The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-09
Another Declining Trade.

That bank burglary is no longer a
profitable profession statistics amply
prove. The old aristocrats of the under
world have left no SUCCESSORS. The OPP
p~ortunity for development is wanting
Chrome steel, electric alarms, brilliant
illumination, have ruined what was once
an alluring calling to the criminal. The
yeggmen are vulgar, brutal, unskilled /;
there is no art or mystery in their work,
nothing that n muscular and daring
rascal cannot duplicate. Forgery, too,
is not what it was a third Of a century
ago. Paper, ink. check stamps, the
telephone, the telegraph-these have
made the utterance of forged notes,
bonds and scrip for large amounts a
task practically hopeless.
Now WILLIAM A. PINKERTON has told
the International Association of Chiefs Of
Police that the sneak thief's field of oper-
atoms and rewards haze been SO reduced
within the last ten years that the pro-
fessional worker in this line Ii rapidly
becoming a thing of the past. A few
survive, Gagged in prisons, as the surviv-
ing buffaloes are Gagged in geological
parks and game preserves. Police and
private detectives, wide distribution of
the pictures of criminals, heavy SEN
fences, wire screens, cages and spring
locks in banks and jewel shops are
responsible for the conditions that exist
to-day. In ten years not more than five
sneak robberies from banks by pro-
fessional criminals have been successful.
DIR. PINKERToN describes the methods of
these gentry thus:
A ex,eTt professional bank sneak thief and
his associates. after locating a bank. store OF once
where they consider good returns will be obtained
for the chances taken, study the habits OF all EN-
ployees to determine when the greatest number
are absent. which generally happens at the noon
hour, decide how many confederates will be neces-
sary to engage tho attention OF the remaining
employees while the sneak thief noiseIessly enters
Q vault. a teller's cage or goes to q safe and com
mits the robbery. Ccnfederates are usually OF good
appearance. understand business methods, can
discuss loans. mortgages, sale Of securities. &c.
long enough TO allow the sneak to operate with
out discovery. A sneak thief, wearing rubber
soled shoes, viii frequently pass within a few feet
Of the or1cial or clerk In charge. enter a vault or
teller's cage OF rob a safe OF money drawer with
out creating the slightest noise. A ruse to make
the way clear for tho sneak Is for a confederate
20 drive in a carriage 10 the bank or store TO be
robbed, as q prcteIt exhibiting a crutch OF accom- .
panied by . female requesting some passeTby "a
ask the cashier or some other Ofnclal to step out
10 the carriage. which usually occurs when few OF
the employees arc In the place.
Another device Ia to hold q large blue print OF
some property on which II is pretended a loan is
desirable, or . bundle of maps offered for sale. In
suoh position that the view Of the orHcial belng In
tervleved is obssructed, thereby covering The sneak
and giving him opportunity TO operate.
Another more recent srtance is the telephone
the confederate Of the sneak at an appointed min
ute calls up the bank and requests that the paying
teller be sent TO the phone. and there deiains him
tn conversation while the sneak thief operates
confederates. as may be necessary. engaging tho
attention of other employees"
JOE KrLLoRAN, one of the guests Of
Sheriff Jansen who escaped from the
Ludlow street jail on July 4, 1895, used to
sit in a carriage and lure the bank cashier
out by showing a crutch. while his rom
federate robbed the till. After his
flight from this country to Europe when
der chail' was "owid," his leg was in
jured and amputation was necessary, 80
that he was obliged to use a crutch in
r~etributive reality.
Years ago the hat trick was a favor
tie anon sneak thieves. Two pros
porous looking men, one wearing a tall
hat, would enter a grocer shop and tell
the proprietor they had made a bet as
10 how much molasses the hat would
hold. They would ask him to fill it with
the fluid, and if he complied they would
clap the hat half full OF molasses on the
head Of the unsuspecting tradesman and
rife his shop at ease. An old trick, it
has not been worked for a long time, but
AZ such things travel in cycles its reap
pearance may be looked for.
WILLIAM STETsON, one of the tribe of
BILL the Brute" was a not u~nattractive
man in looks, who made il a rule to stea
the price OF his breakfast before he ate
il. In a gang of sneak thieves at least
n was most respectable, wen pre-
possessing, in appearance. He posed as
a banker, a merchant or an investor, to
distract attention while his partners
stole. Sneak thieves seldom used fire.
arms, depending on a quick eye, manual
dexterity, unfinching courage and their
presence Of mind to carry their plans
through. The occupation is toilsome
and difficult; were it. not criminal il
would be unattractive. In spite of large