THE CAREER OF A BURGLAR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XX, Issue 6829, 6 October 1883, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE CAREER OF A BURGLAR.

) Wayne Counts, Pennsylvania, has acharac- ) ter who casta Victor Hugo's. Jean Valjean . into the shade ; for while one reformed in i good earnest, the Wayne County man fluc- . tuatea between deeds of chivalry and act* of i baseness. His name is George Avery, and at present he is living in one of the Western ■ States. Iu 1870, when Avery was only 21 i years old, he was charged with the murder ; of John Haynes, of E,owlands, Pike County. • He <vas arrested, and an officer detailed to . bring him to Milford. Evidence of the murder was said to be so conclusive that he could • not possibly escspe hanging. On their way to Milford, where the county prison was lo 1 catsd, the officer imbibed freely in liquor anc became helplessly drunk. Avery secured th< keys which unlocked the ha&dcuffs ant shackles by which he was bound,.and remove< the manacles, placing them in the botfcon of the waggon. He took the reins from thi stupidly drunken officer's hands, and drovi to the nearest hotel, where he arrived witl the officer in charge at a late hour. Hi put the drunken maD to bed, roused him th< next morning, got him i ato the waggon, drov, on to Milfor.l, when, ailter he had put thi officer in bed at the hotel, he walked up t( the jailanddelivered himself up to the keeper telling him about the experience witl the constable. He was confined tillSeptem ber—this was in June—when he was triec for murder, and, in spite of overwhelming proof, was acquitted, to the surprise of every, body—the court most of all. The day after hi was discharged from cus tody he was arrested charged with burglary, convicted, ant sent to State Prison for a year and a half Ho served the full term, reading law durini his confinement. When he left the Easteri Penitentiary, at Philadelphia, he returnet home, opened a law office, arrested severa citizens who had testified against him whet he was on trial for burglary, charging then with perjury. Failing to make out his case he was sentenced to pay the costs. He hac no money, so ho went to jail again, where h( remained until his friend s could Ecrape ui enough money to get him out. When, finally he became a free man again, he returned t( his old home at Rowland.-!. Prom that timi forward burglaries were numerous abou' there, but never could evidence sufficient ti couvict'Avery be obtained. A year or s( later he went to Oil City, Pa., where he hum cut his sign as a lawyer. Clients were plenti and fees large, Avery was reaping a goldei harvest when he was convicted and sent t< the Western Penitentiary for four years anc eleven months. While there he fell inti love with one of the keeper's daughters, anc she offered to assist him to escape, but he re fused to leave until his time was out. A the end of the team he went bask to Row lands, soon afterward professed religion, be gan preaching "a little, swindled a neighbou | out of 10 dole, and was induced by thi neighbour, who inforeed argument with ; big shot gun, to refund the money. Aver] then left for Lucerne County, where he go into difficulty and was sent to the Easteri Penitentiary for a short term. Upon hii release he stole enough money to take hiu to the mining regions o:t the West, wheri under an assumed namti he opened a lav office and speculated in stocks. In 1882 hi "struck it rich,."cleared:7so,ooo dols. gavi up stocks at once, invested his money ii Government bonds, Bent for his fiancee, th-prison-keeper's daughter, who joined him' it Chicago, where they were married. Aver' only 34 years old; . '