Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-03-05
GRIM NAL IMPULSE

On train between New York and Phiia-
dsiphia the other day Robert Pinkerton.
the famous detective. In conversation with
some friends. talked Interestingly Of q
GLASS OF persons whom he called Criminals
by impulse"
I've known lot Of folks with Happy.
outstanding ears. ingrowing chins. claw
Ike fingers and close-set eyes who never
DID an ornery, much less q criminal, act In
their lives, although you'd never get sub
scribers to the Lombroso-Nordau, head
measuring -to-crime idea to be-
heve It," he said. I've met up with phi
lanthropists who were shifty-eyed. sneaky-
looking and possessed Of any number OF
the physical points Of the Lombroso and
Nordau so-called type Of degenerate, and
yet they were men who found 1t hard to
get to sleep o nights for thinking of the
misery in the world and trying to think
out plans to make unhappy people happy.
On the other hand, I've come in contact
with case-hardened desperadoes, crooks of
both sexes, craggy ones that enjoyed the
very taste and smell Of deviltry, criminals
born who didn't have a sign on them from
head to heels that wasn't the mark OF
thoroughbred, and who could give You as
winsome gaze out of their eyes and stake
you to as appealing a line of innocent ex-
preston as Colorado promoter of salted
mines endeavoring to sell you hole in the
ground at 20 cents the share that Is going
to be listed at $S4 the share on April the
LIST next. ALI of the unfortunates occupy
ing prison cells are not criminals by in
st1nct. SlewS of them are criminals by
impulse 1t would help some If, today, 1
had dollar for every branded one know
who, from a life of utter squareness, jump
ed into trouble like cat hopping trellis
by succumbing to quick and overmaster-
ing temptation.
only few years ago New York bank
messenger made shor, railroad sprint with
$4,000. after having had ten thousand OPP
pOrtunities to jump with ten times that
much, and after a lifetime Of the most scru-
pulous honesty, under the catapultic influ-
ence of one of these queer impulses to get
away with quick grab.
The newspapers had it that he was just
a plain thief, that he had been caught with
all of the goods, that he had been tried and
sentence to five years. and that's all But
these spread-out recital3 of the case didn't
really cover the nub of the story at all.
That bank messenger had been employed
by the bank for twenty-five years, and he
was twenty-eight when his evil moment
sped along and gathered him in. He was
unmarried, lived with a married sister
goody. had particular vices except the
consolation of corncob pipe when he got
through with his days work.
I'm the course of his twenty-five years
with the bank he had had the handling of
tens of millions of dollars, with opportuni-
ties to get away with enormous bundles as
good as those he had accepted suddenly In
hopping with the $4,000. On the very day
before he took the $4,000 satchelful he had
been the custodian of a valse containing
$4,000 of the banks currency-but the
minute for him hadn't arrived.
But he executed the runaway with the
SIS, 900 all right enough knowing, too, that
it was only $4,000. He got as far as Pitts
burg. when he went almost insane with
remorse, and he took train back TOT new
York to confess to .he bank people ana
turn over the $4,000 intact.
HE was traced to Ptttsburg and tnen on
board the other train he had taken TO make
New York again, and they corralled MIN on
that train at Altoona. There's no ietup IN
some of these bank people: and the messen-
ger got his five years, although ne surreh-
dered every tuppence Of the $4,000.
81 had a bit of a talk with him before ne
was taken to the pen. Said to him:
"'Son, how came you to squeeze sueh
little parcel of 1t, when you could nave
waited few days for whole heap Digger
package and have laid better plans, TOO,
for making a getaway that would SUCK!
well he replied with perfect caha a,,,
L never meant to lift that bundle or any
other up to the very second that | did II.
The bunch to take a run for II hit me as
souarely as slant of wind striking cata-
maran, and turned me turtle berore coulu
get a clutch on myself
Tt was one of those bitter, sleety De-
cember days, with gray skies and all that
I got on the L train at Rector street TO
take the SlS,OUU TO the DFdHCu DdHh uptoWi H.
I was chilled through, after leaving the
warm bank, and shudderfng with the
nfppyness of the air. poked the grip con-
|, tanning the money between my legs ana
spread out an evening newspaper tnat
bought to read on the way. In the news
paper I got to reading a mighty dreamy
and inviting article about the countries
where IT'S warm and balmy during our
winter months up here. MY teeth, as ! say,
kind O. run down in health, anyhow, ana
as read that stuff about the balmy lands
down closer to the liner l found myself
repeating over and over again: Great Scott!
what wouldn't give to be in one OF those
places right this minute!"
""Then I got to looking up at the ad-
vertsements in the L car The one that hit
my eye particularly was an ad. for rail-
road tour to Colorado and California, with
pictures Of Colorado mountains and Cali
fornia palms and all that, and lot Of stun
about 1.-THE sapphire country" and "the sun
set land and this, that and the other OF
that sort.
At found 1t hard to take my eye on OF
that advertising placard, and 1 guess the
idea of making the jump must have sifted
into my mind right then. although I didn't
exactly know 1t yet. Well, when got on
at 23d street there was big tourist party
standing across the way on the downtown
platform-well-dfessed clipper-bult, sassy
looking chaps and swell-looking women in
long travelling cloaks and with fiuttering
tourists wells and all that. 1 stopped and
looked over the way at 'em. sort OF fasct-
mated. and then it suddenly popped into my
/ head. I don't know why. that those people
were going to California
Then the idea Of making run for It
struck me with the force of steam malletI
"''Me too for California; got to say
ing through my chattering teeth. I'm
a-going!"
"'"When are you going?" little per-
suasive cooling voice somewhere inside Of
my head asked me.
"'"Now-now-Pm a-going now!" I an
swered back to that little voice, aloud. so
that people on the platform turned and
grinned at me as folks do at people they
overhear talking to themselves.
".And that's all there was to 1t. I went.
I crossed over to the downtown platform,
went down to the ferry station. jumped
over to Jersey City, perfectly satisfied with
myself and gloating over the chance 1 was
taking to get into the palm country and
duck the grewsome cold weather around
here felt all right about it until the train
reached Pittsburg. Then the little old fever
was over. and I made the turn around to
get back. But they wouldn't believe me,
Of course when I told them that had al
ready got sore on myself and was bound
back to make good.
"'But that's just how 1t happened that
made the Jump. I was suddenly bowled
over by some thing inside of me that had
l. l. -Az--