The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1877-02-15
THE CRACKSMAN'S DEFEAT.


1 don't suppose you feel much inter
ested In burglars, nor are their habits o
very choice theme in polite literature;
but then that occurrence at Glen Spring
was really an extraordinary affair. You
see, the way came to get wind of it was
through "Oalico Charley" as they called
$ him. l was on the force then as a SER
geant. That was when Acton and Ken
nedy made it too hot for both the poll
'ticians and the thieves. We used to
boast at that time that we had the best
police force in the world Well. "Calico
Charley" went up for ten years for help
ing to crack old Oppenheimer's place
there in the Bowery. 1t was an unlucky
job fOE him all through, and as I was one
OF the specials that "piped" and took
him, and as | had known him off and on
Tor long time before that, it was lust
like me one day, when was up at Sing
sing, to go over to the stone quarry and
get the keeper to let me have talk with
him. l got his whole history. He wasn't
>one OF your common cracksmen. Not a
bit of it. He was too smart by long
shot for that sort of thing. Don't you
run away with notion that burglars are
such awful smart chaps. That's queer
idea that people get out of the story pa
pers Let me tell you that I've had nigh
onto fifteen years chance to find out. and
I've never seen one that wouldn't run his
head into a slip-noose the minute he had
the least luck. Oh, no. I heard the
chaplain say once, over to the island,
that man whose mind and body were
all right wouldn't be thief no more'n a
healthy fellow'd be q pauper. There's
always something the matter with 'em.
A twist in EN- somewhere that knocks
'em flat when sound man gets after EN-
Calico Charley, as I was going to say,
was pretty much of an exception. He
was brought up well. His father was
one OF the best machinists in the coun-
Try, and he took more pains to make
4 man OF his boy than the fellow deserved.
Ehe OLD man had a little place down
there in Maiden lane when [ was q
shaver. reoollect it we'll. It was a
kind Of machine shop, where he made
and sold three or four tricks he'd invent
ed himself. He had the boy Charley
with nina bright, smart chap he was
then When he was 81 he got to be
pretty lively about town, for the old man
had saved up handsome property and
let Charley have more money than was
good for him. Then they got up new
sateAock, and it made big stir, and [
believe they went into that sort of thing
pretty heavy. Any way Charley went
over to the first worlds fair in London.
There he got tripped up. [ never heard
exactly how it was They put up
job on him Of some kind, and got him
mixed up with pretty bad London
mob. The story that we heard was
that he picked safe-lock for party
that shouldn't have been picked. ANY
way, he got in with the wrong crowd,
and they wouldn't let go of him. He
stald over there about five years, and
got to be regular first-class sneak, and
worked half a dozen jobs in the most
scientific manner. We got word from
Scotland Yard that he was coming back.
and dropped in at the old mans place
there in Maiden lane to try and find out
something. Old Calcott (that was his
+name( had got rich. What with his
Soank-Lock and his other inventions, his
mean way of living, and his luck in buy
ing some downtown property before the
people had an idea how big the city was
gong to be, he'd come to be a regular
nabob. L couldn't get word out of him
about his boy. He said he'd given him
up, and was going to retire from bust
ness. Money must have come in pretty
last to the old fellow. He showed me
half dozen patents that he was going to
sell out; any one of EN- must have been
worth pile of dollars.
Now [ think OF it, it was Calcott who
put the first Franklinite in an iron safe.
and he invented the rubber fange which
prevented the thieves from using the air
pump when they wanted to blow up a
ssafe.
Il seems that when young Calcott
started for America he'd made up his
mind 90 cut his London acquaintance
and tricks, and square it by going back
. 70 the old man. None of us knew it at
enc time. Well, when he got here GU
, Elous thing happened. We had man
III the Central Office by the name of
..Meehan, who was in with an East side
mob. He was broke about year after
ward Meehan had got word from the
Ao3don gang, and he met young Calcott
on the dock with facts enough to send
him up and he made straight offer to