New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-12-20
THIEVES OF TEN DER YEARS..
CAREERS IN CRIME BEGUN EARL.
FACTS AND OBSERVATIONS STATED BY INSPECTOR
BYRNES.

foces. taken when the thieves were D0ys' lhcS
wore reuovcd ONLY TO make room for photo
graphs of the same faces after years oi M
plisopment or the practice OF CRIME h"u
1vroucht ON the features Of the rogucs some
lasting character marks. Tie practice OF
nhoforraphing thieves under the age Of eight
cen vears was Discontinued 10y the police be
cause the pictures soon became worthless aS
means of Identification. Until a criminal has
reached years IF maturity he Is not regarded
bv many detectives as worth keeping trace oi'
because his crimes usually are paltIy III COM
paliSou with those of more experienced Tascals'
Yet the detectives say that most professional
tLicye. begin their career of wickcdnesS carry
in life, as if they were born with an mclina-
ton TO steal. That tie army of raScals III TINS
city will not want FOR recruits i'll the future Is
shown by the fact that every year the police
have TO deal with rcbbelies committed by lads
,,ndor sixteen wears If age. Many Juvenile
thieves e>caue punishment by the courts, pc
cause parents prefer to pay Tor what Is S'H'h
rather tli,u have she names az thcll CIH",'A
st Gown IN the l;>t &C convicted CRIMINALS pu'
occasionally the detectives arrest I" AV"tn ~" n
HIS become so hardened in CRIME that the law
must hc enforced 10y his punishment. a Ic'ol"
of such cases is kept in the Detective bureau
tie name III each offender beng cohncCicu Mt 3
the names of the officers Who aucstSd MN. nv
dctcctirc-sergc8nts who have had experience
with voutktui fcons are expected 10 Keep IN
snect0, Byrncs informed abont !Ecm when 'hc
lads are Sc; at liberty. " ith the locoiu VI
juvenile thieves before HIM, the lhslcCtVi
talked i'm this way about some OF tue shlaII-
est of tlcIn the other day to Il IRIBUNLrc-
poitr: ,.o,rcster
was made early i'll October; lSoV' lhc poI,-
office officials were informed that letters con
aa;, l.illS of
$4,000 had been stolen from Locked O2A III
the bu.lGing All the Letters belonged 10
Krohn and Schumacher, bankers at No; y tx
change place. a clerk of the finn haG ioSt i
key IN the post Cfcc and somebody had io'nlu
it. On October II DttectlNc-Sergcant DorcS
caught the thief in the act Of opening the arm
box, and was surprised to find him boy only
thirteen Yeas of age The lad was hobSit
Al Smith and he belonged to lcNlrCtablc
family IN Brooklyn. lie admitted his quit, hui
as the bankers had not lost amy money ana the
bills Of exchange were returned, there was no
desire to punish the boy. Sentence IN ms case
WAS, SUsi ended on the plea that he was insane
"A g0rd contrast To the case OF Young smith Is
furnished Icy that II Mary A. Hoffman, who was
caught stealing dry goods i'll kaughTah :
broadway store on December :, 1880. Dct'c-
tiyc-ScI gcant Hickey arrested her ana WIch
SIZE WAS Sealchtd big roll OF dress goods was
1ouud hidden IN the ms d. pocket Ol her skirt
She U;,S barely sixteen years OF age, hut was
ali accoiGVl shed tl.ief. Hen mother aud four Sis
ters had been arrested before that; Tor SHOP
lifting and they probably had coached her in the
business. She WAS sent 10 the pcnitenllaly. III
the ncSt year Hickey, C0ogiOve and MalOney
arrested four boys upder sixteen VINO showed
evidence Of coaching in crime. noinas
O'Hr;en who was caught in March of that
wear hid broken into tie rooms of Hitter Bush
at No. 1g1 Thi,d-aNc.. and had stolen JewcAY
and clothlng valued at Sl,oU. He was sent 10
the House of Refuge. In October John Burns;
John Ir!V and Henry komobjs were arrested
4 c.il, f..vrgI
st. They had given several brokers much
trouble and they could htVc been convicted OF
forgery but the brokers would not take the
trouble to prosecute them. COnsuelo Mon
strTy. age thirteen. and Morris Lcwinski. fifteen
years OF age, were convicted of theft the same
year One OF them was sent to the juvenile
Asylum and the other WAS pHlshed by short
" Detective Sergeants Mlngin and Mcguire
arrested number of young rascalS Just before
the holidays in 1880. We had received many
complaints that lads were picking the pockets
of ladies' who were shopping III SNtl-aNc:,
and the officers were detailed to keep watch
near tue big dry goods stores. On two DAYS
no less than six boys, whose ages ranged from
thirteen To sixteen, were caught III the act ol
stealing neat Macys store. NE nave W JHfm on
Arthur Evans, George Martin, Robert BIS
berger and Edward FIitZ. The last two were
sent to the House Of Refuge, but tie others
escaped conviction because the women would
that some of the lads had been trained III the
business of theft by the leaders of the gang.
Two members of the 'Whyo Gang, Harris
Cohen and John Sullivan, both small boys,
were arrested in FOuItccnth-st Few days
later and were sent to the House OF Refuge
George King fifteen years OF age, was cauehI
with his hand in a WOman's pocket ana was
discharged afterwards because the woman
would not make complaint. little later he
was convicted Of burglary and sent to the
ElmiTa Refonnatory. Edward Kelly, age six
teen SAW a woman with a baby IN her arms
and Il pocketbOok in her hand climbing the
stains to an elevated railroad station. re
suatched the pOckctbouk and ran along the
railroad track toward the next station. Mangn
and Mcguire saw him. one Of them got on
train to head him of at tie station While the
other pursued along the track. Kelly was
caught with the stolen property and was sent 10
Polo Grounds on April II, 1888, and stw Frank
Lewis. age sixteen, trying to steal watch
from the pocket Of Daniel Davis, of No. 3Sl
pearl-St Mr.. Davis would not make a com
plaiIt and Lewis was set free. The boy had
gone only few blocks from the police court
when he tried to steal another mans watch
That man made a charge and Lewis was sent
to the House Of Refuge. Charles Edwards,
sixteen years of age, was arrested on November
II, 1874, for burglary ut No. 413 Broadway,
and was sent to the pcnitcntary for six months.
AS soon as he was set at liberty he Joined with
other boys in robbing showcases i'll front Of
large stores. In company with lad named
Frederick Hoffman he plundcrcd a showcase
il front of the store Of Gay Brothers. at No.
IA Barclay-st. The boys were caught while
trying to dispose of a large Bible which they
had stolen from the case and both were sent to
the penitcntlary.
"Few cases of youthful depIavity are more
distressing than some which were brought
10 my attention by Detectiye-Sergeant5 Handy
and Killilea. Early IN June, 1884, the officers
arrested two girls under sixteen years of age
who had been picking the pockets Of ladies in
Sixth-ave. The girls gave their names as Ida
Tomphins and Emma Gilroy. Notwthstand-
ing their youth. they had been schoolcd i'll all
was conclusive They were discharged because
witnesses could not be induced to appear
against them. In the following. November,