Lights and Shadows of New York Life

J >> James D. McCabe >> Lights and Shadows of New York Life

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_Bene_.--Good, first-rate.

_Benjamin_.--A coat.

_Bilk_.--To cheat.

_Bill of sale_.--A widow's weeds.

_Bingo_.--Liquor.

_Bingo boy_.--A drunken man.

_Bingo mort_.--A drunken woman.

_Blue-billy_.--A strange handkerchief.

_Blue ruin_.--Bad gin.

_Boarding-school_.--The penitentiary.

_Bone box_.--The mouth.

_Bowsprit in parenthesis_.--A pulled nose.

_Brother of the blade_.--A soldier.

_Brother of the bolus_.--A doctor.

_Brush_.--To flatter, to humbug.

_Bug_.--A breast-pin.

_Bugger_.--A pickpocket.

_Bull_.--A locomotive.

_Bull-traps_.--Rogues who personate officials to extort money.

As a rule, the professional thief of every grade is a very respectable
looking individual outwardly. He dresses well, but flashily, and is
generally plentifully supplied with money. In a "crib," or rendezvous,
which he once visited in company with a detective, the writer could not
select a single individual whose outward appearance indicated his
calling. The New York thief generally has money, which he squanders with
great recklessness. It comes to him easily, and it goes in the same way.
There are many instances on record which go to show that the "members of
the profession" are frequently most generous to each other in money
matters. The thief is usually a man of steady habits. He rarely drinks
to excess, for that would unfit him for his work, and he is not usually
given to licentiousness, for a similar reason. If he be found living
with a woman, she is generally a thief also, and plies her trade with
equal activity.

[Picture: THE OCCASIONAL FATE OF NEW YORK THIEVES.]

Altogether, there are about three thousand thieves of various kinds,
known to the officers of justice in New York, who live by the practice of
their trade. They are divided into various classes, each known by a
distinctive title, and to each of which its respective members cling
tenaciously. These are known as Burglars, Bank Sneaks, Damper Sneaks,
Safe-blowers, Safe-bursters, Safe-breakers, and Sneak Thieves. The last
constitute the most numerous class.

The Burglar is the aristocrat of crime, and you cannot offend him more
than by calling him a thief. He scorns the small game of the sneak
thief, and conducts his operations on a large scale, in which the risk is
very great, and the plunder in proportion. His peculiar "racket" is to
break open some first-class business house, a bonded warehouse, or the
vaults of a bank. The burglar class has three divisions, known to the
police as Safe-blowers, Safe-bursters, and Safe-breakers. They are said
to be less than 250 in number, those of the first and second class
comprising about seventy-five members each. The safe-blowers are
accounted the most skilful. They rarely force an entrance into a
building, but admit themselves by means of false keys made from wax
impressions of the genuine keys. Once inside, their mode of operation is
rapid and systematic. They lower the windows from the top about an inch.
This is usually sufficient to prevent the breaking of the glass by the
concussion of the air in the room, and not enough to attract attention
from without. The safe is then wrapped in wet blankets, to smother the
noise of the explosion. Holes are then drilled in the door of the safe
near the lock, these are filled with powder, which is fired by a fuse,
and the safe is blown open. The securing of the contents requires but a
few minutes, and the false keys enable the thieves to escape with ease.
This method of robbery is very dangerous, as, in spite of the precautions
taken, the explosion may produce sufficient noise to bring the watchman
or the police to the spot. Experienced burglars only engage in it, and
these never undertake it without being sure that the plunder to be
secured will fully repay them for the danger to be encountered. This
knowledge they acquire in various ways.

The Safe-bursters are the silent workers of the "profession." Like the
class just mentioned, they enter buildings by means of false keys. They
adopt a thoroughly systematic course, which requires the combined efforts
of several persons, and consequently they operate in parties of three and
four. They first make the safe so fast to the floor, by means of clamps,
that it will resist any degree of pressure. Then they drill holes in the
door, and into these fit jack-screws worked by means of levers. The
tremendous force thus exerted soon cuts the safe literally to pieces, and
its contents are at the mercy of the thieves. The whole process is
noiseless and rapid, and so complete has been the destruction of some
safes that even the most experienced detectives have been astounded at
the sight of the wreck. Such an operation is never undertaken without a
knowledge on the part of the thieves of the contents of the safe, and the
chances of conducting the enterprise in safety. The Safe-blowers and
bursters do nothing by chance, and their plans are so well arranged
beforehand that they rarely fail.

