The age-herald., 1901-02-26
CHIEF AUSTIN IN
 ATALKATIVE MOOD Says His Crusade on Gamblers
 Has Been EffectuaI
DISCUSSES OTHER CRIMES
Lack of Sufficient Guards Makes Es- cape from Chain Gang Easy and Has Bad Influences
 on Criminals.

Chief Austin was in a talkative mood when an Age Herald reporter dropped into his office yesterday afternoon. The chief was engaged In looking over some pcperJ which had been referred to him for investigation, but found time to give the reporter a story
 Piled up on one side of the room were a number of poker tables and naturally the conversation drlfted to that subject.
 There are not so many poker rooms in the city now as there was a month ago." the chief said We make such frequent raids upon them that It Is diff cult for them to do business and it keeps their patrons away for fear of being ar rested. They may open for a day or two, or a few nights and run on the quiet, but we soon hear of 1t, and raid the deadfalls. The same may be said of the other gaming houses. Frequent raids make 1t difficult for them to do business, and some of them have closed out There are not many 'ropers' or ''cappers'' in the city now. Strangers, knowing that these places are liable to be raided at any time are naturally
 
 hanger-on of the gambling house can find no victims. and most leave the city for lack of business. But, we arrest these loafers under the vagrant law as soon as we find out their business There Is not as much gambling as there was a few months ago. These fellows cannot live off If each other, and as visitors be- come scarce, gambling naturally de- creases, and also the number of gam blers in the city becomes less.
 "No we do not have any large conn- dence operators. or what are called first class criminals. often When suspic- ious character appears in the city he is warned to take the first train out. Then. we have photos of criminals who are supposed to be heading in this direction, and we keep a sharp lookout for them Most of the crimes are of local nature, such as sneak thievery, small burglarias and the 'him-ham' game. There are no large brace operators in the city. The sneak thieves and 'fiim-ham' artists are mainly negroes. They steal from white people mainly, and work the 'him-fiam game upon their own people. 1nere
 
 ishment was more certain; or rather, if 80 many did not escape the chain gang. For instance: A negro thief is given a sentence of 1s0 days on the chain gang. He works two or three days and escapes. This is because of the small number of guards man with one trusty has to look after gang of twelve or fifteen prisoners There should either be moro guards, or each prisoner should be chained so that he cannot run.
 "In addition to our local criminal ele- ment." continued Chief Austin, We have an influx from the convict prisons. After the prisoners have completed their terms they drift to Birmingham, and about the first thing they do is to steal something after their arrival. As rule they are desperate criminals. with no desire to reform, and make great deal of trouble for the officers. But some effectual method should be adopted by the city to prevent the escape of pris- oners from the chain gang. AS long as they can escape so easily, sentences have very little effect upon them, and con- sequently they commit crimes more fre- auently, and with little fear of the law. Certainty of punishment, or of the sent ence being carried out would no doubt lessen the class of crime among negroes.
 However, considering this dsadvant- age and the overflow of criminals from the mines, Birmingham has a good rec ord compared with other cities of the same size, or even larger. We have only thirty-seven patrolmen, and the district covered by each officer is very exten- siye"