The times., 1899-12-03
What OFFENDERS FEAR
The ClriOus SuperStitiOnS of the
Average LawbPeaker.
Interesting Remfniscences at Detcc-
tive Hendqunrters-The Wicked De-
sist ON Fridays ana on the Thir-
tecnth Day of the MOnth-SOme
Things Regarded as Evil omens

tSShth oaS OF the mOnth-SOme
Things Regarded as Evil Omens
The day was Friday and business was
dull in police circles. There had been no
arrests Of consequence, and, in fact, very
few of even minor importance. Even the
usual quota of chronic petty offenders who
go to make up the monotonous grind of the
police routine was percepubly diminished.
There was APPARENTLY no reason for this,
unless the dormancy was attributed to
the beauty of the day conducive to a feel
ing of goodwill and happiness among the
ne'er dO-wells.
1t seemed hardly possible, however, that
such feeling existed among the chronic
offenders. 1t was moreover improbable
that they were dlsinclined to cause social
discords simply through a sense of mag
nanimity and not because of a fear Of the
tolls consequent upon breaches of the law.
Everywhere peace and quiet appeared TO
reign and that and the lack of business"
was the subject of comment among the
men at headquarters. The comment was
as to solution for the absence Of note
worthy offences, for no one appeared willing
/ TO vouchsafe an opinion for the scarcity Of
the small infractions. The comment was
followed by an interesting discussion be-
tween half dozen detectives with the re-
suit that one ventured plausible theory.
The day had been so absolutely dull from
police view that as it waned there was
4 general desire for something to break the
mOnotony. The opinion was that the day
tlF hoo -.
before the night closed something would
probably turn up. That opinion would
very likely have been accepted had it not
been for the fact that one OF the detectives
calculated, That's so; this is Friday.
Well, that settles it." Settles what? %
queried the telephone operator, emerging
from his reverie What has Friday got
to do with it?"
Friday an UnIucky Day.
well" answered one of the detectives,
the one who had called attention to the
day, Friday has all to do with it, accord
ing to professional thieves and those who
are familiar with their superstitions. Fri
day is regarded by thieves as a day Of
eyil-omeu, and no thief OF any standing
would dare to commit an offence on that
day, Thieves are a superstitious lot and
one of their superstitions is that ill-luck
will surely overtake them if they are guilty
Of any wrongdoing on Friday.
Let me cite you a recent instance.
Take the case of Louis Yaeger, who was
sentenced to serve twelve years in the
penitentiary. Yaeger is not a thief, but
he was convicted of a crime, and any man
with a criminal instinct is superstti0us.
! Yaeger was afraid that his case would be
concluded on Friday and he expressed the
belief that if such were the outcome. it
would go hard with him. He felt easier
when the case was brought to a teTmina
tion on another day. Then a motion was
fled for an appeal and Yaeger did not
I want that heard on Friday. Fate was
against him. however, and on a Friday the
motion was overruled by the court. Then
a sentence was asked for by the district
attorney and Yaeger's attorneys objected.
/ The man himself said he felt that it would
/ go hard with him if he was sentenced on
/ Friday. That it did you all know, as he
/ Will now have to serve twelve years at
! hard labor
4 Disastrous SafebreaIinE.
There was a silence for a few minutes
| after the detective concluded, and then
/ several instances of superstition Of thieves
/ were related 1t was brought out during
/ the discussion that aside from Friday,
thieves are superstitious about the 18th
| day of the month, black cats, red hair,
and many other things. Almost any old
! time crook will cite the instance of Charles
Mclaughlin, alias McLain, an expert hotel
/ sneak and all-around thief who worked in
! New York city in the early seventies. In
| 1872 he, a pal named Howard and two
other thieves planned to rob an Office in
! Brooklyn. The only date on which the
job could be done with profit and safety
was on June 49, On that day the cashiers
money drawer would be full and the office
| force would be small. All the crooks re-
garded the date obviously, and would have
selected another, with less prospect of sue
| cess, but for the eXpostulatiOns of Nc
Laughlin. So the raid was made on the
day originally determined upon. 1t proved
| a disastrous failure. All the men were
caught except Mclaughlin, who escaped
| through a window. Those who were cap
| tured were sent to prison for seven years
| each. Mclaughlin never had any good
luck after that. He was caught in the
| Westminster Hotel, New York loaded
with plunder and sentenced on a Friday,
I the 18th of the month.
There are a number of other anecdotes
| told by thieves TO substantiate their super
| stition about Fridays and the 18th day of
! the month, and one in particular TO which
they refer when their belief is ridiCuled by
| the police and others. The story referred
| 10 is that of Dan Kelly, a bank burglar,
who worked in and around Louisville. Ky,
during the early eighties. Kelly and his
| partner planned to rob a bank on the 18th
! OF December, and according to the tale
TOLD by the crooks Kelly was killed while
breaking into the safe and his partner was
! struck by lightning while making his es-
cape.
Warned by n Black Cat.
Black cats, blind men. and red haired
persons are generally avoided by thieves.
To kill either of the former is regarded as
the worst possible luck, and should blind
man or a black cat suffer harm at the
hands OF thief even though it were by
accident, the knight of the jimmy and drill
would not resume his depredatOus for sew
eral days. and then with many a nlisgiv-
| ing AubuTn-ha individuals are con-
sidered as persons of evil omen. and should
a thief encounter one while en- route to
| crack a safe ne would instantly abandon
his intention. Should he meet three red
haired persons in day he would be afraid
to work for week When a black cat
crosses The path Of a thief he will attempt
10 cut il Off and. failing, Will abandon his
contemplated robbery
In 1882 Frank Mccormack. James Leon
ord, Tom Fremont and Mike Duffy, safe
blowers who were making their headquar-
ters in Buffalo, went to LoekpoTt n. Y.
one night to rob a safe in the office of 4
Touring mill which stood close to the Cen
tral Railway tracks. 1t was an ideal spot
for a burglary because the noise of pass
ing trains would deaden the sounds made
while drilling and blowing open the safe
The quartette were passing through tht
railway yards about a. m. when a black