“THE DIAMOND EATER.”

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16923, 23 December 1922, Page 15

“THE DIAMOND EATER.”

A REMARKABLE THIEF. Tn the annals of crime there is no more extraordinary figure than Eugene T.abord Gilp.y, a French thief, who {•thieved some amazing coiV.'S with the aid of a long tongue and immense daring. AYlien he was seventy years of ago he confessed, “ The Lord gave me a long tongue, and the devil put evil thought« into my heart. So between tlie two I have been in trouble for forty years.” He made Parisfiiis headquarters. but the police of London and oi New York often had this ingenious scoundrel under observation. A student of criminology lias declared that there never was Gilpy’s counterpart—that is to say, no counterpart of him physically, as a man, or methodically as a thief. AA’hen lie was in the full tide of his daring career he was thus described; He is sft- Gin in height, weighs IBolh. measures lOin round the chest, aml while he has biceps that treasure I Gin he wears a 12in collar, his neck is like the neck of a giraffe. The distance from the upper surface of the chin bone is 13in. and lie possesses the power of turning his head at least two degrees further around on Ls axis than any other living human

be i ng. Without effort or inconvenience lie can look almost directly behind him, without the slightest motion of his body.

But this peculiar conformation is as nothing compared with the abnormal it v cf Gilpy’s vocal organs. Despite his small neck, his gullet is largo enough to admit of the passage of an ordinary egg without inconvenience, and his tongue is in all probability the longest end most, singularly constructed tongue that nature lyris bestowed upon any man or woman in the world. .Extended at its full length, it measures from teeth to tip 4jin, and can he thrown down so that it covers and turns under the chin, and if turned upward covers and extends beyond the end of the nose. AYhen ho was about fifty he was known on 1 lie Boulevard des Italiensas ’* let petit mangcur cle dial)units, which, freely translated, stands for ‘ the diumoud eater.” Carrying a card from which he pretended to study the ruling quotations of precious stones, it was his habit to enter shops in the Rue Boy ale and lean over trays placed on high tables for the inspection of customers who called to look over glittering lines of rubies, sapphires, emeralds and diamonds. This was the mode in Baris, and still obtains. \\ atching closely the attendant, he vould bend over the traj- as though to discover a possible flaw in any one of I lie several stones lie was examining. AN ith a rapidity almost inconceivable his long tongue would shoot out and touch a stone, and with the same swiftness of movement the long, prehensile organ would be drawn in, parrying with it the diamond, the ruby, the "sapphire or the emerald, or whatever gem had. been selected as booty. So swift was the motion that Gilpy V; as not detected until he had been engaged in the business for at least four Then he was caught by Faille, one of the students of the school of A idocq, and after a long and tedious trial, in which the proof of his guilt was not very strong, ho was sent to gaol for three years.