The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-07-15
THIEF'S IDEA OF HONOR.
"JOe" kiIIOran Says It's no Sin to
Steal if 1t Is Done in His Way.

Steal if Ii Is Done in His Way.
Springfield, ILL.,, Cor. Chicago Tribune
Proud of his career of crime, but in
ssting that he never really wronged a
man, Joe Killoran, soon to answer a
charge of postoffice robbery here eight
years ago, is contentedly resting in the
| local Jail.
Captured in New York with his two
| associates in the $4,000 robbery at
| Springfield in 1895, Killoran was the
hero of a remarkable escape from the
same prison where he recently was
confined. Since that time he has
travelled the world over, ever living by
his wits and preying on those who had
| money.
Now that his hair has become sill
very and his health broken, this pro-
| fessional crook decides he has been
modern Robin Hood, taking only from
| those who could spare it. He justifies
himself by the idea that, while the
burglar or sneak thief is bounded
down. the robber he considers worse,
! the defaulter, is usually given the
sympathy of a large part of the pub
| lie.
Ethics of Trade of Thief.
In his cell at the Springfield Jail Kill
| loran gave his views on morality and
the ethics of his profession and told
some incidents of his career.
Joe seemed pleased as he told how
| in the Ludlow street Jail, in New York,
eight years ago he had the happy in
spiration to take the Jail keys away
from the keepers and lock these Off
Gals in limbo as hostages for his
/ friends. Charlie Allen and Harry Rus
| sell, and himself. He had been telling
| with rare candor how he and Allen
had made the capitals of Europe pay
| tribute to their nimble genius after
they had shaken from their feet the
| dust of Ludlow street. With much
wealth of detail he had described the
several methods of making touch"
and of turning a sucker of renov-
| ing $4,000 worth of government bonds
| from bank or a safe deposit vault at
one stroke, or of holding up a mis-
cradle. bank messenger and tightening
| his burden.
After all this the gentleman thiefs"
face lighted up with something like
! true pride as he said mo, I don't
think 1 have ever really wronged an
other man."
! Joe killoran's guest probably betray-
cd his establishment. Here was a rare
/ opportunity to gain some insight into
that strangely anomalous thing-a
thiefs moral and ethical code. So Joe's
visitor said; And, pray, what would
you call those little diversions YOU
nave been describing? Did you wrong
| none of those persons on whom you.
preyed so successfully"
| Preyed Only on Strangers
Killoran looked frankly Disguised.
why, no; don't think so. They were
strangers to me. I regarded them as
/ fair game. You ought to know what
| | mean. When l say never wronged
| a man, I mean that never BETRAYED
] man who had trusted me and that
never was faithless with friend. To
| do that 1 should call a sin. The kind
of work Charlie Allen and 1 did in
Paris, Brussels and London was SIM
| ply in the line of our business. 1t
| involved deception, of course but not
| teachery not betrayal. We had to set
our wits against the wits of the police
and of the bank officials every time
we made strike. They were mere
! obstacles to be Surmounted in a game
We played for high stakes and we took
desperate chances.
Now, never could understand wbv
1t is that nearly everybody loathes
| an out-and-out professional crook
such as l have been, while the same
persons will habitually lavish maudlin
sympathy upon the trusted bank cash
Ter who defaults or misappropriates
| lulluo TO MS care, deliberately
betraying his trust and betraying the
employer who has befriended him. Ac-
cording to my code, | am a better man
than that man. 1 may prey upon the
public, but those whom l deceive are
at least strangers to me-men to whom
l owe nothing. personally.
Defnulters Given Sympathy.
mo sympathy is squandered upon
fellows like us when the COPS or the
'Pinks' take US, and we don't look for
any. But for the detected bank CASH
Ter there are sympathy and excuses
Poor old chap, he was tempted and
he fell they say. Bah! Tempted :?
Yes, but they always do it deliber-
ately. They weigh the chances of dis
covery. l have talked to such fellows
behind the bars when they have been
doing time. More than one of them has
told me how long he hesitated before
he made the first touch planning
how he could cover his tracks. how
he could fool the people he was paid
to serve. The second time it was NOT
so hard for him, and after that it be-
came easy.
Now, that kind of a thing I call A
sin, as well as a crime. never did
anything in my life so bad as that.
and, God knows, crippled and broken
down, and 81 years old, as / am now
1 am not trying to assume any false
VirtueS at This late dav Lo,,o.,.