Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-08-21

but the New York crooks still knew
me as New York Slim.
"One of the crooks | fell in with was
a New York con man. He was a hop
tiend, and we became pretty friendly.
Pretty soon I was 'hittin the hop
That has put more crooks down and
out than anything else. Once you start
hitting the hop you have no nerve I'M
less you've got the hop in you, and no
brains wher it is in YOU.
Il got to be regular smoker, and
became careless when | was under the
influence of the drug. one day l went
to small dealer with some of the
stolen jewelry l had held in reserve.
was well dressed. and he bought it of
me Later | went back with a bigger
piece-a necklace worth about a thou
sand dollars. The dealer sized me up.
and he noticed the hop in me. He sized
me up as thief and he tipped off In
spector Knox think it was KnoN-of
! the Boston police. Knox hung around
| NilV plCNC uHlll came To us pose OF
! more jewelry. Then he trailed me to
the house where | was stopping on
Shawmutt avenue, near Dover. There
he arrested me. | showed no fight. as
knew he had the goods on me. He
found d bunch of stuff in my room.
which tied me up with thirty or forty
jobs Then he ran me to headquarters.
81 had ~,
open up and they put me through the
third degree. They punched me- but l
wouldn't give up anything. At last
they starved me for six days and six
nights Then | weakened l told them
what they wanted or at least | told
them some of the things they wanted to
know. | told them where the rest of
the stuff they had connected me with
was concealed. They went and got it
and showed me in the Boston Jail for
trial
Why Was Camera Shy.
Il was mugged My pictures We're
scattered broadcast over the country
and l was in bad. That 'mugging' is
the reason | always have been camera
shy. | feared if I had a picture taken
following my reform, some of nv old
pals would recognize it, Even while
running for Office | refused to have a
picture taken
In Boston was let down easy.
While l didn't know it when l PAS ar
rested. some time before l had rescued
one of the court officers who had fallen
overheard from yacht. He recog-
nized me and came to see me in iail.
He advised me to plead guilty and
throw myself on the mercy of the court.
l took his advice The police stopped
their activity and never connected me
with more than forty jobs. and l got a
sentence of not less than seven nor
more than ten years in the state prison
at Charlestown
depressing a little from my tale,
right here | want to say that the
Charlestown prison is % years in ad-
vance of any other prison in the land,
so far as the treatment of inmates is
concerned.
Il served my time. At the end Of
seven years they let me out. had
been good. They handed me five dol
lars and suit of clothes That is the
amount they give a convict when his
time is up But I had gotten together
a couple of hundred dollars while was
behind those walls. | had a little when
went in and l won more by betting
on the ball games pulled off in the
prison yard on Saturday afternoons
during the summer Whenever ! won /
sunk the coin, ! also cut out the hop.
although could have had as much as /
wanted Of it while | was in prison. so
long as had the money to pay for IT
When | came out Of Charlestown
prison | decided to be honest. | had
enough Of the life of a crook. re-
turned to New York. walked the old
pavements and it seemed like home. [
saw lot of the old crooks. and ! real
lied that ! must leave New York il [
wished 70 be honest
In May 1904, ! shook New York and
came to Philadelphia. / passed up all
my old aliases and became known as
William Burke. ] started 10 live
straight While in Chsrlestown prison
had learned the trade Of hardwood or
furniture hnisher on the strength OF