History is filled with odd stories about burglars. There were burglars of every type, from rude ones to rather timid ones. The most active burglars were given names that resembled the names of modern day super heroes. Whereas women burglars were few and far between.
Burglars were once a part of everyday life for people in the large cities and for those who lived in the country. Burglar alarms were in their infancy and oftentimes the victims of the burglars had to rely on their quick wits or brave actions in order to survive rather dire situations.
Hanging From a Hook
It was 1898 and two burglars were out seeking a place to rob one night in Paris. They found what they thought would be the perfect score in the Rue Dauphine.
The two burglars checked the place out from the basement to the roof. Everything met with their approval and then they spotted a key left in the door of one of the top rooms.
They must have felt that it was a sign of good fortune and so they put their ears to the door. There was no sound inside the room and it was assumed that the occupant must have accidentally left his key in the door upon departure.
The men stepped inside the room, closed the door behind them, and came face to face with a dead body hanging from a hook in the ceiling.
It was an immediate shock to the burglars who, in their mad panic, fumbled with the door and ran wildly and loudly down the stairs. The noise they made brought out the concierge and he arrested the burglars on sight.
The police were brought to the scene and although the burglars had been frightened, they refused to tell what they had encountered. They were searched and the key to the upstairs door was found in one of the men’s pockets.
The upstairs room was soon found and the dead man hanging from the ceiling was ruled as an apparent suicide.
As for the burglars, they were charged for the theft of the key and were taken to jail. [Source 1]
The Policeman Threw His Gun
It was a crazy night on the West Side of Chicago back in May of 1913. A burglar was spotted exiting a side window, carrying both a gun and a knife.
Not one to stand by and watch, the homeowner grabbed one of his golf clubs and whacked the intruder on the head with it. The burglar fell, got back up, and the chase was on.
Neighbors joined in and they chased after the man through the streets and alleys. Finally, detectives joined in the craziness until a policeman decided to pull out his gun and throw it at the burglar. Fortunately for all, the gun hit its target right on the head and knocked the burglar onto the ground.
The man was taken into custody. It was later discovered that the crazed burglar was Charles Baker and had formerly served a nineteen year sentence at the asylum for the criminally insane. [Source 2]
Romantic of Creepy?
Burglars of the past seemed to have the habit of watching people in their sleep. Newspapers labelled these incidents as romantic, but it was clearly anything but sweet.
In 1925, Geneva, a burglar broke into the home of a wealthy tradesman and spotted the man’s lovely young wife in bed. Charmed by her beauty, he wrote her a letter:
“Last night I visited your flat when you were asleep. As I had not the honor of a personal invitation, I entered by the window, frankly in order to rob you. You will notice that I collected your jewels and valuables, which I intended to take off; but I saw you sleeping peacefully and fell in love with you. I sat for ten minutes by the bedside devouring your beauty, and became ashamed.”
Again, in 1932, a burglar left a note for the lady of the house in North Sydney. As the report went, the burglar stole from every room in the house, except for hers. He left behind a note that read:
“I do not rob girls. You must have a clear conscience. Sleep on, fair lady!” [Sources 3, 4]
Too Early to Care
Mrs. Seton woke before daybreak in her New York City home in 1913 and as she began her early morning routine, she spotted someone climbing into her neighbor’s window. As anyone would do, she phoned the police.
An officer answered the phone and Mrs. Seton told him what she saw, but instead of giving a care, the officer chastised her for phoning the police station before daybreak because it was annoying to set off the alarms so early.
After the call was over, Mrs. Seton sat by her window for an hour, watching the burglar in action next door. Fifteen minutes after the burglar concluded his business and left, a policeman showed up at Seton’s door.
“Where’s the burglar?” he asked.
“Probably in Jersey City,” was Mrs. Seton’s sarcastic reply.
Not only did the burglar get away with over $1,000 in jewelry, but the newspaper kindly asked local robbers to only commit their crimes during the day so as not to disturb the police at unreasonable hours. [Source 5]
The Kissing Burglar
The last thing anyone wants when confronted with a burglar is to discover that that guy might be a little too affectionate or possibly a touch drunk.
Such was the case back in 1914 when M. Bordier, a Paris wine merchant, and his wife were awakened one night by a sound coming from their downstairs bar.
The couple, no doubt scared, creeped downstairs and as they reached the bar, a man entered the room from the cellar door. The burglar held up a butcher’s knife and whispered, “Not a word or I will slit you both.”
Then, in some strange flip of personality, the burglar went on to say, “Well, I have missed my chance, so I had better be off, but I will kiss you both good-bye.” Sure enough, the burglar grabbed first M. Bordier and then his wife, giving them each a hefty kiss on both cheeks before leaving their home and business. [Source 6]
Dead in the Chimney
Dead bodies in crime shows seem to be a recurring theme on the television, but it is something that has actually happened in the past. The Randwick Racecourse in N.S.W. had their own incident with a body in the chimney back in 1891.
