The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-12-06
Special Correspondence

sharpers, William Carroll Woodward
has been brought to bay at last, anC
is now safely Gagged behind the bars
He is the last survivor of a very dis
tinguished group of expert crooks tina
used to practice in New York the diff
ferent shades of that great profession
of getting something for nothing, which
has engrossed the attention of a larg,
part of the human race ever since tht
earliest history of man.
MIR. Woodward, WHO is gentleman
of ripened mind, agreeable converse
tlonal gifts and pleasant nonchalanct
of manner, undoubtedly looks back will
feelings of tender longing and regret
to those palrny days when the expert
green goods, gold brick and short care
men were far more prosperous in world
ly matters and infinitely more conspic-
uous in the gay life of the town than
they are today. Optimists see in this
fact distinct evidence that the present
age is better one, morally, than that
of two decades ago, but people who are
really familiar with the tOWn-and not
one of these is an optimist-know that
there are just as many crooks in New
York as ever, and they are just as &C
tive as they were when Barney Nc
CURE was carrying on a wholesale
green goods business and backing one
of the most attractive and sociable lit
! tie opium joints that a bunco Steerer
ever smoked in. 1t is true the old
timers who are unwilling or unable to
accommodate themselves to the new
order of things, have disappeared from
/ the stage, but there is a new genera
ton which has found other channels
for the exercise of it's talent.
But the swindler of today is as infer
ior in point of dash and brilliancy to
his counterpart of a quarter of a cen
! fury ago, as a modern second story
man is to Claude Duval or Beau Bro
! cade. His operations, whether conduct
| ed on an enormous scale as one of the
component parts of G. corporation or
| syndicate, or in some such humble ca
pacity as that of a ticket speculator,
are totally devoid of those romantic
qualities which go to make up a sue
cessful stage hero. There is profit, for
example, in dealing in antiques which
are made in Jersey City and sold the
| next week in Fifth avenue-profit, but
no romance; and I can think of no
more commonplace occupation than
that of burying brand new furniture
from Cedar Rapids in a dung heap in
order that it may quickly assume the
worm eaten appearance that is sup
posed by credulous persons to be the
unmistakable badge of great age.
SUFFERING FROM ANTIQUOID.
AS a chronic sufferer from what I call
"antiquoid," / have come to learn
good many things about the methods
employed by the dealers in antiques
and curios, and my studies have served
to make me suspicious of everything
that lays claim to antiquity, with the
possible exception of the obelisk in
Central park, and certain jokes which
we have always with us. There are
more collectors of antiques and bric-a-
brac in New York than there ever were
before, and more dealers competing for
their custom, and yet the supply of
genuine old colonial furniture" and
"veritable sixteenth century, articles
is ineXhaustible, like that of the Goldfish
on the Grand Banks. 1 have often won
dered what ingenious man manufac-
lures the peculiar quality of mouldy
dust with which dealers sprinkle their
wares every Monday morning in antic-
ipation of the weeks trade. I have
noticed that precisely the same quality
of dust is used all over the town. and
that it is not quite as fine as that en-
ployed by the keepers of table dhste
restaurants to encourage the consump-
ton of such brands of wine as cost
more than 81 a bottle. There is an
immense quantity of dust used every
year, because every true collector would
rather have his antiques dirty than
bright and new, as they are when they
come from the factory.
PshaWi This modern sWindling of
hay makers and art collectors is like
a game of cats cradle in comparison
with the operations of Woodward and
his gang, and I for one regret the dis
appearance of the old-fashioned crook,
who had at least the virtue of being
picturesque and affording some ma
terial to a story teller or dramatist.
The subject reminds me of something
that happened some time ago within
the limits of what is now Greater New
York, that was so "Dickensy' in char
acter and color that I marvel to think
that it escaped, as it did, the pens of
those hundreds of eager Drained young
writer's who are always anxious to
find something that is worth telling in
story form. This story is worth tell
ing, although it will be seen that it
has not that news value" which is of
such vast Importance in the eyes of
every modern city editor.
THE EXPLOIT OF RED" KATE.
1T is now fully 20 years, believe,
since Red Leary, one of the most
distinguished members of a noted band
of criminals, was locked up in Ludlow
period of captivity which might have
lasted for a very, very long While if
it had not been for the devotiol of
his wife, Red Kate, distinguished in
various branches of shop lifting,
'badgering" and other crooked work.
The door had scarcely closed on her
husband before Mrs. Leary began
preparations for his rescue First of
all, she located the exact position of
his cell which was on the north side
of the jail, and then she hired, in the
adjacent house, the tenement that was
next to that cell and separated from it
by two thicknesses of bricks and NOR
tar. Into her new quarters she
promptly moved and among her effects.
were two or three instruments of
chilled steel of a kind frequently en-
ployed in those operations from which
her husband gained his livelihood
tackled the walls of her home, and
seen carrying out bags filled with NOR
tar and broken brick and deposfting
them in ash barrels, where they prob
ably remained until Warning took
charge Of the city. There came a day.
about a fortnight later, when the
keeper, making his morning rounds,
found Red" Leary's cell empty and
nothing but jagged hole in the wall
to show how he had disappeared. The
town rang with the tidings of Red"
Rates exploit, and there was a genuine
feeling of sympathy and admiration
for her that extended through all
classes Of society.
al;