River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1890-12-25
ROBBERY AND ARSON.
Where Sneak Thieves ami IncendiarIes
Come from.

Where Sneak Thieves ana IncendiarIes
Come From.
OF the pc ,ty robberies, sneak thefts
and minor burglaries that occur in this
city and Brooklyn, at least forty per
cent are, | am told by well-informed
police officer, committed By men who
make thejEbomesi in the cheap lodging
houses of these two towns.> Once in
awhile some man who commits crime
of the higher grade is run down in ono,
or other of these herding places of
otherwise homeless fellows; but, as a
rule. tho criminals that frequent them
arc of the less dangerous class.
'In my Judgment" he said. ''these
lodging should be placed under
police surveillance. IL an officer were
detailed to each of the larger ones and
one to two or more of the smaller estab-
lishments, ! believe many petty crimes
in these two great cities might be pre-
vented. 1t will probably be said thatif
these thieves were driven from their
present quarters they would find others.
/ don't think so That is to say. don't
believe they would find a new rendez-
yous here They would be driven out
OF these cities and forced TO find lodg-
ment somewhere else. An officer would
soon be able to find out the habits of the
dodgers in the house to which he was
detailed. and ascertain what hours they
were abroad and their companionships.
Crooked people, as soon as they discov-
cred that they were under our surveil-
ance, would shake the dust of New
York and Brooklyn from their feet"
My police friend had also something
to say about the alarming increase of
incendiary fires in this city and Brook
Ign.
THE ordinary motive for the commits
sion OF arsan," he remarked. lis finan-
.iaI one There are incendiary fires for
which there is no adequate motive as
in the case of those started by the
brooklyn firebugs recently, which seem
to have been ignited purely in a spirit
Of mischief. But in nine cases out of
every ten investigation will show that
an incendiary uses the torch for Pur-
r.osos Of yersuuaI 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 tho
purpose Of collecting the amount Of his
policies The blanc for this lies,
think. quite largely with the smaller
insurance companies The COMPETE
ton between these corporations
is excessively keen. and their
agents are perpetuallY on the hunt for
uolicy takers. When they find one their
Office is glad TO accept the insurer, and
in many cases the insurance people
fail to make as searching an investiga-
ton as they should The result is that
the place is over-insured. II will not
do to say that il is no ones business if
the less reputable companies take
hazardous risks, and have alone TO suf-
fer when they pay excessive insurance
as the result Of an incendiary fire. The
public has a most pronounced interest
in this matter. Human life is imperiled
at almost all Of these fires, and pubic
safety demands that their number spsu
be reduced to minimum. Reckless in
surance companies and hungry insur-
ance agents should be made to assume
any share OF responsibility that may
legitimately be chargeable to them y
y. Y Star.