davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1921-12-13
AFTTRNooN Ar cARns-

The card party given by the
members OF the Wilmington section.
Council OF Jewish Women. at the
Queen Theatre yesterday afternoon
was a success. Similar parties will
be held by the organization once a
month Prizes were awarded at
each table OF players yesterday
Bridge, 500 and pinochle were
played.
Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1921-12-13
SUNSHINE CHRIsTMAs PLANS.

Three branches Of the Delaware
Division, International Sunshine So
ciety met yesterday afternoon and
planned for the Christmas scheer
work. Delaware Branch met with
Mrs. ]. d. Carter, 1926 Van Buren,
street: Pollyanna Branch, with Mrs.
w j. Robinson. 272S Market street,
and the New Era Branch. at sun
shine Hall. 1909 Delaware avenue.
The latter branch has decided this
season to divide its contributions to
charity among the Home OF Mer-
ciful Rest. the Home for Aged
Women. the hospitals OF Whining
ton, the Emergency Fund. and lit
tie Ellen. the blind baby kept by
the organization at the Blind Babies
Home at Summit. ~ j. In addi-
ton to making these contributions.
they will distribute a number OF
Christmas baskets; and send ice
cream and cake on Christmas day
to the boys at the Blind shop.
Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1921-12-13
SOCIAL AND
PERSONAL

Mrs. Charles Purse and daughter,
who have been spending few days
with Mrs. Purses parents, Mr.. and
Mrs. Charles NJ. Chase, Thirty-sixth
and Market streets, have returned
to their home in Pittsburgh. Pa.
Mrs 3. Frank Morrison and chill
drcn. OF Pittsburgh. Pa, are spend
ing some time with Mrs. Morrison's
parents. Mr.. and Mrs. Lambert j..
Foulk, 1919 Madison street.
Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1921-12-13
$3.50 Silk CamiSoleS
CamisoIes of a Quality and Value That 40
VIII Grow Rsrer Christmas EwM
Draws Nearer - W III -
pretty. styles in this

There are pretty. styles IN this
splendid group Of Pink SILK camisoles. Some plain
tailored, with wide blue straps; some with fine
lace tops or lace insertion or both, in full OF
sizes
The New York herald., 1921-06-26
Penetrating the Veil of Secrecy
Behind Which the Police Work

AS for the chiefs of the railroad police, We
found them most difficult. They have been
brought up the doctrine that publicity
is emphatically not one of the essentials of
a successful career. AS a matter of fact
they rather prefer to be left out of the daily
news. Even the suggestion of a neat little
spread in the Sunday failed to lure them
from their customary ways of reticence
But after all the railroad police only
human. When the proposition was put to
them as man to man they consented to drop
the bars and let the public peek in.
If we were writing this account for the
followers of Nick Carter should probably
drop the preamble and begin somewhat in
this manner:
Kiss! Boom! A red fare rent the
midnight air All unsuspecting. No. II.
the fast night freight on the T. & n. T.
line numbered round the double S hitting
an easy forty-four Ziss Boom An
other flare stood out against the sky.
What's that?" sez Mike from his
perch in the cab.
Its hell" sez Jim from the floor
The brakes went with a frightened
screech. They rumbed and roared and
moaned Quivering from stack to coup
ling, No. II pulled up short the last
flare died down to dim glow and flick
cred out, leaving the black night blacker
than before.
Crack Bang! A pistol spoke out
across the night. Hands up and make
It fast!' Jim and Mike recognized the
voice as none other than that of the
Bad Bambino, terror of the T. & n. T.
tracks.
Crack! Bang! Another gun spoke
from the top of the car. Put 'em up
and keep 'em there!" 1t was officer
Bill OF the railway cops, with his cool
and level head.
But for this piece of daredeviltry on
the part of the brave railroad policeman
another dastardly holdup would have
gone down on the records of the fated
night freight. Murder, theft and out
rage were forestalled at one fell swoop
when Officer Bill of the railway cops
stepped in on any scene.
At the present writing, of course. the fol-
lowers of Nick Carter have faded into the
slim minority We are catering to a public
stated with moving picture melodrama and
hardened to the crime of the daily headlines.
Pistol shots no longer make adequate pune
tuation marks. barrage is nothing more
than an ordinary comma to a modern seeker
of thrills. If we are to stir any interest in
the ways of the bad man and the adroit
methods of his pursuer 1t will be in romano
ing of the rowing freight car. of the black
yards, of the river barge.
The New York herald., 1921-06-26
Our Navys Super-Arship, the ZR-2, Ready to Fly

