“One of the burglars rode from house to house on a bicycle. Two revolvers dropped by the visitors were found in the yard of the E. residence. The territory suffering the nightly raids is embraced in the suburb of Maplewood, and citizens have armed themselves in their own defense, asserting that police uniforms have not been seen on the streets concerned for weeks.”
From the Democrat May 27th ult.:
“Burglars forced an entrance into the store of the Guarantee Clothing Company, State street, last night and stole nearly $1,000 worth of goods.
“Apparently the thieves took their time, and the police say they must have used a wagon in removing the goods. Persons living in the flats above heard nothing unusual during the night, and the police are unable to comprehend how the thieves could remove the great amount of property without attracting attention.
“This morning a clerk opened the front door of the store. It looked as though a small cyclone had passed through the establishment.”
This burglary took place between two police stations, from neither of which it was far distant. It is probable that if one officer had gone over his beat just once that night, its perpetrators would have been caught in the act. Some neighboring saloon was, perhaps, more needful of police protection!
Some tremendous effort is being made, however, to suppress policy shops and clean out all night saloons! Witness the following, viz.:
From papers of May 27th ult.:
“Detectives D. and D. of Chief K.’s office raided a policy shop in the basement of the building at 6 Washington street last night and destroyed the fixtures of the place and confiscated the sheets, records and other paraphernalia.
“The shop was in a small room under the sidewalk and was reached through a barber shop. S. H., the police say, was the agent in charge of the place, and represented the O. R. & G. company of Fort Erie, Canada. No arrests were made, but Chief K. says the place will remain closed.”