The American newspapers are full of the Rai story of the man who committed an " unexampled " robbery of bars of gold at San Francisco in the early part of last month, and the story is as sensational as anything to be found ju the pages of the most gory penny dreadful. The name of the robber is John Winter, and he boasts of his crime inal propensities with as much pride as the Shanghai Cricket Club team will show after they return from Hongkong—victorious, When he was a young blade Texas, this splendid—fellow Winter went the pace to such an extent that he managed to spend $1,000 a night on champagne, at least that' is what he says, and who shall doubt his veracity? At this rate his money soon disappeared, and he then tried his hand at selling liquor without a licence, a proceeding which did not meet with the approval of the Government officials in the land which gave birth to Mr, Potter, and he had to depart without saying an revoir to his friends. He afterwards worked as conductor on a railroad, and later on went to Memphis, where, it is stated, he lived the life of a hermit. This did not mean, however, that had turned over a new leaf and entered ther told that his only relaxation was into the path of goodness, for we are fur-
gambling." Hoe was the most fearless gambler, his friends enthusiastically claim, who ever walked the earth, and he once $7,000 gold at a sitting. Ho was too inded to rob the root, but that lit-failing did not prevent him from stealing $400 from a nurse, a feat which was "marked by that uncommon boldness so characteristic of the man." Last month he managed to abstract twenty-three bars of gold, valued at $115,000, from the works of the Selby Smelting Company, by cutting a tunnel, after weeks of labour, from the outside of the works to the room where the bars were stored. He placed the booty in the sea near one of the wharves, and then decamped, but was followed and captured, and eventually led the detectives to the place where the bars were hidden. He is now in custody, glorying in having planned and carried out the greatest robbery of the century." He has great plans also for the future. and will, when set at liberty, perfect an airship which will " fly, Sirs." and which, we understand, will bring death from envy ta M. Santos Dumont. In the meantime Winter has had his history written up in several pages of the San Francisco papers, his portrait occupies a place of honour on the front pages, his daring are beautifully and graphically illustrated, & La "Police Gazette," and—but it does not appear to hare affected the imperturbable Winter in the Slightest de. gree—in the course of a long interview "the San Rafael girl vith whom he is smitten," has announced "in an unconcerned manner," that "hereafter T shall_have nothing more todo with kim." Winter should have stuck to the dangerous game of robbing nurses with "uncommon boldness the other undertaking was too easy for such a man,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.