Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1888-03-17
TALK ABOUT CROOKS.
THEY ENTER PRISON TIME ON PROFIT
AND LOSS ACCOUNT.


port, pursue their crooked career with
the same feelings that honest men follow
their daily vocations. The business man
expects a certain percentage of losses dur
ing the year, just as he has reason to be-
Iieve that he will meet with unexpected
gains. These losses or gains are entered
up in the profit and loss account. The
professional thief or criminal philosophi-
cally argues to himself: What gain I
gain easily, and / must be prepared to
serve portion of my years in prison. II
it is little, so much the better for me; If it
is much, so much the worse for me-"
'Yes, SIR" he resumed, ''the thief
looks upon his terms in jail or the peni-
tentiary as so much lost in the game. He
is a thief, and next Is devising ways and
means to acquire without labor the prop
erty that belongs to others, his mind is
bent on devising ways and means to keep
out of prison. He is like man playing at
cards-he wins or. loses. recall an in
stance that illustrates what say: One
morning, at about 5 O'Clock, after waiting
out all night, I arrested a notorious hotel
sneak. As soon as l put my hands on
him he knew what he was wanted for.
There was q dead case against him. and
when | touched him on the shoulder and
said that the captain wanted to see him, 1
have no doubt that he made up his mind
to plead guilty and get of as cheaply as
possible. 1t was in winter, and as we
walked together down Morgan street on
the way TO the police station, We passed
an old cobbler's shop. Early as it was,
and bitter cold morning it was, too,
well remember, the old fellow was up,
pegging away at his work by candle light.
The thief glanced in at the Industrious
shoemaker, and then said to me:
81 have spent seven of the past twelve
years in prison, and yet have done bet
ter than that old fellow. He works from
early morning until late at night to get
his bread and meat, and then he does not
live as well as l do in prison, and when I
am on the outside l live on the fat Of the
land, with plenty of good clothes, gay
companions and everything that money
can buy. l wouldn't trade places with
him him right now, and / know that l
am booked for n trip up the road
THE fact is that all thieves are men of
appetite. They do not steal for the sake
OF stealing. They want money with which
to crafty their passions. IL the passion
is not for women-snd it most always is
it is for cards or drink. The thief,
when in funds, lavishes il on his woman
or leaves it at the card table. Some of
the shrewdest and most adroit thieves are
the veriest children in the hands of faro
dealer. Say thief who has often talked
about 'squaring it, as they call reform
ing, does get several thousand dollars.
what good does it do him. Women, wine
and cards get it in short order, and he
must go to stealing again. These things
he must have. He won't work for his
money, so he continues to steal. There
have undoubtedly been cases of reform,
and many a small town has its hotel or
saloon keeper held in esteem as an honest
man by all who know him, and yet that
man has history which he would like to
forget. A police officer is not much of a
believer in reformations.
These people are very honorable in their
dealings with each other, are they notyn
You mean honor among thieves''
There is nd such thing. Thieves make
virtue of necessity. They are known to
each other all over the land. Any thief
knows that if he should 'squeal, or be-
tray brother thief, he would at once be
a marked man, and that the entire fra
ternity would make it their business to
see him settled, or, in other words, con-
victed for some one of his own crimes,
and that right speedily. A great deal of
sentimental admiration is wasted over
these men who honorably refuse to betray
their companions. Thieves are like any
other class of men. They have their
friendships A man would go to ex-
tremes to help his pal out of trouble,
while as for another thief in whom he had
no personal interest he would say, He got
into that trouble himself, let him get out
himself
"You may put it down as rule that no
matter how successful they are, they
either die in the pesitentiary or the poor
house. All this stuff about thieves lead
ing double life, one of crime and the
other in good society; of their wives sup
posing that they are engaged in reputable
business, is good material for novels and
plays like ''Jim, the Penman," but there
are no such cases. The professional thief
does not aspire to any such life. His
origin is always low. He commenced
stealing when boy, and his education
was perfected in the House Of Refuge,
Jail, work house and penitentiary. Up to
the time that he is sent to the penitentiary
he is apt to be desperate and reckless and
undertakes jobs that an older hand would
hesitate about engaging in. When he
comes out he is more cautious. He comes
from the slums, and is brave and shrewd,
Just as the women of his own class are often
of surprising beauty and seeming refine
ment; beautiful green and golden flies
born in the muck heap. Men of position
veIy rarely sink to a life of professional
crime. If they do they become forgers and
swindlers, but in nine cases out of ten
even this class of criminals have worked
their way up to their exalted position in
the fraternity.
New York is, of course, the headquar-
tiers of all thieves of the upper class.
There are dozen quiet little places where
the beer is good, where they congregate
and plan their little excursions into the
country. One can almost imagine gang
Of burglars sitting down and mapping out
q route just like the manager of a show
that is to make one and two night stands.
A great deal of nonsense has been written
about thieves having grips and passwords
and language of their own. They just
naturally drift together, and instinctively
know each other. Their Masonry is in
voluntary. They, talk shop when to-
gether, just as a lot of printers or tele-
graph operators or shoemakers do. They
exchange information as to fences and
hang outs, and then when landing in a
strange city they know where to go to
meet their own kind. .''-Globe-De Democrat.
What's Ia Il Name"
Omaha Man-That bill is all right and I'll
give you a check in a moment.
Stranger from Wayback-No yer don't. I
don't want none O. yer checks. Gimme the