Los Angeles herald., 1909-09-05

NEW YORK. Saturday
Police Headquarters one day within the
memory of still in service there story
~ was given out of the confession of crime
which had left no immediate clew. The news
papers had failed to trace it and it seemed to
battle the police Much comment had been afoat on
the incompetency of the force When the affair
and the public had shelved it away among things to
be forgotten the confession came out
Among the writers at Headquarters one who
had worked hard the case and had not spared the
police. Some of the questions he asked about cir
cumstances leading to the confession did not yield
replies to satisfy him. His newspaper displayed the
news, did all Others but in lieu of clear expana-
tion of the way the exposure had come about he
said:-
"The police put the prisoner through the third de.
gree and wrung confession from him."
1t proved good catch phrase. Explaining nothing
1t left much to the imagination Ihe public liked it
and it made itself at home in police parlance No
longer in active service it is still paraded occasion
and everybody recognizes it.
There has never been an attempt to give exact
definition of it. Its survival through the stress of years
may be due to the mysticism that envelops it. Were
it susceptible to reduction in fixed terms it possibly
would have lived out its and then gone to the
realm of the multitude of abandoned phrases that
had vogue. Vagueness has been it's charm, for
it enables to place his construction it and
it does not provoke cross-examinaton. No
fesses inability understand It,
Undue pressure, intimidation cruelty lurk in it; it
may anything in the range of espionage. from
common spying to comradeshp cultivated to win
confidence and then betray it; charges of physical
have been yelled behind it; it has always i'm
piled methods surely abnormal and usually not legiti-
mate
Rumor worked the third degree with much Jiili-
gence in connection with the murder OF Louis
Hanier, who kept French wine shop and saloon in
rwenty-sxth street between Sixth and Seventh ave
nues. He resided with his family above the saloon
and shot at the top of stairway leading from
hall the saloon floor to th upper part of the house
When the police arrived they found the floor of the
saloon wet with the stock of wine which Hanier car
red The spigots of all the barrels in the saloon had
been turned open and the cash drawer was empty.
Whoever shot him heard him preparing to descend
and must have gone into the hall with intention to
fire. Thieves like rats-dangerous when cornered
but preferring to run If they have the chance HaV
ing been noisy enough to Hanier from sleep
the floor above and having heard him preparing to
descend the intruders evidently had wish to get
away. The wanton waste of wine pointed to malice
and the empty cash drawer proved little, for it con-
tanned only wallet used by Hanier in the day time
for bills which he took upstairs with him at night
Surface appearances compatible with the
theory that personal enmity furnished the motive for
the murder Not a fact could be found, however, to
Oolster that theory Hanier did small business and
led a quiet life. The saloon was not a rowdy resort
Neither his family nor his neghbors could suppose
that he had an enemy. The case opened avenues foI
sufficient conjecture to keep public interest in it at
tension for a fortnight. No apparent headway hav
ing then made toward clearing it, notices were
posted In Tenderoin resorts offering $500 reward for
evidence that would lead to the arrest and conviction
of the guilty.
Tracing the Crime.
Almost at the beginning the police dismissed the
suggestion of personal enmty They felt certain also
that habitual thieves had not opened the wine bar
rels. A we'll ordered thief rummages place. and If
his visit fruitfess he away quietly and hopes
for better luck somewhere else The visitors at
Hanier's reckless. Not finding money, they be-
came noisy and destructive. The shooting was wan
ton and had behind it motive other than bravado
Such work could fire the pride only of hoodlums
That the police estimate of the case and they
shaped their work accordingly
Suspicion turned toward a coterie known in the pre-
cnct as the Seventh Avenue Gang composed of
young men not yet confirmed criminals, but with ten
denotes in that direction. Old enough to work. they
engaged in no regular employment Their faces be-
familiar in saloons of shady repute in that part
of the city.
At that time the trick called "fim-famming the
bartender" excited attention. The Seventh Ave
Gang notoriety from its proficiency in
this trick. A would enter saloon, call for a
glass of beer and offer bill of large denomination in
payment. When the bartender turned to get change
the customer took stock of the till.
Later the caller. with several companions
would again visit the saloon. While the bartender
serving their order of them would fall to the
floor If in fit Naturally the bartender would step
around to assist in restoring the unfortunate. The
confusion incident to such affair gave opportunity
of the party TO slip behind the bar and empty
the TILL Then the party would away. carrying the
loose cash This trick had been played once
Hanier 1t developed that it tried again the
night of the murder, but failed to trap him.
The police believed of this kind would rid
themselves possible of the pistol and of
everything taken by them from the saloon which
might be identified This surmise proved correct II
an ash barrel in Twenty ysiXth street Seventh
found cigar box from Hanier's and the
empty wallet. and at pawnshop in Ninth avenue.
near Thirtieth street the detectives came upon
pistol of 80 calibre left there by young the
morning following the murder. Haner had been
killed by bullet of 80 calibre