As the story goes, the cook arrived in the kitchen and prepared to light the fire. However, she noticed immediately that none of the smoke was going up the chimney. She fiddled a bit with the fire without any luck and then put it out. After the smoke had cleared, she looked up the chimney and to her horror she saw a man lodge in it.
The cook called for help and soon men arrived to investigate the situation. Sure enough, the man was not only stuck up inside the chimney, but he was also quite dead.
Further investigation of the scene lead the men to believe that the body was of a thief who thought he would gain entrance to the building via the chimney. The man became stuck about two yards from the bottom and, in a panic, he dislodged the soot from the walls which caused his suffocation. [Source 7]
Leave Miss Lily Alone
Just because there is a woman living all alone in a house does not mean that the house is an easy target. Just ask Miss Lily Pallin.
It happened back in 1922 in Badley, Suffolk when Miss Lily was awoken in the middle of the night by the sound of broken glass. She got out of bed, put on a coat, and went downstairs to her kitchen. There she discovered a man climbing in through her pantry window.
She asked the man what he wanted and he told her he needed food. Hoping that feeding him would make him leave, she turned to find him something to eat, but he attacked her.
What the burglar did not know at the time was that Miss Lily was a rather strong woman. She had worked the land all her life and a mere burglar was not going to overtake her.
She managed to quickly gain the upper hand, held the burglar by his collar, and began punching him until he fell unconscious onto the floor.
Lily then picked up her two small dogs and walked to her neighbor’s farm. The neighbor returned to Miss Lily’s home and found that the burglar had already fled the scene. There are no reports of the burglar having ever made a return visit. [Source 8]
Played Nurse
Out of Los Angeles, California, 1913, came an unusual story about a burglar who helped a choking toddler.
The burglar had broken into a home and came upon a woman with her back to him. He demanded her to put her arms up, but she instead turned around and faced him with tears in her eyes. “Do you know anything about babies? My baby’s dying,” she said. The 18-month-old had croup and was choking terribly.
Immediately, the burglar turned and went into the kitchen. He made a mixture of sugar, vinegar, and water. He also grabbed the camphor rub.
On returning to the room with the sick toddler, the burglar began spoon feeding the toddler his home remedy and he rubbed the camphor on its chest.
For nearly an hour, the burglar tended to the child as the mother watched. He informed the mother that he had five children of his own. He took up burglary in order to feed them.
After the toddler’s coughing died down, the burglar got up and left without stealing a single thing from the home. [Source 9]
Armed With Squirt Guns
Squirt guns, formerly called liquid pistols, have been around since the mid to late 1800s and were not marketed as children’s toys. In fact, advertisements recommended using them as a form of self defense.
Well, it did not take long before burglars used squirt guns to achieve their own illegal deeds. In 1927, Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire, two burglars thought they were being pretty clever when they decided to rob a country house.
First, the men cut the telephone wires so that no calls could be made to the police. Then they took liquid pistols filled with ammonia into the targeted home. The only problem was that the process of breaking into the home and squirting the eyes of the servants caused quite a commotion.
The nightwatchman, butler, and a footman came running to the scene, heard that the burglars were armed with guns, and quickly fetched their own, real guns.
There is no doubt that a shootout would have gone very badly for the burglars and they were smart enough to make their escape to a waiting getaway car. For all their effort and planning, they escaped without a single piece of the owner’s property. [Sources 10, 11]
The Typed Message
Out of Paris came reports of a great many burglars whom the media labeled as being humorous. While there is nothing even remotely funny about discovering you have just been robbed, the typewriting burglar did happen to top the list as being the most creative, if not snarkiest, burglar in France.
In June of 1908, the typewriting burglar broke into a flat in Toulouse. He took a few little trinkets from about the room, and then he sat down at the typewriter and wrote his victim a letter:
“Sir and Dear Colleague. – I think by your untidiness that you are no lady, but untidiness means a busy man. So I congratulate you. I can see that you are a professional typist, like myself, and guessing that you were one, I looked into your box of papers for your keys, and naturally found them there. I have emptied the drawers in your table, out of which I have taken 1.8-1/2. This is a low price for an evening’s work, but I have also carried off some of your work, which I will study at my leisure… I am not taking your machine or your shorthand machine, for you and I know how very nearly impossibly it is to sell a secondhand typewriter. You will forgive me, my dear colleague, for not signing this letter, and you need not fear a return visit from me. There is nothing worth taking in your rooms.” [Source 12]
