The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1912-10-11

&aR" argument of an old
preacher, who ought
to have lived in the days when
they used to break a thief's body on
the. rack, that the thieves are the nat
ural enemies of mankind and ought
to be exterminated.
well, if thieves are the natural en-
emies Of all the world, the other side
of the argument must stand also, that
the rest of mankind are the proper
prey of thieves. With this notion in
view, l say that it is wonder that IN
every house which is visited by
thieves there is not left a trail of
blood But actual experience and sta
tistics will show that fewer murders
are committed by thieves when en-
gagged in their work, in proportion to
their number than are committed in
the ranks of persons who go around
with a label Of honesty on their fore
heads.
speaking Of shocks that fellow
Is liable to get in any business, re-
calls a remark made by old Jimmy
Hope when he first started out as
crook in Philadelphia, to the effect
that the bravest people on earth are
the thieves who work in the night
Perhaps you never thought Of 1t in
that way, but just think for moment
The common notion of crook is that
he goes about his work armed to the
teeth and ready to shoot or stab at
moments notice. To disproye this be-
lief let us look for a moment into the
mind Of thief who is about to enter
dwelling house in the night?
First he must satisfy himself
that. no one is awake in the house.
The first evidence Of this is the alb
sence of lights. Well, then, all the
lights being out, the thief goes about
his work as quietly as possible, but
taking into consideration the fact that
thievery, or, rather, burglary, is es,
sentially breaking into place, it
cannot be done without more or less
noise.
"A thief knows that in nine houses
out of ten there is some ready means
Of defense, usually a revolver or a
gun, and if any one is disturbed, his
entrance will be met with a shower Of
lead. lie is liable to be killed, and
thieves appreciate this better than
any one else. He must face q secret
and silent enemy. l have been in
houses where the first intmation that
we were discovered was the report Of
firearm and the singing Of the lead
around our ears.
1T is only the foolish men who Jump
out Of bed and strike a light when
they hear an unusual sound in their
houses. That puts them at a disad-
vantage. and the crook is apt to get in
the first shot as caution to his prey
to keep out of sight Not one thief in
a hundred will will shoot to kill, and,
on the other hand, not one person in a
hundred, in dealing with thieves, but
what will shoot to kill every time. A
crook has no right to complain of the
vigorous defense set up by any man
in his castle, but a shot in the air or
fired out Of the window will start
gang Of crooks on the move just as
quickly as II a thiefs heart were TAX
en- as target.
"Perhaps a thief's bravery is wasted
in an unholy cause. but that does not
alter the fact that only the bravest
Of men can be good thieves The or
binary housebreaker takes his life in
his hands every time he enters a
house, and he is cautious about TAX
ing the lives Of others, because he
knows that murder done in the COM
mission Of a felony has no defense in
a court Of law.
Its quite bit ago since I was
known as Black Jack, and was the
leader of as tough gang Of rangers
as ever flashed a bulls-eye. Every
mothers son Of them came out of the
old Fourth ward, and from the time
We were kids we were out for the
dust and were the sworn enemies Of
the old Market Gang, which turned out
such a desperate lot Of crooks as Abe
Coakley, Paddy Reynolds, Billy Por-
ter and Long John Garvey But our
fights were our own fights, and not
a man in either of the gangs was ever
known to lay down information to the
police. There We're plenty of oppor-
tunities to do each other when it
meant money and perhaps the saving
Of q term of five or ten years in Sing
Sing.
The Black Jacks made the best
tour on Long Island ever known
amCng thieves. We went from Fort
Hamilton to Riverhead. up one side and
down the other side of the island, with
only the loss of two men, both Of
whom-Paddy Gillian and Shorty Far
rell-were shot by a woman in Oyster
Bay. During this trip we used black
sloop part of the time, but most of
the travelling was done by horse and
wagong, and it was usually the horses
and wagons of farmers.
I'VE visited over 600 houses, and
divided about $4,000 worth of stuff
1t was trip Of pleasure, for the To-
cal police did not bother us at all.
This was easily explained. 1t was on
account of the lack Of money. In no
small place can you find the men who
have control of the public money will
ing to spend anything to chase thieves,
and, even when murder is committed,
there is never willingness to put up
money to hunt for the assassin
when We got back from this trip
We were in high spirits, and the Bow
cry was painted red from one end to
the other with the deepest red, and