all rigid lighter than air craft in our navy
are designated by the letter "Z." while the
"R" stands for rigid. She is the second
ship to be assigned to the navy and there
fore takes the number 2. Heavier than air
craft in the navy are designated by the
letter "v"
In discussing the advantages promised
by the ZR-2 navy officials put stress on its
special value for scouting purposes. With
a speed of about sixty miles an hour. the
airship Is approximately twice as fast as
the ordinary scout cruiser With the battle
fleet the dirigibe would work in conjunc-
tion with the heavier than air craft TO
locate the enemy and assist in range finding.
In bombing maneuvres the dirigible has
certain advantages over the heavier than
air machines. II is possible for the dirigi
BILE to stop over a target and drop bombs
while heavier than air ship is compelled
to keep going in order to remain in the air.
The slowest speed possible for heavier
than air craft to remain in the air Is about
forty-fve miles an hour. In addition to
machine guns and small cannon. the zR-2
is capable of carrying about 10000 pounds
of bombs
Navy officials here figure IL will not take
more than three days and three nights for
the ZR-2 to make the fight from Howden,
England, to Lakehurst, N. j., with a posi-.
bility that the trip will be made in forty.
eight hours.
The New York herald., 1921-06-26
Millions Year Lost Through Thefts
of Silks, WooHens, Furs and Copper

If the half opened freight cars standing
at any Of the sidings may be taken as a
criterion, this is a fairly representative list
of what one might optimistically expect to
find. While aspersons are being cast at
this sort of freight as freight, the net
results of a concentrated raid ii would hard
ly be worth the risk of being put behind
the bars.
But let there be no mistake: valuable
goods are shipped by freight. The rail-
roads have lost millions of dollars a year
through theft. Silks, woollens, furs and
copper are transported across the conti-
nent in freight cars These the ship
ments that bring the railway thieves out
of their dens
Obviously, the thief has to be a profess
sional, and he has to belong to a gang. He
has to be tipped off when and where the
shipment is to be made, the number of the
car, the destination the route to be main
tanned He has to have medium for dis
posing of the goods after they are actually
stolen. He has to have trucks, chauffeurs,
merchants warehouses, railroad informa-
ton. beside his gang of bandits.
1t may take an organization Of forty or
fifty men to plan and execute a plot for
stealing and disposing of a carload of goods
that is valued al less than 100000 And 1t
takes an efficient and well organized system
or railway ponce 10 COHlDaI SuCn Il gang VI
outlaws
AS concrete example of the workings
OF the gang and the police II is worth while
to cite the case of freight car No. 1885
This car loaded with fifty cases of woolens
valued at $50 900, left Ravena, Ohio, on May
5. 1920, consigned TO a clothing firm on
Twenty-eighth street. New York city. II was
protected by a police officer over the several
divisions that IL passed on the way East
until IL arrived at siding near Newark,
~ j. Here, through some error, the car
was placed on a side track and apparently
disappeared.
shortly after its arrival according to the
theory advanced thieves tore off the
carding and painted out the car number.
The Erie police department was notified
and got on the job Immediately.
on the second day after the reported loss
an Erie patroman found an open car on a
siding containing two empty cases. The
cases were marked 10 New York clothing
house. Realizing that goods of that char
acter did not belong at that particular siding,
the patrolman wired his chief. Tracing the
matter down. II was discovered that this was
the original car that had held the valuable
woollen.
Questioning the neighbors. boy was
found who said that the day before he saw
loading the car He noticed one of the men
standing by with check sheet in his hand
checking the load from the car to the truck.
AS he had seen the identical proceeding day
after day he had thought it nothing out of
The New York herald., 1921-06-26
, Continued from First Page.

