The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1895-10-26
RAIDED BY TRAMPS
Citizens of Harrison Held
Up and Compelled to
Disrobe.
POLICE START ! ROUNDUP
Twelve Tramps Caught on the
Meadows and One Highway
man Identified.
START 4 ROUNDUP

Tramp ~highwaymen made a raid upon
the good citizens of Harrison last night,
and today the inhabitants are in a state
Of terror.
Between eleven o'clock last night and
three o'clock this morning no less thai
a dozen people We're held up. In every
instance the persons so held up were re-
lieved of articles of wearing apparel, and
in one instance an elderly German was
held up and compelled to remove every
thing he had, with the exception of a
suit of underclothes. After disrobing
the old gentleman the highwaymen beat
him into insensibility with the butt of a
revolver.
COMPELLED TO UNDRESS.
The first case reported to Chief Gala
han, of the Harrison police, was by
three men who were held up by three
knights of the road at midnight. With
revolvers at their heads they were COM
peeled to remove their clothes. They
were then allowed to depart. The three
men are described as follows, Two were
tall and one Short The latter was
dressed in a dark suit of CLOTHES and
wore a Ugh overcoat. His ~accomplices
wore dark suits and blue overcoats.
The Harrison police made a thorough
search Tor. the men, but to no purpose.
While they were looking for those
three, men were being stood up on all
Chief Callahan notified Chief Murphy
OF the occurrences early this morning,
ana fequeSted him to lend all the assist
ance possible in making a round up of
PRbPARING FOR A ROUND UP.
The Pennsylvania Railroad detectives
and special officers were sent out bright
and early to arrest every suspicious
character found prowling about the
freight or coal yards. Detectives from
headquarters were sent out and the re-
serve policemen of the First precinct
were ordered out in citizens dress armed
with black-jacks and revolvers.
The method of holding the people up
was enough to convince me that it was
the work of tramps." said Chief Murphy
MS morning. Further proof is fur
h M hs by the fact that they appeared
tramps are dangerous and residents of
suburban towns should be on the look
out for them now.
"The cold weather always makes those
iSiloWs desperate, and there is no crime
they would hesitate about committing.
The fist that ten men We're held up in
was an organized one"
Chief Callahan will probably adopt a
suggestion made Fly Chs. Murphy and
and have the town patrolled nightly un-
Il the tramps are driven away. The
Harrison police force is too. Small to
io INC idllpS WHO rendezvous In
the outskirts near the railroad.
DOZEN TRAMPS CAUGHT.
The men sent out by thief Murphy
We're divided into two squads, n in
charge of Sergeant Battersby and the
other in charge of Detectives Dalton and
keenan,. Sergeant Battersby and his
men went down West Newark avenue,
while the others went over the Black
bridge on Tonnele avenue and worked
their way up the tracks of the D. L. &
w. r. R., meeting Sergeant Battersbv
at the meadow shops. In the old Fish
House on the meadows they captured a
dozen tramps. One of them was recog-
nized as John Fl. Walker, a brakeman
on the Penna. R. r., as a tramp he had
seen mold up a young man at Monmouth
junction yesterday.
The young. man., who said he was John
Dempsey, of .Eighty-second street, New
York, was robbed of his watch by the
tramp, who threatened him with a re-
Thomas Gallagher, no home. The revol-
yer was found on him. Chief Murphy
telephoned the New York police this
AFTERNOON to find young Dempsey and
have him brought over to identify Gal
Chief Murphy stated this afternoon
that from this on he would wage war
against the tramps. A posse of police
men will be sent out twice a week and
all the tramps found will be arrested.