The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1881-03-24
An Age OF Crime.

away lEolll tilc Eastern penltent1ary, at
Philadelphia, Pa, and all hour afterwards
stopped in the municipal burying -gro,fnd
the potter's field of the vugar-.and In a
few minutes plain pine box was lowered
into hole i'll the earth and the frozen clols
ratified upon the pne-incloscd form of
Wade Sipplc, alias Pierce, alias William
Gray, who in his day was one of the most
famous hotel and sneak thieves in the Uni
ted States. His end was that of nine out
of ten malcfactors, although his fate had
not overtakcn him until he had gone be-
yond The allotted thrce-scorc and ten years.
For more than forty years Sipplc had pur-
sued criminal career, and III that time hc
had been made familiar with the interiors
OF the county prison, the Eastern pGnitcn-
tiary, Sing Sing, Charlcstown, Mass, Bal.
timore, Richmond, Wheeling and Whining
ton, N. g., prisons and penitcntiaries. lie
was known to the detectives all over the
land as daring hotel thief the stories of
whose exploits would fill books. lie was
first known In 1886, when he became
al inmate of the Eastern pcnitcntiary. In
the great days Of steamboat travel along
the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, thirty years
ago. when the boats were infested by regu-
lar coalitions Of gamblers, who preycd upon
the Southern and : )uthwestcrn planters
who travelled between New Orleans and
Cincinnati and st. Louis, the fine art of
sneak-thlcving was adroitly Piled. The
thieves stole from the planter and from the
successful gambler alike, often taking
thousan IS Of dollars from the statcrooms,
where it had been deposited by the, card
sharpcrs for safety during the progress of
the famous games in which the reckless
planters often staked, not only the ready
money derived IRON tho sale of their crops,
but wagcrcd, besides, their plantations,
field hands, residences, etc, and lost all to
the cunning knavcs whom the blind god
dess and skill favored. Sipple, who was
down ON his"luck" after term OF m?rls-
onmcnt at Richmond, Vlrgn cncountc, cd
al acquaintance of Iii Alegary, tie noton-
ncrship with Al Burtis and Tom BuchaDan
IN working the steamers plying the Father
Of Waters. This man took Supple West
with him, and his GOODNESS and adroltncss
80 pleased the veterans that he was admit.
ted to full membership in the band OF pluu-
dcrcrs, with whom hc remained many
years. lie had Il thrilling adventure once
near Natchez, Miss, which is said to have
frightened HIM into abandoning his ailiin-
ton with Burlis and his other conicde-
rates. a party of gamblers had come up
from New Orleans, had "clcAncu cut"
number of planters, and were making mcr-
ry over their triumph. The spois of vic
tory were supposed to be fabulous. Sipplc
learned that the money, which was mostly
in bundles OF brand-ncw crisp bank notes,
was III the statcrOOm OF one OF the gum.
blers. He determined to possess himself
Of it and succeeded in his enterprise, after
wards oonccaling the Dl;lndcr III his own
room. The gambler discovered his loss in
n few hours and notified his associates.
They fixed Oh Sipplc and another man as
the thieves and, catching them on the up
per deck of the steamer on a moonlight
night, rs she was passing Natchcz, they
| surrounded them, and, with drawn bowie
knives and derringcrs, thrca,hcncd them
with instant death unless they produced
the booty or told where it was hidden.
Sipplc pretended to be frightened into COM
pliancc, and told his caplors to accompany
him to his room. On his way thithcr, al
though encompassed by cleaning steel, he
sprang through his environment and
plunged ovcrboard An attempt was made
to stop the boat and capture the thief, but
| no trace Of him could be distinguished
even under the moonlight, and he was
given up for lost. Not 81, however. lie
escaped, and not liking the manners of the
Southc I'll gamblers, he forsook steamboat
'h'cTins as too pcrious The gamblers re-
covered their money in Sipplc's room after
fight with his companions. AS age crcpt
| over the once daring criminal he descend
cd lower and lower in the grades OF crime
| until he became a mere sneak thicf--a
snapper up of trIllcs. Suspicion was not
likely to sclte upon Il white haired, white
nj RnlI 1 IL D. old I'll
he subsistcd miscrubly on his pilferlng
where thousands had been insufficient to
satisfy him before. lie was arrested many,
times for petty larceny and sentenced to Il
few months in the county prison. In
| January, 1878 he was in custody under
the namo of Peck along with Charles
Blake, the burglar, on the charge of dis
posing Of some Of tho plumber from j. Il.
Baum's house, 2036 Diamond street. at Il
second hand dealers store, rcprcs cnling
! that Blake was his son in-luw, who was
| breaking up housekeeping. Bake was
| taken to West Chester afterwards on sus-
piclon of participation in the Bailey mask
cd robbery, On October IL, 1878, Gray
is found in trouble again for the last tinIo.
| Three men who climbed over Il back fence
from brickyard were surprised while in
| tho act Of breaking into the residence 1903
Thompson street. Two Of them escaped
from the police, but the third, poor, old
Wade Sipplc, who told the magistrate
afterwards that his name was William
Gray, was too stiffcncd b; age and. .rhculna.
tlsm TO Chamber up the ladder again and
was corncrcd behind barrel in the yard Of
tho dwelling. lie was convicted and sen
fenced to three years Imprisonment. Az
ter little over two years confinement he
fell dead on Saturday last from appoplcxy
and his melancholy burial, like that of the
forgcr Rollins, took plloc in Pottcr's field.
Very few Of his old associates in crime arc
believed to be alive.