The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1883-10-27
GREAT THIEVES.
The Distinguished Characters in the
Rogue's Gallery.
An Interview with a Detective
Cool and Daring Thieves--The
Career OF Old Chauncey
Johnso-

lbthuuGT HNCuuTusOu III DOslOu EleTAl1.
what is the most Desperate sort OF a
their
"Well. n river thief Is about the worst on
general principles. He thinks nothing Of
boarding a vessel, giving the lookouta whack
on the head and rolling him overheard. He
holds human life pretty cheaply. A burglar
Is pretty lively when you corner him, though
he won't often hurt anybody IL he can get
away without it. Sneak thieves and pick
pockets are the meanest. They will always
run, and not once in a thousand times will
they show fight, AS for confidence men, a
fellow that watches them carefully soon
makes up his mind, not that they are 50
mighty clever, but that the bulk of human.
kind are pretty devilish stupid. Most of
these chaps who 6y for big game make a
great deal of money. The higher the stakes,
the less danger of being found out, because
a rich man, or one who stands high, So
cially or politically, hates to admit that he
has been skinned. There was Miller, the man
who was killed by Tracy. He had loads of
money, kept carriages, servants and all that
sort of thing. bought his furs and fancy
things at Knox's, and was a general high
flyer. Then there's Hungry Joe, who was in
that party we passed a few minutes ago.
He's a ripper, and is pretty well fixed. The
boys say he met his match, awhile back, in a
H" ~ IASANA hbth ab1A az a.
the Fifth Avenue hotel, where he was spend
ing some money, and where he was looked
upon as a granger. The man lost a couple of
hundred in the bunco business under Hungry
Joe's tuition, but he was so innocent that he
didn't tumble at all. Then he got hard up
and wanted to mortgage a big tract of land
in Texas. He showed plans, locations, deeds
and everything of that sort till you couldn't
rest. Joe took him to his lawyer, and the
deeds and things seemed all right, so one of
the finest confidence men in the country ad-
vanced 1880 or so in cold cash. Afterward
he went to Texas to see his land, but he
hasn't found it yet. The fact is, that benevo-
lent granger was eleverer than Joseph"
"What other sorts of sharp criminals are
thereYn
well, there are a few men who work sim
ply by cold nerve, and take anything they
can lay hands on just as though it belonged
to them You would be surprised to see how
successful they are. Take the case of old
Chauncey johnson, who has just been ar
rested over in Philadelphia. There's a record
for you. Now 65 years old, or something like
that, and he has stole barrels of money in his
time. One day there was a big stack of bills,
all done up in parcels, lying in the open safe
Of the Fifth Avenue hotel johnson left his
hat in the bar-room, walked straight into the
office, coolly helped himself to the money,
walked back to the bar-room, put on his hat
and sailed out. There were several thousand
dollars in that haul. l believe he did the
same thing over again at another hotel in
this city, and got another heavy pile. He
got ten years for it. Earlier in his career he
had nipped as high as S75, 900 in securities at
one jump. A wealthy lady had just
come out of a bank with her
box Of bonds, and was about TO drive
off, when a young man in a linen coat and
with a pen behind his ear appeared at the
window He said the cashier wanted the
bonds so as to take the numbers, and had sent
him for the box; he would detain her for a
moment only. The foolish virgin gave up
her securities TO the bareheaded young clerk,
who went into the bank by ono door, came
out Of it by another aud melted off into the
mellow distance, bonds, box and all. Mr..
johnson got 10000 and no questions asked
to return the bonds, He made another i'm
mense haul in Philadelphia. Entering a safe
deposit establishment, where brokers' mes
sengers deposited their employers boxes OF
securities, he laid his cap down like the
others, picked up n big case containing over
S5O,OW worth of papers, and slid gently, but
firmly, away. l reckon johnson has stolen
$1,000, on in his time; but he is pretty poor
just now. He has served about twenty
years Of his life in prison. The offense for
which he was captured the o.her day
WI a pretty small one. A man had
bought a package of paper, and had subse-
quently drawn about $3.50 from the bank.
The money was put into the bundle OF sta
tionery, and the man started for home. On
the way he stopped to be shaved, and laid
the package on the table. johnson followed
him into the shop, picked up the bundle, and
while the man was being lacerated in the
p,oef pbfoAalNbsan ct-lo - eko I..l..Y. -.
johnson went out he was subsequently ar
rested, identified and sent to await trial. He
will either die In prison or go the old road
to poverty. There is one Jewish thief named
Worth, who has lots of money. He lives in
London In good style, but doesn't dare come
home. His home over there is a thieves par.
adise; but he docs nothing technic lily out OF
the way, and is let alone. Abig thief named
Kelly got $4,000 out of one Of the Je
romes at a single whirl, but died in an
insane asylum in France He left some
valuable real estate in Boston. Lots OF these
men go crazy from dissipation aud excite
ment It's a tough life, and doesn't pay.
Look at the case of George Howard, who is
supposed to have been in the big Manhattan
burglary. He was found dead up in West
chester county, and they say his pals killed
him because they suspected him of treachery.
Howard was amechanical genius and n clever
p%lanuer Of robberies. Every time anything
new in locks made its appearance, Howard
used to buy one of them, shut himself up In
his rooms and study it until be had mastered
every detail. He was poor when they killed
him. Scott, one OF the Northampton
men, must have left some money,
somewhere. He got pretty nearly sl,OOO,OO u
as his share of the proceeds Of the gangs
work, aud none OF it has been found. He
died in prison"