This day in 1917 in The Record
Wednesday, July 18, 1917. Investigators are hunting for the perpetrators of “one of the most daring robberies committed in a long time in this city,” The Record reports.
The two men suspected of stealing nearly $500 worth of valuables from William C. Feathers’ Pawling Avenue home yesterday afternoon are also believed to have attempted another break-in in the same neighborhood this evening.
“Two men appeared in the neighborhood yesterday afternoon and made inquiries from several persons as to who occupied various houses in the vicinity, and also if the Cluett house was nearby,” our reporter writes.
“They went to the front of the Feathers home and rang the bell. On receiving no reply they pulled down the porch awnings and forced a window on the porch by means of a jimmy. The house was then looted of all the valuable silverware, jewelry and high-priced talking machine records. The silver plated ware and the cheaper records were broken and thrown on the floor.”
Mrs. Feathers was shopping downtown while the burglars looted her home in broad daylight. Witnesses to the break-in tell the police that they mistook the culprits for awning repairmen.
Investigators believe that the two men belong to a professional burglary gang that has been operating throughout the Capital District. The alleged gang has been linked to break-ins at jewelry stores in the downtown Gay building and in Albany. Items taken from Joseph Koenigsbauer’s Troy store were found in a clothing store through which the burglars broke into their Albany target.
Our report of the robbery in this evening’s edition inspires Mrs. Joseph A. Leggett to leave her summer home in Brunswick to inspect the family’s permanent residence on Pawling Avenue, just a few doors south of the Feathers home.
Leggett arrives at 7:30 p.m. with her daughter and a maid. “They had no more than entered their home than it was apparent they had arrived just in time to prevent the loss of their silverware,” our writer reports, “Mrs. Leggett’s suitcase and a black bag, which the burglars had brought into the house, was packed with valuables.”
Investigators believe that the burglars were hiding behind a teakwood screen when Leggett returned home. Her maid tells detectives that “she felt the presence of men behind the screen but was afraid to tell Mrs. Leggett at the time for fear of frightening her.”
Suspecting that she’s trapped the burglars, Leggett secures as many exits as she can before summoning assistance. The suspects let themselves out a rear door with a skeleton key, however, and remain at large as tomorrow’s paper goes to press.
-- Kevin Gilbert