Los Angeles herald., 1907-03-24

Special Correspondence Of The Herald.
NEW YORK, March T-What
N modern pirates may have lost in
romantic and picturesque qualities
they have gained in alertness and in
genuity in the practice of their calling
The wealth scattered about New York 8
harbor in many tangible forms, the
broad expanse of dark waters, the great
length of the piers, the enormous
reaches of the shore line, present un-
usual attractions to all classes OF river
thieves. There was a time when the
harbor was preyed upon by organized
bands of pirates, whose depredations IN
the course of a year were enormous.
But the harbor police have more than
matched the cunning and daring OF
these pirates in many long watches and
pitched battles. Today 1t Is safe to say
that New York's harbor has the most
efficient police patrol system in the
world. Meanwhile there is many an
unwritten adventure of our river front
quite as strange as fiction. The diff
culties and dangers confronted by the
harbor patrol are not generally appre-
ciated. 1t comes as a surprise to New
Workers to know that within the boun-
daries of the greater city there are 800
miles OF river and shore front under the
jurisdiction of this patrol. Part of this,
of course, is not regularly visited, al
though trouble may break out at any
point. In the immense shipping OF the
flarbor everything propelled by steam
comes under federal control; everything
else must be kept in order By the police.
And of the forms of crime invented by
the pirates of New York harbor there
seems to be no end. The twentieth
century pirate is quite as desperate
when cornered as his cotemporary OF
say the sixteenth century, while his in
genuity is infinitely greater. The alert
little fleet employed by the harbor po-
lice Is engaged in a constant warfare.
The torpedo boats at Santiago, for in
stance, deserved the high praise they
received, but the danger to the police
boats is more constant and more in
sidious. There is probably not boat
of this fleet which does not carry many
bullets fired from the cover of dark
yNvharves, but a dash of paint covers
the wound, and she starts out again
next day and every day. The harbor is
under the watchful eye of the swift,
fearless little craft every hour of the "a.
The harbor fleet consists of seven. The
largest of these, the Patrol, is a large
sea-going craft, capable of high speed.
The others, which are built after the
same model, are small, 45-foot boats,
with high power engine, especially
The cabins are low and inconspicuous
All the boats wear the war-oaint color,
an indefinite blue gray, which makes
them as nearly invisible as they well
can be. The boats carry no lights, ex-
cept the pinnacle lamns. Each boat
carries an alert, fearless crew, armed
and ready to give a good account of
themselves IN any emergency. In short,
the police patrol boats are always on
a war footing. The beat of one of
these little boats is usually about ten or
twelve miles long and the little craft
passes back and forth over this course
for about seven hours, when the watch
is relieved.
The CruIler Industry
Down in the lowest edge of the great
New England 'pie belt" in Bridgeport,
Conn. there is a man who got the idea
not long ago that New Workers had a
taste for good, old-fashioned crullers,
which it was his mission to fill. He
started in a modest way, and in a few
years has built up business that now
is of quite pretentious proportions. He
cooks the crullers at night, shipping
them from Bridgeport at 4:30 every
morning on a train that arrives in
Grand Central station about $3.50. There
they are received by his local agent,
who loads them into wagons and starts
out to deliver them to his patrons, some
of whom are "quick-lunch" restaurant
keepers, but the larger proportion are
householders in Brooklyn, where the
peddler and his wagon are a more
familiar sight than on the island of
Manhattan these days. One of these
householders, who has a taste for facts,
questioned the cruller man the other
day, and he was astonished at what he
told him. He said he had already sold
that day Gt was 2:30 in the afternoon
when he talked with him) 210 dozens
of crullers at 20 cents a dozen, which
made his cash receipts for the days
business up to that hour just $42. And
he had only two dozens of his wares
left in his wagon. Some idea of how
numerous these eatables are sold in
that borough alone may be gathered
from his statement that one quick
lunch restaurant near the borough hall
used twenty-one dozens of crullers
every week day.
Detecting Bad Coins
1t is not often that a passenger re-
ceives bad money in change on the
street cars in New York. because the
conductors are very careful not to take
in coins that look at all doubtful. But
there was an exception the other day
on a Madison avenue car, and the way
in which the recipient disposed of his