The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-02-14

an alley and from there whisk it away
to a fence"
"A fence" says Lucky, to-day. fall
ing back upon his Bowery gutturals,
with welts of horror comforting his
face, "a fence is de woist ting in de
woild."
The little Irish lad made these
young criminals the heroes of his
dreams. At Il years of as5 cGnic his
first chance to emulate them. lie saw
a driver unload twenty-five small kegs
of beer in front of a saloon. The bar
keeper came out and counted the kegs
and returned to the saloon after
which the driver began to roll them
in one by one. For an interval with
each he was out of sight behind the
swinging doors. This interval was
the opportunity of the little red
headed, frecklefaced Chris.
In one Of those fractions OF a min
ute he sent a keg spinning into the
narrow alley which had so often
served as a thieves runway. The
driver, having counted the beer once.
never missed this keg, and before he
had mounted his wagon Chris had
hammered in the bung. and with his
friends around him had entered upon
his first debauch, drinking himself
sodden drunk.
His father, a hard working sta
tionary engineer, performed his duty
stcrnly. Chris resented the beating
he received and it was three months
before the home folks saw him again.
Then he staggered down the street
of his birth and exhibited himself to
his brothers and sisters. His twelve
year-old bosom was swollen with
pride and conceit. He could smoke,
he could drink, he could lie. he could
steal, and upon these resources he
could sustain life. He was a man!
From that first boyish theft and
intoxication Lucky Baldwin sorrow
fully dates his criminal career. At
10 he was an expert thief and be-
longed to a gang which was affiliated
with a fence" The desperate nature
of these associates is summed up now
when he says of them sadly, "Some of
'em is dead some of 'em is in prison,
and some of EN- is hung"
At II, big and strong, some impulse
sent the young tough to work as "A
truck driver. But he confesses: 81
was bounced as often as I was hired.
To save my life | could not stop steal
ing. / would open up cases, take out
what I fancied and put 1t in my feed
boxes"
From truck driving he graduated
to a position in a Bowery restaurant,
famous as Suicide Hall" Here he
became proficient in the art of short
changing. He could serve a patron
with sedulous concern, encourage him
to talk, gain his confidence, and then
in the momcnt Of giving him his
change rob him. From a five dollar
bin he could get one dollar and fifty
cents: from a ten dollar bill four
dollars, and from "A twenty six dollars
and fifty cents,
1t was in part legerdemair and in
part confidence game; and Lucky
played both with equal skin. Fifty
or sixty dollars week was the take
out" but this soon became too slow
for Lucky's impatient appetite. lie re-
sorted to methods requiring less
finesse and producing larger returns,
but one of these ventures came near
to whelming him in disaster.
He was arrested on a charge of
"horse stealing and highway" as he
puts VI. The case against him was
perfect, But Lucky was young. His
face was engaging. Crime at that
time had put no stamp upon 1t. His
people stood well in the neighborhood
and despite his wldness were de-
voted to him.
His sister came into court with a
certified check for the amount of
money involved. She made a dra-
matte plea upon 'her knees for the lib
erty of her brother; so the jury, ig-
norlng the evidence and all law but
the universal one of mercy, decided
to give the boy another chance. 1t
was this acquittal and other narrow