The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1900-04-25
LEAD PIPE GANG
Police Capture Two Young
Thieves Who Have Been
Robbing Houses.
AN EASY WAY TO MAKE HONEY
Connolly Persuaded Osborne
to Join Him In Systemat-
ically Burglarizing.

The police have succeeded in breaking
up an organized gang of lead pipe thieves
who have been doing great deal of dam
age to property throughout the city. The
great number of complaints made by
citizens to the police of late to the effect
that lead pipe and sanitary equipments
have been taken from houses has an
noyed the authorities greatly. 1t was de-
cided to take drastic measures.
Every officer was instructed to exercise
great care and to be especially watchful
for this class of criminals. The first
especially effective results of the vigil
ence of the police came yesterday.
Chanceman Foley of the First precinct
police station, who has made an excel
lent reputation since he Joined the force,
arrested the ringleaders of the gang. They
are David Connolly, seventeen years old,
of No. Is Brunswick street, and Harry Os-
borne, or Osbohr, fifteen years old. Of No.
40l Montgomery street.
Both boys made confession that accuse
each other They also involve Neil
Brennan. of No. 2s7 Mercer street. From
the information given by the boys the
police feel confident that they have the
ringleaders in the series of organized
thefts. They are correspondingly elated
over the arrests which are considered
very clever. Chanceman Foley is COM
mended on all sides for his work.
Connolly and Osborne were arraigned
in the First Criminal Court, before Police
Justice Hoos, this morning, and held for
further examination on Saturday morn
ing. After their arraignment Captain
Cody took the boys into his office and
questioned them. Both made full con-
fessions of their guilt.
They told of visits to every section of
the lower part of the city, Lafayette and
Bergen. In all they have entered and
stolen pipe and brass fittings from seven
ty-four houses.
that he began cutting lead pipe and other
material which eould be disposed of to
junk dealers about a month ago. He was
taught TO steal by Neil Brennan, ne said.
They had system for working. The
first step was to go into the cellar OF
house at an appropriate moment and
sever the lead pipe that connected the
gas meter with the service pipe after the
gas had been turned off. Then all the
door locks and knobs were taken Then
every movable piece of brass in the
house that could be safely Reached was
unfastened and placed in bag. All were
taken out of the house and carried to the
junk dealers on Third street. The lead
pipe was sold to an Italian whose name
was disposed of to Junkdeoler Michael
Tuite, of Third street, they said.
Connolly also admitted that about six
weeks ago he sent in a false alarm of
fire from a box at the corner of Colgate
and Montgomery streets. After sending
in the alarm he ran away for a block
When the engines reached the corner he
went back to the scene and laughed at
the firemen.
Osborne's statements lead the police 20
think that Connolly is the leader of the
gang. He said that about three weeks
ago he was out of work after losing a
position which he held for week Con-
nelly met him and told him that an easy
way to make money and not work was TO
steal lead pipe from houses. He Joined
Connolly and the two have been working
together ever since.
When the box factory of Morris Diskin
& Co., in Florence street, was burned,
last Tuesday night, there was great
deal of machinery temporarily disabled.
The boys saw an excellent opportunity to
add to their incomes. They went to the
ruins and broke what machinery they
could find into pieces small enough to
be carried away.
This they sold as they did the material
stolen from houses. They were occupied
yesterday in stripping the ruins of metal
when Chanceman Foley saw them. he
Immediately placed them under arrest
The police are engaged in an effort to
discover the exact extent of the boys
operations. They are also trying TO locate
the men who bought the stolen property.