the dirigible and Commander II. T. Dyer,
United States Navy engineering expert, is
making the final inspection in England, the
gigantic hangar at Lakehurst, n. j., which
is to house the craft. is rapidly approaching
completion and is expected to be ready for
use on the arrival of the ZR-2 in August
Like the ship which IL awaits, the hangar
is the largest in the world. 1t is designed
to accommodate not only the ZR-2, but also
the ZR-1. of virtually the same dimensions
which is under construction at the League
Island Navy Yard, Philadelphia The han
gar is 500 feet long. 264 feet wide and 1876
feet high, giving room to spare for the
giant dirigibles. which in round numbers
are 700 feet long and S5 feet in diameter.
BY way OF comparison to help visualize the
magnitude of the hangar, II may be stated
that the area is equal to three city blocks
and a sixteen story structure might be
pushed through the door space.
The doors at each end of the hangar are
more than 175 feet high and 264 feet wide
Each door is built in two leaves, which are
rolled apart by 25 horsepower motor.
Each of the leaves is made of 500 tons Of
steel and corrugated asbestos There is a
mooring mast, comparatively recent limo
vation. for use when II is desired to make
fast the dirigible without putting it into
the hangar.
The New York herald., 1921-06-26

the ordinary. But he able to furnish
description of one of the drivers.
The following morning a general alarm
was sent out and on the same day New
York city police officer and an Erie patrol
man arrested of the drivers. confess
sion was forced from the driver. telling that
he had driven the truck to garage in The
Bronx. where the Identification marks were
removed from the cases. Later he moved the
load to a garage at Twenty y-fourth street
and Thirteenth avenue. This proved to be
a boarded up shed behind a saloon.
Officers took up position across the
street and waited with view to catching the
original receivers of the goods. After
while several men appeared on the scene and
actually began bartering for the sale of the
stolen goods. Detectives mingled in the
crowd and obtained valuable information.
At about this time the meeting was inter-
rupted by rumor that one of the drivers
had been arrested. The crowd quickly
scattered.
Tie police closed in and arrested twelve
men. Later they picked up thirty more who
were implicated Breaking in the garage.
they found the entire contents of the freight
car with the exception of twenty bolts of
woollen material.
The Grand Jury indicted more than forty
men. The case. which is now pending, has
beer handled ably by United States Assistant
Attorney Cotter, who was responsible for
many of the arrests. In looking over the
namee of the men involved il was discovered
that some of the worst characters on the
river front were included in the big roundup.
While most of the big robberies are
evolved in the cities and conducted by city
thieves. the old fashioned Western bandit
idea has adherents. A red flare is
stuck up on the track to halt a night freight.
The train crew is covered, big trucks backed
up and the loot carried away with the pre-
cision and formality of a regular business
administration. In the outlying districts
these raids are even conducted in broad
daylight
An elderly system is that originally used
by Oliver Curtis Perry. the rope ladder ex
pert OF the 90's and still in vogue to-day.
This is a single handed game, involving con-
siderable risk and daring. The thief has his
loot located in a particular car. He hops
the freight at a convenient point and works
his way down to the car he wants. Tossing
a rope ladder the side of the moving
car, he climbs down. breaks open the door
and tosses his loot out on the roadside. to
be picked up later. Then he climbs back up
walks to the nearest step and hops off. as
any gentleman thief should.
The greatest epidemic of freight robbing
The New York herald., 1921-06-26
Cold Facts About the Freight Thief Revealed by Railroad Police
Chiefs Indicate That Days Rich Haus Are Waning Even for
the Boldes Most Experienced and Best Organized Bands

