The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1895-09-20
IN A DEN OF THIEVES
Detectives Discover a Band
of Burglars in a Car
Near Snake Hill.
ARRESTED AFTER A HARD FIGHT
The Leader Of the Gang Was Sus-
pected of Assaulting Miss Bar
roWcliffe-Much Stolen Prop.
erty Recovered.

erty recovered.
George Ennis, the leader of a gang
of thieves who have by their depreda-
| tons terrorized the residents of all. the
| suburban towns on the Erie. and Della
ware. L-ackawanna and Western Rail-
roads between Jersey City and Middle
| town, N. Y, is in custody at Police
Headquarters. His head is bandaged up
| and his eyes blackened. They are evil
| dence of a desperate struggle he had
with Detective Dalton at the time of
his arrest.
He is a dangerous character, and be-
! fore he would submit to arrest, Dalton
had to club him until ne cried for quar-
ter. While Dalton was battling with
Ennis, Detective Doyle was having a
lively tilt with James Freehill, an ac-
cemplice of Ennis. Ennis and Freehin
were captured in the gangs rendezvous,
a cave near "Black Bridge" on the
| Hackensack Meadows, out near a
Hill, within a few hundred yards of the
main line of the Delaware, Lackawanna
and Western Railroad.
About four weeks ago Chief Murphy
was appealed to by the police authori-
Ties OIL SuDuIDdH lOWnS " ~
in locating the thieves who were plum
dering houses in their respective towns
and battling them in every respect.
The chief detailed Detectives Dalton
and Doyle on the case, and they imme-
diately began to keep a close watch on
the depots and terminal yards of the
Erie and Delaware. Lackawanna and
Western railroads. The robberies con
+in,,aI in tho TnurpS aha tpd The de-
tectives worked day and night. and fin
ally learned tina George Ennis had been
seen frequently on the Hackensack
Meadows. near the BLACK Bridge" sur
rounded by a pretty tough looking lot
of customers.
THE THIEVES LOCATED.
The detectives knew Ennis and knew
his record as a thief. They determined
to watch him. Sunday they located their
man and his gang. They decided not to
arrest him until they could get some def
mite information. They kept the gang
under surveillance. and from converse
lions they overheard and plans that were
being laid. they arrived at the conclu-
sion that Ennis was the leader of the
gang and that the men about him We're
the ones who had been terrorizing sub
urban residents.
The detectives went to the rendezvous
on Tuesday determined to take Ennis
and any others who might be with him.
1t happened that Freehin was the only
man with the leader.
After the desperate struggle previous
ly referred to, Ennis and Freehill were
removed to the Third precinct station
house and subsequently to Police Head
quarters for safe keeping. This morn
ing the Chief took Ennis into his private
a confession. Ennis was at first in
enestion III SIC IL r a9aarRs, 4 am f pipchedi
You are on and 1 guess I may as wen
without further delay he made a con-
fession to the effect that he was the
leader of the gang. that. had committed
police of Passaic. Rutherford. Arlington.
Middletown, N. 7. Ennis at this time
CHEZ CHEZ Murphy in + looked u1r'if the I police pec-
had been arrested on July Is by Sergeant
BattersbyA Ct fhs Third PTsejRsFI
shotgun and a silk umbrella in his POS
tGasl0f that I he h p9pc eom aniiReedfs a b at fhas
but they were unable to find an owner
for the property. As a precautionary
for a period Ri Of thirty days. -
During his imprisonment the roDberies
Stacked up a little bit. but Ennis de-
cares HOW tHdt the gang reiHdiieo &C
where did you get the gun and I'M
brella you had in your possession when
I'VE b~urglarized the house of Theo-
dore Holmes on Midland avenue. Airing
ton got them there" ,,,,,
and a quantity of silverware We're stolen
but Emms declares that ne could rpt
carry them away without being dsteet-
exception of the gun and umbrella. was
removed to the RENDEZVOUS Of the gang
ana a;noa ni i aeher IN m a 1belgn IF f ihe n mt n s Mera
able to go to New York and pawn them.
The method Of operation Of the gang
y explained CLAIM to by Ennis snnar,te, vhe ard w9 9lri
that h / iooRsdd as though they hight con-
various houses the location Of doors and
windows would be obtained and at night
the houses to be burglarized, would be
or three would enter the house and pass
other member of the gang:
It was removed at once to a place of
hiding. and perhaps three or four days
later carried to New York and pawned
or sold to people in other towns. The
About the first of July a iewelry store
in Passaic was entered and a large
quantity of plated silverware and a
number of banjos, violins and guitars
stolen.
on July 4 two houses in Rutherford
were entered by the gang and a rich
haul made. One Of the houses was oc.
cupied by a policeman. Two suits of
his clothing, his revolver and a black
jack and a lot of ten and twenty-five
cent "shin plasters" stolen. The black
jack. revolver and money were carried
to Steve Brodie's saloon. on the Bowery,
New York. and are there now among
the curiosities. When asked why the
noliceman's revolver had been stolen,
Ennis replied thai it was a dangerous
weapon, and he took it for fear some
of the gang might stumble over the house
at some future time.
The Chief this morning notified the
police authorities of the various subur-
han towns where robberies have been
committed to meet him at Police Head
quarters. The object was to learn when
and where robberies had been commit
ted so that a full confession might be
obtained from Ennis. Detective Smith
is to be assigned to recover the stolen
property as soon as proper descriptions
are obtained. The Chief does net ex-
pect to recover more than one-third of
THIEF or 4 DANGEROUS TYPE.
Ennis was born in "Shinney Park
near the Five Corners, this city. He
was such a had boy when only eight
wears of age that he was placed in the
Hudson County Aims House.
He effected an ESCAPE from that insti-
49, ~ <l,n, urofxra Iroo > g oro or,7