Evening star., 1902-03-22
CRIME IS INITIATIVE
Instances to Prove AlienistS'
Theory of Suggestion"
FLORENCE BURNS CASE
FOLLOWED UP BY NUMEROUS
SIMILAR DEEDS.
How the Big Hotels Suffer From
Thieving by Well-to-Do
Guests.
FLORENCE BURNS CASE

NE" IONh NhdICu IL, lsvS-
AlienistS, we'll as laymen of an observ-
ant turn Of mind, have for a number Of
years observed a peculiar sequence in
crimes strongly resembling each other here
in New York. For instance. since the
pretty and iron-nerved Burns girl was ar
rested on the accusation of having shot
her sweetheart to Death as he slept, New
York women have been killing their hus-
bands Off with extraordinary prodigalty,
as If husbands were to be found every
bush.
Since Florence Burns was first pictured In
| the yellows as she tripped over the Bridge
of Signs leading from the court building to
the Tombs the girls have been throwing
carbolic acid, vitriol and such at the coun-
tenances of their delinquent beaus, while
numerous married women have been hurl-
ing blazing lamps, gasoline stoves and such
bijouterie at their husbands.
There can be no manner of doubt that
crime runs in StreakS in New York. When
crime of an unusual character bobs up and
is exploited in the New York newspapers
other crimes of similar character are Al
most certain to occur upon the heels of the
first one.
A Season of Pyromaniacs.
Last summer a queer lot of pyromaniacs
had New York, and particularly the flat
anu tenement uWelcfS tueIeOl, tuOIOuStlly
scared. A young East Side degenerate was
eventually caught In the act Of touching
match to stack of oil-soaked waste which
he had deposited in the vestibule of a down.
town fiat building. He naively explained,
when asked what his idea Was. that he en-
joyed seeing the smoke and the hame ana
the excitement He was sent away TO an
institution where he will be engaged in
sorting over convicts' wearing apparel in
the prison laundry for quite number OF
years. But the attempts at incendiarism
by no means ceased with the retirement or
this ingenious youth. AS matter of fact,
they increased in number. Plainly, the i'm
pulse to enjoy the spectacle of smoke and
flame and excitement had been stirred In
other bosOmS by the case of the original
pyromaniac. The police finally rounded up
half dozen dangerous individuals suffer-
ing from that species of nervous disorder
which causes it's victims to banker to de-
stroy with fire. and they were all snugged
away in upstate correctional establish
ments
New Fad Among tha Firebugs.
Then new fad broke out among the
fire worshipers still loose. They began to
drop lighted tapers into post boxes on cor
ners and into mail boxes in fiat building
vestibules. There was something SO vi
ciously and unnecessarily wanton in this
scheme that the police were of the opinion
that only one Individual could possibly be
engage in it, But they found four of
them in widely-separated parts of the city
when they put the drag-net out, and one of
them was a measurably good-looking
young woman who pursued the innocuous
avocatiOn of typewriter. The young wO-
man wriggled out of her trouble because
she had winning ways and such a nice.
sweet, candid face. but the three male let
ter-hurnerS were quickly bestowed in plants
where everything they will be permitted TO
handle for long time to come Is of
non-combustible character.
The alienists say that all of this sort of
thing Is direct result Of suggestion" A
weak and criminally-inclined mind is ap-
pealed to by the crime, particularly the
unique crime. of another of the same sort.
and the experts say that the predominant
trait of the mind that has natural ten
dency to crime is imitativeness. They go
far toward proving their case by their gen.
ordinations on the subject of suicide in this
town. If one old, worn-Out, starved man,
minus home, family, friends. work. every
| thing. hangs himself to the transom of his
garret room. the papers for days and weeks
afterward are filled with accounts Of old
men, similarly situated, doing away with
themselves in exactly the same way. They
read or hear of the first case. and they
promptly arrive at the conclusion that sus-
pension by the neck from transom is
about the only possible thing left for them.
Suicide by Gas Fad.
A deserted wife arrays herself in her
wedding gown. stufrs up all the cracks in
doors and windows, writes a pathetic note
o! farewell. turns on the gas, and lies down
OH the bed In her poor fnery to die. Then
follow numerous other sad-hearted, desert
ed wives, who deck themselves out in their
faded nuptial garments and die in the same
manner. A young woman takes carbolic
acid In the presence of her sweetheart to
spite him." Other young women do the
same thing for days and weeks afterward.
Whenever a man jumps off the Brooklyn
bridge for the purpose of making away with
himself, the bridge police are particularly
on the alert for long time afterward. for
they have learned by experience that one
case Of this sort is inevitably followed by
many similar attempts.
So that there is perhaps a good deal in
this suggestion" idea Of these learned per-
sons called alienists. But there isn't much
room for doubt, either, that a good many
Of the crimes that fill the newspapers of
New York are attributable to the craving
for notoriety on the part Of those commit
ting them. 1t seems incredible that there
should be so many Individuals men and
women, willing to take chances on long
terms OF Imprisonment, If not, indeed in
the electric chair for the foolish sake OF
getting their pictures into the yellows to-
gether with long, maudlin and more or less
garbled accounts Of their personalities: yet
1t has been proven time and again that the
hankering for this sort of ephemeral motor
iety has been the only discoverable insti-
eating motive for some OF the most remark
able crimes in the police annals Of New
York. Some of the suicides, even, betray
their overmastering desire to be talked
about In print by their careful method of
sending their long explanatory statements,
often accompanied by their photographs, to
the press before they do their shufiling or.
It's hard to perceive where or how the sui
cides get any fun out Of this mode of pro-
cedure, but that the dominating idea of
some Of them has been to project their
personalities into the public vision is un-
questionable.
Tendency to Crime in High Life.
While on the subject Of criminal ten
dencies. il one were to mention today that
subject to certain ruined chef who now
prowls lugubriously around New York,
broke to the last soumarkee, he would
probably tell you that. In his opinion, all
Americans. men and women alike, are GRIM
inals, and that those of position and wealth
are probably considerably more cruel and
hardened criminals than the members of
the great unwashed. And. beyond the per-
adventure of q doubt, this same busted
chef would have the most perfect justifica-
ton for giving expression to such a view
This erstwhile amiable and agreeable
man was for many years the head chef of
the Lfederkranz Society, the famous Ger
man organization of New York When
ida for fho limo