The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1899-06-19
THEC|TY'S TOUCHS
Gangs of Rowdies Make
Life Miserable for Those
Who Pass.
INSULTS HURLED AT WOMEN
Chief Murphy Says Police are
Breaking Them Up
Some Of the Old
Ones.

/ A gang of toughs ranging in age from
fourteen to twenty years, who make the
/ canal bridge at Communipaw and Gar
field avenues their rendezvous, have been
/ so destructive of late that the police
should make an effort to break up the
| gang. The crowd numbers about twenty
1t has existed for great length OF time,
| owing to the inability of the police TO
capture the offenders-more because OF
| the numerous hiding places of the boys
1 than the laxity of the officers.
Only last Friday evening picket fence,
extending from the property of the Zinc
| Works on Communipaw avenue to Wood
| ward street, was almost wholly demol-
! ished This fence enclosed what was for
merly a farm, but which is now almost
! barren soil The rails and pickets were
/ strewn about the sidewalks and street IN
great profusion, scarcely a dozen pickets
| being left intact. This was the work OF
/ the gang of rowdies.
| When not engaged in the demolition OF
| property they put in their time on the
bridge insulting pedestrians. Not in1re-
/ ouently are unprotected ladies subjected
| 10 the indecent utterances of these low
/ toughs. In fact the neghborhood is get
i ting SO infested with these ruftians that
/ women are afraid to cross the bridge
without an escort.
At Summit avenue and Grand street
another crowd of tough young men
amuse themselves by hurting vile re-
marks at passersby.
Still another gang congregate at Har-
/ mon and Grand streets in the evening
to make life miserable for people having
/ occasion to pass that way. Other gangs
| hold. forth at Sackett street and Com
mrnipaw avenue at Astor place and
| Monticello avenue, and at Jackson ave-
nue. and Forrest street. The pollce
! should make a determined effort to rid
these neighborhoods of toughs and par
/ ticuIarly pedestrians, especially the
| women. from the indecent and insulting
| remarks cast at them.
one or two members of the old gangs
| that some years ago infested certain sec
tio1ls of the city, terrorizing residents and
| pedestrians in the respective localities IN
/ which they held sway have made their
reappearance The gangs were effectual-
/ " broken up by the police and their leau-
| ers were sent to prison for long terms. Tne
returned men find it difficult at this stage
| of the city's civilization to gain followers
|
| crilninally inclined
| The superior street lighting facilities
and police signal devices have materially
assisted the police in breaking up gangs
that would have followed in the wake OF
the Lava Bed" the Bridge the
..Beach., the Hudson Grove" and other
dangerous bands of maurauders.
! Chief of Police Murphy said recently to
| a renorter for the 1.-The News :-''TheIe
| is not single noted gang OF toughs
| crininally inclined in the city. Every one
| of them has bene broken up and thelr
| leaders are dead or in prison serving long
| terms. The only trouble the people nave
| now with gangs are those composed oI
! half grown mischievous boys who con-
gregate at different places and greatly
/ annoy pedestrians by loud and filthy talk
The Sunday baseball gangs who congfe-
| gate on the vacant lots on the Hill are q
| some annoyance, especially to the resi-
dents over whose yards they climb fences
| when the ball goes over The police are
breaking them up
The old Lava Bed gang fiourshed
some ten or twelve years ago. Its
maurauding grounds were in the vicinity
| of First and Monmouth streets. It's lea
| ders were the Featherstones and the
| Hayslips. .sMule'' Featherstone is now
| in States prison. They used to hold up
| pedestrians and rob Pennsylvania freight
| cars on the trestle near the Point of
Rocks. Patrolmen Jack Dougherty and
| Nugent of the First precinct were princi-
pally instrumental in breaking them up.
The old Bridge Gang, which ten years
ago was a terror to residents and pedes-
trians IN the vicinity of the Jersey avenue
| and Grove street bridges, and pedestrians
along the tow path of the Morris Canal
is no more. ssBum'' Reilly headed this
gang. and years ago met the fate of al
such maurauders. Some Of his associates
were sent to prison. Others are dead. The
locality is now as safe for pedestrians at
night as any other section of the city.
The old Beach Gang flourished ten years
ago in the vicinity Of the Abbatoir, at the
foot of sixth street, and in the vicinity Of
the Central stock yards Many and bloody
were the battles between police and mem
bers of the mauraudng gang But the
gang was finally subdued and driven from
Its haunts the leaders sent to prison and
since then little has been heard of the
Beach gang.
CAPTAIN Kelly says the Second precinct is
free of dangerous gangs. Many of the
members of the old Beach gang came out
from the West. They came here on cat
the trains Some boarded cattle ships and
left for foreign ports. Returning, instead
of going West they would loaf around
awaiting another chance to sail for some
foreign port. Meanwhile they preyed upon
pedestrians, holding them UP for money
and would stop at nothing short of mur-
der.
The Hudson Grove Gang fourished
about fifteen years ago along the wooded
hill side in the vicinity Of Palisade av-
enue and Paterson plank road. The |
members would hold up pedestrians a'd
they made special prey of the Secaucus
gardeners and truck growers, robbing
them of the contents of their wagons on |
the way to markets. or their pocket moa-
ey on their way home. They would even
steal horses and COWS from adjacent pas
lures. make way with them and sell |
them. The late Captains Glenny, McNul- |
ty. ex-Captain Nugent and Detective
Douglass did much to break UP this mean
gang, and the hill is now safe enough |