j.i ?/, Xiut 5 as Mr Eugene Corri sport V and n ?pSr aUt?ll0 * ,it ?'- 011 E »Sb'sb Sportino- Pl,?i! eiee National opponents : - at Bnms mes ™rizcd his

• nonsense. The onlv w-,v '‘punch ” e mwmeri '? s *b<?m is with

mi - d ?otobbd gloves. lriis story of mesmerism reminds the write,- of a trick which was S conlesf 6 ’!* -Ip . a p during a boxing contest a_- Birmingham. One of the IC Y - in ?, e - niatch, not being quite oitain of his chances of winnimr in a legitimate manner, decided to "make sure with the aid of ia certain powder made for the most part of snuff and cayenne popper. A little of this'mixture was placed on the palm of one of Ins gloves after the first two tminds-by his second as the latter refreshed the boxer with towel and sponge.

The object of the boxer, of course was to hit his opponent on the side or tiio head with an open glove, and. thus partly blind Lind daze him. The game was a risky one to play, for the trick might have been betrayed by * he powder flying in tho air arid*affect mg the judges. But so' little was used, anfl so artfully was the dodge worked, tnat it succeeded, although it all came out a couple of weeks later through the second talkin'; "too much while drunk. ° PUNCHES WHICH WOULDN’T KILL A ELY. The favorite dodges practised, howover, are those of feigning a. “knockout,” or getting the police to stop a fight which has been in progress for. say, three or four rounds. It is purely a commercial transaction on the part of the backers. They get -a. couple of well-matched young boxers, and offer them, say, £5 or £lO each for a' match. It is then duly announced that “Peter Tippy” and “Nobby Smut” will fight for the “eight-stone-four” championship, of, say, the New Cut, and tlie public think they are in for a good evening’s sport. They freely pay 2s Gd and 5s for a seat round tho ring, and in the meantime the hackers-have carefully arranged which man “shall lose, and get ail the bets they can on tho other man. A DOUBLE FAKE. After the first four or five rounds, the prearranged winner gives his opponent an 'apparently hard jab, maybe on the jaw, and the latter goes down. He gets up just before being counted out, pretends to be in great distress, and is knocked out in the next round. With the exception of those who arc “in the know,” body thinks it a fair fight, although a careful observer might have noticed that those swings, jolts, jabs, body blows, and upper-cuts were for the most part delivered with open gloves. .Then maybe the match has been .such an attraction that the defeated one issues another challenge, saying he is . not satisfied that....he has been beaten by a better man, and hints mf ,a lucky blow, etc., etc. Another match is arranged. This time the winner of the first match loses, and thus honors are even, and neither boxer has lost much prestige. DOSED WITH -WHISKY One of tho worst fake lights winch over took place in America was that which victimized sportsmen in Boston, UH. A., five years ago. A huge Irishman was discovered,, who could take any amount of punishment, although he knew nothing about trio science of hit, stop, and get away. Shady bookies got hold of him, boomed him as the. forthcoming lush champion heavy-weight, and arranged a match which brought a bi,oUU gate. The now champion was in such a funk when tho time arrived for trie match that he lupl to be liberally dosed with whisky, and when he got a hard blow on the .jaw in the first round he went down-and ret used to get up. • Naturally, there was an uproar in tho audience, Lind the Irishman land his backers had to show a clean pair “ f '““SRIBISD THE POLICE. -When'a certain Chief of Police stopped a -big fight inMadison Square Garden, New Talk; tlricc vears ago, riiany wrathful: things weroiid -about him by the spectators But they would have been oVen moie wrathful had those spectators knmui that he had received a lug bribe fiom tho principals and backers of the light to step in and stop the contest oftci the sixth • round on some technical point of law.

Another favorite gaino with fakefighters on the other side is worked in tlio following way. A boxer with a good reputation is perhaps doing a music-hail tour. He sends ahead of him,, about a fortnight before ho appears at a certain town, si couple of sparring partners. Those men work up interest in boxing by posting forfeits with the principal town newspaper and lighting local pugilists for the stakes. „ Then the winner of these small fights issues a challenge to the world. True, the challenge gets little beyond the local newspaper ; but it is n challenge for all that, and when the wellknown boxer comes along and accepts tlio challenge the town is naturally all agog with excitement. But the challenger cuts a sorry figure, and nothing more is seen of him by tire locals, for the simple reason that- he has gone on to the next town to repeat the per-formance-—-under another name, perhaps.

