The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1890-11-06
what Well Informed Otficer said
About Them.

what Well Informed Omcer SAID
About Them.
OF the petty rObberies, sneak-thefts ana
minor burglaries that occur in this city ana
Brooklyn at least 40 per cent are, L am told
by.a well-informed police officer, committed
by men who make their homes in the cheap
lodging-houses of these two towns. once IN
n while some man who commits crime
of the higher grade is run down In one or
other Of these herding places Of otherwise
homeless fel lows; but, as rule. the crlml-
nails that frequent them are OF the less dan
gerouS class. In commenting on TINS TACT,
nv police friend told what / regarded as 4
valuable suggestion to make.
" In my Judgment" he said, these lodg-
ing-houses should be placed under police
surveillance. II an oflcer were Gelaileu 10
each of the larger ores and enc 10 Two OF
more of the smaller establishments, oeieve
many petty crimes in these two great cities
might be prevented. 1t will probably be
said that if these thieves were driven from
their present quarters they would ma otherS.
l don't think So That is to say, don, be-
lieve they would find a new rendezvous mere:
They would be driven out of these cities and
forced to find Judgment somewhere else.
An officer would soon be able TO ind out the
habits of the dodgers in the house TO which
he was detailed, and ascertain what hours
they were abroad and their companlenslilps;;
Crooked people, as soon as they discovered
that they were under our surveillance, would
shake the dust of New York ana Brooklyn
from their feet"
My police friend had also something to say
about the alarming increase OF lncendlary
fires in this city and Brooklyn.
The ordinary motive for the commlS-
sion Of arson" he remarked, lis financial
one There are inceDdiary fires Tor which
there is no adequate motive, as in the case
of those started by the Brooklyn tirebugs
rcceutly which seem to have been Ignlted
purely in a spirit of mischief. But in nine
cases out of every ten investigation will
show that an incendaTy uses the torch for
purposes Of personal gain. A man starts
store OF some Kind, gets in little stock,
obtains an excessive insurance On his goods
and then fires his place for the purpose OF
collecting the amount of his policies. The
blame for this les, l thlnk, guile largely
The competition between these car
porations is excessively keen, and their
agents are perpetually on the hunt
for policy takers. When they find one their
Office is glad to accept the insurer, and in
many cases the insurance people iai 10
make as searching an Investigation AS they
should. The result is that the place IS over
insured. 1t will not do to say that 1t Is no
ones business if the less reputable COM
panies take hazardous risks and have alone
to suffer when they pay excessive insurance
as the result of an inceDdiary ire. The pubic
has a most pronounced interest IN this mat
ter. Human life is imperiled at almost all
of these fires, and public safety demands
that their number shall be reduced to
minimum. Reckless insurance companies
and hungry insurance agents should be
made to assume any share of responsibility
that may legitmately be chargeabie to
them. N. V Sun.