The Savannah morning news., 1901-12-08

the deadly weapons that can be car
ried with impunity, as the man who is
arrested with one in his pocket can al
ways plead that he was taking it to
the barber shop to be sharpened. The
only other class besides the negroes
which carries the razor as a weapon
is the hobo, or professional tramp. 1t
is the recognized arm of hobodom and
no tramp regards himself as fully
equipped for the road until he possesses
razor. Josiah t'lynt, himself a tramp
of many years standing, in his book on
tramp life instances a duel with razors
between two hoboes at a tramps re-
sort in New Jersey. in which one of
the contestants was killed.
John Chinaman rarely goes armed.
II he wants to do up" an enemy he
does not sally forth to look for him,
but with characteristic racial patience
sits in his own window and waits for
the victim to pass. When he passes
John drops a brick on him. or per-
chance a flower pot and legal prose
cution is unavailing. because John is
always ready to swear that he happen
Ell at that particular moment. and
by ill-luck CHANGED to dislodge the
brick or flower pot resting on the sill
In the contracted quarters of China
town opportunities to take advantage
OL tue INV Oh gravity are common.
Persons experienced in the ways of the
Chinese asserts that the habit OF wear
ing the pigtail coiled upon the top of
the head is not so much a fashion as
a method of self preservation.
Deadly canes, sNch as sword, dagger
pistol and loaded canes are character.
istic of the French, Spanish and Gu
ban residents in our cities, but these
weapons are seldom used, and it is
rarely that one of them comes into
the hands of the police. Those who
carry them invariably plead ignorance
of the law, explaining that they carry
the cane as a mark of caste. Other
nationalities do not Enthusiastically
carry arms. The Irishman fights with
the hands God gave him, unless it
happens to be his wife that he is fight
ing, in which case he takes the house
hold furniture. The Swede seldom
lights bp'3-when drunk he wilt use as
a. weapon anything that is within his
reach, from his pocket knife to an
AK, If he can lay his hands on one, and
he fights to the death. The Germans
and the Jews are peaceful The Greeks
are cowardly, and some of them carry
knives. The Armenians and Turks pre-
fer arbitration by their priests or by
law to open force. What few Japanese
there are herebauts will go far to avoid
trouble, but once having gone into the
encounter they fight like whirlwinds
and often with disaster to their OPP
ponents, as they are expert with any
kind of stick or blade, and also masters
of strange wrestling tricks that wrench
and dislocate joints. The native born
American, on the average, minds his
own business and keeps out of trouble
If he get into it, his hands are gener-
oil hi sIoIo HI
defense.
No list of weapons would be COM
plete without mention of the hatpin
Every policeman knows the dangers
Of this dagger, and is on the lookout
for it when he arrests or arraings a
woman of the streets. 1t is the weapon
par excellent of the prostitute. While
the prick with pin sounds inconsider-
able, it must be remembered that the
pin is six inches long, and that the
wielder of 1t aims for the eye. If it
goes true It may, pierce the brain and
kill.
What the police call freak weapons
, occasionally turn up in the pawn shops.
One of these is an ingenious combina-
ton of brass knuckles, dagger and
| pistol. so compact that it can easily
| be concealed in pocket. Another
| strange an formidable weapon, for use
at close quarters, consists of two short
scimeter-like blades, connected by a
wooden handle. The grip is between the
J blades, so that the wielder has play for
! his weapon on both sides of his hand,
; the curved and sharpened edges of
the blades being, of course, turned out
ward. In little shop in Boston recent
! ly a gentleman picked up a silver case,
curiously depressed at the center so
that it fitted to the grasp of his hand.
He CHANGED to press a very small
spring at the side of the box, and there
darted from the top of the box two
slender and extremely sharp daggers
which snapped into place by another
spring. At the same time little curv-
ed blade slipped out and fitted over
the knuckles in such a manner as to
not only shield them, but to present
a slashing edge for auxiliary use to
the daggers. So ingeniously was the
contrivance put together that in spite
of these unexpected occupants of the
interior. there was still room for half
a dozen cigars. Within a few
years a large department store in
Chicago sold in its harness department
the most effective leather life pre-
server" ever known to the criminal ele-
ment. Ostensibly the implement was for
another purpose. At that time Chicago
was infested with highwaymen, and
50 many of these life preservers" with
the mark of the firm were found in
the possession of suspects arrested for
holding up citizens that the police
finally put a stop to their sale. Few
metal knucl1les, black jacks, sand
clubs or life preservers" are now
carried, however, even by professional
criminals, as they are of little act
ual use; and it is probably that the
carrying of them formerly was in
spired more by bravado than from
any practical consideration.