The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-11-10
A YALE sTAIRCAsE.

OF. the present charge against him. II he
is IT will end his career as criminal
for be- is much too old now TO live out
the long sentence which conviction III inif
case Is sure 10 bring him. with the per
maucnt Imprisonment or death Of sym
blrn one OF the most remarkable crimlnH
careers Of this generation Will come 20
an end Other bank burglars have per
hnps. saiaed more notorcty than tHi4
veteran. but the police Of two continents
agree hat up 10 the present time the SIKH
oil MARK Shinburn has never been equal
H. by another crook. His history, most
OF which has never been printed, Is the
story of 4 man fitted by nature Tor any
trade or profession IN which mechanlcai
genius H. needed, who fell while q young
man into the clutches of criminals lie
has directed more buralar.es, stolen more
money. and spent less time in jail for II
than any other criminal living, and, de-
spite the fact that be is now over Sky
years Of age. he is skill rated as a dan-
gerous man by the polce- NO better
evidence OF the sOGndness OF this opinion
or the part OF the authorities is needed
than the fact that Shinburn. when arrested
I'm this city twO months ago. was busily
engaged in cleaning and preparing Tor
use u complete kit OF burglar toois'
Shinburns steaiinss during his HE are
and securities. almost all OF when was
taken from the vaults Of banks protected
by the most modern of burglar-proof con-
trivances. Neither burglar alarms nor
hurplar-proof safes ever bothered Shlh-
hurn much. for when the safe-maheTs all
manage to turn out locks which Dalicu
even his skill, ne introduced the RISKY
bur effective method OF blowing them our
With dynamite. Shnburn was the HIs'
bank burglar to use dynamite on I" sale'
ana ne also enjoys the distinction OF nav
ing MANUFACTURED the first set OF por,aDle
h,rglar's tools ever made. I'm addiiloh
70 marvellous mechanical skill. Sninpurh
had the useful quality Of fearlessness,
and his courage and GOODNESS nave saFeu
him many year In prison.
He came 70 America when he was 10
years old. and even then he was an ex-
pert mechanic. He worked with his IA
Their. a respectable old German, for year
and then fell from grace He lost some
money IN a Spring street faro bank and
for months haunted the place, betting
every dollar he could lay his hands on III
nm endeavor to get back his losinss Dat
he only succeeded in increasing ms loss
es AT about that time George Bliss and
"Fairv" Mcclure. two noted cracksmen,
we're Matching up a scheme TO loot a bank
I'm New Jersey, and hearing OF Shinburn's
skin as a locksmith. inveigled him .nto
Joining them. The job was a complete
success. and from that dav Shlrburn nas
been a crook. In his next job he had
as partners piano Charley" Billiard and
big Ike" Marsh. and later he worked
with such notorious men as Little
Adam" Worth. big jim" Brady. Ned
LYONS, Jim Mccoy Wooster SAM Per-
MS. Rory Simms. Billy Maher. Tom Ken
Won. and score OF lesser lights. To
these people Shinburn was valuable ac-
ouisltion. The best OF them were crude
mechanics beside him. and his genius
made every job he went into almost an
assured success from the moment it was
manned. Shnburn's apprenticeship last
od about two months, and ten, selecting
Bliss and Mcclure as partners, he shook
of the rest OF the gang and rarely had
ANYTHING to do with any OF them after
xsrI. Years later when Mcclure died
ana Bliss was sent to prison. Shnburn
employed what he called amall-fry crooks
10 assist in his big burglarIes. but he
never made coniiants Of any and never
employed the same man twice.
After forming An alliance with Bliss
and Mcclure. Shinburn entered the "ni-
nlov tf the Lilly Safe Company ana
under an assumed name worked with
than for some months. The Lilly safes
were In almost universal use then, and
Il was with the idea OF studying them
that Shinburr went to work for the COM
pany. The most important discovery he