Northern Ohio journal. [volume] (Painesville, Ohio) 1872-1896, 1880-05-01
Some Of the Exploits Of Famous Crinai-
nails.


Said well known New York detective
to Sun reporter:
1T is a mistake to suppose that Euro
pean criminals are superior to ours in
adroitness and boldness Our bank burg
lars are ahead of their English rivals,
and so in almost every other branch of
criminality. Some novel things done on
the other side of the water have given
rise to the notion in some peoples minds
that the European criminals have more
originality than ours. One of their queer
est and most novel tricks was the clock
work dodge for burglary. That was
operated in Belgium, and, I believe, in
Paris. Jewellers were the victims. A
man would go into jewelers. store, buy
some expensive things, pay for them, and
take them away. He would return the
next day and, saying that he was afraid
to trust them to the keeping of his serv-
ants, would ask permission to leave
them temporarily in their box in the jew
eler's safe. That being accorded, he
would return third time, make more
purchases, put them also in the box and
take out some article. In doing so he
would set in motion a concealed clock
work in the box, which, at given hour
of the night, would strike a hammer
upon a cap, fire mass of dynamite in the
box and with the explosion rend the safe.
Of course the burglars would have their
preparations made to be on hand when
that occurred. That was ingenious in
and address in effecting than hundreds
of devices our rascals have employed, and
could never be played on our Yankee
iaUa1arc Tho Eronoh hava haor cold fo
be ahead of us in skill in obtaining goods
and money by false pretences, but where
does the world afford such brilliant
record of achievements in that line as is
set forth in the history of New York saw
ings banks?
"Confidence men must have polish
ed demeanor and an address capable of
impressing their intended victims, ready
portunities, and ingenuity in striking out
They may, and frequently do. become
forgers or counterfeiters, but hardly ever
burglars 1t is not because they lack the
requisite of courage, but because craft is
more esteemed by them than force. But,
talk about nerve there canhardly be
'nervier' thing than walking into
bank in the open day, laying down
forged check and demanding the money
for it, knowing how keenly the bank is
protected and how sure and severe the
punishment of being caught will be. In
fact, there is not one of the principal
walks of crime that does not require a
great deal of cool courage"
"When you speak of the principal
walks of crime, you suggest the idea of
q classification of criminals by their re-
spective methods. How far is that pos
[ sible?''
"Not at all, with any accuracy or to
any considerable extent. In general
way you may say they are burglars, for
gers, counterfeiters, confidence men,
hotel thieves, pickpockets, sneak thieves,
general thieves, and SO on; but the sub
| divisions of those classes would be al
| most as numerous as the persons en-
ployed in them. Take hotel thieves, for
| instance. There are those who work in
| the morning only, others who work at
| night, Others who do nothing except in
| the afternoons, and then each of these
| subdivisions have other distinguishing
| peculiarities in their methods of pro-
| cedure. The hotel thief sometimes
| takes desperate chances. There was 10
Butts, one of the boldest of them, who is
doing time now in Boston. He is thin,
| fne-1ooking fellow, six feet and two
inches tall, with very long arms and
| legs. In 1866 or 1867 he robbed, in one
night, twelve rooms on the sixth floor OF
the ST. Nicholas Hotel, by passing from
one window to another, on the front of
the house, at that giddy height. Usual
ly he operated by going through tran
SONS, but that was not practicable there.
| In the last room he entered a lady was
in bed, but wide awake, and she asked
him what business he had there. He did
not wait to explain, but just stepped out
on the window ledge, and SO back, on
the route he came, to the room whence
he started, which was occupied by ar
-accomplice, and before the lady could
summon a call boy, and he could call &
clerk, the thief was far away. The hote
thief must be always ready, and have
his wits fully about him for any unex
pected emergency.
"In Congress Hall, Saratoga, few
summers ago hotel thief slipped into {
room in the early morning, just after hi
had seen an old gentleman go out of the
door of the room and down the corridor
While the thief was gatheing in the un
considered trif1es on the bureau, the ole
| SSLOlclutu . SUI, WIZ was III UOI LII 1ll'
room, awoke and demanded what h'
was doing. The fellow had been watch
ing him in the mirror and saw his eye
open; SO when the young man looked vi
the thief was quietly arranging his neck
tie at the mirror with an air Of easy un
concern. Turning with apparent sur
prise, he exclaimed: why, good heav
ems! 1 have got into the wrong room
1 had Just been out, leaving my chum il
bed, and came back to arrange my col
lar, and here have stupidity blunderet
into another persons room. [ beg you
pardon; thought you were Charley
Excuse me; I'm very sorry-I-. and
having bowed himself to the door Will
speaking, he vanished. And when tht
young man got up he found that his dia
mond studs and watch had also vanished
Later in the day the thief was captured
at another hotel. That was Jim Stan
ley, a well-known one of his class. No
unfrequently those hotel thieves show
1 great deal of ingenuity in getting int
rooms. The fremont House, Boston
had transoms over its room doors to-
small for thief to crawl through ant
bolt on the inside of each chambe
door. One night hotel thief wen
through whole row of those rooms, b,
boring hole in each and pulling tn
bolt back by means of some instrument
The new kind of independent doubl
locks are the best security yet found TO
hotel room doors. Bolts are easily beat
en- Sometimes the hotel thief will Sc
cure room, draw the screws of the Dol
sockets, and smooth them down SO as t
pull out easily, and thus give him acces
to the rooms when they are occupied b,
other guests.
| 1.-The class of thieves devoting them
selves to the 'second-story' racket hav
to be bold fellows, not so daring as burg
lars, of course, but still possessed of mucl
pluck. They learn the habits of fami
lies in houses they propose to plunder
and then. while the family is at dinner
will climb up the stone coping of tn
front door to the second-story window
enter there, and rapidly go through tn
rooms, taking everything of value the
can reach. and departing as they came
They are always young fellows
athletic, agile, and generally are despe1
ata characters Most Of them are oOO