THE ROBBERY OF LADY DUDLEY'S JEWELS.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 1988, 19 May 1875, Page 4

THE ROBBERY OF LADY DUDLEY'S JEWELS.

Some little time since, a daring robbery of jewels was perpetrated on the railway platform* of Paddington station. The Earl and Countess of Dudley, with some personal attendants, arrived at the station, to proeeed'by train to one of their country seats. Her Ladyship's .valuable jewelca&e'jswasYin'. charge'of <af trusty female servant, who set* it on th»(platform, and placed one foot on itr< few? "seSurity, while she assisted some onerto aligitst from the carriage* but her jattentionibeing temporarily diverted from her precious charge, she removed her foot for a moment, and, on turning.;back, found the^dx^had disappeared. Enquiries were at once made, every corner'jOf. the station searched, but the box wita its rich could not be found, and the noble' Earl and his lady proceeded on their 7 journey. The affair naturally created a profound interest throughout the country, from the, audacious nature of the robbery, as well as on account of the intrinsic* value of the jewels—said to be £50;000. The police were utterly baffled in their effart to trace the whereabouts of the stolen jewels, and discover the thieves. But a few days after the occurrence, to the surprise of all right-thinking people, an advertisement appeared in more than one London daily newspaper,-offering a reward of £1000, for the restoration of the jewels, and "no questions 1 would be asked." This deliberate attempt"" to condone crime was not allowed to" pass without severe comments on the part of the more i*espectable newspapers ;^ but their honest remonstrance had not the desired effect; i for another advertisement appeared, offering —if the 'jewels were restored unbroken — a sum equivalent*"'to' what would be obtained were they disposed of after removal from ' their setting! While this sort of thing was'-going on—while a premiunm was thus held but' to burglars—it was not very surprising to hear that the robbery of Lady Dudley's jewels was followed up by a series of equally daring robberies of plate and jewels from the isolated mansions of wealthy personages in the neighborhood of Windsor. These burglaries all appear, to have been the_ work of the same gang, who must have gained an intimate knowledge of the personal habits of the residents and of the internal construction and arrangement of the houses. And so well executed were their plans—so dexterous their modus.operdndi —that the police have hitherto failed to discover traces either of the perpetrators or of the stolen property. Indeed, in cases of platerobbers, unless the Bow street myrmidons are lucky enough to pounce upon the property within a few hours of the burglary, their search is generally fruit; less/as plate very soon, finds' its way into, the melting pot. The second, advertisement, which, also stated that communica-tions--were only- to.be made to; Lady Dudley direct, "was ultimately successful, so it has been publicly asserted, in procuring the restoration .of the jewels for, the' •sain of '£8^606. Thus one of our "hereditary legislators,"' who must have hadoccasion, in his capacity of country justice,-,,,t0,, condemn' similar attempts at condoning crime, has himself been guilty of the offence. His example is calculated to < act as ■ an incitement to, this already too prevalent species of crime. It is rumored that'this extraordinary :matter is to be brought up in Parliament, and that the newspapers that published the advertisement are to be prosecuted. We shall see. About a dozen years .ago. therelwas quite a rage, even in fashionable circles, for what may "be'called detective's literature. "Veteran thief-takers became authors,'' and publishedl their: experiences in the form of sensational stories, describing the ingenuity of burglars, forgers, and other evildoers, and their own still more wonderfuHngenuitsr and address in capturing and bringing them to justice. The detective of real life does not seem to be so clever as he is made to appear in print. It would almost seem as if there was either a sad falling-off in the, individual as well as collective "qualifications of the detective police force of the present "day; or that the ranks of crime have received fresh accessions/of I endowed 'withremarkable ability. Hpwever this may be, it is a lamentable fact that extensive robberies, have > bean lately, perpetrated with, frequency, with astonishing boldness and ingenuity, and generally with impunity.