The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1912-08-23
COUNCILMAN A
FORMER CONVICT
Reform Politician Of PhiIadeI-
phia COnieSseS.
IS A MODERN JEAN VkLJEAN.
Fellow Convict Discovers Former Pal
and Levies BIackmail-Reformed Man
Had Led a Conviot's Life For Eight
Years-Mayor Blankenburg Would
Give Him a Now Chance.

Give Him a Now Chance.
Victor Hugos Jean Vatican, the ro-
mantle and appealing reformed convict
OF LES Miserables" has counterpart
in real life. Confesslng that he was a
former convict a burglar, a yeggman
and porch climber, William Burke, a
member of common councils of Phila
delphia, has rendered his resignation
and fed the city. Burke was elected
to councils last fall on the reform ticket
by large majority.
Soon after taking his seat in coun
cils, Burke says, he met fellow convict
who had served u sentence in the Mas
sachusetts state Jail while he was a
prisoner there and who had been i'm
plicated with him in various robberies.
Burke says that the ex-convict now
aged and penniless, recognized him and
since that time has been persistently
ievying blackman under threat of ex-
posure. The fear that his past record
would be eventually revealed led Burke
to give up his position in councils and
leave the city in order TO make n new
start In life.
Started as "Gopher."
Burke said In his published story
that he could not recall how he started
In life. A street waif on the east side
of New York, he began to exc out an
uncertain existence by selling newspa-
pers. 1t was while he was hanging
around the corners of the east side
that he began the life Of a crook.
Gopher men," the species of crooks
who confine themselves to cracking and
robbing safes, were the first of the un-
derworld he fell in with. They used
him, 80 his strange story runs, to visit
establishments where they thought a
safe might be worth rifing. He spot
ted" many such an establishment for
them, his boyish plea that he was look
ing for work giving him the means to
| find out the location Of the safe. He
received a share Of the plunder.
Then he drifted in with a gang of
''moll buzzers," that class Of thieves
which bears q title bestowed upon it
by the pariance Of crooks even farther
back than the Elizabethan days
Burke goes on to tell how he was
sent to Blackwell's island at different
times. OF ''yeggtng' in the west, of
gambling 'Just as all those fellows
who have figured in the Rosenthal
case have done'-gambhng. winning
and losing From gambling he drifted
into sneak work and then into bigger
'.tobs," which he pulled OFF, mostly in
New York.
In the second chapter the reform
councilman says:
II played the game in Boston for
- ,-rr perUre L pegan 70 hrt tho
dope That was my finish used TO
keep In touch with the crooks who
blew into town from New York or 9th
er places I used to drop In at the
places where they hung out. I never
told them was working let them
think that was living straight. May
be they thought / was going 1t alone,
but never let them get anything on
me- was then stalling under the
name Of Mccarthy. The crooks knew
me as New York Slim
'tOne Of the crooks I fell IN with, a
New York con man. was hop fiend.
We got pretty friendly, and he started
me smoking hop That has put more
than one crook down and out, and it
started me TO the pen. Once you start
hitting the hop you have NO nerve un-
less you've got 1t in you, and when
you've got it in you you have no
brains"
Abandoned Crime.
His term in prison, he said, destroy
ed his criminal instinct, and upon be-
ing released he returned to New York
and obtained employment in the
stores. In May, 1904, discarding all
his old associates, he went to Phila-
delphia and took the name of VIII
liam Burke. He had learned the trade
OF q hardwood finisher while in prison
and found employment in the furni-
ture factories. Later, having saved
some money, he opened a cigar store.
Last year he was named as a candi-
date for common council, receiving the
keystone and Democratic nomina-
ton. He stumped with the Blanken-
burg party and appealed particularly
to the labor vote. He was elected to
the common council from the Thirty
third ward by a majority Of 1,2OO
votes.
Mayor Blankenburg leads a move
ment 10 turn back the resignation OF
Councilman Burke. While stating
that the acceptance of the resignation
is a matteC for the consideration OF
councils, the mayor says that this is
the time for the application Of the
Golden Rule.