HEROES ALL. THE CARNEGIE FUND. NOBLE ACTS OE BRAVERY. Mr. Andrew Carnegie, in making his magnificent gift of £250,000 for th© formation of a Carnegie Hero Trust Fund for the United Kingdom, stated: “We live in an heroic age.” This is undobutedly the case, and the brave deeds of peace not only far out-number those of war, hut are of a far higher quality. Take, for example, the heroic action of Alfred Hunt, who, a short time ago, made a gallant but unavailing attempt to rescue his brother Robert from a frightful death. He and his brother were at work in a Hanley factory when the brother slipped land fell int-o a vat of boiling oil and water. AVith the certain knowledge that he must get terribly scalded, Alfred at once ran to the vat and jumped in to his brother’s aid, , At the inquest he stated tint the mixturo “was roasting; it scalded me right through.” He got his brother out, but Robert succumbed to his in j uries. A BRAVE WELSHMAN. We havo had (says a London "exchange) a number of similar brave acts recently. A young man named Owen Richards Bryn, of Rliymnel Valley, gavo his life for his horse. A fall of rock occurred. Instead of leaving _ his horse to its fate lie detached it from its tram, but the delay was fatal, as tho falling rock crushed him to death. Then thero was the incident during the disastrous tram accident which occurred at- Bournemouth. Seven persons were killed, and seventeen more or less severely injured. The bright spot in the disaster was tho magnificent manner in which the driver, Wilton, and the conductor, Finch, stuck to' their posts. They knew that they might possibly lose their lives, but they did not attempt to seek refuge in the car itself, and the conductor, by his bravery, prevented a panic of the passengers, which might have resulted in far more serious consequences. In a similar way an extraordinary tram accident occurred at Mdlbrook. Stalybridge. When the tram was descending Ditchcroft Hill, down which the tram lines run on a gradient of one in eight, tho bystanders were horrified to sec that the driver had lost control of the vehicle. In this case the trolly-arm had run off the overhead wire, thus putting the electric brake out- of action. A THRILLING SPECTACLE.

The weighty car rushed along at a violent rate, ‘gaining speed at every rarcl ,until a tremendous speed was obtained. Crowds of people witnessed the the horrible spectacle of the rushing car without being able to give any aid, the affrighted passengers screaming at their imminent peril. At the bottom of the hill the tram left the rails and dashed into a building, being carried half way through, and the walls crumbling as though made of paper. ... It was seen that the plucky driver, a man named Knell, was still manipulating the level* when the car dashed into the wall. AVhen assistance arrived it was found that his head was completely crushed in and he v. as bleeding profusely, but despite las terrible plight he exclaimed, “Attend to the passengers first.” Ho would not allow tho surgeons to give him any aid until the injured passengers liad been attended to. Some little time ago an inquest was held at Paddington upon the body of James Beames,. an enginodrivor,' who,died as the result of injuries sustained from an accident to his engine. AVhen the Cornish oxpress was duo his engine was stopped on the main line by signals; he knew that the express was coming along, and that this meant certain death to him, but he dared not go against the signals. The result ivas that the express, which Avas then over a quarter of an hour late, dashed _ into the stationary engine before it Avas seen. To the last the driver bravely stuck to his post. Quite recently a remarkable number of instances have been brought to light of the. heroism of men of science—heroism in the truest moaning of the Avord, as men have pledged themselves to a certain death full knowing .the dangers run. An instance of this glorious form of selfsacrifice is the case of Air. Austin Clement Lo Rossignol, ALB. Oxon, who for two years. Avas house surgeon at the London Hospital. , Ho was called on to perl or m trucheotomv upon a child suffering from diphtheria. The operation Avas successful, but some hours later fine doctor developed symptoms of diphtheria. Anti-toxin Avas at once administered, but after an _ illness or four days this twcnty-six-year-okl doctor died, Recently there . have been numerous instances of similar heroism, and it is safe to say that scores of medical men in this country take their lives in their own hands by performing this operation.

The Mikado .of Japan is reported to have bought some American ooavs. and to have paid £3OOO for one animal. Tho Japanese are certain.y making great efforts to improve the' breeds of their stock.