The Safe-breakers, though really a part of the burglar class, are looked
upon with contempt and disowned by their more scientific associates in
crime. They do nothing by calculation, and trust everything to chance.
They enter buildings by force, and trust to the same method to get into
the safes. Their favorite instrument is a "jimmy," or short iron bar
with a sharp end. With this they pry open the safe, and then knock it to
pieces with a hammer. In order to deaden the sound of the blows, the
hammer is wrapped with cloth. They are not as successful as the others
in their operations, and are most frequently arrested. Indeed the
arrests for burglary reported by the Police Commissioners occur almost
exclusively in this class. A really first-class burglar in a prison cell
would be a curiosity in New York.

Closely allied with the Safe-blowers and bursters is a class known as
Bed-chamber Sneaks. These men are employed by the burglars to enter
dwellings and obtain impressions in wax of keys of the places to be
robbed. They adopt an infinite number of ways of effecting such an
entrance, often operating through the servant girls. They never disturb
or carry off anything, but confine their efforts to obtaining impressions
in wax of the keys of the store or office to be robbed. The keys of
business houses are mainly kept by the porters, into whose humble
dwellings it is easy to enter. When they wish to obtain the keys of a
dwelling, they come as visitors to the servant girls, and while they
stand chatting with them manage to slip the key from the lock, take its
impression in wax, and return it to the lock, unobserved by the girl.
They are generally on the watch for chances for robberies, and report
them promptly to their burglar confederates.

The Bank Sneak is better known as the Bond Robber. He is of necessity a
man of intelligence and of great fertility of resource. He steals United
States Bonds almost entirely, and prefers coupons to registered, as the
former can always be disposed of without detection. He manages, by means
best known to himself, to gain information of the places in which these
bonds are kept by the banks, of the times at which it is easiest to gain
access to them, and the hours at which the theft is most likely to be
successful. All this requires an immense amount of patient study and of
personal observation of the premises, which must be conducted in such a
way as not to attract attention or excite suspicion. When everything is
ready for the commission of the deed, the thief proceeds to the place
where the bonds are kept, seizes them and makes off. If a package of
bank notes is at hand, he adds that to his other plunder. Usually his
operations are so well planned and conducted that he is not observed by
the bank officers, and he escapes with his plunder. Once at large, he
proceeds to sell the bonds, if they are coupons, or to use the bank
notes, if he has secured any. Registered bonds require more care in
their disposition. Generally the bank offers a reward for the arrest of
the robber and the recovery of the goods, and calls in a detective to
work up the case. The thief at once manages to communicate with the
detective, and offers to compromise with the bank, that is, to restore a
part of the plunder upon condition that he is allowed the rest and escape
punishment. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred his offer is accepted,
the bank preferring the recovery of a part of its loss to the punishment
of the thief. In this way the thief secures a large part of the amount
stolen, sometimes one-half. Should the thief be caught with his plunder
upon him, and the bank be thus saved from loss, which is rare, the
offender is turned over to the police, and the bank joins heartily in the
effort to send him to the penitentiary.

The Damper Sneak confines his attentions to the safes of the business men
of the city. Wall street has suffered heavily from this class. The
thief enters a broker's office, in which the safe is generally left open
during business hours, and asks permission to look at the directory, or
to write a note. If this permission be accorded him, he manages to get
inside the railing, in close proximity to the safe, if its doors are
open. A confederate (or sometimes more) now enters and attracts the
attention of the broker or the clerk, by making fictitious arrangements
for the purchase of gold or some security. The thief who first entered
watches his opportunity, and then, with the greatest rapidity, darts to
the safe, abstracts whatever he can lay his bands on, and passes out,
always thanking the broker for his courtesy. The confederates leave soon
after, and then the robbery is discovered. The Damper Sneak has to steal
at random, taking the first thing within his reach, but he often secures
a rich prize. He takes his peculiar name from the safe, which, in the
thief language, is called a "Damper." One of the boldest of these
robberies occurred a year or more ago, in Wall street. A broker
employing a number of clerks, and doing a heavy business, was standing
one day in front of his safe, during business hours, talking to a
gentleman. A man, without a hat, with a pen behind his ear, and a piece
of paper in his hand, entered the office, passed around the counter to
where the broker stood, and said to him quietly, "Will you please to
move, sir, so that I can get at the safe?" Being very much interested in
his conversation, the broker scarcely noticed the man, supposing from his
general appearance and manner that he was one of the clerks, and
accordingly stepped aside without giving him a second glance. The man
went up to the safe, took out a package of United States Bonds, and
coolly walked out of the office. The bonds amounted to one hundred
thousand dollars. The loss was discovered in the afternoon but no trace
of the thief or of his plunder was ever found. Strange as it may seem,
the city is constantly suffering from similar robberies, and the rogues
almost invariably escape.

