The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1871-08-27

Hacknen, nssM Runners and HswdIsS -
the Railroad Depets.
A French cynic relates the story Of ship
wrecked man being cast upon bleak coast,
and states that he knew at once he was in q
civilized country because he saw in the dis
lance gibbet with the skeleton of criminal
hanging in chains What are the feelings Of q
stranger on arriving by train in New York
after dark, and what his impressions of its
civilization must be when surrounded by
gang of thieves and rowdies who fight for his
baggage among themselves and blacken his
eyes if he grumbles, we leave to the profound
philosophers of ages to come. From the
standard of the French cynic it would be con-
sidered highly civilized. When the case is
that of lady, without male protectors, who is
set upon by these vagabonds, under the gllise
of hackmen and hotel runners, and in addition
to insults and robberies is hustled and mall
treated ones blood tingles with desire to
deal summarily, lamppost fashion, with tho
scoundrels and those in authority under whose
misrule such o state of things is tolerated and
fostered.
A lady arriving lately in this city details
her experience of maltreatment; but her case
is only one out of hundreds or thousands.
The Hudson River Railroad depot, outside
of which the disgraceful scene took place
in the case alluded to, is not alone in Its spe-
cial concourse of thieves who prowl and prey
around its terminus. The New Haven Railroad
the Harlem Railroad and the line Of depots
olopo tha North Rivar not a whit hattpp
Take a case which happens nightly at the
New Haven depot The night express arrives
very late. The horses which draw the cara
down from Forty-second street are unhitched
in Fourth avenue, leaving the passengers to
scramble down from the high steps as best
they can. For ladies this is especially incon-
venient. A gang Of hack thieves and bogus
hotel runners, shouting, jostling and swearing,
surround the platform, and among this agree
able crowd it is necessary to descend. 1t is
raining, and a lady requires hack. Tney are
all hackmen, so they say, and there is moth
ing for it but to surrender herself to the mercy
of these miscreants. The company declares
that there is safety to every one in
the depot. but they cannot control persons
outside. Unfortunately for this slipshod logic
the question remains, ''Why, then, are the
cars left out on the avenue?" If the respon-
sibility of the company ends when the cars
are opposite their depot "a proposition which,
however, we do not at all admit), to whom
belongs the right of protecting defenceless
women and preventing system Of robbery
as defiant as successful? A cynical echo
answers, ''The police!" But the officer Of
the law knows better than wet his uniform
where he has no positive orders, and where
possibly his friends, the honest hackmen, are
concerned. But this is not all. Some know
ing wight rune the gauntlet of the roughs aid
jumps upon the first street car. His example
is followed and soon the vehicle is crowded.
Here commences the second act of the farce
of police protection. Four or FIVE expert
pckpockets mingle with the passengers,
showing, pushing and robbing. BY the time
| the conductor begins collecting his fares the
booty laden pickpocke's are ready to start,
| and as tho car approaches the Bowery
| one by one they drop off and disap-
| pear in the side streets. In q few
moments the drowsy passengers become
alive to the losses of watches, breastpins,
lockets and misunderstanding, in fact,
light, valuable and portable. This occurs
| every night. Where are the detectves2 is
now the cynics cry. They are taking it
easy, friend, on this rainy night; loafing in .
barroom, compromising with burglar on his
own account, or working up-the curse of the
detective system-some private reward case.
| These pickpockets are known both to the car
conductors and the police, and we insist that
| the matter be looked to. The lack of system
| and responsibility everywhere is alarming,
considered as part of our social institutions,
and calls for instant remedy. 1t is not enough
to say that New York is no worse off than the
other large cities Of the Union, where, il the
nuisance is not SO felonously effective, it IL
because Of q smaller, less wealthy, and there
fore less thief-attracting travelling population
than that which is constantly poured into
| New York.
| If any improv ement Is to be made we of
| New York must begin with our own Augean
stable, and in herculean earnest. If the rail-
way companies and the police require a con-
trast to their neglect, let them be instructed in
the European manner Of receiving travellers.
| The termini in England and on the Continent
are mostly large and roomy, and in these,
awaiting the arrival Of the trains, are num-
Der of hacks. The hackmen are not allowed
to hustle among the passengers, nor leave
their seats upon the box, but must wait to be
called either by police officer or one of the
company's servants or by passenger. A lady
can with perfect safety ask an official to hail
q cab or couture and then rely upon her bag
gage being securely placed upon the vehicle
by porter of the company. In the few cases
where depot is not sufficiently large to allow
a rank Of cabs inside they are called one at