"KLEPTOMANIA FURIOSA."

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1548, 18 September 1912, Page 6

"KLEPTOMANIA FURIOSA."

MAD PROFESSOR'S BURGLARIES,

Professor Jacob Guthrey, a well-knowrt American writer on electricity, and holder of many academic degrees, hue now confessed (states the New York correspondent of tho "Daily Telegraph" under date of August 1) that ho has been a burglar and forger by turns, and an examination of a barn which ho rented near Chicago showed a dazzling array of gems and art objects, all loot, worth at least .£OO,OOO. Confronted with this evidence ot guilt, Professor Guthrcy could only reiterate, "I have no excuse excent that I am mad, and the family physician has sinco confirmed his statement . Sane or insane, the accused displayed rare good tasto in his orgies of theft, described technically as "kleptomania furiosa," and also in the selection of his quarry, because tho gems, precious stones, and aquarelles were his favourite treasure, and tho homos of millionaires always preferred to the abodes of the less wealthy. , , The police, who have examined the man, were greatly impressed by his schol. astic acquirements and tho family history of insanity, and Bay that otherwise they would bo unable to accept tho defence of kleptomania furiosa as a complete answer, Mr. Guthroy kept tho key of his barn, and insido was found scattered about a most magnificent exhibition of diamonds, • sapphires, ropos of poaris, emeralds, statuettes, and bronze and ivory antiques, books in rare bindings, and other baubles which wealth alone can command, bosidos a pearl collar with a diamond clasp, which, after cursory inspection, the police estimated as being worth £1000. The police found n pair of plain leather slippers and a pair of silk stockings, inside which were two huge emeralds and a ruby. There wcro gold and silver ornaments, silks, satins, laces and draperies, bundles of cheques, stocks, and bonds, plumps and ornaments, and, cutlery, boaring the monograms of prominent familios. Nino Wβ h'unks and packing-cases contained tho toot of twelve burglaries. Tho professor admitted that ho consult, cd the society news to ascertain the addresses of houses temporarily vacated by their owners, and his methods of despoliation seemed to correspond very closely with those of common burglars unaffected by kleptomania, in a virulent form. How Mr. Gi.lhrey walked'off with statuary, some pieces weighing 501b., is still puzzling his raptors. It is not known that he told or offered for sale- any of his plunder. Ho rented the barn, and used it as a warehouse, visited it every weok. and feasted his eyes upon the things of beauty which ho had stolon. In chatting with the police, Professor Guthroy eays ho hao long felt that ho lacked mental balance, and attributes the onset of his kleptomaniaoal ailment to losses on Wall Street, which unnerved him. Ho says his Mo was irreproachable until March last, Mr. Guthroy, by the- wiy, in explanation oniis professional methods, told tho police: "Yes. I road nil tho detective stories by prominent authors, and they taught me what to do and what not to do. .