The Sneak Thieves are the last and lowest on the list. As has been
stated, they constitute the bulk of the light-fingered fraternity. These
confine their attentions principally to private dwellings, are adroit and
successful, but incur constant danger of detection and punishment. A
sneak thief will pass along the street with that rapid, rolling glance of
the eyes which distinguishes the tribe; now he checks himself in his
career; it is but for an instant; no unprofessional eye directed towards
him would notice it; but the sudden pause would speak volumes to an
experienced police officer. He knows that the thief's eye has caught the
sight of silver lying exposed in the basement. In an hour after he hears
that the basement has been entered, and the silver in it carried off. He
knows who has taken it, as well as if he had seen the man take it with
his own eyes; but if the thief has had time to run to the nearest
receiver's den, the silver is already in the melting-pot, beyond the
reach of identification.

Sometimes the sneak thieves work in pairs. Upon discovering the basement
door of a residence ajar, one of them takes position at it, while the
other ascends the front steps and rings the bell. As soon as the servant
has gone up from the basement to answer the bell, the thief at the lower
door slips in, and gathers up the silver or such other articles as he can
lay his hands upon. Again, selecting the dinner hour, which is usually
between six and seven o'clock, and operating in the winter season when
the streets are dark at that hour, one of the thieves will remain on the
side-walk, on the lookout for the police, while the other climbs up a
pillar of the stoop and reaches the level of the second story window.
The window fastenings offer but a feeble resistance, and he is soon in
the room. The family being all at dinner in the lower part of the house,
the entire mansion is open to him. Securing his plunder, he leaves the
house as he entered it, and makes off with his confederate. Some of the
wealthiest mansions in the city have been robbed in this way, and heavy
losses in jewelry, furs, and clothing have been entailed upon
householders in all localities. Sometimes the thief has a confederate in
the servant girl, but professionals do not often trust this class, who
are always ready to betray them at the slightest indication of danger.

II. THE PICK-POCKETS.

The activity of the pick-pockets of New York is very great, and they
oftentimes make large "hauls" in the practice of their trade. It is said
that there are about 300 of them in the city, though the detectives state
their belief that the number is really larger and increasing. Scarcely a
day passes without the police authorities receiving numerous complaints
from respectable persons of losses by pick-pockets.

On all the street cars, you will see the sign, "_Beware of
Pick-pockets!_" posted conspicuously, for the purpose of warning
passengers. These wretches work in gangs of two, or three or four. They
make their way into crowded cars, and rarely leave them without bringing
away something of value. An officer will recognize them at once. He
sees a well-known pickpocket obstructing the car entrance; another
pickpocket is abusing him in the sharpest terms for doing so, while, at
the same time, he is eagerly assisting a respectable gentleman, or a
well-dressed lady, to pass the obstruction. One or two other
pick-pockets stand near. All this is as intelligible to a police officer
as the letters on a street sign. He knows that the man, who is assisting
the gentleman or lady, is picking his or her pocket; he knows that the
man who obstructs the entrance is his confederate; he knows that the
others, who are hanging about, will receive the contents of the
pocket-book as soon as their principal has abstracted the same. He
cannot arrest them, however, unless he, or some one else, sees the act
committed; but they will not remain long after they see him--they will
take the alarm, as they know his eye is on them, and leave the car as
soon as possible.

