The Spokane press. [volume] (Spokane, Wash.) 1902-1939, 1904-07-06


per of safety pins, bottle of perfume,
plate of false teeth, and 70 cents in
silver, for holding up man! Well,
that's all | got out of my first job, and
l only got half Of that. My pal took
the ~ cents and the cologne for his
share and gave me the teeth and the
safety pms. You see, / was a green
one then.
The hold-up man is a green one no
more. In fact, he has been so expert
and successful in his criminal calling
that he is now retired. He doesn't
court publicity, for reasons of his own,
but on pledge Of anonymity he unbent
enough to tell how he got his start
and what he thought of 'stick-ups"
and 'house Jobs as a profession.
"A criminal n the most miserable
man in the worid, If he has an atom
of conscience, he said. Most Of
them have. With him constantly Is
the fear OF arrest. He's never safe.
His friends may turn states evl-
dence.
Mixed with the criminal classes
~ SsOo'~ Va 'sN
must be careful in making acquain-
tances.
What prompts man to become a
criminal? Well, the causes are many
and various. Generally speaking, he
belongs to
one OF TWO Cissses;
The members of one class have it
literally bred in the bone and their
associations and environments are
such that it is hardly possible TOR
them to grow up and escape crim-
inal fe. The sneak thief, the dip
(pickpocketl. house workers (bur-
glars and veg men are examples ot
this class. The other class il composed
of men of higher intelligence, men who
have committed crime and turn to
the other life to escape Justice. They
are outeasts, and one Of the saddest
things YOU can see is man who has
magnificent qualities if only turned in
the right direction, following the life
of a professional criminal becasue one
act made him wanted by the police
II was wanted BY the police and
know what it means. I ran away from
home when I was II, | rode the bang
tails in New Orleans and San Francis
co, and grew too heavy for the work,
and got out of money and stole some
thing to eat. stole again and was
wanted by the police | shall never
forget the feeling. had stolen. The
sight of harness bulr-a policeman
in uniform-made me weak with fear,
bpt was fortunate in escaping the
law.
"The life seemed easy, as 1T has
seemed 10 hundreds of others. grew
holder. The uualms of conscience grew
weaker.
81 was friendless, except for the
bonds of sympathy which existed be-
tween myself and others who were
wanted l loked for and found
them.
"They recognized in ME a punk
or greenhorn who was willing to learn.
The fact that they were known thieves
with records made them appear men
Of consequence to me. Let me see--l
was then Is. ! was played for
stool-suspected of being an informer
for the police at first. but the.
suspicion cave Wsy
finally and l was let in on deal. i
was to be tried out.
"a hold-up was decided upon. My
companion. a clever rascal with iron
nerve, approached a middle aged man
on one OF San Franchises principal
streets. His plan of action was to give
the unsuspecting pedestrian the
strong arm'-and l was to go through
his pockets.
"The strong arm is simple ma
neuver. but renders the victim helpless
no matter what his strength may be.
A footpad slips up from behind and
throws one arm around his victims
neck, bringing the forearm across the
adams apple and catches the wrist
with his other hand. A little strength
ia brought to bear, and the victim is
helpless. He cannot use his hand. lie
N.