Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1891-07-31
NESTS OF CRIME.
INSPECTOR BYRNES ON CHEAP
LODGING HOUSES.
Many Of Them the Hauuts of Now
Hork's Criit,inal Classcs-Cascs
Where Criminals Have Been
Caught In Thorn.

vi ih'eStigatioh 10 ascertain, beyond
doubt, the nests which breed crime and
reek with immortality. The figures re-
vcalcd by the Health Department. in
spcctors presented the startling fact that
there are in this city now about three
hundred and fifty cheap lodging houses
which i'll one year furnished 1910, 600
lodgings, grand total of slecpcrs equal
to three times the Federal allowance of Il
CELSIUS for the metropolis.
These cheap room and bunk houses
differ i'll grade and carcfulncss according
to location, from the one cent floor
space in the Mulberry and Mott street
Italian quarters to the ten aud twenty
cent establishments in all sections of the
city. No questions are asked concern
ing responsibility or previous condition
and surroundings by the clerk on duty,
his sole duty being to exact and receive
money il advance or turn the pcnnilcss
victim over to the tender mercics of the
nble-bodicl "bouncer," who poses us
porter or night watchmnn.
Muny Il haplcss fellow ha, been found
on the sidewalk in front of Il Bowery or
Chatham street lodging house with
broken limb or split skull, thrown
down stairs or pushed toward the gutter
by cruel employee of cheap lodging
house.
a night in typical Bowery lodging
house reveals II terrible picture of the
dark side of human life in n big city.
Clustered about tables beneath dim
and ilickering light, scores of young fell
lows are reading or playing games, gen.
orally cards, or arc engaged in IN earnest
but quiet conversation. Many, perhaps
the most, of the inmates OF the long room
have retired for the night.
And what place to court sleep. In
big and cherries loft, packed closely
together on cots, with not only II sparsity
Of covers, but these look as if water had
not touched them for long time. A
foulcr atmosphere can scarcely he imng-
lncd, impregnatcd as il is with the vile
fumes of drunkards' brcaths while their
rawlings and snorings drive sleep from
other cots. Unable to sleep, men in
couples and trios dress and seek the hard
benches of the parks, where at least there
is pure atmosphere, and more than
likely pocket to he picked or Il watch
to be stolen.
"Chcap dsing-houscs, +" says Inspector
Byrncs, ''are Il rendezvous of crime, and
they exert IN uiwholcsomc moral in
tlucnce over every person Of previous
good reputation who, from motives of
economy, is forced to seek shelter there.
In nine cases out Of ten the man who
makes these places his home becomes n
thief or a burglar-if, indeed, he does
not sooner or later develop into MUIR
dcrcr. Hundreds of such instances occur
each year i'll the cheap lodging houses Of
New York City. The cheapest places
are the resort Of drunkards and people
OF the lowest type, and all of them are
infested with thieves, idlers and loafcrs.
More than one man has been made thief
in these places to my certain knowledge.
''Forcign thieves, of whom we have
no record, reach here by the way of the
Storage, generally with an assumed
name. They seek cheap lodgings ind
fail in with native criminals who hatch
crimes, select the locations for robbery,
and start the newly arrived stranger TO
do the job. Recently arrested young
man who had been engaged in the rob
berry of private houses uptown. In tell
ing the story of his life-for you know
these people have way of conlidiug in
me-hc told Inc that he was sent to this
country after being detected in thicving
operations ION the other side His pas
sage was paid, but his pockets were
empty, aad when he left Castle Garden
he had only IL few shillings.
ale sought house which the strict
est economy born of dire necessity sug-
gested, and brought up in cheap lodg-
ing house. He fel! in with crowd of
men of low instincts, most of whom
were thieves. They invited him on n
trip to sec the city, measured him up,
and finally set him to stealing from up
town flats, and he became n regular thief,
dividing the spoils with the men who
planned the jobs. This is not an isolated
case by any means. Visit one of these
establishments at night and from an OBJ
scurc corner make a careful observa:lo
of the surroundings, and you will be
startled at the sight, for any quick eye
may detect Il thief and his newly arrived
victim, who is trained to commit the
overt act, with the really guilty one in
the background.
The remedy for this evil in this city,
suggested by Inspector Byrncs, is the
enactment OF strong law to govern
lodging houses. He would have them
placed under police control, compel re-
cords and books to be kept, open Mt all
times to the inspection of the police au-
thoritcs. Another law he suggests is
that only person of good moral chnrac-
ter should be permitted to own or con-
troll lodging house, and he should give
bonds for faithful discharge of his
duties. In this way these nests of crime,
ms instituted Mt present under lax laws,
would be placed under the constont sur.
VIGILANCE of the police, and scores, if not
hundreds, of young men who are forced
to live cheaply might be rescued from a
life of crime. York W0rll.
Valuable Hint From Nurscryman.
~ have planted several thousands OF
In In IN,