FRENCH ROBBER GANG.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9120, 20 June 1908, Page 3

FRENCH ROBBER GANG.

SMART CAPTURE OF DESPERATE CRIMINALS.

A tremendous catch has been made by the French police, a whole gang of robbera having been detected and •captured under very exciting circumstances, For a long time a sort of .reign of terror has existed among the peaceable inhabitants of the neighbouring departments of Seine-et-Oise and Seine-et-Marne. People -were attacked, houses were pillaged, telephone wires cut and enough ■horses to mount a regiment stolen dfrom stables and fields. A few arrests had been mdde since the beginning of this year, but the mischief continued unchecked. The police were at their wits' end, when one night, as dawn was approaching, a couple of inspectors noticed a large cart, such as is used fqr transport of furniture, drawing up at a villa ai Rainey. A strong ;foT-C3 was promptly on the spot, the •cart was found to contain valuable booty; and a search in the cellars revealed any amount of telephone wire. The tenants—four in number--wer e «-jfifttj>ri- and little by little the lead"e: of the gang made confessions. He owned to the pillage of many villas iiLjkneighbourhood in company with the whole making .quite a lengthy list. Considering thit he had been betrayed, the ■ringleader followed up these avowals >bv furnishing an equally long list of ihia accomplices, most of whom dwelt .at Montmartre, Aubervilliers, and ■ Paut'n, but are now all secure under Hock and key in the Pontoise gaol. Not content with plunder the gang, as has been said, often •attacked peaceable wayfarers, and one of the robbers relates with gusto the story of an adventure with a .young married couple at Romainville .last summer. The wedding festivities . -over, they were on their way to their new home, whsn they fell among •thieves. "As we were relieving them •of their money, jewellery, and some ■of their cloches, the bride 1 implored ,ua to let her keep her wedding ring. . -My companions, touched by her lam-' ■enfcations, were about to yield, when i took possession of the ring, exclaiming that I had rather cut her finger off than leave it to her. Another member of the gang, has, as is affirmed, confessed that he and some of his companions burgled a villa at Romainville, six years ai?o, the owner of which, whose corpse was found in tlj*>well next day, was supposed t,o JiaveSfirOwned himself in despair. Not 'a'bit of it, the malefactor says. The tazt is that "Le Pere Martin" appeared On the scene while they were (busy, so, fearing that he would denounce them, the ringleader threw ' himself on the poor old man, dragged him to the well, and pitched him in. And the best of it wus, he adJad with a grim smile, that at (that date the newspapers announcing ;his death stated that he had thrown Jiimself into the well. Two dozen have been made, but one .man has since been allowed to go ', • .free provisionally. Among these prisoner.* are three soldiers, and [ among those who are still wanted is \ .a soldier Serving in the Casa Blanca Hinterland. It is long since the police ih'ive made such an important haul.