Wichita eagle., 1888-03-25
TALK ABOUT CROOKS.
THEY ENTER PRISON TIME ON PROFIT
~ AND Loss ACCOUNT.

The Professional Criminals Philosophy.
A Thiers Real sentinaents-No Honor
Among the Craft, Except Through Me-
cessity-Dyins in Poverty-Nonsense.
Thieves mean professional thieves,
criminals of the higher grade
Maj. Lawrence Harrigan, appraiser OF the
port pursue their crooked career with
the same feelings that honest men follow
their daily vacations. The business man
expects certain percentage of losses dur
ing the year, just as he has reason TO be-
heye 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 /
gain easily, and l must be prepared TO
serve portion Of my years in prison. II
it is little, so much the better for me; If 1t
is much, so much the worse for me-
''Yes, SIR" he resumed, 1.-THE thief
looks upon his terms in jail or the peni-
Tertiary as SO much lost in the game. He
is thief, and next to devising ways and
means TO acquire without labor the prop
erty that belongs 10 others, his mind is
out Of prison He is like a 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 al night, arrested q notorious hotel
sneak. AS soon as l put my hands on
him he knew what he was wanted for.
There was a dead case against him. and
when l touched him on the shoulder and
hot tba ,4osy tad RI I
have no doubt that he made up his mind
to plead guilty and get off 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:
g i have spent seven of the past twelve
years in prison, and yet have done bet
| ter than that old fellow. Ee 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 l
| am Oh the outside live on the fat of the
land, with plenty Of good clothes, gay
companions and everything that money
can buy. I wouldn't trade places with
| him him right now, and l know that /
am booked for trip up the road
1.-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. If the passion
is not for wonderland it most always is
1T is for cards or drink. The thief,
when In funds, lavishes it 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 ssouaring 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. 4 police officer is not much OF
believer in determinations.
ssThese people are very honorable in their
dealings with each other, are they not?"
"You mean honor among thievesf
! There is no such thing. Thieves make a
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 1t their business to
! see him settled or, II other words, con-
| yicted for some one Of his own crimes,
! and that right speedily. 4 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 be had
no personal interest he would say, He got
/ into that trouble himself, let him get out
! himself
you may put 1t down as G rule that no
! matter how successful they are, they
! either die in the penitentiary 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
! mont; beautiful green and golden flies
born in the muck heap. Men Of position
very rarely sink to life of professional
crime II 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 headquaf-
/ tiers of all thieves of the upper class.
! There are dozen quiet little places where
/ the beer is coed, where they congregate
and plan their little excursions into the
] country. One can almost imagine q gang
/ Of burglars sitting down and mapping out
& route Just Ike the manager of 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
| eether, just al lot Of printers or tele-
| graph operators or shoemakers do. They
I exchange information as TO fences and
! hang outs and then when landing in a
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