The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1888-02-22
THE FRATERNITY OF THIEVES.
Inspector Byrnes Tells How the Out
laws of Society are Managed.
rohicago Inter-9cean.l


Twas just speaking moment ago about
the reorganization of the SsTYork detect
i've bureau. The first thing w did after in
creasing the force of detective sergeants was
to establish an Office in the stock exchange
This was in 1880. Before that time it was
matter of almost daily occurrence to have
messenger boys robbed, tin boxes stolen; in-
deed, the whole lower part of the city was
infested with thieves of all sorts. There
had probably been several millions of dol
lars stolen between 1875 aud 1880, when we
put in a sub-office in Wall street. Twelve
men were stationed there; always one or
two inside. in addition to the officer in
charge, for use on call, and the rest outside.
That office is connected with all the princi-
pal banks, as we'll as with headquarters
here. We have established dead line run
ming through Fulton and Greenwich streets,
and any professional Grim inals found below
that line is arrested on sight, II a thief wants
to go to place of business below Fulton
street he must get permission, and one of
our men goes along with him and then con
ducts him back across the line again. 1t
may truthfully be said that hardly dollar
udS Dttll obOlCn W plOlCooiOudi tniCfCo III
Wall street and the banking district since
"How are the rest of the detective force
detailed?"
"They are on duty at all times, and are
assigned to different duties, according to
circumstances. A certain number are sent
to the theatres every night. Then detective
officers must be at all large weddings, recep-
lions, balls and such places. No men are
stationed at given hotels, but some are given
hotel duty others assigned to the different
railroads. When not on special business,
| the officers are collecting information about
professional criminals at large, where they
| live, what places they frequent, who they
are running with. and all about them. In
| dee d, one great function of the bureau is to
| put thieves under as perfect surveillance as
| pos sible. All this information is made a
| matter of careful record and classification.
| We know the people in every line of
| business, and can put eur hands on most of
| them.
.sNow take a case of house burglary Us
ually there is little or no trace left behind.
Well, we look over the people who are in
that line. We know that John Smith is in
prison in Massachusetts, that George Jones
is in Chicago, and so on. With perseverance,
the thing is brought down to perhaps half a
dozen people; we settle it without doubt that
one of them committed the offense; then we
must fix on the right person. 1t takes per-
sistence, downright work, and ingenuity,
ficient evidence against him. But all the
way through it is our knowledge of thieves,
their haunts, ways, and companions, that
helps us out. We don't trust marvellous In
tuition it requires, first of all, knowledge of
| the people you're dealing with, then patience,
thorougness, pertinacity, and intelligence.
Il am speaking, you see, of professional
| criminals and their doings. 1t is very diff
| ferent with cases of aggravated, unpremedi-
tated crimes, as OF murderous assault or
III l. nct nf orr hnQ
| to women, drink, or the heat of passion, and
nine out of ten Of them are easy, fol- the
| tracks are not covered, and there are fire.
| quently witnesses. But with the profess
sional, working at night without detection
| in the act, it is different and more compli-
| Gated matter.
Come out here and I'll show you how we
| keep track of these fellows"
| AS we walked back 10 the main office l
Inquired about women as detectives. ;.
print this for it might sound nncharitable,
| but will Just say that, though have used
| women in some classes of work, they are
not to be depended upon. I've always had
| to have some one else to watch the women
who did any work for me. 1t is ungracious
to say it, but that is my experience A good
| virtuouS, pure woman Is not likely to go into
the detective business, and if one does, she
| perhaps loses her self-respect, gets sangy in
her language, and even worse. No, there is
| little need Of women in this business, and l
advise them to keep out of it. There are
exceptions to the general rule, of course,
but they serve only as foil to 1.-THE others. /"
When we reached the general office Of
| the detective bureau the inspector unlocked
a tall case in the wall. This is the rogues'
gallery, and is like huge book with one
side fastened to the wall when the door is
ulocked the panels swing out, one after an
other like the leaves of book, each of the
huge pages contain the history of many
crimes and criminals, for on both sides it is
covered with photographs of professional
thieves and evil-doers.
"This form of the rogues gallery is the in
vention of Sergeant Adams, who has charge
Only those who are professionals. are hon
ored with place in this collection. We
could not make room for first offenders"
The inspector took out one Of the photo
graphs: Here, you see, is the fellows pedi-
gree printed on the back. This, for instance is
Jimmy Hope, the famous bank burglar
whom we brought back from California a
sfort time ago to fill an unexpired sentence
in Auburn prison. He was the principal in
the robbery of the Manhattan Savings H.
stitution, from which nearly .$3,0 10000 in
money and securities were taken in 1873.
He is supposed to be the only man who
knows where the unrecoyered securities are.
"When we take mans picture we have
80 copies struck off: Forty. OF these are
placed in rogues' galleries just like this one
in different precincts of the city. The rest
are carefully filed To he sent away or used in
case of need. We exchange with police of
other cities both here and abroad. BY this
method we get pictures Of nearly all the
first-class people, as we call them, of the
country, and o good many foreign criminals
When a man dies or reforms his. picture is
removed. If a reformed criminal goes back
to his old life his picture is replaced. Ons
thing we insist on Is that no obstacle shall be
placed in the way of man who really wants
to reform and he is aided in every reasonable
way to carry out his good intentions. Quite
number do reform. | can think of perhaps
dozen men now who years ago were pro-
fessional thieves, and who have become
wealthy citizens. A great many, are not, of
course, so successful"
"What class are the most difficult to deal
WITH"
"Burglars are the most desperate class of
criminals, and il arrested with plumber, often
resist. Then, too, burglary is hard to handle
because If the criminals escape 1t Is very
difficult to locate the particular people who
did the job. Sneak thieves, too, are often
difficult to track, because both this class and
the burglars, as rule, enter and get away
without being seem" a.,
Are many of them educated menv
'No, not a large per cent. Forgers and
confidence men have better schooling and
training than other classes. except perhaps,
counterfieters.
This fellow, Dr. Bliss, a sneak, Is a man
of fine education and physician by probes
sion.
Here Is smooth looking young rascal,