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Home > Stories > The Chief Librarian and the soap thieves

The Chief Librarian and the soap thieves

Sun Soap illustration with smiling sun
28 November 2019

In 1887, Chief Librarian Thomas Bride found himself with a vexing problem: someone was stealing soap from the Library's public rest rooms.

Determined to catch the offenders, Bride sent Library attendant Arthur Barber undercover to make an arrest. Barber was such a successful detective, he caught three different thieves stealing the same piece of soap on three different occasions.

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