Robbery stories may include anything from petty thievery to bank defaulting. Some of the possibilities are horse and automobile stealing, burglary, hold-ups, train and street-car robbery, embezzlement, fraud, kidnapping, safe-cracking, shop and bank robbery. It is well for the reporter who has to cover a story of this class to acquaint himself with the distinctions that characterize the various kinds of robbery and the various names applied to the people who commit this sort of crime: e.g., robber, thief, bandit, burglar, hold-up man, thug, embezzler, defaulter, safe-cracker, pick-pocket.
In general the chief interest in robbery stories is in the result of the work—the amount taken—usually accompanied by a term to designate the sort of robbery. Just how the crime was committed is often the feature, as in a train robbery or a clever case of fraud. If the victim or victims are at all well known their names may become the most interesting thing in the story—or even the name of a well-known criminal or band of robbers. In some stories, especially if another paper has already covered the story, the pursuit or capture of the criminals is often interesting; the stories of bank robberies often begin in this way. Other attendant circumstances, such as the number of persons who witnessed the crime, may be the feature. In hold-ups, burglaries, and crimes of that sort, the death or wounding of the victim is often played up. Sometimes the reason for the crime, as in a kidnapping case, is of great significance. In the case of a robbery of a bank or any other institution which depends upon credit for its business, the story usually begins with, or at least mentions near the beginning, the present condition of the robbed institution. It is safe to say that in no case is the name of the criminal, the manner of his arrest (if it is not unusual), the police station to which he was taken, or the charge preferred against him worth a place in the lead.
Some robbery stories from the daily press:
Amount taken:
Furs worth $40,000 were stolen in the early hours of yesterday morning within a stone's throw of Madison Square. Apparently a gang in which there was a woman expert in choosing only the best furs carried off the costly skins, etc.—New York World.
Manner of hold-up:
Seized by thugs in broad daylight as he was crossing the railroad tracks at the foot of First avenue east, Fred Butzer, a stonemason of Butler, Minn., was thrown to the ground, a gag placed in his mouth, his pockets were rifled of $36.—Duluth News-Tribune.
Unusual sort of pickpocket:
A young man in evening dress, who was going down into the subway station at Times Square with the theater crowd that filled the entrance just outside of the Hotel Knickerbocker early last night, paused, knocked a woman under the chin and took away her silver chatelaine purse containing $20 as deftly as he might have flicked the ash off his cigarette. Then he disappeared.—New York Times.
Unusual thieves: