The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-06-23
OFFICERS BLAME MERCHANTS FOR MANY ROBBERIES Police Heads Assert Jewel CTS Attract Burglars To
 Steal. LEAVE GEMS BENEATH GLARE OF WHITE WAY Hill Wants To See Those Who Object to His Travel
 Methods.

Ann to be hanged or e1ectrocuted for riding to New York in a, linous- ine?" asked George S. Hill. president of the police commission today, in answering criticism of the police de- partment efficiency today.
 Eugene. Birmingham is still in charge of the department and pay no attention to these details. The commissioners have never interfered with Birmingham in fne conduct of the department and never will,'' he said further.
 In showing the innpossibi1ity of ab- solutely checking such raids as re- suited in three windows being broken fin the business district early yesterday morning, police officers tacitly place some responsibility upon the mel chants themselves, alleging that they are attracting burglary by the display of valuabIes under bright lights. late <at night, without the precaution usual ly taken in other cities.
 Little progress has been made to- ward the capture of river pirates and those men now deemed responsible for the theft of jeweIrY. shoes and clothing night before last. Captain of Detectives George Arnold today showed that there is practically no means of protecting harbor craft from the depredations of pirates as no fast craft is at the disposal of the department other than a boat in care of the harbormaster Should a po- 1icenan stand on one of our bridges and see thieves operating on a boat in the harbor it would be almost useless to attempt capture under present conditions said he. "Our men would have to get a rowboat or waste time in finding somebody with a motorboat, and the chances are greatly in favor of the thief escaping" It is believed that the quantity of loot taken day before yesterday from five boats lying off the Park City Yacht club is now somewhere in Long Island with little likelihood that 1t will be recovered.
 The police are working today up on the belief that two or possibly three individuals are responsible for the robberies in the\vicinity of Main street where the windows of the But ton O1iphant jewelry store. B. oBlum- ber's shoe store and Keller Bros dry goods store were broken. The State street break is believed to have been done by a separate gang of three men, each looking for a suit of clothes, one of which was disap- pointed when he had to discard Cap tain George ArnoId.s suit which he had stolen.
 l It is believed that the work was done by straggIers, out of work, and here from other cities. A large number of men, known to the police as ':hoaters'' are known to be in the city now, ostensibly looking for work but, according to Captain of Detec- lives Arnold, applying their taieving propensities'' in. Bridgeport as we'll as other cities.
 It is pointed out that these propen- sities cannot be curbed. even though policemen were stationed a block apart from each other, and that in l comparison to New York and Boston where they have walked right into big jewelry stores and held up clerks at the point of a. gun, Bridgeport is fortunate.
 Citing a we'll known method of professionals in breaking window Captain Arnold today said: "If we stationed a. man less than one block | apart criminals could still break windows With brown paper and | rnoIasses a, crook could cut and break Continued on Page 2.