New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-01-31

GA. by side with schools OF learning the East
Ga. there sprnging up schools Of thieving. The
otto school teacher and the Fagln have become
sssrhoors and the instructor IN mathematics and
- n-ofessor Of pocket picking almost touch elbows
zen going to and from their classes. The touch
,rcs sometimes is not accidental
c,noe Tammany came into power, a month ago.
.b.se East Side Fagins have grown holder. Where
.hsv formerly made occasional converts among the
,ruauts who the streets they now recruit
,brr forces directly from the public schools. They
make their headquarters in candy stores almost
,sA- the shadow Of school buildings BY various
-..exts they capture their victims. A Fagn meets
nov a. play in the park, offers him a dime. and
,srs hin TO buy some candy at a certain shop
Istte does the lad know when he enters the store
ard looks az the piles OF var!colored sweet stuff
N The show cases that he is already in a den of
thieves that behind the partition IN the rear his
classmates are being taught to steal. He meets
the man again in the park, and begins to like him.
for dime IS always forthcoming. He gets ac-
ouainted with the smiling woman behind the candy
counter. who finally asks:
Would you like to know how you can have all
the money you want?'
boy always answers Yes TO such a question.
Then she shows how easy it is to take money
out Of a woman's shopping bag. She leads him be
hind the partition, where he meets other boys.
learns Of their exploits and soon yearns to be a
hero himself. Behind the partition he also meets
g who shows him how to slip his hand into a
wOmans shopping bag or the pockets of a mans
Clothes and the lad experiments until the pleasant
stranger who has become his teacher pats him on
the back and tells him that he is ready TO do
business on the street.
Recent Investigations made by East Side school
teachers showed how widely the East Side Fagin
now draws on the public school TO recruit his
predatory bands. At the trial the other day of
Myer Lewis. known to the underworld Cock
eye" Lewis, eighteen children present to tes-
flfy that the prisoner a Fagin. In company
with the boys Miss Rufina A. Cregin. princi-
pal Of Primary School No ~. at Hester and Ludlow
sts, and Miss Julia Richman, superintendent of
the district in which this school is situated. Both
Miss Cregin and Miss Richman told the court how
professional thieves were corruptng the school
children and teaching them to steal. The superin-
sendent said that the lads first instructed IN
rObbing push carts They were told to watch the
pedler's eyes and to wait until his attention was
attracted elsewhere. Then would ''swpe"
come article and pass it to the STALL confed-
crate. From such petty thieving the boys were
promoted to picking pockets. and later TO holding
up pedestrians. Miss Cregin also told how she had
discovered q polished thief IN of her most
trustworthy monitors. She caught him in the act.
and was surprised TO hear him utter a speech evil
IDENTIFY taught him by some experienced criminal.
1T is Of the misfortunes Of life, he said.
with a Sob that the innocent are often wrong
fully accused 1t is so in my case. but shall not
complain I shall be INDICATED, I sure. for I
know that have done wrong.
Teachers Of most OF the schools OF the lower
East Side tell of similar experiences. Those who
have studied the evil Of "Faginism' most closely
say that the thieves and their child victims
ganized. with regular places of meeting or hang
outs with messengers. or runners" and a code
OF signals in which each member has a number.
The whole system. according TO information OBJ
tanned by principal. is only a ramifcation Of
the work Of the notorious Monk Eastman gang.
Many East Side school teachers who were visited
by a Tribune reporter furnished the addresses OF
candy stores only few doors away where they
said their pupils were taught to pick pockets and