New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-04-21
ARSON RING BROKEN Up
So Asst. Dist. Atty. Weller Tells
Y, M. C. A.. Members.
STOLEN GOODS MEN NEXT
SAYS 90 Per Cent of Persons
Convicted in New York Are
Less than 80 Years Old.

Crime does not pay Assistant Dis
trict Attorney Royal II. Weller. who sue
cessfully prosecuted the arson trust
,old members of the Italian-American
branch of the Young Mems Christian AS
ISOLATION. at No. S22 East 10th street yes
tcrday afternoon.
Not one man ont Of every ten thou
sand who commits a crime Dement'S py
his act in the end" he continued.
man usually commits crime When ne y
not sober-as a rule. between the hours
Of I and 6 in the morning. He is often
tempted 10 do wrong because he Is III
debt. but il IS generally the case thd'
when he is successful in securing loot ne
has TO turn it over TO some one else, Win
small profit to himself And whether OF
not the crime is successful as financial
venture. he always has the penltentlaiy
or the reformatory staring him IN the
face"
The East Harlem branch Of the Young
Mems Christian Association is in the
district where Icy Stein. more OFTEN
known as "Izzy the Painter and MS
band Of fire-sotters operated.
when | told District Attorney Whit
man | was 10 speak here Mr.. Weller
said. "he told me to tell you TO have no
more fear of the firebugs. The backbone
of the band that operated on the East
Side between 5sth and l25th streets Is
broken he declared.
"rhe arson ring Mr.. Weller con-
tinued was an example Of one form oil
organized crime which the District Al
torney's Office has done so much TO eX-
pose and break up in the last year
Young men no older than many OF
YOU" he said. indicating his audience
were ready TO commit any crime. from
Matchmaking the poor pushcart men out
Of half a dollar to killing horses or muir
dcring a man. The District Attorney s
office has successfully broken up organ
lied murder and horse poisoning on the
East side. and in a few weeks the or
SANITATION which receives stolen property
will have been destroyed.
Ninety per cent OF the men convicted
for crime i'm New York. the speaker as
serted. were less than thirty years oil
age.
The reason for that Mr. Weller said
Ties in the fact that older men STAND
behind the young men and make them
do the dirty work That was evidenced
BY the ages of the Rosenthal gunner and
Izzy the Painter. When the latter was
sentenced TO a long prison term recently
ne was twenty-six years Old. When he
was at the height of his career he was
iwenty-one.
"A firebug must be young man. with
plenty Of nerve and courage. and Icy
Stein was no exception. lie found that
certain persons. known as insurance al
iusters were ready TO stand behind young
men with criminal ideas who would not
hesitate to jeopardize the lives Of Others
By starting fires. and 'Izzy' prospered by
this nefarious practice
Perhaps it was his intention TO make
money or to save it. but he gained moth
ing and lost everything in the end. Ever
while he was making large fees as q
frebug he could not keep the money
The stuss games of Second avenue and
the poker games of Third avenue got II
all. And now he is in jail and his wife
and children the objects Of Hebrew
charity. That is only ono example OF
thousands ! might quote 10 prove that
crime very seldom pays.
MIR. Weller said he would be pleased 10
have all members OF the Young Mems
christian Association call al the Criminal
Courts Building in order that he might
show them about and let them see now
the mills of justice worked