Omaha daily bee., 1906-03-09
CRUSADE AGAINST CRIME
North Omaha Protective Association Formed
to Run Down Outlaws
BLOOD HOUNDS TO AID DETERMINED BANI
Repetition of Crimes and Failure Of
Police to Prevent Them Drive
Residents to Guard Their
own Interests.

With the Real Estate exchange camoring
for mounted police to protect outlying prop
erty and residents. citizens of northwest
Omaha are not simply cismoring, but ac-
tually have organized to protect themselves
against thieves and have taken steps to
buy two good bioodhounds to facilitate
their campaign Of repression of crime.
Like poor Bruno in the Eternal City.
writhing under the torrent OF abuse from
his friend. David Rossi. for the minute
laboring under a base delusion, in final
desperation exclaimed, 90 on, go on,
David Rossi, only don't so too far" these
outraged citizens have arisen in their might
and determined that the scoundrel who
comes in the darkness Of night and steals
their chickens or pliers their houses has
gone about as far as he better go The
! other night one OF these families was de-
prived of thirty-four hens-all the supply
and the man inserted little advertisement
i'm a North Omaha weekly that IL the Gull
prit who stole his thirty-four hens would
return and get the lone and lonely rooster
he would be welcome to him. The next
morning the man went out TO his chicken
shed and found the thief had taken him at
his word.
Worm Has Turned.
Now the thing has gone far enough; it
must STOP spoke the residents of that
community with one voice, and as a result
! Tuesday night a mass meeting was held
at Richards store at Forty-frst and Grand
avenue, at which the North Omaha Pro-
tective association was formed, these off,
GERS being elected: NJ. l.. Plots, president;
]. E. Morton, secretary, and Charles Claus
sen, treasurer. The association will meet
next Tuesday night at the same place.
Let none get the wrong idea that we do
not mean business" said e. NJ. Clark, 1924
Grand avenue a leading member of the
vigilance committee and who recently had
forty fine chickens stolen from him. I'VE
are in deadly earnest We mean to protect
ourselves, our families our property,
from the lawless hand OF these dirty scoun-
drels We mean to show these culprits
they cannot subsist by living of the sweat
Of another mans brow. We don't court
trouble: we don't want to take the law in
our own hands, but we are having trouble
and we are being told by the police every
day that they cannot catch these scamps
or prevent their crimes. These answers
come to us in the repetition of crime and
failure of arrests more powerful than by
word of mouth from the police. 1t puts
the matter up to us and we are going to
make good.
VIII Protect Life and Property.
I'VE have gone out into the suburbs Of
Omaha and invested our money. We have
built homes and are rearing families. We
are saving our earnings and building up
! Omaha. We think we deserve protection.
We are paying our share of taxes, doing
everything we are asked to do toward
maintaining the city government, and we
are not being protected from these thugs
and cut-throats who live by plumber, rapine
and murder Now we must protect our
selves. We are men and we will do it.
The burden is shifted from our shoulders
now to those of the thief. When he comes
into our homes and back yards he does so
at his own risk.
1--WE have determined to get a pair of
bloodhounds, for we believe they will do us
more good than anything else. We can
have them right on the spot and soon
as discovery Of crime is made put them
on the trail.
Naturally, we expect the moral effect
of our crusade to be potential but 1t would
be foolhardy for any one to jump at the
conclusion that we are not prepared to
back up the moral effect with more Wig
orous action
Mr. Clark called attention to the fact
that while petty thievery was common out
in his neighborhood, holdups were more
common in other parts of the city; that
only Wednesday night law-abiding and
Woodworking man was shot down because
he sought to guard his employers money.
Only last week one night bullet was sent
into the body of banker because he re-
fused to surrender to the demands of two
outlaws.
Isn't it about time for Omaha to take
decisive action?" asked Mr. Clark