Someone in Savannah had been stealing the morning newspaper.
At least, that was the only explanation that seemed to make sense.
For several mornings, a household in the southern part of the city reported that its copy of the Morning News had vanished before anyone could retrieve it. Delivery workers insisted the paper had been left on the stoop, and even the circulation superintendent personally delivered a copy, only for it to disappear again.
The homeowner finally decided to watch for the thief himself.
What he discovered was not a sneaky neighbor or an unusually quick passerby, but a culprit much closer to home.
Clever Paper Thief Is At Last Trapped
SAVANNAH, Georgia. — Frequent complaints about the stealing of the Morning News from a certain house in the southern section of the city led to an investigation, which finally trapped one of the cleverest newspaper thieves on record some time ago.
At this particular house the paper had been missing for a number of mornings. Complaint was made and special care was taken to see that this house was not skipped. The paper was delivered but it invariably disappeared before the owner of the house had gotten up, and the complaints continued to come in.
The superintendent of the circulation department himself delivered the paper one morning, but a kick was registered as on the previous occasions. There was no paper when the owner went to look for it. Satisfied that his paper was being stolen after it was delivered, the owner himself started to watching.
Savannah, Georgia 1924
Through a window he watched the newsboy as he came down the street, delivering the papers. Through the blinds he saw the boy aim a paper at his stoop and a second later he heard it hit. But when he stepped out on the porch, the paper was nowhere in sight.
He looked up and down the street and there was no one in view except the newsboy. The thief had not had time to get away and the owner did not know what to make of it.
From under the house came the pet dog of the family, wagging his tail. Thinking the thief may have hidden under the stoop to avoid detection when the front door was opened, the owner made an investigation and there all piled together were the papers that had been missing for so many mornings. The dog had taken the paper each morning as it was thrown on the stoop and had made itself a rather expensive, but comfortable bed.
Source: The Savannah Morning News. Savannah, Ga. November 16, 1904.
