davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-29

formed official of the department, who
admitted taking graft money.
Devery once declared, Il amt poll
tician. | couldn't get 4 bag Of double
tented peanuts from Tammany Hall"
Sfrewd in matters OF business. Deverv
never fell for the Wall Street game
which wiped out the fortunes Of Tom
Byrnes, Little Tim Sullivan and Pat
NeCarren. He made judicious invest
ments in real estate in this city and
also at Far Rockaway. On his leaving
the Police Department, however. Big
Bill' did fall for the game of politics.
MS liking Of public attention and his
sense Of humor, perhaps, had more to
do with his entering the political arena
than any real hope CIR belief that he
could be elected to high Office. That
new field changed him from a pictur-
esque figure to a grotesque figure. He
was leader, but the orsanizat ton
frcwned on his efforts to be one cf its
leaders. Big Bill" had many friends
in his home district, the Ninth, which
IS on the West Side. His open air
political headquarters was at pump
at Eighth Avenue and Twenty-e.rhth
Street This fire hydrant became fam
Gus as the rallying point of the
Deveryites and received the dignity of
upper case letters, being referred to
only as "The Pump" Leaning against
1t, Big Bill" used to expound his views
and utter his Deveryisms.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-29
he Passing Of Grand Old Police Chief

II/lLLlAM S. DEVERY Menu York's most famous chief
w OF police cho died recently at his RockuaUaa
'0os for twenty-five gears successfully patrolmon
rondsmon, captain inspector, deputy chief and Chief
Big Ba oos appointed to the force became
rondsnan 1884, captain and an inspector IN
1893 Almost Immediately thereafter he oas made deputy
chief and then Chief He held this office about four gears Early
IN 1901 the Legislature passed aw oboshng the post chief
and Deuery became deputy commissioner.
Deuery had often SAID he "bor be cop and avhe
he sheved deputy commissioner he quit and Uent
into the real business he couldn't bear the
thought of being desk man at Headquarters
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-29

up under all these charges, and indict-
ments made him fight back all the
harder for his job and power. Devery
was beaten only when the Office OF
Chief OF Police was legislated out of
existence. Even then he didn't give
up, for to his last days he insisted
II didn't get fair count. am still
Chief OF Police, only the Office doesn't
exist any more"
Devery never lodged controversy
with what he was pleased to term
them reform blokes" (the term guy
was not in use in his day). "All
policeman" was the way one Police
Commissioner Endorsed Big Bill. He
was just that. From cop to chief, he
spent about twenty-five years Of his
life in police work.
4 Sense of Humor
Devery did not always consider HIM
self In the right in his many contro-
VERSES with hia critics. He was a
born fighter and he just would not let
the other fellow get away with it,
Aside from the fact that he was a
fighter, the chief had saving quality,
a sense Of humor. which he frequently
INDUCED at the expense of some other
person. Often he WIS unconsciously
funny. Once, for instance. when COM
plant was made to him by certain re-
form politicians of methods they
feared would be used at a coming cleo
ton. Dsvery's way OF settling the mat
ter was to Issue Instructions to his
policemen, eff them silk stocking blokea
interiors with yeu, stand them on
their heads" When 'Bg Bilw gave m
order like this he meant that IL should
be carried out - nearly literally az
possible
Dsvs7y's attitude toward reform was
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-29
''Cet the Big Fellers"

This policy Of handling big matters
Devery took with him to 800 Mulberry
Street, then Police Headquarters. He
taught his men to get the "big fellers"
Brought up in the school of hard
knocks, the "best chief ever" knew how
to take them-and give them. Devery
never was more in his element than
when he could appear at some great
public function, arrayed in his best
uniform, and personally direct the work
Of his men. I have seen him at such
affairs do the work of the ordinary
cop. His presence was an incentive and
assurance to his men. They knew the
chief would be with them SO long as
they carried cut orders. It Is difficult
70 picture any such outbreaks In
Devery's day az have lately marked the
activities Of the Bolshevik element in
New York. Devery would have sup
pressed any such public demonstrations
II he had to have the city float special
issue OF revenue bonds to buy a new
supply Of nightsticks. And he would
not have been content to "let George
do it." Hs would have been there to
help.
Big Bill" would have considered it a
siur on his Official dignity and an insult
to his police ability to have outside
police agencies brought in to handle
such a situation. There were anarch-
lists IN this city In Devery's day. but
they were very. very quiet crowd.
Religious maniacs." no called them.
They were all chartsd and never got
the least leeway for the carrying out Of
their principles. Devery's first arraign-
ments AZ cop--about forty years ago
were along tho riverfront, at that time
srfestsd with the toughest characters,
TO whom diplomacy WIZ something akin
r. eswardioe. Dsvsry didn't try 10 be
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-29
His Picturesque Tongue

Felonious crimes were Devery's
forte, and while perhaps he was at
times neglectful IN suppressing mis-
demeanors, he would have considered
his department disgraced if big crimes
went unpublished while detectives were
engaged in running down crap shoot
ers. Devery's language frequently
was quite as picturesque as his per
sonality, but it never required any in
depreciation. In one of the cases
where charges were made against him
he was acquitted, although the trial
Judge held that the chief had been
"indecorous and offensive" Charges
Of extortion and oppression rolled off
Eis shoulders like water off an oilskin
coat. Once the Police Commissioners
got" him. That was in 1894. He was
tried, found guilty and dismissed. He
was back on the force ten month
later, more powerful than ever and lust
as laxative.
he continued III the department SIX
years after being restored to duty,
when finally the curtain was rune
down on Devery's police career, in
1901, by an act Of Legislature abol-
ishing his Office, which step had to be
taken to abolish "Big Bill" as head of
the department.. One thing the old
timers still say about the chief, "He
never squealed." No man knew the
ms and outs of the Police Department
more intimately than he. He knew
what every man in authority was do
ing and had done. Testimony was given
before tho Lexow committee, inves-i-
eating police affairs, that Devery' 3
agents had extorted money Of which
1t was sought to prove that he got
his "divvy." 1t was not in the Deverv
code to admit receiving graft money
and thus besmirch the department and
other men, although the way for such
action had bessn paved by another ofa-
GER later to become the highest uni
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-29

was not such a factor in getting on the
force In those days as depth of chest
and circumference Of biceps. The
Devery cops were such adopts at club
welding chat they could. temper
their blows to make them hurt with
out doing any physical damage. For
hardened characters Devery favored
more of an allopathic dose and not
necessarily local. These reform
blokes," Big Bill" used to say, don't
want the cops to carry nightsticks
They ought to furnish 'en with bologna
sausages."
There was nothing mandy pamby"
about Chief Dsvery. Devery was a
bitter opponent as we'll as an adept
at coming nicknames for persons he
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-29

didn't like. He once fxed on "Chesty
George in describing the late Inspec-
tor George McCluskey. To the time
of his death the dapper, we'll groomed
McCluskey was known IS "Chesty
George
Undoubtedly Devery did enjoy GER
tain political support. Being a mem
Der Of the uniformed force, however,
he was not subject to the whm and
caprice of the Mayor, and could be re-
moved only on charges or, as Devery
was, by his Office being put out II
eXistence
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-29
Yearras for Beyond

This soft spoken, clear eyed youth,
with the broad, lithesome shoulders,
who smiles as he tells Of killings and
laughs as he describes his robbings,
wants it known that he yearns for
death because there are no purling
brooks in prisons, or grassy slopes, or
the full sweeping play of the sunlight.
Handy was "lifer" in Tacoma when
he mildly informed the local District
Attorney that he had committed cap
ital crime in Brooklyn.
In Tacoma he had killed friend
because that friend's eyes narrowed
and sparkled during an argument. In
Brooklyn, he explained, he had killed
two strangers because they had sought
to protect their employers property in
q holdup. 1t was the famous East
Brooklyn Savings Bank robbery, on
December IS last, during the commits
sion of which De Witt C. Peal, an as
sistant cashier, and Henry Coons, a
teller, were shot to death.
Brooklyn offered me DEATH Handy
said simply. death was preferable,
BY far, very far, to life in prison
walls-my God, just think waking up
in the morning and seeing that"-he
indicated sweep OF sunlight that
flooded the courtroom Windows
''streaked by the shadows cast by iron
bars."
Handy seemed interested, enthusi-
astic, for the first time. He seemed to
cast off the lethargic Indifference with
which he has cloaked all emotion dur
ing his trial. His smooth, boyish face
became even younger as his customary
pallor gave way before newly in
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-29
By Charles A. Solomon

wv 18TH the passing Of William
NA( s. Devery New York has
lost one more OF the pict-
uresque characters that
contributed to the gayety Of metro
politan Life a decade ago. By only a
short span did "Big Bill" survive for
Her Mayor Robert A Van Wyck, who
pronounced him the "Bese Chief OF
foice New York ever hal" a char
Aeserizstion that stuck, although often
applied in a sense OF derssion.
Chief Devery was a figure tn New
FORK lie in period when nicknames
were given men prominent In politics
ana official place, practice not 80
prevalent to-day.
so Chief Devery, the last police
Official Of that rank New York was to
nave, became Big Bill"
and 1t was fitting. "Bix Bill" Devery
Ns' big not only in the matter Of
physique. but also In the matter OF
'as power he Welded. As a patrol
a'sa ana IN the higher grades he filled
= MS climb TO tho Office Of chief,
ssry made frequent use Of his bulk
ma strength and proved his physical
gs' Also, whether one may De
s"Iss<d 10 cali ii moral courage or
s's, Dsveyy a. head OF the Police De-
sns proved himself e fighter, {.
VINO neysx laid down" His
s s.assf - chief was marked by ono
sns sztsr another With elements that
tasa him as blot on the .acu.cb-
8" " this fair town. On his massive
~. 800 md brosd, deep shoulders ver.
$3.50 80 me unrsssrainsd eritlcixm Of
- whS differed with his Wv ~ ~
Ae ~ rssies Department. H. ~,
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-29


like that Of the late Colonel Asa Bird
Gardiner, who, when District Attorney
said, ITO hell with reform" The diff
ference was that Colonel Gardiner was
removed from office for his attitude
by Governor Roosevelt. Devery. too
was removed from Office at one time In
his turbulent career, but, unlike Gar
diner, he came back.
Devery was man OF Zig deeds. Be.
sides, he could intelligently direct the
work Of detectives, for, although per
haps not generally known, he hac
done such work for his friend, In
spector Thomas F. Byrncs, for many
years chief Of the detective bureau
and ono ~ tho c1avarac4
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-29

may so soon leave this confessed muir
derer and robber became the simple,
unaffected poet. Robberes and muir
ders drifted off into the summary haze
and there came back to him instead
softened, pretty pictures ont of the
great volume, There might have been.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-29

Smells nicely, doesn't ." he re-
marked as breezy finger Of the sunlit
day touched him lightly on the nostrils.
The breeze had crcpt over the spacious
lawn in the rear of the Supreme Court
house before duttering in the window.
And to think" he went on, they
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-29

duced flow Of blood When Handy
entered the courtroom for the first
time last Monday the women pres
ent gasped in establishment and al
most chorused, "How handsome, how
charming." With color in his face,
the actually classic lines were brought
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-29

wanted to keep me from that forever
Day after day I would have been forced
to love nature through heavy masonry,
to breathe it blended with the dank
smells Of Western prison.
rs it any wonder that prefer death i?
Why was the trials held? There is
nothing in life for ME in prison; there
is everything in life outside # was
to spend it in prison I would be wish
ing for and hoping for quick death
This IS the better way. No illness
nothing. l have tried to commit sui
eide BY confessing. hope have sue
ceeded.
Let me ask anybody-how about
yourself-would you sooner die or live
in Jail? Was it Horace Greedy or
Patrick Henry who said, Give me lib-
erty or give me death? The man who
said that was great parsonage, be-
cause ne knew what he was talking
about. 1t is impossible for me TO fully
state my preference for death to
life within prison walls 1t would be
torture to know that outside the
streams and things were calling, while
inside was taking on the prison pallor.
Suppose l escaped in few years,
That would mean nothing. | would be
an ex-convict, stamped wherever I went
by the expression on my face, the un-
mistakable badge of Gagged things"
Lores Open Sea
This murderer, who Graves for the
sunshine, loves the open sea in the
same wild, wholesouled way. He said
that he shipped aboard merchantmen
or tankers again and again, not SO
much to escape from too efficient de-
tectives, but to get into the midst Of
the real out Of doors.
His taste in literature reflects his
yearning for the sea. He enumerated
his favorite books, with a disappoint-
ing similarity and absence of novels
and adventure stories
II went through most of the stuff
which every Young fellow reads" he
said. There was Dickens and Sir Wal
ter Scott, / suppose, and few Of the
other authors, in whom enjoyment is
lost because it is sometimes COM
pulsory to read them. Books on navi-
cation are my favorites."
During the hours ne spent in Ray
mond Street jail Handy perused Bow
SPIRITS Navigation" said by naval men
to be one of the most advanced aad
comprehensive works on pathfndinr
through the sea. Handy has among
his effects a warrant showing that no
has the authorization to ship as third
mate
There are no women playing star
roles in Hamby's case. He seems
TO have confined his love to the
beautiful in landscape He admits
that few women came into his
life At various times, but none played
leading roles. When he night have
been weaving a charming romance
he was roaming the mountains or
sailing the seas A .hourh he was re-
spect personifed in his wv references
to girls, he nevertheless d:ecrsdits them
entirely from professional standpoint.
Chains are as strong as their weakes
links, he said, and sometimes women
become weak indeed. He has TO opinion
on woman suffrage. Perhaps Hamby's
affairs Of the heart have been fre-
Quently recurrent and deeply interest
ing But Handy is an innate gentle.
man, cavalier who probably wooed
ard won, but has natural chjvalrous
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-29
Handy, Most Remarkable Criminal City

wants It understood that he is not a
burglar or a murderer. His visit at
the bank was q commercial transaction,
he pointed out. He had regarded his
pistols as things which commanded
attention and obedience. They were
not instruments Of death as he saw
them. They became such Unexpectedly,
but not unwillingly. Peal and Coons
had died because they had failed to
appreciate that disobedience and death
were one. Out West the murders
would not have happened, Handy
pointed out. 1t is religion to bank
employees to snap with prompt obedi-
ence when man with q gun makes
suggestions.
Profanity IS the language Of tho
weak, according to Handy. He never
utters an invective, however poor the
prison fare may be or how obstinate
his light locks may be to the persuasion
of missing-tooth prison comb. He
does not even verbally assail the friend
or $4,000 and who has slipped into OBJ
'livion, leaving Handy without cigar
cite money. Nor does he regret the
81, 900 he gave to the young woman
who accompanied him from New York
to the coast. She was not a good
woman, Handy said. but she was loyal
and levelheaded. A solitaire ring,
marriage ring with no significance and
a set of furs were some Of his gifts to
her.
Handy has one great fear. His at
torney, Frank x. McCaffrey, hight ap-
peal his case. That would mean time
lost-time spent in thick stone walls
in green summer time: Perhaps the
Great Beyond has something exciting
in store for hin-certainly it can't be
worse than prison life on earth.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-29
Bv Bertran1 Reinitz

~ oRDoN FAwCETT HANDY
wants to be hurried into the
electric chair, avoiding all
the laws delays, before the
ennui growing out of this business Of
being tried and condemned for murder
in the first degree kills him.
He has heard = little Of the last few
hours in the death house and the short
walk to and through the little green
door. he feels that these might pro-
vide some refreshing diversion, a
change from the humdrum, monotonous
existence Of a man regarded as the
most dangerous and most cultured
criminal In the history Of this state.
When the foreman Of the jury an
nounced, after fourteen hours Of trial,
that Handy was guilty of the murder
Of De Witt C. Peal. killed during a
$4,000 robbery OF the East Brooklyn
Savings Bank on December 13 last,
Handy looked intensely relieved-as
another man might have looked had he
been acquitted. With the verdict, he
explained later, the thing" was over
These lawyers with their speeches and
the crowd with its curiosity-they were
boresome things to a man who had
robbed thirteen banks and participated
in nine shootings, five resulting fatally.
He has no desire to utilize his pre-
dicament to satisfy the human desire
for dramatic byplay. He proved that
he Is sincere in his indifference and
disinterest by completely ignoring the
audience, which included about fifty
women.
Scorns Brapad0
He scorned bravado as he did the
merest trace of weakening. He had
intended to say a few things, COM
mending the judge, jury and district
attorney for speeding up the trial and
getting the iresome details over with
He withheld his little speech, he said,
afterward, because he thought that
histrionic display"
When he heard that there had been
women in the courtroom leaning for
ward eagerly to hear some expression
from the prisoner, he regretted his
silence. 1t was "discourteous" to
ignore ladies wishes" so completely
he said. Women are to be revered and
entertained. He apologized for his
selfishness-but perhaps he might
conduct himse henceforth in a way
that would at least make good reading
for the women. His innocuous blue
eyes laughed and danced as he spoke,
just as they played when Justice Faw-
cett characterized him as a criminal
whose record made that of Jesse James
or any other bandit pale by comparison.
He said he did not smile because he
had been properly classified; that he
criminal sun an felt officially recog-
nized. He smiled, he said, because
people looked on things so differently
because they could not see as he did
that man who robbed bank faced
odds Of 20 to |, with the proceeds on
his investment death or "dve-hguredr
money. That wasn't crime, he reasoned
mildly; it was business-big business
and he had gone bankrupt.
Conducts O,cn Propaganda
Handy has been conducting propa
ganda in his unostentatious way. He
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-29

