The Washington times., 1901-10-27
The FAMED THIRD DEGREE
Some Noted Instances Wherein TIE
Mystic Ordeal Was Applied.

what 1t Means and How 1t Is 0pcrnt
cd-Origin of the Tcrm-The Art Of
Forcing Confessions From Crimi
nais-InspectOr Byrncs' Methods.
Potential and mystical is the term
| third degree" as used in police parlance
To the average mind. the term is famil-
| lar only as applied to a degree in secre.
societies, particularly In Masonry, where
when 1t has been taken by a member of
the Masonic fraternity, it means that he
has gone about as high in Masonry as he
can go, so far as the actual work of the
order Is concerned. Higher degrees mean
higher social planes in the order and tend
TO indicate mans standing in the COM
munity. rather than a deeper knowledge
| of the work OF the order itself.
But when 1t is used in connection with
| the arrest of a criminal, 1t means the
| limit of police examination of an indiYid-
| ual One frequently reads of So and So
having been arrested by officer Blank and
| taken to the precinct station house, and.
| later. of his being taken to police head
quarters and put through the third de-
gree
/ 1t really is a third degree in the ex-
animation of a criminal.
The first degree" is given when he is
| examined by the officers in a precinct
station house. The second degree" gen.
| orally means his examination by a detec-
| tive from headquarters at the police
court. The third degree means the big
| examination given him at headquarters
| by the chief of the detective bureau and
| whatever subordinates he may employ in
| the operation, when the case warrants it.
The term had it's origin in police par
| lance some time back in the early six
ties, when the old Leonard Street station
was to the city something like what the
''Tenderloin' station now is.
A man by the name of Brunt had stol-
en- lot of valuable bonds from the firm
! by which he was employed. After the loss
of the bonds Brunt had been arrested
purely on suspicion. While the police felt
sure in their minds that Brunt had com
mitted the theft, they had no actual eyi-
dence. Brunt had influential connections.
and was released on a small bail. Almost
| Immediately after his release on bail,
stronger evidence appeared. which war
ranted Captain Jordan, who was in COM
mand of the Leonard Street police sta
tion, at that time, to have Brunt rear
rested. Brunt was put in one of the old
die of August, and quite warm enough
for anyone, even in the cool shadows of
the old Jail. But Jordan had a big old
fashioned egg stove erected in the cell
where Brunt confined, and had a
rousing fire made. The stove was kept
at white heat, jailer was put in charge
to see that Brunt did not interfere with
it. To Brunt's many enquirieS as to
rrb IL
dan called on him one afternoon when the
temperature was moving way over the
100 mark, and told Brunt that the tenn
perature would be kept at about that de-
gree until he decided to confess, tell all
he knew about the missing bonds, and
save the police and persons who were
prosecuting the case any further trouble.
Brunt held out for three weeks. in which
time he had lost about twenty-five
pounds, largely as a result of perspira-
ton When he reached the stage of ex-
haustion where he felt that death was
about to move in and become his cellmate,
he weakened and told all The bonds
were quickly recovered, and owing to the
lack of any evidence. except that which
Brunt himself had given. he got Off with
a light sentence
The case at the time attracted a great
deal of attention, and newspaper writer,
in describing the case simpfified the gen.
eral description of the events from the
time the stove was set up until Brunt
confession as a period during which he
took the third degree" Since that time
the term has proved popular as applied
to police affairs, and, while used in many
ways, has a concrete Significance to those
familiar with what the third degree
really means.
Here is an instance that will give the
reader a comprehensive idea of the pro-
cedure and actions on the part OF the po-
lice designated as the third degree
On January q, 1857, Capt. Butch" I'm
ger had a quarrel with his roommate, Au-
gust BohIe. The men had been drinking
in their room at 2 Ridge Street, and
uuarreIed According to fingers state
ment Bohle, who had been sharpening
tig. wicked looking knife. rushed at him
after some statement made by Unger, and
attempted to stab him Unger said that
at the time he was fixing the fire in the
stove and had poker in his hand. When
BohIe rushed at him, he defended him.
self with the poker. Both men were pow
erfuIly built and a desperate struggle en-
sued the result of which was that Bohle
was simply beaten to death with the
poker Unger used as a weapon. When
it dawned on Unger that he had killed
Bohle he moved the dead body into a
small side room and set the scattered fur
nishirgs to rights so well that when I'm
gers son. who lived with the two men,
returned home that night he saw nothing
amss.
When the son left the house the next |
morning Unger set to work with the knife |
that Bohle had sharpened and cut Behie's |
dead BODY into seven different pieces, and |
hacked them in trunk. There was room |
for everything in the trunk but Bohle's |
head. Unger wrapped the head up In OIL |
cloth and paper and dropped 1t into the |
East River He then went back TO the |
room. had the trunk taken to an office OF |
the Adams Express Company in Brook |
lyn, where he had it shipped to Balti-
more. Almost Immediately friends of |
Bohle began a search for him. which was
soon taken up by the police. The records
of the case show clever work done by the
detective department, which Immediately |
scented murder on January Y, six days
after the murder, Unger was arrested on
suspicion by Sergeant Mclaughlin and
Detective Sergeants Crowley. FriI.k. and |
Won Gerichten. He was taken to head
quarters and questioned. Unger was
stolid thicli-necked, surly German. and |
the first examination failed to elicit the |
least thing from Uuge: which would tend
to incriminate him.
The famous old veteLan of police work.
Thomas Byrnes, was in charge of the de-
tective bureau at that time. and there
was no doubt in mis- mind as to Unger be-
ing the trtIiltv .zIrty IL Bohle had been