, 1884-11-09
V PIRATES.
Mysterious Underground Labyrinths
for Robbers and Thieves
Wharf-EsAfs I'm the metropoiis-How
Daily "Fionterr" are Made
How the {" sway IL
Managed.


cincinnati Commercial 0aEette.l
There are no more desperate, dangerous
and utterly irreclaimable criminals among
the law-brsakcrs Of New York, or, indeed,
any large city, than those variously known
a. -Tharf-rats" and ariver pirates" The
distinction suggested by the employment OF
two names for their class is merely nominal
for though the rat" Is supposed 10 be simply
a thief, and the pirate" q wretch who viii
kill to rob, the fact IL that the rat may al
ways be expected, II murder Eeems 10 servo
his ends, 70 perpetrate it without the slight
est hesitation or conjunction OF conscience.
Generally the rats" are young, though
anon tho hordes OF them there are many
grnyheaded rascals who ave never hap
pened 10 win the distinction Of becoming
murdererS.
The wharf-rat rarely. II ever, Is produced
from any other class than those that haunt
the vicinity Of the rivers. Dry-land thieves,
either because they lack dexterity in man
aging boats, skin in swimming and all the
cunning in water craft, or because their
criminal associations confne them to other
nefarious industries, seldom become wharf
rats. The ranks Of the wharf-rats are con-
stantly hlled from among the nude young
sters who, in this sultry summer weather.
may be seen on the ends of the piers, and
about them in the water, shrilly yelling: ali,
Patsy Cheese I'll The cops a-cominiH The
policeman Is their bette noir. They fear and
hate him by instinct. Diving under the
water and hiding under the piers 10 escape
him, they learn the existence OF an inhnite
number Of mysterious places OF concealment,
OF which people who walk on dry ground
above are quite ignorant, and in .thoss
murky retreats they form the aceuaint-
ance Of older and more pracaced rascals,
who enlist them In their predatory enter
prises.
There are waterways and sewers, practica
bic for boats, that penetrate very far under
tho city, the full extent and qualifications
Of which are known 10 none but the river
pirates who infest them. The harbor police
have a general idea OF some Of these places,
or, ut least, know where their entrances are,
but do not venture to explore them. II
would, indeed. be almost certain death for
them to do 50, for the pirates are numerous,
desperate and always on their guard against
surprises.
a veteran policeman upon being asked
what he knew about these retreats, said In
reply: Il suppose l know as much as any
body except the pirates who haunt them, but
my knowledge il not much. I've been a good
many years on the harbor squad, and nave
learned that the surest az well as the
safest way to get one OF those scoun-
drels when he Is wanted Ia to lay for
him TO come out and grab him on the
street. instead of visiting his haunt unlimited.
l never tried to hunt a pirate in his lair but
once, That was in 81, and though I'm as
willing 10 stand up 10 the rack Of duty as
most other men, Pm free to say II will be at
least sixty-seven years before l volunteer for
such n job again. Not far from the foot OF
thirteenth street, on the North river, an open
ing under a ~pier-that min people out Of ten
would pass by unnoticed-gives access to a
perfect labyrinth Of subtsrranean waterways
and sewers, n branch of which / am assured
Is large enough for boats to q distance Of a
mils and a half from the entrance. At least
two thieves dens above ground commune
cato directly with 1t. The keepers of both Of
them are known TO he fence but it Is al
most impossible to catch them dead to
rights because Of the facilities they enjoy
for shifting swag by means OF boats in the
continual midnight Of that underground laby-
rinth.
Il tell you those s~coundrels have down
there a sort OF caves, some Of them connect
ing with above ground, where they drink.
gamble, and divide their plumber, and quar-
tcl and kill each other without anybody but
themselves knowing anything about H. Its
= atl-1C4 thA4E TINT Luo ohLnpu11d ana Inc
sewer gases give them rheumatism and other
ailments TO shorten their lives, and some
times drives them up to the streets, where
we can get hold OF them.
There Is hardly an imaginable depreda-
ton upon property or a danger to human life
In the vicinity Of the water fronts or on
board vessels lying in the East or North
RIVERA danger from personal violence for
nefarious ends l mean-thRt these river pr
rates are not ready to infict and have not
indeed been guilty OF innumerable times.
Many Of the corpses dragged from the water
and there's at least one 'ioater' a day the
year round-have been done to death by
these wretches for the sake of a petty rob
berry. WRtchmen on dockn n vessels arr
often sand-clubbed, shot and stabbed by
them, either to clear the way for plumber or
TO effect escape when caught in the perpetra-
ton Of their nefarious business"
Deck-loads ON vessels tied up at the New
York N Brooklyn wharves, or valuable
property on tho wharves, or on vessels float.
ing in mid-stream, are what the river pirate,
60 for most They steal alongside, In theiI
swift, l~ow-lying, black or slate-colored boats,
that seldom are seen out of tho deepest
shadows along the margins Of the streams
and are propelled by mufied oars. Their
field OF plumber has been selected In the day
time, tho modes Of approach carefully
marked, the numbers and habits OF any
guardians likely to Be encountered have beer
learned. The pirates, who are well armed
always, and bold ~rnscals, mount to the
vessels deck or the wharf with the agility Of
cats, work with the noiselessness OF shadow
and almost magical celebrity, and II discovered
fight like the desperadoes that they are, moi
only tc effect their escape, but to carry off
their booty as well. II one is shot, his com.
pahions-for two or three Of them generally
work together-get him into their boat, and
together he and they vanish under soms
wharf, and are as completely lost to pursuit.
as If the earth had opened and swallowed
them up.
The river pirates are very cunning, anc
some OF the stories told OF their common ex
PLOTS almost challenge the belief OF thos.
who do not know them well They hay,
been known to put up a job to got the watch
man on u hermaphrodite brig blind drunk
and while he was laid out stiff have taker
away all tho running rigging and sails of tn,
vessel. A very common trick Of others Is
when they find barrels Of liquor on a wharl
that they can get under with a boat, to tai
the liquor by boring up into the barrels witt
long augers and FIJI up other barrels in thsii
boat below with the descending stream
+. u. Sanborn. The careful reader Of /,