A novel illustration of the ingenuity of thieves has been afforded by an
incident reported from the continent. For some time past a North German
railway company had been suffering from the repeated loss of goods which
were sent by luggage train, and which, notwithstanding all research and
precautions, continued to disappear in a very mysterious manner. The
secret which the inquiries set on foot had failed to discover was at
length revealed by a rather amusing accident. A long box, on one side of
which were words equivalent to “This side up,” had, in disregard of this
caution, been set up on end in the goods shed. Some time afterwards the
employés were not a little startled to hear a voice, apparently
proceeding from the box in question, begging the hearers to let the
speaker out. On opening the lid, the railway officials were surprised
and amused to find a man inside standing on his head. In the explanation
which followed, the fellow wanted to account for his appearance under
such unusual circumstances as due to the result of a wager, but he was
given into custody, and it was soon found that the thieves had adopted
this method of conveying themselves on to the railway premises, and that
during the absence of the employés they had let themselves out of the box
which they at once filled with any articles they could lay their hands
on, refastened the lid, and then decamped. But for the unfortunate
inability of human nature to endure an inverted position for an
indefinite period, the ingenious authors of the scheme might have
flourished a long time without detection.