cut in holder relief, and crime easily
captured the beauty prize in the court
room.
Becomes Poet
AS he discussed his love for the I'M
trammelled things of the sphere he
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-29

wv nth the passing Of William
NA{ s. Devery New York has
lost one more OF the pict-
New Britain herald., 1919-07-23
Unless otherwise nosed n by
 
EONS Il9lIA!lEEs.

Wallace Reid in Alias Mike Mo- ran" will be shown at Fox's for the last time tonight
 Tomorrow FoX's will offer the New Britain faVorite Harry Carey, in his latest six reel Universal production, "Riders of Nengeunce.' Just at the moment when happiness was his and he had stepped out of the church with his bride on his arm, d volley of hid den rifles spurted, mingIing with the music of the wedding bells, and Chey- enne Harry's father, mother, broth CTS and wife sank on the church steps, victims of one of the cattle feuds that were a blot on the fair name of the Golden West. Then Cheyenne Harry raised his right hand and swore to be reVenged on the gang of hired mur- dererS.
 This is the situation on which the dramatic story of Riders of Ven geance is based The sequence of gripping situations that go to make this picture the strongest or all the Carey productions was contrived by Harry Carey himself. Two years after the murders had been committed Cheyenne returns and nails note in the town of Mesquite, containing the list of the men he has sworn to kill. One by one he gives them justice-the only justice they deserved. Riders of NengeanCe' is one of the most startling and satisfying screen dramas shown in some time. MT. Carey is ably supported by Seena Owen, Joseph Harris, J. F. Mcdonald and other Universal stars.
 The twelfth episode of "The Tigers Trail is entitled The Two AmazOns" and continues with suspense the va rlous adventures of Belle Boyd and her friend Jack Randall in their search for the secret of the Pact of Three and the possession of the mys- tic Tiger Idol. This serial is rapidly drawing to close and the remaining chapters will contain many interesting disclosures. The latest Pathe News. Mutt and Jeff and the next chapter of the Screen Supplement will also be offered with four acts of Fox Vaude- vile.
New Britain herald., 1919-07-23
AT THE PALACE THURSDAY.

Thursday brings to the Palace all entire change of program for the last three days of the week. The photo- play feature being the big super sev- en reel production, '"The Mayor of Fil- bert,' starring beautiful Belle Ben- nett. Vice and graft in an urban community are exposed in all their nakedness in this production. Who's the mayor of your town? It's a safe bet that you'd know your chief execu- tive, isn't it? Even if you are not interested in politics-but for three weeks the citizens of Hilbert lived un- der the rule of an imposter Even the mayors most intimate friends and as- soclates were sure they knew him-the pretender whom the refOrmers had smuggled into the executives chair, For in face and form the impersona- tor was the mayors double. It was a daring and colossal scheme but these prohibitionists conceived to rid their town of crime and vice. The story is beautifully told in the photoplay and as it is a story of present times and of local interest it will appeal to all. Another feature on the bill will be the latest Arbuckle comedy with the famous comedian in "Love,' a picture that is a sure cure for the blues. A special vaudeville bill has been se- 1ected for the last part of the week with acts that will surely please.