THE CAMBRIOEURS OF PARIS.

Cromwell Argus, Volume XXXVII, Issue 1983, 9 April 1906, Page 7

THE CAMBRIOEURS OF PARIS.

THE MOST DARING AND BRAINY

CRIMINALS IN EUROPE .f.

Paris stands aghast, and the police are stupefied, the people of the gayest capital in Europe are tremblingover the most astounding series of crimes perhaps the world has known. The Paris Prefecture of Police is pleading for a Sherlock Holmes or a Lecocq to match brains against the most daring, the most skilful, the brainiest band of burglars ever organized to prey upon the wealthy. """ The crimes of the Cambrioleurs would fill volumes, and Paris believes that behind the mysterious band of robbers whose plunder in two months was nearly £l<><),ooo, is the brainiest robber the world has ever known —and a man of distinguished ability, a man who might have been a great general. This man. they believe, has organized a trained gang to loot the houses of Parisians.

SIMPLICITY AND DARING MARK CRIMES.

The keynote to every crime is daring and ' simplicity—a daring that shows the marks of great, genius. No common robbery is committed ; every move of the robbers is different. The police believe that the master of all criminals is directing the gang, and in their anger and resentment the police mix a feeling of admiration and awe for the leader of the Cambrioleurs. The men who are just now ravaging Paris confine themselves to private houses. They have invented the cleverest of schemes for gaining access to domiciles in order to rob. These schemes are many and varied, few of them being used more than once, but as fast as one scheme is used another is invented to take its place at the next seat of crime. The similarity of the schemes to those frequently adopted by housebreakers in this country suggest that possibly there are Englishmen in the ranks of the Cambrioleurs.

One morning last month one of the gang, disguised as a cabinetmaker, called at an exclusive home in the Avenue Victoria, and asked the maid who answered the bell to open the sideboard, on the plea that he had been told to come and put a new shelf in it. She did so. and a little while later she returned to find both man.and the silver contents gone. Two days later another man presented himself at the house of an army officer who lived in the Rue Valentin Hauy. He claimed to be a representive of the gas company, and said he wished to examine the meter, asking at the same time to be allowed to see the bill of the previous month. The time required to find this bill was sufficient to allow the fake inspector to disappear, taking with him the jewels and watches which lay on the table near by. YOUNG GIRL. USED AS ACCOMPLICE. The Cambrioleur working alone is bad enough, but when he works with an accomplice his possibilities are greatly increased. The other day a middle-aged man, stylishly dressed, leading a young girl by the hand, called at the house of a, professor of music, and stated a request for tuition for the. little girl. He left the girl in the parlour with the instructor, saying he was in a hurry to get to his place of business. He was perhaps in a hurry but it was not evinced until after he had appropriated a bag of diamonds which had been left on the mantelpiece in the next room.

One of the gang overheard telephonic instructions being given to a clockmaker to repair to the residence of the Princess Alice de Mnuaca, and he was speedily at the house in the guise of a clockmaker. As a result the Princess lost jewellery of the value of £5,000. MILLIONAIRE'S HOUSE SACKED. M. Bourdon and his wife live alone in a grand mansion in Paris. One night the two went to a ball in the central district of Paris. The servants also went out, considering the opportunity one not to be missed. What was the surprise of M. Bourbon m find on his return in the small hours of the morning that his house had been sacked from top to basement. Not only valuables and jewel 1 pry. but chairs, beds, mattresses, and every article of furniture in the house was gone. The house was perfectly bare, and all done in such a short time that it must have required 20 men and several teams to have done the work. Besides these cases, scores of other houses have been robbed, and in one haul the thieves secured over £20,000 worth of rare gems.