The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-04-13

from him by clever pretences Of ex-
penses incurred in her detective" work.
Escaping prison by a successful as
sumption of insanity. she soon robbed
a jeweller named Brady Of $4,000.
Franz Meyer, who organized a regi-
ment Of volunteers at the start Of the
Spanish American war, possessed an
Independent income prior to meeting
Ellen Peck. When the woman was
brought to trial charged with swindling
him Of 100000, Franz testified that
she had reduced him to the straits of
shooting sparrows in his back yard in
order to provide food for his family.
Bogus real estate deals were her
favorite bait and one William b.
Crinkley lost $4,000 through over
was too the Jay Gould affair. She,
whom Jay Gould never knew in his
life, pretended to be his intimate
friend. She made many believe that
she was and got them to give her
large sums of money to invest on
tips" that she told them came from
the lips of the Wall Street wizard"
These and many other affairs were
punctuated by long prison sentences
two at Auburn among them-and
many shorter terms, as well as a period
when she was detained in Jail merely
on suspicion. So great was the fear
that she inspired that the police have
never ceased to watch her. Gov. Dix
pardoned her from Auburn prison in
1911 on the theory that she was too old
to be dangerous, but when she got out
she swindled a Central American.
Monk Eastman's Testimony,
Monk Eastman, returning from
France the other day with a fine mill
tary record, FASTENED to say that crime
leads only to ruin. The former gang
leader. burglar and terror Of the police
insists that he is through with the
trade; that the army service made him
a changed man, and that as long as he
lives he will walk straight. Well, Mr..
Edward Eastman is a person of expert
ence whose words may be studied with
unusual care. The Bureau of Crimi-
nal Identification possesses a long list
Of his violent exploits and a fat en-
velope stuffed with memoranda, which
Hear him now:
There is nothing in crime. There
is nothing in being a thug. A gang
leader never gets anywhere. The pity
OF 1t is that there are a lot OF young
fools growing up who try to make a
reputation by being slick. II they
could only know in advance, as l
know, how little there is in il beyond
disgrace and privation they'd quit now.
They'd get jobs and stick to them.
They'd let booze alone and stay away
from gangs. ! am now A years old
and the rest of my life is going to be
spent honestly, at hard work, and
not in being a rotten outcast"
Take the career of Thomas Court
ney, who started cracking safes in the
early nineties: who robbed banks of
100000 at a time; who rolled in money
when he wasn't making shoes for the
State; who was one of the topnotchers
of highly specialized burglary. Court
ney got out OF prison the other day
broken in health. broken in spirit
watched by the police, with no friends
except grafters, without a cent to his
name. He applied for a hack license,
hoping to get job as chauffeur of a
taxicab. He told a headquarters de-
tective that he was Through"
Whether he spoke the truth or not
doesn't matter. 1t isn't Courtney's
words that count. it is what the old
burglar is now-penniless, detected, an
outcast.
There is Jimmy Farrell. forger and
counterfeiter. said by the police TO