A lady, riding in an omnibus, discovers that she has lost her purse,
which she knows was in her possession when she entered the stage. A
well-dressed gentleman sits by her, whose arms are quietly crossed before
him, and his fingers, encased in spotless kid gloves, are entwined in his
lap, in plain sight of all the passengers, who are sure that he has not
moved them since he entered the stage. Several persons have entered and
left the vehicle, and the lady, naturally supposing one of them to be the
thief, gets out to consult a policeman as to her best course. The
officer could tell her, after a glance at the faultless gentleman who was
her neighbor, that the arms so conspicuously crossed in his lap, are
false, his real arms all the time being free to operate under the folds
of his talma. The officer would rightly point him out as the thief.

The ferry-boats which go and come crowded with passengers, the theatres,
and even the churches, are all frequented by pickpockets, who reap rich
harvests from them. Persons wearing prominent shirt pins or other
articles of jewelry frequently lose them in this way, and these wretches
will often boldly take a purse out of a lady's hand or a bracelet from
her arm, and make off. If the robbery be done in the midst of a crowd,
the chance of escape is all the better.

The street car conductors complain that they can do nothing to check the
depredations of the pick-pockets. If they are put off the cars, they
exert themselves to have the conductors discharged, and are generally
possessed of influence enough to accomplish their ends. Strange as this
may seem, it is true, for the pick-pocket is generally employed by the
city politicians to manage the rougher class at the elections. In return
for the influence which they thus exert the pick-pockets receive payment
in money, and are shielded from punishment if unlucky enough to be
arrested. Both parties are responsible for this infamous course, the
party in power usually making the greatest use of these scoundrels. This
is the cause of the confidence with which thieves of this kind carry on
their trade. Those who desire the city's welfare will find food for
reflection in this fact.

Many of the pick-pockets are women, whose lightness and delicacy of touch
make them dangerous operators. Others are boys. These are usually
termed "kids," and are very dangerous, as people are not inclined to
suspect them. They work in gangs of three or four, and, pushing against
their victim, seize what they can, and make off. Sometimes one of this
gang is arrested, but as he has transferred the plunder to his
confederates, who have escaped, there is no evidence against him.

III. THE FEMALE THIEVES.

In the collection of photographs at the Police Headquarters, to which the
authorities have given the name of "The Rogues' Gallery," there are but
seventy-three portraits of females. The best informed detectives,
however, estimate the actual number of professional female thieves in the
city at about 350.

Women do not often succeed in effecting large robberies, but the total of
their stealings makes up a large sum each year. They are not as liable
to suspicion as men, and most persons hesitate before accusing a woman of
theft. Yet, if successful, the woman's chances of escaping arrest and
punishment are better than those of a man. Her sex compels her to lead a
quieter and more retired life, and she does not as a rule frequent places
in which she is brought under a detective's observation.

Some of the female thieves are the children of thief parents, and are
trained to their lives, others come to such a mode of existence by
degrees. All, as a rule, are loose women, and were so before they became
professional thieves. A few of them are well educated, and some of these
state that they adopted thieving only when all other means failed them,
and that they hoped it would keep them from sacrificing their virtue.
This hope proved vain, and imperceptibly they glided into the latter sin.
Some of these women live in handsomely furnished private rooms in such
localities as Bleecker street. Others herd together in the lower
quarters of the city. The female thief, even the most abandoned,
generally has a husband, who is himself a thief or something worse. She
takes great pride in being a married woman, and whenever she gets into
trouble invariably seeks to establish a good character by producing her
marriage certificate. Even the lowest panel thieves will do this.

The Female Thieves are divided into Pick-pockets, Shoplifters, and Panel
Thieves.

"A short while ago a private detective happened to drop into a large
dry-goods store in Grand street, and observed a handsome-looking girl,
about eighteen years old, dressed with the best taste, pricing laces at a
counter. An indefinable expression about her eyes was suspicious, and as
she left the store without purchasing, the spectator followed her to the
corner of Essex Market, where, walking beside her, he noticed something
of a square form under her cloak. At once suspecting it to be a stolen
card of lace, he jostled against her, and, as he suspected, the card of
lace fell from under her arm to the sidewalk. She colored, and was
walking away without picking it up when the detective stopped her, said
he knew the lace was stolen, and that she must return to the shop. She
begged of him not to arrest her but restore the lace, which he did.
After thanking him for not taking her into custody, she invited him to
call on her and learn the story of her life. She has two rooms in a very
respectable locality, furnished in the best manner, several of Prang's
chromos are hung on the walls, and a piano, on which she plays well, is
in her sitting-room. She is very well educated, and was driven into her
way of life by being left without friends or help, and one day stole a
shawl without being discovered. Emboldened by the success of her first
theft, she chose shop-lifting as her way of life, has followed it ever
since, and was never in prison. Some few call her Sarah Wright; but
those who know her best style her 'Anonyma,' as she dislikes the former
title."

