New Britain herald., 1925-03-31
BEING PREPARED FOR CRIME EMERGENCIES


 CRIME EMERGENCIES
 Gun-toting tales of the wild west, in Nhich frontier bandits held up stage coaches and got their names emblazoned in the annals of iniquitN are entirely passe compared with the stories of occurrences in presid nt-day newspapers.
 The jcenes Of Jesse James ex- pioits now are quiet peaceful and law-abiding. Jails arc nearly empty; "hoss-thieves" arc no more; shoot ings' are rare. True, some black sheep of descendant of former evil-doers may now and then steal an automobile or take to bootlegging or moonshining; but for the most part there is angelic peace and ecstatic content where once the daredevil outlaws made their victims hold up their hands as if in supplication to the almighty and dashed into the wilderness to evade the vigor of the law.
 The modern crook no longer spccializes in the tall grass country, in the corn stalks, hay stacks or wheat belt. His chief center of gravity is New York city, or the other metropolitan centers. An other daylight diamond robbery took place in Gotham yesterday; train robbery took place in Chicago the day before.
 The diamond hodup indicates to what lengths crooks will go in a large city. in the midst of the hurry ing millions, and, to use a current colloquialism, get away with it" Tho salient details of the story ap- pearcd in the Herald of yesterday how the robbers followed a diamond merchant from the institution where he kept hit gems in vault over night, to his place of business on the ninth floor of a sky scraper, and there held up him and his clerks, and tied their hands and feet.
 It has been shown repeatedly that criminals can do these things in g metropolis with greater degree of success than in a small town: in a sparsely populated district scarcely at all. A criminal is never so safe ss when he is Host in the crowds" " or steps into an automobile and is lost in the maelstrom of traffic.
 What to do? Simply improve the technique of defense. A dismond or jewe1ry store on the ninth or any other upper floor of a skyscraper is q private sanitarium compared with a jewelry store on the ground floor, with bay windows offering clear view from the street to the inside. Such, of course, also have been rob- bed. but it is a deal harder job and one less likely to invite such an on- slaught.
 The most effective opponent of thievery is light, and plenty Of it, The safe that is the last one con- sidered worth cracking is the one mar the front of the establishment, with an electric light burning nearby all night; or one which is within full view of the passerby. The safe that invites robbery is the one that is hidden from view.
 Banks have been bothered by crooks from time immemorial. and it is rather a cynical commentary of the times that most of those robbed in this modern age are entered dur ing the daytime. when the vaults are invariably open, and an army oi clerks, tellers and officials are ir their places. What has enable "crew" of outlaws to risk such chances, which in an old day wal unthought Of?
 The answer is the automobile. The keystone Of such bold attacks is the quick getaway. Before the au' tomobile was invented a swift blow by 4 horde of outlaws was as possi' ble as it is today, but it was yer! tmprobable Of execution because O tbe inability to flee, Today, with waiting automobile operated by confederate, supplies the means fol the dash to safety. Frequently be fore the alarm is given and the DO lice arrive. or other machine ee primed for the pursuit, it'is too late
 Again. what to do about 1t? Ther' seems to be only one method promising more than an even oreaf tn favor of the law. and that is pre- sicated under a rapid mobilization oi ame.rs and the speedy -ovSs.aE oi