have an insignia of authority. They will
not be questioned about it. They will gain
more respect from the criminal and be more
efficient as a protective organization. And
they should have a greater appreciation of
their position and be anxious to be credit
to their uniforms.
I'VE expect to maintain the uniformed Of
ficers on passenger and freight trains in
yards, stations and terminals. We will have
plain clothes men working as well, but the
bulk of the force will be uniformed"
During 1920 the New York Central police
department, working east from Buffalo,
made 4701 arrests, secured 1885 convictions
and recovered $5S3,000 worth Of stolen prop
erty. For 1919 the figures were S,0s1 ar
rests and 1917 convictions Questioned as
to conditions to-day. Chief Miles said that
he felt safe in saying that they had emerged
from the siege during the war and were in
far better shape for combating the freight
thieves.
"The biggest thing we have to contend
with" said the chief ''is the problem of
goods delivered on stolen arrival notices and
forged letterheads. Freight agents make the
deliveries apparently on adequate authority
and the theft is not discovered until the
original consgnor makes claim for unde-
livered goods. These losses amount to thou
sands of dollars"
Last year a complicated plot was uncov-
cred which resulted in the indictment Of
fifty-fve men, including merchants, chauf-
feurs, truck drivers and a string of accom-
plices. Chief Miles thinks that one of the
greatest remedies for preventing outlaw con-
ditions is the inf1icting of adequate penalties.
He referred to the thirty year sentence inn
posed by Judge Thomas II. Noonan last De-
cember on Cemont Pacyna for holding up
train outside of Buffalo In all. Pacyna has
forty EIGHT years to stay behind the bars.
During the war, under Government con-
troll. Chief Flynn classified the Buffalo dis
trict the second worst In the country for
car robberies. To-day" said Chief Miles, II
consider that section a graveyard compared
with the rest of the country"
For the last fourteen years j. r. Nc
Mahon has been chief of police of the New
York. New Haven and Hartford Railroad,
with headquarters at New Haven. With
him and under his direct supervision he
has several leutenants who are assigned
to special branches of the service and are
also available for emergency duties.
Under they chief the system is divided
into an Eastern and a Western grand divi-
sion, each. OF which is under the super
vision of an Inspector The grand divisions
are in turn divided into nine divisions under
the supervision Of captains. Each captain
has assigned to him several lieutenants.
The New York herald., 1921-06-26

struction Of the craft and will conduct the
final tests before II is formally turned over
to the United States. The work, however.
has been done under the observation OF
United States Navy officers and a crew of
enlisted men, whose cooperation in the con-
struction gave them the best of opportuni-
ties to become thoroughly familiar with the
craft.
Known in England as the R-3S, the giant
dirigible as a unit OF the United States
Navy bears the designation of ZR-2 because
The New York herald., 1921-06-26

The hangar will be equipped with search.
lights and signal lamps to facilitate landing
at night. The structure is painted in
stripes of gray and two shades Of brown.
and experts say hostile observer in the
air could not distinguish the hangar from
its surroundings.
The ZR-2 cost the United States in round
numbers about s200O,O00. and about $4,000
900 additional has been spent in preparing
to house IL at the Lakehurst station. The
British have been in charge Of the con-
The New York herald., 1921-06-26
By TORREY FORD.

~ OBBING a freight car is not a simple
X matter. Nor, in the general scheme
- of things, is trailing a thief who has
robbed a car any gentle afternoon relaxa-
ton. Both angles of the main industry
have their complicated aspects, their inter-
esting sidelights In review as casual as
this we can hardly hope TO touch more than
few of the high spots; but we can hint
that the perennial debate between the rail-
way cop and the railway thief is conducted
on a broad basis over a wide and varied
field
splashes into the headlines with an echoing
roar to the case of Brockton shoes that loses
out in the shuttle it may be set down that
the railway cop and the railway thief are
implicated in a measure hardly to be appre
ciated by the average layman Busy nights
by the thieves are followed by buster days
for the cops. And the public hears only
faint rumbling of the entire proceedings
For our own information in gathering
counsel solely with the railroad police.
Among our friends and acquaintance there
wasn't railroad thief whose judgment we
could trust We knew one two weak
specimens whose idea of tremendous haul
was in pilfering towel from the Pullman
washroom, but we had to exclude their testi-
mony as being too sketchy for any prac-
tical use.
The New York herald., 1921-06-26

Ceiling (maximum heighD... 13,s00 f
The New York herald., 1921-06-26
TRAIN ROBBERS NET LITTLE e RETURNFOR GR

German freight anyway doesn't go down
German freight wasn't half bad. We know
one man, an Armenian cook, who came away
from looting a German freight car with a
bicycle, a typewriter, silk hat and lady's
parasol That was considered some loot
But the fellow was an expert Probably
back in this country he belonged to a regu-
lar gang. We haven't a doubt of it,
AT all events the average man entering an
American freight yard hasn't ghost of a
chance of stumbling on a gold mine. If he
takes pot luck on opening series of cars he
The New York herald., 1921-06-26

