Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1874-05-16
II oIuRINEw YORK LETTER.

1
principle for pelf, but gain has not follow
ed the sacrifice. llat - - n
OURNEw YORK LETTER.
The. .Burqlars--Some qfthetr Tools and hon
Nev oork-Meat-1he Freight Question
Weatter- Business.
England furnishes excellent laborers
splendid soldiers, great novelists and greai
poets. but her supremacy does not end
with, these. She furnishes the most ac'
com,qished, reckless, brutal and skillful
burglars that afiict the world. A gnag of
perhans twenty, came over last fall, to
nrosecute their business in the New
World. Four of them were arrested last
week. aud 1 thought, possibly a look al
them and their tools, might. result in
something. Ifound two men, of perhaps
forty years of age, with low ioreheads,
small, keen ferreI-like eyes, short, square
figures, but of wonderful strength, both
with the small broken nose, that seems to
always be a token of a life of violence
and dissipauon. The third was rather
handsome young man, whose ia ce was as
clear and honest as though he had been
in a confidential position in a bank, and
the fourth was mere lad, whose face,
young as 1t was, was as brutal as those OF
the older rufians. The elder villains
were reticent, but the young man was
very communicative and from him got
some items that were, to me, at least, OF
interest -a..l
"Why did you leave London p / ask
Because it got too warm for u.s." was
the reply. "We were wanted for jobs we
had performed in almost every city in
England and we couldn't keep the police
off US any longer" ..t.
'But, you had done so many jobs,
you ought 10 have money enough TO have
retired on before this time" ...
'On the contrary, we had to borrow
money 10 get away on. You see, this
style of business don't make money
it you are known to the police aud other
people who live off of US, Ifa man who
had good name should break a bank
and get 100000 and get away with it, it
would be a nice thing for him. But with
one like me, for instance it's different-
Last year 1 cracked a bank and got that
sum, all in good money But it took five
of US to do the iob-then the Eatchman
of the bank had to be let in-that made
six-then three detectives, who were en-
ployed TO work up the case, got their claws
into us and to keep out of prison, we had
to divide with them, and they kept bleed
ing US So, after ali, got out of it, really
about e400. And then, to keep myself
out of trouble. had to keep in hiding
and didn't do a stroke of work for over six
months.
"The last job before that was haul of
gold and silver ware, that l did all alone
with no partners, and 1 got $1,000 worth
oft, and thought had good thing. 1
couldn't keep the stuff, and couldn't sell
ii as it was The Jew fences got hold of
me, and had to break it up and sell it
for just what they saw fit to give me, for
they could floor me any time They
melted it, and gave me e6OO. It's bad
business. I'd rather have a good salary,
and, follow an honest lHe.''l = LEC n
sWho and what are these comrades
of yours ?"
THE two older men are regular cracks
men, that is to say, they were born to
the business, and know nothing else They
were once precisely like the boy yonder.
He was taken out of an asylum by a
cracksman and brought up to It,"
"What use do you make of him?"
"He has been trained to pick pockets
to rob halls, and that kind OF work when
opportunity offers, but we use him in
other.ways. He gets into houses on all
sorts of pretexts, and gets the run of a
house that we have spotted to go through.
He will see more of a house by going
through from the back area to the front,
and with ten minutes talk with a servant
maid, than you could by going through it
from top to bottom. He knows houses,
he does. Then, ii we have to cut Lole
through door, we slip him through, and
he unlocks in jiffy without noise. He
can climb like monkey, and is just
about as fearless. Jimmy is good
boy"
DO you haYe to use violence very
often?"
Very seldom-neYer il we can help it.
Amateurs do frequently-a thorough
bred not twice in lifetime. We get into
house, but always leave way out-a
clean unobstructed way Now if we are
in room and the people wake up, we
get out when ilgbecomes dangerous, and
if our outlef IS bot obstraeted ii is all
right, and nobody isi goingrto be hurt.
But if man gets in our way when we are
going out, we dodge him ifl we can-if
we cannot we knock him down-and if he
grapples US we use a knife or whatever
lis the shortest way of getting rid of him.
We are always prepared, and will of
course kali rather than be caught"
You have been communicative, and I
ialmiObhged to your - = ifa-i !, -''rre-
81 had as sopn talk as not, forI shall
quit the business, They can't give me
more than five years for what am here
for, and ] Shall get out and live on the
square after tlata'4 wRsen't born to it,
and lcantlike It anyhowB or.a
The tools taken with these fellows were
shown me, and they were as instructive as
their owners talk. Keys to unlock any
ihing-ihn wedges of steel to go through
safes With, FoPes With which 10 Sst into
81 .a .g1.a u y ay7'