The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-12-26
A BURGLARS PHILOSOPHY.
CHOSE BURGLARY AS A CALLING
AND LIKES 1T, TOO.
Educated in state PrisOns-BaaI1
Breaker 9IOre Honorable Than
Bank Wrecker, Says This Expert
in House ThieVinw.

/ Breaker AOre Honorable Than
Bank Wrecker, Says This Expert
in House Thieving.
From the New York Press.
My friend the Burglar was angry be
| cause Mr.. Pei. the citizen who was once
bank wrecker." had betrayed" (as he
bank wrecker," had betrayed" ais he
worded iO Mr.. Dickinson, alias Mr.. Dean.
ex-convict. He clutched a newspaper and
/ tore it into bits while he said:
| 1 am Burglar. 1 chose my own call
| ing. mean to stick to it. 1 never learned
any other trade or profession. although I
am master of many trades-which were
| taught TO me in prison-and have pur-
/ sued in prison a long course of reading
and study. The foundation of knowledge
must be laid by reading, says johnson.
| II / were not a burglar l would now
| be an ignorant man. Why should l mourn
the years that have passed at the ex-
pense OF various states? In all my i'm
prisonments have had life and a we'll
regulated pursuit of happiness. In my In
tervals of liberty 1 have worked dilieent-
~ at my profession, and you know thar.
as Paley says, Every man hath his
work. The kind of work varies, and that
Is all the difference there is 'Succumb
to temptation as the parsons say. tasks
and my reading.
know more than any counter Jumper
VIII ever have a chance to learn-unless
! ne should err and become a scholar of
the state. know more than most cIerls
VIII ever know, provided they don't suc-
~" 70 Vhe temptation OF monkeyine-
! MN the accounts, and heaven forbis.
| mat they ever should. It's onlv we nro-
i ra,t io as VINO consider prison a normal
PSi Vi our existence. We count it ont,
] VI ne IlskS. The poor buffers who fair
VI err, as they call it, or 'succumb 10
doIl i{pIi.d.l1n, as the parsons say take il
I do not regret my choice of a nrofes-
SION; lhdeed, could not change h if 7
would. My prison training has made me
q d - EolhP,etent tailor, good shoemaker. a
| Ialr axleWorker and a passable stonecnt-
/ ter and quarter. Not one of these occnIIs-
uons would have me even at Japanese
Vases, l might take a new name again.
pet . ii .st nan a dozen names so far-and
| 80 d snow at one of these trades With
MhdI result! Well, you had a vivid eX-
ample in New York a few DAYS ago
| CO A man pays his time to the state in
S9lns sing. Having paid his debt, the poor
! ueEH Immediately returns to New York
anu goes INTO business down town-as hon
dor,1 d t HhlaIl. l care say, as lot of them
| 1oWn mere. lie means to be SQUARE How
| 40 know? I'll tell you. As he leaves Sing
| olhS ne gives the clerk his own real bona
/ sobod niaLIn inc name he went to Sunday
/ III
| IN the record alongside of the fake name
under which he served his time.
bo, " men ne Is living on the square and
peCohlnB Idlrly successful in business he
| walks along Wall street one day and runs
pump into highly respectable, prosper
Gus LOOKING individual-jOstles him by ac-
clueht; highly respectable turns around
anu glowers-recognition mutual Highly
| respectable has been in Sing Sing with
the other man dye see?'
For Cords sake, Pr, cries the little
! Anlaf 70 h.
state and is struggling for an honest liv-
ing, to the highly respectable man VINO
mas Deen pardoned out and restored to
cltlzehshlp, and is living, according to a
! newspaper man who saw him there, i'm a
| paiatal country residence For Cord
sake, don't tell I'm living here by my own
name-am married to a good wife and
! making good business connections and
am IN a fair way to do we'll If YOU gave
away my history it would ruin everything
mo go. Pardoned convict-palatial res
idence-squeals on convict that did his
| bit (servel his time) and was strugeline
to earn a living. Result, ex-eonvict skins,
People search high and low to find some
crookedness; No, not bit of it. That
man since his release has been on the
| square, as sure as my name is
Ha iha! | nearly gave it away that
time, didn't l.? Well, as 1 was going on
| to say, the other man, the highly respec-
| table, goes on living in palatial residence
and prospecting. Sounds like a bit of
Charles Reade doesn't it?
ANOWs without naming any names. be-
cause maybe it's unlawful or ubelous ar
/ something to name a convict that's been
| pardoned and allowed to vote, which Is
the bigger rogue, bank wrecker, or a
bank burglar?
And do you think that bank burglar
would have squealed on his prison ac-
! quaintance? I'd rather be an honest crook
! than crooked honest man, any day.
| Honesty is in its way, the best poliS- if
| it is honestly pursued; and croOkeqness
| is, in its way, the best policy, if il is
| honestly pursued.
This brings me back to the point that
L wanted (which l don't. My portrait
is not in Tom Byrnes' book-for wgich |
am truly thankful, because / wouldn't
want to get stuck in among a lot Of fakes
but II may be in certain picture ga
! lery of which he used to be curator.
| Whether or no, couldn't get a job-or
| at least | couldn't hold one-that l know
/ for sooner or later my record would be
found out. Why should an honest crook
| with an Independent profession and a
! practice depending on his skill crawl
around booking for employment, any
| how?
See yonder poor. oerlabord wight,
So abject, mean and vile,
Who begs a brother of the earth
To give him leave to toll,
! says Robert Burns, the great Scottish
poet. He was a farmer and an excise
| man, besides being a poet Humph
He starved. He could have done
a good deal better as burglar
! and would have had plenty of time for
| poetry. l know I've had, I'm a bit of
! a poet myself, you know.
"Why should l put myself in the class
| of miserables called by Burns 'abject.
mean and vile?' Thank heaven l have
never been AFFECT mean and vile, I'd rather
EVERY FAMILY