The sun., 1906-02-18
COJ'NTRY,S CRIME CENTRE.
Chicago boasts OF Having the WickedesS
District In the World.


Chicago has been famed for it's dirtiest
river it's biggest stock yards, its busiest cor
ners. Now, says the Chicago Tribune, q
new item must be added to these spreaders
of its fame 1t has the wickedeSt police
district in the world. - a. 49,
Concentrated in q district less than two
miles long and not more than one wide, IL
the crime centre of the country. nlur-
derers, robbers and thieves OF the worst
kind are here born reared and grown to
maturity in numbers that far exceed the
record of any similar district anywhere
on the face Of the globe.
The centre of this region s the Maxwell
street police station. On all sides OF u
are saloons and houses which have seen
the rise and often the death of some OF the
worst criminals the country has known.
Two blocks from the station, at the corr.
ner of Sangamon street and Fourteenth
place. is a strip Of ground that on various
occasions has been literally soaked with
blood. Sometimes the blood was that OF
criminals killed in revolver fights with the
police; oftenar it was that of policemen
who nct their death at the hands of the
gangs of ruCfans who made the district
unsafe ,o all who we're without the sacred
folds Of the gang.
More policemen were killed on this one
corner than any place in the city. 1t was
here that Bun Higgins shot and killed
McCue. il was here that the Henri, street
gang held of detail of police for two
hours one afternoon and it was here that
the notorious Mortel-Mc(iraw faction Won
the record for killing officers IN iight after
fight with the men from the MaN"ell streeo
Within this territory there live, in some
fashion or other, ?05,p0 persons including
specimens of humanity from every race;
creed and natiCn in the world, with only
sparse scattering OF Americans. The streets
on pleasant days are so packed with chill
dren that il is hard to walk without stepping
on two or three in every block.
Fully 100000 children are receiving their
first impressions of life in the crowded;
sweaty tenements and dirty streets; and
thousands of them are growing up, with
only vague idea of what the law is and with
we'll defined hatred for, anything that
resembles po.ccman's uniform.
1t is not an infrequent occurrence FOR
child of nine years to attempt murder.
Not long ago nine-year-o!d hoy stabbed
and mortally wounded another child OF
the same age. When asked why he did 1t
he said;
"Oh, gwan! Didn't he call me names?'
A few weeks ago an officer investigating
broken window was shot at from within
the building, He broke in the door and
hand fell Oh the arm of a small boy.
Taking the child under one arm, the
policeman found a gas jet and lighted it,
The burglar proved to be years old.
What are you doing in here. son?' de-
manded the officer.
I'm stickn' up the place" was the proud
answer, If I'd had another bullet ia a.
got you wen youse came in trough deb
door all right. all right
1t is as hard to catch criminal in Bloody
Maxwell as to find the traditional needle
| in a haystack.
| In many blocks every house is open TO
welcome and hide the criminal, whether the
| crime for which he is wanted be murder
or case Of petty thievery.
In through dark court the criminal
may fly, into hall that leads into q big
| tenement. up one. two or three flights OF
stairs and through door which CLOSES
behind him. and he is as safely hidden
from the police as if he were q thousand
miles out of the city. The Chinatown Of
San Francisco and these precious blocks In
the Maxwell street district are not to bo
compared in the matter Of furnishing waye
and means for the escape and hiding OF
criminals when pursued by the police.
| Considering the hundreds OF thieves that
the district turns out annually, the enmity
of good portion Of the population toward
| the police, the congested conditions which
| exist, and the hundreds OF secret hiding
| places known to the criminals. it is evident
that the police Of the Maxwell street station
have a difficult problem on their hands II
they are to suppress the activities OF the bad
men to any considerable degree.
the world where it would bc so hard for tho
ordinary detective to find criminal, evep
after his identity was established.