Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1912-11-01
PETE M'CRACKEH'S STORY.

II gave this community" said Pete,
"a great shaking up. They talk
about the way in which the gangs in
the far west hold up railroad trains
and walk away with safes from coun-
try banks as If they were really some
thing to be proud of, but l tell YOU,
my boy, they are nothing compared
to the way in which Kid Kelly and l
held up New York and made hun
dreds of people pay tribute to our
proves and cunning.
Il had been doing time in Joliet,
ILL.,, for burglary, and I got out on the
same day with Kid Kelly, one of
the best thieves l ever met. He was
no bigger than a 12-year-old boy, but
he was as quick as creased lightning.
There was nothing on the calendar
that he would not tackle. He was
the only person l ever met who was
absolutely without fear. He seemed
to have no idea of what fear meant. l
remember on one occasion, when the
Kid and / got into close quarters in
St. Louis, that he was shot through
the hand. He neglected to take care
of the wound. | took him to see a
surgeon, who said that the only way
to save Kids arm and life was to
amputate all of his hand except the
thumb and forefinger.
1.-THE Kid told the doctor to begin
without delay, and the expert started
to give him a dose of ether. But the
Kid refused to take it. He actually
sat down in a chair, held up his hand,
and watched the surgeon cut through
his flesh and snip off the bones with
a pair of forceps without tremOr.
While the Kid was getting over this
| kept easy, and read great deal.
One day l struck a story about the re-
markable decrease in second-story
robberies in New York, and it struck
me that the time was just ripe for me
to pay the big town a visit. The peo-
pie would be feeling secure, and that
is the time for a thief to get in his
fine work.
1.-THE Kid and I got to New York
in the latter part of September. We
spent about three weeks studying the
houses and what appeared to be the
best places to tackle. The field was
the most promising one that | ever
saw. There were few houses on
Fifth. Lexington and Madison ave-
nues. as we'll as on the cross streets,
that could not be entered from the
second story by either the Kid or me.
I'VE started in on Madison avenue.
Tn 30 days we got into 60 houses and
picked UP property that would make
an average Of more than $1,000 a
house.
= I'VE did not have the slightest trou-
BILE in any place. We came close to
be seen by a woman who entered a
room in which we were working on
Twenty-ninth street and Madison ave-
nue., but went away without see
ing us. She never knew how close
" she came to having her light put
out. You never heard of such great
excitement as there was in the city.
The papers were filled with stories
about the second-story work going on
from day to day. The police were
abused for not catching the thieves.
1t was rare sport for us TO read these
stories and hear the comments upon
them.
I'VE were putting up at the Astor
house, living In a quiet and modest
style as became two gentlemen of ell
egant leisure. This public place
was about the safest spot we could
have struck, as the work did not take
more than an hour early in the eve
ming. The rest of the time we were
at the hotel, and could have got so