Arkansas True Democrat

An Impudent Robber.—William E. Burton, the popular comedian and "proud representative" of "Capt. Cuttle" and "Mr. Toodles," was recently robbed of $16 at Albany, by John Finn, the lame property man of the Green-street theatre.

It appears that a few minutes after robbing him, Finn approached the comedian, and expressed his intense admiration of him as an actor, and his gratification at the good sense of the manager who had the sagacity to engage so brilliant a "star"—the engagement was certain to result in profit to M. and in a well-filled treasury for the management—in fact it would bring plenty of money to everybody attached to the concern. He knew it—he felt it!

When the robbery was discovered and traced to him, he advised Mr. R. to "settle it" by "letting the whole matter drop." He assured M. B. that he was poor, and that B. was rich; that it would cost Mr. B. more than $15 to attend to the prosecution—$3 to come up from New York and $3 to go down again; and that he could not remain in the city three or four days at a less expense than $10 or $12. He put it to him, therefore, as a man of business—as one who properly estimated the value of dollars—whether it would not be best to say nothing about it. The money was gone: it had been invested in different articles of wearing apparel, and those articles now covered the person of his adviser—the impudent Finn. It was folly, then, to think of recovering the money—there wasn't the shadow of a hope for a penny of it; and as his services as property keeper at the theatre were invaluable, the idea of prosecuting him as a thief was absurd in the extreme, etc., etc.

Notwithstanding this cool appeal, however, Finn was tried, convicted and sent to the penitentiary for six months.