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ROBBERIES
LAID TO OLD MANSION AS THIEVES DEN
Marauders
Declared Using Former Reeves Home on State St. as Lair
POLICE
TELL VICTIMS TO KEEP THEFTS QUIET
Aroused
Householders Threaten to Act As Own Cops
Failure
of city officials to heed repeated complaints that a deserted and
dilapidated mansion at Third
and State Streets is a
‘rendezvous of thieves, a haven for spooners, and a general
nightmare” was blamed today by residents of that neighborhood for
three robberies in one State
Street block in two weeks.
Complaining
residents declared today that they have appealed to officials for help
without avail. They said that the former palatial residence of the
late Augustus Reeve,
brick manufacturer, has been a ‘den of thieves for some time. The
police have been apprised of the situation, they reported, but have
done nothing except “promise to investigate”.
Police
have made public no reports of the three robberies that have occurred
in the one block in two weeks. The victims themselves said today that
city detectives told them “to keep quiet,” as release of any
information might interfere with the arrest of a certain young man
under suspicion in their own neighborhood.
The first robbery occurred at the home of Mr. and
Mrs. George T. Moore, 313 State
Street, on January 7. The Moore home is next to the
broken down mansion and only a few feet away. Thieves, watching from
the deserted house, whose side windows face those of the Moore
residence, ransacked the dwelling after the family left that night for
dinner at the home of friends. Entrance was gained by jimmying a side
window, and money, jewelry, and two overcoats belonging to Mrs.
Moore’s son, produce salesman, were stolen.
Rob Bonstedt Home
A second robbery occurred six days later on
January 13, at the home of W.G Bonstedt,327 State
Street, a few doors from the Moore home. The third was
at 302 State
Street, January 21. In the family’s absence, $250 and
a number of silk dresses were stolen. This house is directly opposite
the Reeve property.
“It was from the deserted old mansion, next door
to us, that the thieves watched our movements and waited until we had
left the house”, said Mrs. Moore today, “Them, when they saw we
would be away for the night, they broke in and robbed us. It was the
same case with the other two robberies in the block. The burglars
could see when the families were leaving the house- they had a good
view from their hiding place. Having no police protection, the owners
of the ransacked houses were at their mercy.”
Moore said police have been told “time and
again” that the abandoned mansion at the corner is a “public
nuisance,” and that “it is frequented by thieves, spooners, and
tramps.” He said the condition has existed since relatives of the
late brick manufacturer moved out of the place five years ago, but
city officials have ignored all complaints made by residents of the
neighborhood. The place was sold to other parties and a “for rent”
sign had been on it for a long period.
Declared a Menace
“Not only do thieves and other undesirables make
their rendezvous there, but the property is used for immoral
purposes” Moore asserted. “It is one of the worst menaces in the
city, both from a sanitary and a moral standpoint. Women—except the
class that has gone there to spoon— fear to go near the place by
night, and the neighborhood in general has suffered considerably
because city officials have failed to take steps to have the nuisance
eliminated. It is a disgraceful condition, and the authorities should
see to it that the owners be compelled to board up the property at
once. Otherwise it will continue to strike terror in the hearts of the
residents of the neighborhood, many of whom express the fear that
unless something is done before long, more robberies might occur, or
the old building might go up in flames and perhaps damage theirs and
other property nearby.”
Moore declared that increasing robberies in the
neighborhood might have been averted had the police been more alert,
“Laxity of the Camden police department in
giving residents of our neighborhood adequate protection was plainly
evident in the three robberies in the one block in two weeks,” Moore
said. “I have not seen one policeman near my home for more than a
year, neither morning, noon, or night. I understand, however, that two
or three members of the force live in this very neighborhood, and that
one of them passes the old mansion every day. Why they, or the men
assigned to this beat, have not had their superiors take some action
on the corner property I cannot understand
.
To Be Own Policemen
“As
for myself, I will shoot
the first man to make another attempt to burglarize our home. If the
police won’t help us, I suppose the best thing we can do is to be
our own policemen and protect ourselves.
Similar complaints were made by other residents of
the neighborhood who requested that their names be withheld, as they
feared political reprisals and in one case loss of business, if it
were known that they criticized any of the city officials.
In the meantime, a number of those interviews
reported that plans are being made for the circulation of a petition,
to be presented to the city commissioners, requesting them to take
steps to have the abandoned mansion- which they termed a
“nightmare” ”—locked against invasion by the thieves and other
undesirables who have been making the ramshackle building their
rendezvous.
The property is directly across from the James N.
Cassady School, and part of its exterior d covered with theater
posters.
The building to which the Cassady School pupils
allude as “the haunted house,” in the time of its occupancy by the
Reeves was the center of many noted social gatherings. Most of its
windows have been broken by boys and other marauders have torn away
the staircase and ripped the plaster from its walls.
Surviving members of the Reeve family, who had lived
there, left the mansion after Mr.
Reeve died; and the place has
been gradually falling to ruin since. According to residents of the
neighborhood, it is today not only a menace, but “one of the
city’s worst eyesores”.
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