The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1875-09-09
Birds OF Prey.
[San Francisco Weekly.l

According to the daily papers the car;
of the Central Pacific Railroad are in
tested by gang of cutthroats, thieves
and gamblers, who commit violence and
robbery to the terror of the helpless pas
sengers. We have every reason for be-
lieving that these depredators are an of.
shoot of the birds of Prey" whose
principal rendezvous is on the Barbary
Coast, and who have for long time been
plying their vocation in the street cars,
low bar-rooms and such other places as
offer an opportunity for the display OF
their predatory proclivities. The Birds
of Prey are said to have great influence at
elections, and it is for this reason, we
presume, that they are so severely "let
alone" by the police. To show our read.
ers how firmly they are organized, we
give the proceedings of their last meet
ing, held in Devils Punch Bowl, Barbary
Coast. The report was kindly furnished
by an ex-Detective, who is we'll posted
in such affairs:
The principal business of the meeting
Of the Birds of Prey Association was the
report of Bottle McGovern on the success
Of his plan for working horse cars by
means of a trained gang of boys, from
seventeen to twenty years old. He found
by experience that six were enough and
nine were too many, as they attracted at
tention by their numbers. So far the
plan had worked very well, and he was
confident that it would continue to do SO
unless they should begin to rob women.
His idea was that if robberies were con-
fined to elderly men of standing in the
community, very few of them would ever
tell their friends about the matter. If,
on the other hand, women were attacked,
they would invariably complain, there
would be big row about it in the news
papers, and the result would be that the
cars would be guarded in few months
by policemen. Out of the thirty-three
victims selected by himself during the
two weeks in which he had been at work,
not one had entered complaint.
He was now laying pipe to have one
of his trained young men put on as q
conductor, and if the plan should work,
there was no reason why job could not
be put up rs regular thing every night.
Snappy was of opinion that the new
tangled process would be failure. There
was too much force employed. After all
was said and done, there was nothing
like the good old plan of pocket-picking.
1t had proved in his case more lucrative
than drugging, and safer than burglary.
Bottle McGovern, supported by One
Eyed Jimmy and President Coffin, de-
bated earnestly in favor of the new plan,
and resolution was finally adopted, en-
couraging Mr.. McGovern to 60 on with
his experiment.
That gentleman, at the close of the de-
bate, and Just before adjournment, read
the following poem, which he said would
show the kind Of stuff his hoodlums were
made of. by one of whom it was COM
posed:
I'm rowing horse-car pirate
And my name Is William Gibbs;
i goes for fobs and watches,
Whatsomever sees l cribs.
o, Tn your gallant captain,
And leads gallant crew
We're as jolly a crowd Of hoOdlums
As ever you heard or knew.
And when we sees an old party
Tb Us Jolly, and round, and fat,
We plumps him full In the stomach
He never says nothing TO that.
Then we goes for his watch and money,
While we crowd and pummel the cuss -
We never cares for policemen,
And they never cares for us.
Sometimes we insults a lady,
When there amt no chance Of job;
II her fellow makes any objection,
We mashes him in the COB.
Then hurrah for the borse-car pirates,
We're hoodlums bold and Free
horse-car life, and its terror and strife,