Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1891-09-25
G0THAM'S WHARF RATS.
MEN WHO LIVE BY STEALING FROM
DOCKS AND SHIPS.

Plunder Hidden in the River.s n.a.
Thieves Who Are Expert Divers and |
Who Are Able to EIude the Police.
Selling the Loot.
A great city like New York contains
many people who live by violating our
laws, and these people are divided into
ODD groups, each having distinctive pur-
pose OF Its own. One Of these groups in
iests the water front Of New York, and
nowhere In our civilization can be found
more degraded class of criminals. The
members are known to the police and to
the watchmen on the ships as "wharf
rats" The title is certainly well chosen.
The wharf rats are expert swimmers and
divers and are as agile in avoiding the DO
lice as is any intelligent rodent in escaping
from the clutches Of cat. These men
and grown up boys live as criminals from
choice. They extract more happiness
from the theft of bag Of coffee or q coil
OF rope than the average person would
from Christmas present. II shot at
while stealing from ships cargo they
jump into the river, sink out Of sight and
come to the surface under the protecting
shade OF a wharf. II not wounded thew
take their experience as joyful advent
ure. IL wounded they rest ON the rafters
under the pier until night comes along.
when confederates take them away.
The most conspicuous of all the wharf
rats of New York is Buckshot Taylor.
He has carried several loads of buckshot
In his legs and back and one side of his
face is also disfigured because Of his un-
expected acquaintance with a shotgun
Taylor never steals rope or coffee unless
he is hard up. His speciality is the theft
OF bars Of lead. He is as wideawake as q
lynx after snowfall, and always knows
where to look for his plumber Taylor
will dive under a wharf and fasten an end
of thin wire rope to one of the rafters.
Then, with the other end in his hand, he
will sneak on board lead laden schooner
and fasten the wire to his plumber. An
other wharf rat keeps watch while this is
being done. If the coast is clear the loot
is dropped into the water, where it sinks
out OF sight. Then the thief, who is as
much at home in the water as on the
land, dives out of sight, coming up, Of
course, under the wharf where the wire is
fastened to the rafters. One of the heavy
bars of lead will net from 50 to "a at any
one of the junk shops which abound along
the river front. II Buckshot Taylor steals
two or three bars week during the
spring, summer and autumn months he
feels happy, for all he cares for is a little
food, plenty of whisky and constant
supply of tobacco.
CRIMINALS OF Low TYPE.
Buckshot Taylor is the best known OF
the wharf rats, but there are hundreds
who follow in his footsteps. AS a rule
they commit no greater crime than petty
larceny. The majority of the wharf rats
do their work at night and move about on
the water in row boats. Their speciality
is the stealing Of rope, which is an article
easy to dispose of to junkmen who dc
business with shipmasters. If chased by
the harbor police they abandon their boat
aud swim, under cover of the darkness, to
places of refuge under the wharves. Some
of these fellows makes speciality of using
giant augers, and boring through the
flooring of the docks and into the sugar
barrels that have been unloaded from
ships. They empty the sugar into bags
and then dispose of it when the opportu
nifty offers.
All these wharf rats do not carry theil
plumber to the stores along South ant
West streets. In some cases the plumber il
too bulky, and in other cases the whar
rats are too well known to risk discover,
by carrying the stolen goods in the street
Friendly junkmen fill this deficiency
There is a band of junkmen that goe
from wharf to wharf in boats and buys oil
stuffs from the captains of ships. Some
times these hlnkmen have something Il
sell in the way of rope, anchor chains AM
pulley blocks. The wharf rats await tn
coming of these juukmen, and in thei
Ia;r iart he -hap mol 10 THAR 90 10
of stolen property. One shipmaster buy
the rope and other stuff stolen fror
another ship, and so there is constan
demand by junkmen for the plumber oh
tanned by the wharf rats. These degrade
specimens of our civilization have yer
little courage and are of sneaky dis
! position Once in a while they Go a
honest days work in unloading boats, bu
,, it is only when luck goes against ther
, and when they must work or starve.
: THEIR METHOD OF LIVING.
In the summer months the wharf rat
sleep in row boats under the wharyes, c
in the daytime upon the docks. Not
, few of them who steal at night snea
: upon the summer excursions of local Sc
cial clubs, and when they are stupid fror
drinking beer sleep under the benches
. be found on all excursion barges. Whe
!. they find themselves penniless they swee
out the ginmills that line the river from
. and with the dime they get for their labc
. buy coffee and cakes. Others fish froI
the ends of the piers, and if they catch
!, string of fish have no trouble in obtainin
a quarter from the liquor store propri'
tors, who offer ''fine fish chowder" frt
as an inducement for 'longshoremen
spend five cents for beer or ten cents fl
II ! whisky A quarter of a dollar goes
: long way with river crook, for next
) the satisfaction of stealing he finds h
u greatest comfort in chewing the cheape
7. kind of tobacco. The wharf rats wi
have good fortune divide with their con
2, panions who have i'll luck. In this Wa
II the proceeds of days plumber will NAL
Sc a large number of the thieves happy.
IS The hundreds that sleep on the piers
ie summer have to find ten cen. lodgl1
z houses in winter Such of these as ha'
NJ not courage to pick pockets or steal fro
70 the stands outside of stores get a lit
II money in the winter by begging. 1t
X not easy to steal from the docks in {
winter. and so 80 per cent. of the wha
Sc rats have to exist as best they can un
r, the severity of the weather passes avn
e. and permits them to use the water a
es the under side of the wharves as aids
At their methods of thieving These wha
in rats have great horror of policemen, an
Ill even when not guilty of any recent erin
to keep away from the vicinity of the bl
coats. A few of the river crooks beech
professional burglars and in many cas-
sneak thieves. Many of them tire OF tn
" hard experience and ship before the mas
: ! -, =. ,,,t,ro1 parcantapa find death