Manchester Democrat., 1911-04-26

was one Of the most sue
E|NNUN cessful crooks in the
ealllllM world. He studied rob-
E%&%%b berry, worked hard at 1t
p-( for many years. made
&mmmS himself an expert at 1t,
WlluW = but came to grief over
over again. He Is now, at
the age of 81, an old man, broken In
spirit, broken In health. Seven long
terms Of imprisonment in penal insti-
tutions on both sides of the Atlantic
have convinced him that his chosen
profession is q poor one, and now
he finished his last term only two
weeks ago-he has resolved to lead
an honest life.
Everybody will say an habitual
criminal like myself cannot REFORM"
said Lillis. the other day. 81 don't
believe thief can reform. This Is
my opinion formed after association
with thieves for forty years. But
crook can reform. There is differ
ence between thief and crook.
The crook, l say, can reform, If he
takes himself in time. would place
30 years of age as the time when the
probabilities of reform are greatest.
OF course. there are exceptions; I, for
instance, expect to lead an honest life
though am past so.
"The ordinary crook is saturated
with the idea Of obtaining money
easily and spending 1t rapidly. II, be-
fore he is 30, he sees the difficulties
he will always have to face he can
turn aside with fair chance of bury
ing his past. But wouldn't give the
average crook much for his chance
for reformation II he waits until he
reaches my age.
"ThIeves" and "crooks."
II am not thief, although l have
stolen thousands of dollars. A thief
is thief through natural instincts.
Thieves are born, not made. "A crook
is not a thief by instinct, but by pro-
fession. have devoted my time to
stealing. in the same manner as other
men devote their time to law, to busi-
ness or to medicine. Stealing was my
profession. It was misdirected ener-
gy. Had devoted the same amount
\ Of time and energy to law or medL
cine, should have been successful
lawyer or physician. There is. how.
ever, one great difference between my
profession and others. There can be
no lasting success In 1t. am abso
lutely convinced of this fact, and for
that reason have now dropped it.
mo, am not going to reform.
am simply giving up the profession
which have followed for nearly forty
years.
There is no longer anything left
for men in my profession. Crimina
ingenuity has not been able to keer
pace with modern invention. We are
forced into other lines of work. Some
Of the brightest Of US have become
promoters and swindlers. have tried
before to drop my profession, bu
circumstances have been against me
l was unable, to get honest work ant
It was either steal or starve. II hay,
thought OF suicide, but 'way-down ii
heart believe in a God, so havi
never attempted to take my life. Nov
that am free man. l am going tt
remain free by abandoning the poor
est profession in the world"
No Money In ThIevery.
The history Of this remarkable
man, who is now in New York, earn
ing an honest living. is record o
a series of astounding crimes and tel
rible misfortunes, and from it onl
one conclusion can be drawn-thiey
ing as profession doesn't pay.
Lillis was born In County Glare
Ireland, in 1855. His parents move
to Cincinnati in 1861, and, as his fs
ther Joined the Union army, he ma
to help support his mother. ACCORD
ingly. he sold newspapers in tn
streets. and he received his early ed,
cation from hackmen and from otl
er newsboys. He made several do
lars every week during war time
and everything went smoothly unit
one day In 1857 well dressed stranI
er came up to him. snatched the new
papers from under his arm, placed
IS bill in his hand and, tossed the p
pers into the gutter.
boy" said the stranger, 'if 70
will work for me I'll give you S.
day."
You will?" cried the lad, tremblin
with excitement. Five dollars da
for met"
yes. Will you work for me?"
''I will"
His First Successful Getaway"
The stranger was Joe" Butts, IL
notorious bank thief. He had planne
to rob the safe in the office of Il
Phenix Brewing company, and |
needed small boy to take the mons
from the safe while he "newsp
Ipered," or occupied the attention
the clerks. Young Lillis, who W,
then 12 years old. was just the bs
for the job.
A few days after the meeting Il
robbery was pulled OF. Lillis made
getaway" with $4,000, of which b
employer. the generous Joe" Butt
took all but 500. still. that sum W,
"a fortune to the lad. and then al
there he resolved to be crook. +
worked with, or rather for, Butts Z
two years and pulled of" several de
ing Jobs. He made speciality of re
bling banks and bank messengers
broad daylight. and In crooks p,
~~~~o~se~~~oo~~~~.e.e.~
r,le ssvorrnv ar o,i,ano /.