The Phoenix herald., 1879-07-05
Burglar Porter.

Porter is one of four burglars who
 made up the most dangerous and suc-
 cessful gang of thieves ever known in
 this country. He is handsome young
 man, with dark curly hair and nous
 tache, and Is not only refined in ap-
 pearance and gentlemanly in manners,
 but his conversation is polite and be-
 trays education. His true name IS be-
 ieved to be William Morris, but noth-
 ing is known to the police of his origin.
 He lived in Gothic mansion at 157
 Patchen avenue, and the yard of his
 dwelling was dotted with shrubery and
 evergreens, and laid out in flower gar
 dens. There was a croquet lawn,
 where, in the cool of the summer even
 ings, graceful couples were seen play
 ing lawn tennis and croquet. In the
 directory the name of the resident of
 the mansion was given as William Park,
 a stationer of New York. On Saturday
 afternoon, August 5, last, detective
 saw Porter, alias Park, and a com
 panion of about the same height and
 general appearance, passing through
 the street, dressed as mechan1cs. They
 turned into hardware store, where they
 purchased heavy sledge-hammer, and
 then they returned to the Patchen ave-
 nue mansion. The detective, suspect
 ing that they were burglars preparing
 for plundering expedition that night,
 gained admission to church which
 was opposite, and there watched all
 night through one of the windows. At
 $40 P. NJ. the two men came slowly out
 of the house and moved of. The night
 wore along, and at 4:45 A. M four men returned. A light was made in the
 basement, and after sufficient time for a division of plumber, the front door opened and two of the men passed out. One was middle-aged and had red hair and whiskers. The other was young. compactly built and energetic in his movements. They hurried away and the detective followed them, and ar rested the one with red whiskers. The neighboring station then hastily sur rounded the Gothic mansion, and in closing upon the house through the | grounds an officer stumbled upon man asleep in summer-house, and the | detective coming up recognized him as the escaped prisoner, who, on arrest, | proved to be the notorious Shang Draper, who was wanted for compile | ity in the great Northampton Bank | robbery. The house was entered, and | the officers found Porter undressing | and about to retire, and his companion, | John Irving, a noted burglar, in the | same condition. The floor was found | Uttered with the fragments of a cash | drawer from some safe, and with pieces | of checks that had been destroyed. | Porter and Irving made dash for the | window to escape, but the shrubbery | around their house was interspersed | with blue coats, and they concluded to | submit to arrest. All of the prisoners gave fictitious names in the police sta ton, and while their pedigree was be- ing taken, the robbery of the safe in the feed-store of Martin Ibert's Sons, in Graham avenue, was reported. The total amount taken, about $500, was found upon the prisoners, and the owners of the store identified much of 1t as their money. The police also found in the house an expensive com bination lock, made as a model for study. This was afterward identified by the widow of George Howard, a skilled burglar who was murdered by some of his associates, as her husbands property. Howard had romantic and eventful life, always planning the jobs which other men executed, and 1t is believed that the Patchen-avenue gang of burglars were parties to his murder. He was king Of the New York bank and always worked so as to escape conviction. A year ago his body was found beneath the shadow of Tramp's Rock, in Westchester county, where it had been concealed after hay ing been killed. The police have in vain sought to find his murderers.
 The widow of George Howard was to have been one of the witnesses in this trial, and she was deterred from coming to Brooklyn from Philadelphia, where she now lives. Draper and Irving, of the same gang, have not yet been tried. The former is son of respected pa rents, who have lived in Brooklyn for many years. The red-whiskered man, who gave first the name of John Doe, then of John Wilbur, and whose true name is said to be Gilbert Yost, was tried once, but the jury disagreed. In Porter's former trial the jury also dis agreed Journal.