The labor world., 1904-08-06
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I From re sz
5Thg 81 ssXY T;
p1cturesquenessga OF 81 III prototyp the:
span1nz uccaneer who a. iled the sea
dresses IN AL kinds st queer garbs ana
he might be taken Tor Sa rousta bout on
the cocks: Or q freshly arrived inmi
grant from Norway.~HeGm may be clothed
AXE a. sailor: or landlubber. IT is all
one and the same to him. He generally
mas partner and the two scout about
from sixteen to seventeen feet long:
Iney are expert at the oars and usually
go we'll armed. They will hesitate at
noth1ng from stealing q sack Of grain
on wharf to cutting the throat OF
oru drunken 4k tsteyedore. No: JOB is too small
was shown at the time Admiral Dewey's
nasship, the Olympia. lay in the har-
Dor. TWO OF the river thieves rowed in
boat out to the Olympia, and. repre-
sent1ng themselves to be expressmen,
selected spa tie the JOB Of carrying the admir-;
:Dewey's trunks and also those OF the
paymaster OF the ship were given to the
fellows, and they rowed up the river
and disposed of about $500 worth. of
clothing to a pawnbroker for few dol
lars. Those who saw the admiral that
.1AfsNt az q tCSCpt1On QlQ. 1lOL hIlO" lndl
ne appeared In rented evening clothes.
The majority of these thieves live on
the Jersey shore near Elizabethport and
Perth Amboy. When hard pressed by
the police or the United States revenue
on1cers-for when business is dull they
Will try to earn. a dollar by smuggling
in a bit of tobacco-they will run their
boats on to the beach. and hide them
selves In the New Jersey salt marshes
The river thieves usually pose as junk
dealers, and to make 1t appear that they
are engaged in an honest line Of .busi-
ness they procure licenses. and. during
the day. row in and about the. ships and
bits Of junk. while at the same time
they are planning robberies for the
night.
Ihese pirates are the most desper-
ate class Of men with whom we have
to DEAL said Captain William Dean. Of
the Battery police station, whip Is at the
mead OF the harbor police. ~They are
capable OF any crime. Frequently when
they see me pass in the patrol near the
Jersey shore. when they are just out
of my jurisdiction, they call ME all
manner of names. They hate thu police
because they are being driven out Of
business BY us. We are greatly in need
Of the additional patrol boats and when
we get them we shall be able to cover
our territory to much better advantage.
we are breaking up these gangs of pi-
rates, though. We capture a good many
Of them, but the trouble Is to convict
them. The other day, we arrested some
az and secured large quantity. Of goods
when we showed the goods to the per-
son who had lost them, he would not
swear that they were his. OF course we
could do nothing but let the prisoners
CO."
For the most part the robbers are
and each pair looking out for them
selves as Tar as plumber is concerned.
When there is big. job on hand, how
ever, they frequently unite and at times
sally forth to rob in fleets.
Scarcely a night passes that the river
police do not run across one Of these
piratical craft and either have a brush
salt marshes. It was only a few nights
ago that Roundsman Mulhall and Po-
liceman Powers and Corbett, while pa
trolling the bay in police launch No. /,
ran across one of the suspicious boats
heavily laden, making for the docks in
Red Hook on the Brooklyn SIDE The
man In the yawl recognized the patrol
boat and. tried TO- escape, but he, was a
long Ways from the salt marshes and
hes.Waa rnn doWn. .9FIi ssboat was loaded
20 the gunWales with erchand dise. The
Prize: was ;towed into port and the man
placed In q cell. This Is only one in
stance. There are: hundreds Of: others.
One who is: out In the harbor may
see the river police at their work any
night. He will see the little launch as
it bobs up and down, with the swells in
the river: For moment the shadow OF
big ship may hide the tiny craft in
the darkness. A dingy-one is almost
tempted to say "a low. rakish craft
pulls out briskly from one of the sand
hooks of Perth Amboy.
That's them!" says the man at the