The Monte Vista journal., 1912-10-12

3I
~ notice OF them. read
n a In some newspaper the
& argument OF an old
preacher. who ought
to have lived In the days when
they used to break q thief's body on
the rack. that the thieves are the nat
raj enemies OF mankind and ought
Ne exterminated.
Il thieves are the natural en-
II all the world. the other side
OF enc argument must stand also. that
the rest Of mankind are the proper
prey Of thieves. With this notion in
view. say that 1t II . wonder that in
every house which u visited BY
thieves there Is not left trail OF
blood. But actual experience and sta
ustics 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 60 around
with a label OF honesty on their fore
heads.
Speaking OF shocks that a fellow
IL liable to get In any business, re-
calls . remark made BY old Jimmy
Hope when he first started out as a
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 q moment
Tho common notion Of q crook Is that
he goes about his work armed to the
NJ -
moments notice. To disprove this be-
lief let US look for \ moment into the
mind Of thief who is about to enter
q dwelling house In the night?
First he must satisfy himself
that no one IL awake In the house.
Tho first evidence of this Is the abb
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 q breaking into a place. 1t
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 q revolver or .
gun. and II any one Is disturbed, his
entrance will be met with a shower of
lead. He IL liable to be killed. and
thieves appreciate this better than
any one else. He must face a secret
and silent enemy. have been in
houses where the nrst intimation that
We were discovered was the report of
. nrearm and the singing of the lead
around our ears.
Its quito = bit ago since I was
known As Black Jack. and was the
loader Of as tough a gang OF rangers
a. ever flashed . bull's-eye. Every
mothers son Of them came out of the
old Fourth ward. and from the time
We were kids We we're out for the
dust and were the sworn enemies Of
the old Market Gang. which erned out
such . desperate lot Of crooks as Abe
Coakley. Paddy Reynolds. Billy Por-
tar and Long John Garvey. But our
lights were our own fights. and not
. man In either Of the gangs was ever
known to lay down information to the
police. There were plenty OF oppor-
tunities to do each other when II
meant money and perhaps the saving
Of . term Of Ave or ten years in Sing
Sing.
Tho Black Jacks made the best
tour on Long Island ever known
among 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
rsll-wcre 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
waEong. and II was usually the horses
and wagons Of farmers.
I'VE visited over 900 houses, and
divided about $4,000 worth OF stun.
II WAS a trip OF pleasure. for the 10
cal police did not bother US at all
This was easily explained. II was on
account Of the lack OF money. In no
small place can you md 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 a willingness to put up
money to hunt for tho assassin
when we got back from this trip
vs were In high spirits. and the Bow
cry was painted red from one end to
the other with the deepest red. and
every gambling house In tho town