New Bern, Jan. 6—That member of the local burglar gang who has been dubbed the “mystery burglar” for reasons of his adeptness in slipping through the fingers of mobs of armed men who have surrounded him repeatedly within a city block, gave a hundred police, armed citizens and deputies amusement for several hours yesterday and early this morning, and incidentally looted a home on upper Broad street.
At 4 o’clock this morning 50 or more citizens were patrolling a block on Pollock street, just above George, after they had made a thorough search of homes and premises in the block following the disappearance of the “mystery burglar” in the rear of one house as he fled from a negro and two white men fired with shotguns who had fired on him twice without results.
From descriptions given by those who saw him leave the Broad street home yesterday at noon, the man wanted this morning was the same individual. At 1 o’clock this morning a negro watchman at a sawmill on South Front street saw the marauder prowling about the premises of a home near the mill. He reached the house a few seconds after the stranger came out on the sidewalk. A command to halt started him on the run, and as he fled up Eden street, dodging in and out behind trees, the watchman and the white men who joined him opened fire as they ran.
Just where the burglar epidemic is finally to end is a matter of speculation that not even Mayor Edward Clark or Chief of Police A.L. Bryan have been able to throw any light on. The mayor’s assurance Wednesday night that within 24 hours it would be a thing of the past, did not develop. The public long since gave up hope that the police and county officers would break up the thievery.
Every night now it is a common occurrence to find two or three men on each block doing patrol duty. Everybody is armed. And when a man walks into a strange neighborhood after supper he may as well be prepared to halt and identify himself. It is the law of the street that a “man’s a burglar until he proves himself otherwise.” And he need not lose his temper when a man steps out from behind a tree and pokes a gun in his face.
It has been some time since the victim of a robbery reported any loss. Citizens are taking care of their wealth; and the burglars apparently have no taste for jewelry. It has narrowed down to a reign of terror for the women of the city. It is a fact that there are scores of women who cannot sleep at night for fear that at any moment thieves will enter their homes.
From the front page of The Wilmington Morning Star, Saturday, January 7, 1922
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