Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-08-03
Ways TO ROB
FASHIONS CHANGE IN CRIME Al
MUCH AS IN DRESS.
YALE LOCKS REQUIRE JIMMY,

6N.s y
Skeleton Keys Will Not Work With
Them-0reatest Change Il in
Safe Breaking.
"Styles in thievery change as they do
IN fashions" said Chief Of Detectives
Hazen at police headquarters. The vet
who has been a police officer for !
90 years or more. was discussing the
latest and most dangerous class OF GRIM
tnals, the young men and women of the
Polish and Russian quarters in New
York. THE new thieves are smoother
than the average American or foreign
thief. They know the value of goods,
and ave organizations for the deposit
and sale of the plunder. The arrest of
the young fellow Moses last winter for
robbing Biedenbender's glove store, Op-
tician Prime and Evans Brothers hard.
ware store developed this last fact. One
of the fences was out In a little town
in Shelby county, Missouri, named
Shelbina, where his brother was q sup
more of it was in New York. " '"~n 1t
was recovered by Chief of Detectives
George McCluskey of the New York de-
partment. This gar had a regular
system of interchange of booty. stun
stolen here went east, n swag from
ois Lou1S was oio ASASs
the stores Moses committed fiat bur-
glary. Twenty or 80 years g a crowd
from the same quarter in New YORK USED
to operate in the West. but in a LITER
ent way. M that's why I say fash
ions change in thievery. In those days
it was the false key racket that obtained.
The new-fangled Yale lock, with It's HAT
key, saw teeth and f1uted body, a
knocked out duplicate keys, outsiders
and skeleton keys. In those times stores
49, H. --Nr @-l - h~n cC E0yy RI iii
it that was a foot long and weighed a
pound or two. That kind OF fastening
was simply pie and milk for the thi""as.
One racket was to go early In the morn
ing to the store picked out to be looted
just after the porter arrived. The cracks
, went in pairs. One engaged his atten-
ton while the other, with a hunk OF
beeswax or putty, got an impression OF
the key. A duplicate was made and at
opportune times they would enter the
store and weed it. BY that ! mean
they would take only a small amount
! of goods-a bolt or two of cloth or
silk, or a gross or two of gloves. In time
the proprietors would grow to suspect
their. employees, never thinking OF out
side thievery.
line was Jimmy Gallagher, a pompous
! old robber, who was known as Captain
Green. The captain was an artist In h.
line. Once I arrested him and he was
| sent to Baltimore to serve along term
| After he got out he was sent back here.
| One day before the war l found him pa
| rading along as proud as a turkey cock.
II nailed the captain and he began to
whimner about my cruel treatment OF
him. Back IN to that WALL said,
and let's see what you've got He
didn't want to but he did. and I pulled
| out two or three pieces of beeswax, all
nicely indented with key impressions
! He had been out prospecting. His game
was to go to a new house or store ane
pretend to admire the work going on
Then he would get the impression OF tht
front door key and make a duplicate
to be filed away for future use. Wher
the house or store became occupied NJ
would drop around and help himself
or get somebody else to do 1t. n oil
scoundrel used to rent out KEYS Tor
percentage of the plumber secured. Blu
you don't hear of false keys much an.
more. Now and then a thief will hav
them, but they are usually for ansld
: work. Entrance must be made by usin,
: a Jimmy on the door or window.
| II got into the detective bushes
through a false key trick. One da
while a natrolman I saw a fellow jun
i on an Adams express wagon, put NJ
> hand on the safe and Jump off agar
I knew him and also knew he was n
good. He did not try to AXE anyth1n
and of course couldn't be arrested. b
I kept a watch for him. In those day
the wagons had no rear guard.
A week or so afterward saw M
Jumper in the same neighbofhood. dow
" around the Little Miami! depot, and
# ran him in for vagrancy. AT the static
he was found to have a peculiar lookln
kew, I took it and walked over to tt
office of Alfred Gather, superintende
of the Adams Express ompan Layl1
- it down on the desk l asked aim what
was: 1,v ,t,s , .ev to our messeng
safes. Where did you get it? he gaspe
as he looked it over. When l told M
he almost turned white. h prison
afterward confessed that the day
jumped on the wagon ne secured an ~ :,
preston of the lock, and by Watchl1
3, around got a good look at the regul
y KEYS, From the wax impression
IT. got the size, and from his observatit
Ia the character of the key guarn Tn
" he made the duplicate and intended
use it at the first opportunity. N
Gather not long afterward gave =
position of detective to me and l Y
with the company many years.
"Styles do change in the robbing III
lg Fake bank cracking. twenty years d
r it took a wagon load of tools TO open
r. safe-and a good big wagon. too: Tn
were drills, sledges, sectional jimm,
ID and blasting powder. Then came !
i'll drill and pressure screw. NOW a 1es
as manor tramp, will carry a few IL
al steel wedges. a cake or soap anu 9 ~ =.
IN tie of o-glycerine in an outside po:f
a. and he will tear onen the stoutest -
tn IN an hour. Pickpockets used to ia
everything they found on a 'ictim,
he pecially watche; now they won't tou
he anything but T~ands and mon
Why? Because il caught they can sW
80 low a diamond and no man can swear
money. Once they used to get a drunk
man into a den and sandbag him
sleen in order to rob him. Now IN
give him the Knockout drops III a 81;
of whisky and do the same th'ns M
neatly and completely. n hsAt'
wonder?"