The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1886-10-07
THEY DIE POOR.
Singular Ill-Luck Follows All Bank Burg.
lars. Forgcrs, and Thieves Of Low be-
gree-isig FORTUNES Wasted.

Hello. Promised 10 tell you Whit
said the police detective. reused from
= nap. and rubbing his eyes. about
thieves who stole fortunes and died
poor, eh? Come to think. so did. But
say. wouldn't the other kind do; them
that stole and kept the money? No:
Take more stock in the other gang:
Queer! Well, sit down and let M
think" And the old detective pushed
a chair over to the reporter and filled
good deal like a growl.
Seems to me. he resumed. little
'.you ought to be Salts
fled with what YOU We had IN that line
here lately. 1t isn't but week or two
ago you were writing the obituary of
the king pin Of that gang. vino died
somewhere up in Massachusetts. Pin
White was tire boss thief for check rs
well rs for luck. rs one might know. fors
he was newspaper man from TIL
start, and it was when he was drllv out
Of the business that he caught OH to the
Boston suckers and showed his metal.
take. He was the only man | ever
knew vino robbed 4 man twice Of all he
had: ruined him the first time and
cleaned him out the next. all under the
guise OF friendship. When he stole he
Jumped it--therc never was mean
hair in Pins head and went for
stake Of 100000. or $4,000 or $4,000
if funds were low. I'm blamed ii !
don't believe he stole couple Of mill
ions in his time, and vet he died poor.
Where did it all 90 TO? You ask me
too much. One thing can tell you,
very little went back to its rightful own
ers. Some of it was lost in the flood
that swallowed up his fowl farm on
that island, where he had fortune in
vested, doubtless much of it Was
"blown in" at faro. That's the way
nine-tenths of all stolen money goes.
and that's how gamblers live. To nv
mind that is the principal objection to
gambling. You bet your money against
a thicf's. put up BY his hackers, and the
chances are not even.
1.-The real thief isn't the man that
steals. but the one who puts up for the
tools and takes the profit, but none Of
the risk. lie is the fellow vino gets rich
At the business. The others die poorer
than rats. in Jail, or in their boots. nc
corning to their luck or to the wlllm Of
their master. whose slaves they are.
even the best Of them. George Howard
was one Of them. He was d req lar No.
chanical genius. and used to buy bank.
locks and such and study their meehan-
ism and the way to overcome it for
months and months in his room before
he would tackle the job. When he was
shot down and killed in row with the
rest of the gang up in Winchester eoun.
ty he didn't leave Il cent, SO far as any
body ever heard. though he had stolen
thousands. don't suppose Il smarter
thief ever lived than Jesse Allen. one of
the Allen family New Workers know SO
well. He stole more money than would
have made any man comfortably rich
before he was found dead at Il railroad
depot. with Il kit of burglars tools be-
side him. stricken down by apoplexy or
heart disease jus. as he was going 1T
job. He had just Get out Of the
OHIO penitcntiary after serving out Il
seven years sentence. No money was
ever found after him. and for good rea.
sons-he didn't have any. There was 4
bank burglar shot dead over in Jersey
when he was blowing up safe. John
Hughes was his nam'. and he had gam
bled away morc'n one fortune in New
York. but for all that enough money TO
bury him decently couldn't be got to-
ge.her.
Big John Garoty. the second-story
thief, who fell through a stair-hole in a
house on the hill over in Brooklyn and
was killed, with his arms full of rich
silver wedding presents. was as poor AS
jobs turkey. He was clever 1T the
trade, and had ruined a score of men.
When he escaped from Sing Sing once
he did it SO neatly that his keeper never
could find out how till fate sent him
back to show them and have laugh III
their expense. There's a lot OF other
thieves that died in their boots. but
these will do. just let me count in Jim
Casey. who comes to my mind in that
connection. Jim was bank burglar,
and 4 good one. Ellen. his wife. was a
trump. too. In the July riot in 1871.
when she was pickpocket on Eighth
avenue. she was shot in the LEG, and III
the hospital they found twelve pocket
books and purses in her clothes. Jim
and her worked the racket together for
all they were worth till Jim was sho;
dead by Tom Mccormick. his pal. III !.
Twenty-seventh street saloon i'll an ar
gnment about sharing the boodle from
Philadelphia bank they had cracked.
That busted the firm. and no assets
We're found to administrate on. Jim
had blowed it in at faro The old wonl-
an is stealing in England now-if she
isn't in Jail.
Tommy Stacks. who stole $4,000 in
government bonds-good rs gold
from an editor in this town. was par
doned out of the Charleston penitcn.
1iary q couple Of years ago. blind. para
lyzed. and without penny or friend.
suppose he is dead now. Dutch Helm.
rich. who worked with the best of them
and helped to steal millions. got silly
from drinking and cumming. and died
in 4 madhouse in Germany. There was
chap they used to call the king prop
man, from the handy way he had OF
getting away with gcntlemen's props.
which Is to say pins. His real name
was William Roger, and his alias Boils.
They mad to scrape together few pen
MES on tine sly to bury him. kerwin
Carr. who was one of three that got
away with 100000 in hard cash from
the house of Mr. Moore on Madison
- Al -. Il