PHILOSOPHIES OF A CRACKSMAN.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9528, 28 June 1909, Page 3

PHILOSOPHIES OF A CRACKSMAN.

EPICUREAN BURGLAR'S AUTOBIGRAPHY.

Glimpses of ths inner lifo of a successful burglar—his friendship with the police, h s philosophies, his humour, "and his love of good living —were afforded at the London Sessions at the end of April by the reading of one of the most interesting documents ever produced i:i a criminal case. It was the autobiography of William Parker, a keen-eyed, cleanshaven young man, aged twentyeight, who was arrested—as Mr Wallace K.C., who'tried him, said—on the eve of a serious crime. The charge against him was that of being found by night at Dartmouth Pavk Hill, Kentish Town, in the unlawful possession of a jemmy and ten keys, and on this charge he was sentenced to eighteen months' hard labour. He first appeared in January, 1907. He was then sentenced to two years' hard labour fur burglary and receiving, and his ingenuity was evident throughout the case. Police and residents around his home knew him—by day—as an eminently respectable young carpenter. By night his character changed, and, issuing through a secret door at the back of his bungalow, he committed a series of clever burgalries in the neighbourhood. The second mention of Parker occurred in the middle of April, when I he was airested on the present '. charge, and broke a. bottle on the ! ground, the fumes from which almost i suffocated the policemen who took him in charge. This arrest, the police asserted, came just in time to Parker carrying out a scheme which lie had prepared for attacking, chloroforming, and robbing an old lady who lived in Dartmouth Park Hill, Another crime was stated to have been included in his programmethat of waylaying and robbing a restaurant managress as she crossed Parliament Hill Fields with her Easter takings. Parker's autobiogaphy, which he entitled "Fallen Among Ihieves," was read by Inspetcor Neil, and the attentive listeners in court broke into chuckles here and there at his epigrams and his philosophies. His preface referred to his pious up-bringing, the influences of his j parents, and his attendances at SunI day school and church. But he added: j "It does not matter how well a lad ' may be brought up by hi 3 parents: if ' it is in his mind to go the wrong way he will go." j His account of his first burglary, committed with a friend, set all the court laughing. I "I did not chose the ft out of j the house, as wished by my friend, but preferred the back myself. A ! professional cracksman always works from the back. "I do not wish my readers to start laughing when 1 tell them that we dined on the lawn, and our diet consisted of poultry, roast beef, vegetables and fruit, which I can assure you we did justice to. !• "Now, my friends, f«-;r business lat once removed my overcoat, put on a, cigarette, turned up my shirtsleeves, and startler] work in a business like manner. "I gave orders to my friend and toll hi:)-) the plate-glass 'window would have to go. He replied, 'You will never get it out.' 'Oh,' 1 said, 'don't you believe it. I only put this windaw in a short time ago and the putty is still soft. "| Parker and the court shared a hearty laugh at this naive admission. "I removed the window in d few seconds. As snon as the window I was removed 1 heard the clock tick- : ing„ I thought, 'How dare you tick j and defy me in the dead of night? I'll tick you,' and I ticked it into my pocket when I found it was solid silver. "After regaining the fields I wish- . Ed my friend 'Good-night.' As soon !as I was getting to the entrance I j ran into a policeman. Being well in j with the police, I simply said, 'Good morning. Jack.' He replied, 'Good morning, Bill,' and no further notice was taken. We. know it is a peculiar fancy to take a fancy to other people's pz-operty, but when you come to think that there are 74,000 thieves in London at this present moment working in the suburbs, and that 5,000 burglaries are successfully carried out weekly in London, you might well not look astonished. The audacity revealed by the autobiography was, however, exceeded by that which, as Inspector Neil stated, led Parker to call on the; victims of his burglaries, and elicit pity—and cash—with the most pitiable stories. Farkw, in pleading guilty to the charge, said the circumstances'were heartrending, and that it was not fair ' far the police to have thrown temptaI tion across his path by bribing a man to tell him he could make burglars' J tools and "stuff to send people to J sleep."