The Cleveland leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1865-1865, 1865-09-20
English SriminsIs.

lfAOm tno 1o0QOu tbly. IeteGrephl
We know the professional, habitnsl, in
corrigible male criminal from sfar. We
can "spOp him, to use she slang of his own
wretched tribe. He has been tabuIsted
and checked off, bsdged and ticketed dis
sected and analysed, painted, photographed,
and described, a hundred times. There he
is, five feet nine, and thirteen stone seven,
tallow-eomplexioned, bull neeked, blubber-
Tipped, low browed, square jowled, thick
pAted, small eyed, brsRsy- -hmbed, large!
handed, flap. cared, broad chested, lowering,
coarse and brutal There he is, with his
shsmbling gait, and the bull dog lurking
at his heels, losfng sgainst post in White
chapel en- Sunday morning waiting for
the gin. shops 10 open, or hanging about
Bow street st four O'Clock in the afternoon.
to see some friend and quondam comrade
of in the van to Ooldbath. fields. There
he is, in his slouehiDg, shabby garb, his
foul linen, his twisted and knotted neck
erchief his battered hal, and lace up boots
ae doesn't look like costermonger; he
doesn't look like q mechanic out Of employ;
he looks orly like what he is--a low,
blackgusrd thief We know from what
roOkeries he emerges, what tsp.room
be frequenis, what drabs he maintains,
what song he sings, what crime he
commits. We know how the police
hunt him down; how he lies at full
length like q wolf in the stations
house cell, how he is brought into the
court hsndcufed, and how, when sentenced
TO short term of imprisonment, he tells
the magistrate that he HcSn do that little
lot on his head" We can trace, his career
from srea sDeskiDg and till-robbiBg TO the
bolder flights OF 'cracking cribs" and nBut-
ting on the hug and he is alternately
front STALL 'sback.stall," and 'sugly man"
till be gets convicted Of felony and sent to
penal servitude. We know what sapcli.
monious -visage he can assume when bis
dungeon door st Pentonville is opened 70
admit the visiting msgistrste, and. how
eloquent he can be on the subject OF q con.
trite heart and the Christening Of the spirit
when there isa chaplain TO be ttgsmmoned
We know how, at Portland or Dartmoor,
he literally "tickles the earth with his
spade" and laughingly gathers harvest
of cOcoa-nibs, tuet pudding with treacle,
and beef free from bone. We know, to
our sorrow and eur cost, how he often gets
3 ticket Of leave before his spirit has been
half chsstised, how he frequently commits
another robbery and iDcurs fresh sen-.
tence; but how, unless he happens to lose
his head, and, giving way wholesale 10 his
Wild beast instincts, dashes out wsrder's
brains with an iron, pot, he very seldom
gets hanged for the criminal Pur sang
has, as a rule, an EXCEEDING tenderness for
bis own skin. He does his best to keep to
windward of the galloWs, and is very much
in dread of the cato o'-nine-tails. H'@
This is the criminal msn-BilI Syker,
GScUtty," the "VelVet Lad,n whatever ycu
please to call him. But how ia it with the
criminal woman2 What msnner Of cres.
ture Is she whose nursery was Q workhouse,
snd whose hOme-Whenever she has Q
he--e is Jail TUhn /. in linn the traits
of the depFsved and hopeless scandal 10
her sex, the cruz of police-inspectors the
despair Of prison matrons7 2 No auburn
haired and blue eyed heroine of fiction is
she, poisoning titled gentlemen from. 8
| jeweIled bORb0RRiere, or with kid -gloyed
fingers forging checks; but the coarsest,
the most brutal, the most repulsive Of sluts
own sister TO the aBlear-eyed Molr'
whom Csptsin Booth meets in "Amslia.
She hiss no thought Of casting herself over
the Bridge of Signs. She likes to live, in
order that she may play the devil. There
is no use in taking her up HIenderly y
you had best handcuf her, or strap her 70
y stretcher, If. you would prevent her from
tearing your face TO pieces. She is moi
Hwesry Cf breath !" che has good strong
lungs, and is fond of using them in howl.
ing out obscene Songs and blssphemoul
curses as she lies on her back in solitary
confinement.