came during the world war. Throughout the
Government administration of the roads the
losses mounted up in the millions. j. j.
Mante Federal terminal manager of New
York. and New Jersey, finally organized a
flying squad in 1918 to combat the activities
Of the bandits This a group of twenty
eight experienced railroad men who were
given the authority of United States mar
shas. Equipped with a high powered car,
Winchester rifles and automatic shotguns,
the squad did efficient work until it was dis
banded when the roads were turned back to
the owners
To-day there is hardly a railroad in the
country that does not maintain highly or
ganized police department, perfected to spe-
ciaze along the lines of protection for the
company and the public, and created to CO.
operate with the city, State and Federal au-
thorities.
Chief McGuiH Tells of Dangers
That Beset the Railroad Police
Chief Lawrence McGuill of the police de-
partment of the New York region of the
Erie Railroad said that we were the second
newspaper man he had ever interviewed. AS
his territory includes Paterson and other
Jersey towns in the heart of the silk indus,
try he has an accumulation of hair raising
yarns And he is perfectly willing to tell
them, but not for publication. The Chief is
an ex-soldier himself and likes to maintain
his department with veterans from the army
and navy.
During the year 1920 the Erie police In
the New York region made 1,243 arrests.
secured $50 convictions and recovered
$323,95497 worth of stolen property.
On August / of this year the police de-
partment of the New York Central Railroad
will become a uniformed outfit This inno-
vation, which has been adopted by the man.
agement of the road, was introduced by
Chief Edward Miles. who has been reorgan-
izng the New York Central police depart
ment during the past two years. Chief Miles
believes that in dropping the anonymous
rating and becoming recognized institu-
ton the railway police will gain in eff
cheney, prestige and authority.
There has always been a certain senti-
ment against any officer in civilian clothes"
said the Chief. railroad policemen have
never been considered more than unauthor-
lied persons endeavoring to enforce the law
and protect property. 1t has been fire.
quently stated that they had no authority
to make arrests While, of course. this
wasn't true. the opinion may have been
gained by reason of the fact that they never
looked the part in civilion clothes.
IF these men are put in uniform they
The New York herald., 1921-06-26
Little Glamour About the Freight Thief,
Yet He Has Certain Distinction

Unfortunately, we are turning our back
on romance and staring coldy at the facts
recording the typical makeup of the freight
holdup man. describing the railroad police
organizations and presenting the figures Of
arrests convictions and amount of stolen
property recovered
While there is no glamour about the rail-
way thief. he is not an ordinary criminal.
He couldn't be classed in casually with the
bank robbers and safe blow-up men. ANY
can turn himself into a bank robber
any day by simply walking into bank and
drawing a gun Every bank has money
on tap. and banking hours are pretty we'll
uniform throughout the country. But any
man can't walk into a freight yard and
accurately term himself railway thief even
If he has forty guns. We know this from
actual experience.
Just after the armistice on the Belgian
French border line we stumbled on a freight
depot that had been abandoned by the Ger
mans twenty-four hours previously. Per-
haps there were two hundred freight cars
all loaded with miscellaneous stores for the
use Of the German army Some attempt
had been made to fire the depot, but the
prompt arrival of allied forces intercepted
this incendiary motive
Anyway. when we arrived on the spot the
place was still standing, with most Of the
SUN luldCt ana the seals on the
broken Along with some few other CON
genial spirits we decided that the depot was
tair game for friendly looting expedition
we started out full of antcipations
Two hours later, tagged and weary we
emerged from the mass of freight cars cling
ing to an automobile seat cushion and case
OF smoking tobacco. The cushion proved to
he too deep to fit in behind the steering gear
OF an American hivver and the tobacco ulti-
mately turned out to be a low grade of field
fertilizer But that was all we could find
that looked as though II were worth carting
home. Probably there was any amount of
valuable stuff concealed in the cars hut
without the training and experience Of a
professional plunder hound Il was secure
from our reach
The other looters, some Of them the high
est types of American citizens. shared
similar fate Right out there in the broad
daylight, with plenty Of time and an album
dance OF enthusiasm for the search no one
could pick anything out Of that freight depot
that was worth carrying away The argu-
ment that very little could be expected Of
The New York herald., 1921-06-26

is more than apt to run on: One carload OF
feeding oats, one mixed car of chicken corn
and baled hay, one car of lumber, one car
of cabbages, one car of farm implements, one
car of miscellany. including two stoves: four
dozen brooms, eighteen cases of canned
tomatoes, and possibly small consignment
of assorted pots and pans.
The New York herald., 1921-06-26

Edward Miles, chief of the New
York Central Railroad detectives, who
has reorganized that roads protective
forces.
The New York herald., 1921-06-26

Endurance at so m. p. h.
(cruising speed for ZR-2,
full speed for R-34) -.