THEFT OF CARUSO'S JEWELS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LIV, 12 January 1921, Page 7

THEFT OF CARUSO'S JEWELS

An arrest was maae under Ora- < mauc circumstances in xvew loxk . recently or a man anegeu to nave ; been connected wnn me roooery •: of a large quantity or jeweller} irom tne summer Home ox oignoi Caruso, tne tenor, tnree moutns ago, wime trie oinger was in Cuba. Two women Known to tbe iVew York ponce as tne Jt'oiilon sisters, wnose escapades nave trequentiy made them tne suttjecf oi newspaper notoriety, are responsible tor tms latest development in the robbery, which caused consternation in the tasMioUable colony of Hampstead, Long Island. A few days ago they 1 visited the offices of the company \ with which Signor Caruso had had ■ his wife's jewels insured, and said they believed they - were in 'communication with a man concerned in the robbery who had offered to sell them ‘‘a quantity of Caruso's gpxns.'' The police were notified % and dictographs (small machines easily concealed and containing an extremely een- * sitive microphone or telephone I transmitter) were' installed in the [woman's flat, one behind a tapestry and the other under a bed, 1 with wires leading to the roof, ' where the detectives and shorthand writers hid. The man who gave his name as Harry C. Toback, called at the hour he had fixed. According to the police who listened he offered to sell to the sisters £9OOO worth of Caruso's diamonds for £6OOO. He is said to have suggested shat the amount be paid in cash at an hotel in Baltimore, where the stones were hidden. The women tentatively assented, and made plans to accompany him back to Baltimore, but as the man left the flat he was met at the door by a detective and He denied any connection with the jewel, theft, although he admitted the trend «f the conversation, which, he said, was a ruse to get the two women to Baltimore, where he hoped to sell them an expensive sable coat. The Poillon sisters, Katherine and Charlotte, _ who have previously been conspicuous as volunteer and, amateur detectives, will share the reward of £2OOO offered by Signor Caruso if the arrest results in the recovery of the stolen jewels.