Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1931-09-09
Mew York
Letter

NEW YORK.-New York echoes
at the moment to cries OF stop
that crime wavel"
The metropolis appears to shud-
der at the possibility that 1t VIII
be considered as gang ridden as
was Chicago. With due respect TO
the various phases Of graft ana
racketeering in Manhattan, the
crime situation at present is not
likely to be linked to organized
gangs or moDs. The lurid mei0dra-
mates of stickup gents who mot
ID out for miles with police and n
nocent bystanders as victims Pc
long to the same school "a
spawned young Crowley, the LAD
for whom the electric chair now
waits.
These are the nickel dance,
curbstone loafers and petty GRIM
inals. And because such types are
scattered through every distrlct,
the police cannot catalog them a.
belonging to such-and-such q moD
The Chicago cummings were usually
easv to label, for the victims In
most cases were usually identified
with definite rackets. They Fought
things out among themselves. as
a rule.
Such sporadic neighborhooo
criminal groups are an old story
In Manhattan. Years agone. when
the Bowery was the Bowery, n
when Hells Kitchen earned us
name. when the East Side was
scattered with tough groups, there
was a sort Of pride in gone e
lowship.
The Rowery gents were out-and-
out touehs. ready for q good Old
fashioned brawl and zessfui 70
swing clubs. fists or bricks IN the
direction Of cops or lads OF osner
gangs. There were criminal moos
and mobs that were merely roug-
tourh-and-drunken. The criminal
groups were assigned territories In
which they had first rights on the
privilege or picking pockets. stick-
ing up and otherwise robbing the
~citizenrv. Instead OF collecting
bootleg tribute. they shook down
the stuss games or produced re-
peaters" at election time. Many
were partners of street women, who
were prevalent In the Bowery belt.
Monk Eastman and Humpty jack
snn were two names well at the
head Of the list. They had lieu
tenants with such colorful cogno-
mems as Crazy Butch, OF Ike the
Dope, or Kid Twist, or Louie the
Lump.
The Five Points. now a combi-
nation Of cheap clothing stores,
Chinese restaurants, coffee STANDS,
hook shops and BARRIERS. was hell
capital. Niger Mixes on the
fringe OF Chinatown, was an ac-
cepted border line for rival gangs.
Anyone sufficiently daring TO chicel
into enemy territory across this
line was not likely TO return alive.
III was all reminiscent OF present.
day racket tactics.
Monk Eastmans' ability to fur
nish .repeaters' on election day
was one cornerstone upon which
hin reputation was built. His was
an odd career. The police got him
for banditry, in spite Of his boasts
of protection, and sent him up for
20 years. He was out IN five. and
kept In trouble with the police
until the war broke. Suddenly the
tough gang guy Of the Bowery
blossomed into a hero. He came
back with a record for brave and
honorable service.
The moment he stepped out OF
uniform, he was back at his old
line. Bootlegging wos becoming
fashionable. 1t gave him a new
racket. He peddled drugs One
morning, in Fourteenth street. his
body was found In a street gutter.
Five bullets had ended his career.
This was but one little group in
one particular era-there were the
Forty Thieves, the Hudson
Busters, the Dead Rabbits and
a score Of others-all products or
the sidewalks and the slumsi