Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1892-06-03
stNoeAes our or VOGUE.

/ The Modern Highwayman ConsideTs
Tbem Too Antiquated for Use.
"You hear a great deal about
'sandbe@5ng just now" said Cen
tral static detective 1.-The sand
bag is no i,nger used by a profcs-
sional criminal; there are better
ways of robbing a man than by
knocking him over the head with a
weapon which, if found on the pos
sessor, would make it pretty hard
for him to excape the rough hand Of
the law.
THE sandbag, anyhow, is an an.
cient weapon. If the pounding into
insensibility of a victim is desired a
billy is far handler than a sandbag.
Nowadays the crooks carry as few
evidences of their calling as possible.
A vast number of them go entirely
unarmed AS for the highwaymen.
many of them have neither revolver
nor billy when pursuing their pecul-
iar business.
THE old, old system of garroting
is the favorite method in vogue, and
this is invested with certain modern
details The victim, instead of being
pounded into insensibility and hurt
so as to be permanently disabled, is
left with a temporary feeling of dis
tress, while the safety of the high
waymen is as assured 90 it was under
the old plan. The modern highway
men travel in twos, threes or fours.
Usually they go in pairs 1t is late
at night, well say. A street is al
most deserted. A pedestrian hurries
along. He sees ahead of him two
men, walking slowly, almost side by
side.
''As the fellow in a hurry nears
them they separate to let him pass
between. When you see this move
made you can gamble the fellows are
highwaymen. AS our friend passes
between them the man nearest him
throws an ann deftly under his chin,
and the grip on his throat prevents
any ou5cry. The other fellow
punches him in the bread basket
You know how a man feels when
he's hit in the stomach. In a minute
they have rifed his pockets, have
disappeared, and the victim, dazed
and distressed, is lying on the ground
recovering from the shock
"With an occasional variation to
suit circumstances this is the favo1ite
method of the highwaymen. A few
try the plan of holding a revolver
under a mans nose. Some still use
the billy, sneaking up to their vic
tim from behind. But they are
bunglers. If two men are walking
ahead of you, or are coming toward
you, and separate to let you pass be-
tween them, don't pass. Take the
middle of the street and be prepared
to run.
"When highwaymen travel in
fours they work this way: The quar-
tet stands at a corner waiting for a
victim. They see him in the distance
approaching Two of the crooks
walk ahead. The pedestrian, uncon-
scious of danger, walks after them.
Behind him fall in the other two rob
bers. The man is surrounded-two
crooks half a block ahead of him, two
half a block behind. This procession
is kept up till favorable spot is
reached. The men ahead slacken
their pace. Tie men behind hasten.
The victim is hemmed in. The
chances are that he will meet with
violence, for these fellows are des-
perate. They use a revolver or billy
and drag their victim into an alley if
one is near. 1t is bad trap to fall
into.
"a man who is held up generally
doesn't care about the valuables he
loses so much as about the slugging.
Some highwaymen are unnecessarily
brutal; the expert resorts to no need
less violence. ."-Chicago Tribune.