' M Magazine Ar yotir Reading Table '
iKIHlMF Hfijl COVER DESIGN THE CAPTOR CAPTURED
in
Mr. William J. Burn.
Raffles in Real Life
By WILLIAM J. BURNS
Detective Chief of the American
Bankers' Aaaociation
Tin-: i:ntli:man iuiuilar is
a cold, brutal fnct. Ask any up
(o date police detective in any
largo American city. Ho lias to ileal
with the breed from one year's end to
another, and he knows. 1 know, anil
since 1 have been asked to express an
opinion, 1 repeat : The gentleman bur
glar is not a myth, in this country. In
another part of this magazine, the dis
tinguished chief of the identification
Department of the French Police
M. Alphon.se Hertillon reveals his
views on this subject. He has stated
that the term "gentleman burglar" is a
misnomer and the type of criminal an
invention of the writers of detective,
llction. Let us see. ' .
1 consider Professor Hertillon to be
one of the ablest men of his profession
in the entire world, and feel that ''he is
entitled to great credit for the wonder
ful perfection to which he has brought
the method of keeping records of crimes
and criminals. I should, therefore, hes
itate to take issue with him concerning
anything he might have to say on a sub
ject of which he is a master, were I not
absolutely certain of my facts in so far
as they apply to the United Stntes. It
must not be overlooked Hint M. Her
tillon is writing about France and other
Kuropenu countries. lie is not to be
blamed if he believes that what is bad
enough for Paris is bad enough for
New York or Chicago.
The Gentleman Crook Defined
TN T1IK first place, how shall we de-
Hue the word gentleman as applied
to a thief? 1 take it that a man of re
spectable parentage, who has hail a col
lege training and education and has
moved in polite society may be called
a gentleman. If he goes wrong, antl
leaving his old friends and associates,
steals for a living, he is a burglar
a mere crook among other crooks. Hut
if he uses his social position as a shield,
if he robs behind their backs the friends
who entertain him and trust to his hon
or, he is that hero of tawdry romance,
the social highwayman. Here is a case
in point :
Not long ago my services were en
listed by some people in the upper cir
cles of society. They were losing jew
elry in a mysterious way; at receptions
anil dinner parties, the cloak room
would be looted. I ran the thief to
earth in short order. To the unspeak
able embarrassment of my clients, he
proved to be one of their friends. He
would obtain an invitation to the place
to be robbed, and would bring a con
federate along to receive the stolen
RAFFLES IN REAL LIFE Editorial .
THE PET TOWN OF JUPITER CITY .
Illustrations bp L. A. Sliafcr
WILLIAM BENGOUGH
Pade
WILLIAM J. BURNS 2
GEORGE FITCH
THE MYTH OF THE GENTLEMAN BURGLAR
ALPHONSE BERTILLON 5
Illustrations from Photographs
CIVIL WAR LEO TOLSTOY G
Illustrations bp C. I). Falls
THE ART OF PANTOMIME .... BRANDER MATTHEWS 7
Illustrations bp Harry Stoner
THE UNKNOWN .
LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEXT NUMBER .
LILLIAN BENNET-THOMPSON 8
Illustrations bp T. Victor Hall
. 18
Big Ben
the biggest thing
in the clock business
Bin Ben is the biggest thing
today in the alarm clock busi
ness. He is only two years and a
half old, but he's already get
ting more trade from the States
than any clock alive.
In two years and a half time,
18,000 jewelers 70 per cent, of the
total number of United States watch
makers lave already adopted hint.
Two million and a half families leave
it to him to call them tin in the
morning; two million and a half
families use him all day long to tell
the right time by. He is really two
good clocks in one a crackerjack of
a timekeeper and a crackerjack of an
alarm.
Ilij Hen lii! rverythinr in lilt livor quality.
I00L1 and price lie runt on time, he ringa on time,
he Ulya on time. He Hindi 7 Inchea till. He
li triple nickel-plated and ucira an inner en ol
Heel tint Iniurci him lor life. Hit bit. bold fit
um and hindt are eaty to read In the dim morn
inc lit hi. Hit litre comfortable winding V.eya il
inottwind tbconelvet.
He rinst fit atalth mlnutca or every other
hill minute during tin minutei unlcat you ihut him
off. If he ! oiled nery other )ear, there ii no
telling how long he will last.
Ilia price la f2.S0 anywhere in theStitet. f 1.00
anywhere in Canada. II ou can't find him at our
jewrler'a, a money order mailed to ll imltx. Ijt
Sjltr. ttliniit, will tend him anywhere you My
with hit railroad lare paid.
goods, while he remained behind to join
in the chorus of polite regrets.
I wish that 1 could be more specific
about this case. It has the advantage
of being n characteristic one. Hut the
man is not in prison. He was never
punished, because his victims refused
to push the charges against him. It is
my earnest hope that he has profited by
his lesson, and I would not care to say
anything that might lead some acquaint
ance of his, reading this editorial, to
identify him with the case. However
base the criminal may be, I believe in
giving him every chance to lead a new
life. In fact, 1 regard it as my duty to
aid in every way possible.
Blackmail a Source of Income
pLACKiMAIL is a fertile source of
-L' income for the gentleman crook.
The clubs and drawing rooms of New
York antl other largo cities are dottetl
with men whose invisible means of live
lihood might be traced back if one
took the trouble to some piece of
scandal about a prominent family or
individual that had come into their mer
ciless possession.
Nevertheless, the gentleman burglar
is not a common manifestation. While
cultured men for various reasons
which they have often undertaken per
sonally to explain become criminals,
they lack, with all their education and
refined manners, the one essential ele
ment of success. They can not keep
uj) the pace demanded by crime.
It becomes a question whether the
individual possessing the very highest
mental attainments will or will not
through evil association, environment,
necessity or what not allow his sensi
bility as between right or wrong to be
come so dulled that he drifts into crime.
Hut that men who almost measure up
to the best intellectual standards occa
sionally become criminals is undoubted.
An Aristocratic Confidence Man
T HAVK in mind the case of a French
crook who was a genuine member of
the aristocracy and possessed all the
qualifications of the gentleman, in the
way of education, refinement and so
cial poise. This worthy permitted him
self to become what we term a profes
sional "confidence man," and succeeded
in hoodwinking a philantliropically in
clined American gentleman. In robbing
the latter of many thousands of dollars,
ho resorted to the most despicable tac
tics. He induced his wife, a pure
minded, well bred and highly connected
American girl, to act as his innocent
accomplice in gaining the confidence of
the victim. The American, although
duped at first, finally became aware of
the real character of this gentleman
burglar. He placed the case in my
hands. I followed the man to Paris,
where I brought about his apprehen
sion, trial and conviction. He is now
serving a sentence of several years in
a French prison.
If any one questions the soundness of
my contention in this matter, let him re
member that I am not accusing a whole
class of moral turpitude. If it is es
tablished that even a small proportion
of convicted burglars are also "gentle
men," my case is proved ipso facto.
Thoar lio iKiiurr .Vili rrllenuiit full nhnrt ill their opportunities