IV. THE RIVER THIEVES.

The Harbor Thieves constitute one of the most dangerous and active
portions of the criminal class. There are only about fifty professional
thieves of this class, but they give the police a vast amount of trouble,
and inflict great loss in the aggregate upon the mercantile community.
Twenty years ago the harbor was infested with a gang of pirates, who not
only committed the most daring robberies, but also added nightly murders
to their misdeeds. Their victims were thrown into the deep waters of the
river or bay, and all trace of the foul work was removed. At length,
however, the leaders of the gang, Saul and Howlett by name, mere lads
both, were arrested, convicted, and executed, and for a while a stop was
put to the robberies in the harbor; but in course of time the infamous
trade was resumed, but without its old accompaniment of murder. It is at
present carried on with great activity in spite of the efforts of the
police to put a stop to it. The North River front of the city is
troubled with but one gang of these ruffian's, which has its headquarters
at the foot of Charlton street. This front is lined with piers which are
well built, well lighted, and well guarded, being occupied chiefly by
steamboats plying on the river, and by the foreign and coasting
steamships. The East River is not so well guarded, the piers are dark,
and the vessels, mostly sailing ships, are left to the protection of
their crews. It is in this river, therefore, and in the harbor, that the
principal depredations of the river thieves are carried on. "Slaughter
House Point," the intersection of James and South streets, and so called
by the police because of the many murders which have occurred there, is
the principal rendezvous of the East River thieves. Hook Dock, at the
foot of Cherry street, is also one of their favorite gathering places.

The life of a river thief is a very hard one, and his gains, as a rule,
are small. He is subjected to a great deal of manual labor in the effort
to secure his plunder, and is exposed to all sorts of weather. Night
work in an open boat in New York harbor is not favorable to longevity,
and in eight or ten years the most robust constitution will give way
before the constant attacks of rheumatism and neuralgia. There would be
some compensation to society in this but for the fact that the police,
whose duty it is to watch the river thieves, suffer in a similar way.

The river thieves generally work in gangs of three and four. Each gang
has its rowboat, which is constructed with reference to carrying off as
much plunder as possible, and making the best attainable time when chased
by the harbor police. The thieves will not go out on a moonlight or even
a bright starlight night. Nights when the darkness is so thick that it
hides everything, or when the harbor is covered with a dense fog, are
most favorable to them. Then, emerging from their starting point, they
pull to the middle of the stream, where they lie-to long enough to
ascertain if they are observed or followed. Then they pull swiftly to
the point where the vessel they mean to rob is lying. Their oars are
muffled, and their boat glides along noiselessly through the darkness.
Frequently they pause for a moment, and listen to catch the sound of the
oars of the police-boats, if any are on their track. Upon reaching the
vessel, they generally manage to board her by means of her chains, or
some rope which is hanging down her side. The crew are asleep, and the
watch is similarly overcome. The thieves are cautions and silent in
their movements, and succeed in securing their spoil without awakening
any one. They will steal anything they can get their hands on, but deal
principally in articles which cannot be identified, such as sugar,
coffee, tea, rice, cotton, etc. They go provided with their own bags,
and fill these from the original bags, barrels, or cases in which these
articles are found on the ship. They are very careful to take away with
them nothing which has a distinctive mark by which it may be identified.
Having filled their boat, they slip over the side of the ship into it,
and pull back to a point on shore designated beforehand, and, landing,
convey their plunder to the shop of a junkman with whom they have already
arranged matters, where they dispose of it for ready money. They do not
confine their operations to vessels lying at the East River piers of New
York, but rob those discharging cargo at the Brooklyn stores, or lying at
anchor in the East or North rivers, even going as far as to assail those
lying at quarantine.