A DOUBLE LIFE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 45, 16 November 1907, Page 15

A DOUBLE LIFE.

*;;:'•;:;'"iIAFFLES". IN THE FLESH. '' : ■'.-'"Raffles'. , has bebu captured, and when last; Hoard . of, he was in tho Eastorn . in Pennsylvania, and unless his ( ingenuity comes to his assistance he will ■'serve his -full term. • •'"•'■\'TK|s "Rafflos," whoso real name is Dr. -Benjamin Holbrook, has been loading a double life in West Chester, Pa., that of a : family, physician by day, and burglar by nigbi, for several years. Although tho full 'forceof tho State's sleuths were on his trail, , ho:jbaffled detection. .■"/■■' Detective Dague, of tho Pennsylvaniaßail- ... road ;'■ finally captured him, and ho was taken straight to the Wost Chester Courthouse, ■ whore Judge Thomas Butler gavo him an imj mfediate hearing, and, after berating him for tlie:way in which he carried on his "profossion of robbery," declared that ho was glad that this elusive "Raffles" had at last been brought to justice. Sentence of five years in the penitentiary was immediately, .and, with four guards eyeing him furtively as though expecting every moment to havohim give them the slip and vanish into thin air, he wks conducted to tho van,' thence to the train, and so 'on to where strong bars and armed guards will, perhaps] ftct'as a check.upon his mysterious flittings., Cenorous with Engagement Rings. .!It, was a. sensational arrest, an equally etirriric chargo before the Judge, and a much excited, mob .thrilled with all sorts of emotions as "Raffles" was pushed through the surging'mass'to where handcuffs awaited him.' ' ; ' '" "• '. :

, ,Dr. Holbrbok was indeed a physician Math . every right to practise, but this enterprising -''Raffles;' gave four years to the study of medicine m order that the Mr. Hyde of him vmight have.'a ivider scope for his work. :Sinoe his graduation Dr. Holbrook has built : up,a large and fashionable practice, to which He'}attended.by day in a courteous profes,:Bional 'toanher; by. night he robbed school■houses,''railroad stations, arid tho homes of his:patients. . , •_■ ..,, : . 'Having lost his wife by death, he spent his leisure ■.moments—and even a Jckyll and Hyde ..finds idle hours for more. mischief — ;cou,rl;ing,;_seveal protty girls,. well-known, \bellca. v Twb of'these young ladies, one of Coates.ville.and the. other, of Philadelphia, wear'.-itho:doctor's engagement ring, and' threejdthersj of other cities, are now re-read-ing, a'bundle.of love letters and weeping'over his'iperfidy. , ' All this came out,in/the trial, aiid ~fo all Holbrook made a smiling confes- : sion t 'in a most debonair mariner. ...''• ..4;The"story of Holbrook's double life reads like ; n volumo of Stevenson. The son of a noted.:Philadelphian .physician, now dead, ho. etijoyed,the advantage' of cultured environment; ;and,-an education and social standing which -gave, him entree to the finest homes in-ihe-Qαaker City and its. suburbs. Made' Many Presents. ; ;-.vAt<his father's death Holhrook inherited about 30,000dq1. He soon married into an old iPliiladelphia. family. Ho'bought a farm on ; the outskirts of the city, and then commenced practising both medicine and theft, i He rWpuld prepare to spend a quiet evening at,,home .with his charming ivife when word wouldjcome by .messenger that his professional'services were, rorniircd some miles Sitting; behind his spanking pair of chestnuts, ho would bid his wife a reluctant farewell and drive off. Perhaps ho would return;in.the wee sraa' hours, or.maybe she would not see.him until the,next day. Always'he brought her somo handsome gift, a costly jewel, a rare vaso, or an exquisite bit of'iapestTy,' or it might even be a gem of a ■■'picture':.-•■•'■••' ■■" ■■;•'■.'':■' ■■ '■•.-;.' 'i ■■.■■ , 'Assure as fatej.the nest evening's paper would', nontain vanitaccojiut ofiaivmysterions robbery which « occurred; as ,the. doctor', who. alWays > took"pdinß'id:o readwthese' , accounts aloud,: would-tell his wife, -in the very vicinity which he.visited onsithe night of the .r.obboryi Sometimes-;-he -even .confessed -.-to haying been in'the very h,quso an hour.or so'ib'efdi'e thelrobbery was said to'.have bcon committed.'''When this' happened he would ' drivef'over to his': patient:-to offer his sympatliyj'arid not infroijuentiy he would send ;,some.'.'consolation" gift to a woman mournVing oyer the loss of a prized necklace or bfpbchy She' would dry her tears and gaze dreamily into , space as sho-read-the accom- , :panying note," murmuring tenderly at its finish, How sweet of the doctor I"

i.^Hplbrook , was always a welcome guest at social functions, and it' was at these affairs that'he reaped his richest harvest. Weddings where'hundreds of thousands of dollars were .displayed in gifts , were his hest field.: Hβ; has'confessed to. walking o(f with several hundred dollars' worth of jewels at, . with one'exception—that of his wife's brother— every, wedding- reception- he ever attended. ' fle.'.evea'-pilfered jewel boxes when offering • sympathy-to , a sorrowing' family over the death of a -, loved one, and although some of the'.-most skilful' detectivesi of the country • were en.his trail he was never once sus-' ." pected by , the" persons whom' ho robbed, , nearly every one of whora would v take him by ■the hand and caHhim friend. • ~A^freaky part of his' nature is that after •Having relieved a man' of hisroll or a woman of her jewels ho would, wore his victim to fall-ill, devote all his onergy/to relieve his' 'Buffering victim, sitting up night after night with'him if necessary, fighting for life inch and he was a successful physician. When 'all was over, and the patient, in gratitude, was willing to pay any fee, ho' would."smilingly say that a good dinner or was sufficient. Or, should he, consent to take a fee, he would not infrequently ask that the chequo be made payable to sonie hospital or other charitable insttution. '' ■. • ' '■•'■ 'One of Holbrqok's queerest freaks was his mania for stealing railroad piK.s books and riding miles under an assumed name. He confesses that he often h?u no particular deBiro , to travel over tLe' road on which tho passrsvas goodj-and he says nine times out of ten'he paid his fare'on the return trip, but he was seized ever so of ton. tq seo if ho oould.'beat the 'railroad and travel under another man's name'. t ";.lt was -in the gratifying of this whim that hn: was finally captured by ■Detective Daguo. .Holbrbbk"was trying to ride on a mileage book' under the' name 'of George Smith. Dague;happened to know Smith, and it was aU.u'p for the'doctor'when he passed in■ his '■borrowed'', book. ..'His"-home at Gutherieville, about ten miles out 'of'.Coatcsvillo/'is a splendid ostablishmeht/; A staff, of'well-trained servants at- , tend'to everything; the stables aro models: the_ house itself is a splendid structure, and itf'is tho'interior in' which the captoroorf r "Raffles" and all who have been' "touched" by him are particularly interested. ' ; •'•,'"■■