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Copyright, 1013 by the Star Company. Great Britain Rights Reserved.
No. 22 of a Series of Remarkable
Revelations by Sophie Lyons, the
“QUEEN OF THE BURGLARS”
4
WHY CRIME DOES NOT PAY-
Clever Criminals I Have
Kjnown zss “ Gentleman
George,” the Most Des*
perate of Burglars;
“Sheeney Mike,” Who
Robbed Stores to Order;
Chauncey Johnson,
the Ingenious
Bank Thief; “French
Sophie Lyons.
Gus” Kindt, Who Organized a
Crime Trust and Other
Notorious Citizens of the Underworld
“The burglars lolled at ease around the table, gorging themselves with food and drink. The young wife, in her night
gown, pa!*;, and shaking with fright at the desperadoes’ harsh commands and their menacing pistols, waited on them with
hands dripping blood where her rings had been wrenched ofF. Her trembling, pajama-clad husband opened wine, lighted
matches, and executed all the ridiculous orders the ingenuity of his tormentors could suggest.”
Written by Sophie Lyons
Copyright, 1913, by the Star Company.
HE boldest, most desperate criminal
I evqr knew—a man who would stop
at nothing to gain his dishonest ends
—was George Ellwood, the burglar who for
year* terrorized all the large cities by his
audacious and often fiendish crimes.
"Gentleman George” we used to call
him—why I don’t know, for such a name
ill became a man who never broke Into a
bouse without murder In his heart and a
loaded revolver in his hand. Stealing alone
could not satisfy his depraved nature and
bis crimes were invariably marked by the
most outrageous cruelties and often by
murder.
There was nothing ingenious about the
crimes committed by "Gentleman George."
He and the men who worked with him
were far more skilful with their guns than
with their drills and Jimmies. They relied
on brute force, on the terror of their vic
tims and on their reputation for shooting
to kill on the slightest provocation and
often when there was no necessity for
shedding blood.
"Gentleman George’s" methods were as
different from those of thieves like Lang
don Moore as night is from day Moore
never shot a man in his life and would
never have anything to do with a crime
when violence was liable to be necessary.
He relied on his brains to outwit society.
Ellwood depended on brute force, which
often took the form of the most fiendish
cruelties.
"Gentleman George" had a perfect mania
for doing all sorts of daring, eccentric
deeds, such as no other burglar would
dream of attempting Just what his erra
tic nature would prompt him to do next
was a question that kept both the police
and the underworld continually guessing.
Many criminals who could see only fool
hardiness in his actions thought him in
sane, but Ellwood always insisted that
there was method In his apparent madness
"It pays to do things no other burglar
would do,” he once said to me "If the
police and public think I'm insane the
more they’ll stand in awe of me and the
easier it will be for me to get away with
my booty.”
A Detroit banker was returning home
late one night from his club He had
mounted the steps of his home and was
fumbling for his latchkey when, to his
amazement, the door swung open and he
saw facing him in the dim light of the hall
two masked men.
One of them, as was later proved, was
"Gentleman George"; the other, a favo
rite comrade of his, Joe Whalen. Ellwood
whipped out a big revolver and shoved
the muzzle under the astounded banker's
nose.
“Good evening," said "Gentleman
George,” as coolly as if this meeting were
the most natural thing in the world,
"weve been waiting for you."
Before the banker realized what was
happening he found himself b„und hand
and foot to a chair in his own library.
Across the table the two burglars puffed
away in comfort at expensive cigars and
leered at their victim's plight
Presently “Gentleman George" opened
up his bag of plunder and began spread
ing the pieces of jewelry aud silverware
before the banker's eyes, making the
while sarcastic comments on their cheap
ness.
"Paste,” was his comment on a diamond
necklace. The spoons he declared were
"plated.” A gold watch was one "Mother
Mandelbaum wouldn't give ten cents for."
“A nice lot of junk to be found in a
wealthy banker’s home!” was his wither
ing remark as he completed the inven
tory. "I shall have to trouble you to
write a check for the difference between
what there is here and what my friend
and I ought to have for the night's work.”
He pulled open a drawer of the library
table, took out a check book and wrote a
check payable to bearer for one thousand
dollars. Then he released the banker’s
fight hand and pressed a pen into his
twitching fingers.
"Sign that!” growled the desperado,
pressing the muzzle of his gun against the
banker's temple; "and if you stop pay
ment on it or make any complaint to the
police we'll come back and murder you
and your family in your beds."
The check signed, the burglars tied the
banker up again and returned to the en
joyment of their fragrant Havanas and an
assortment of expensive wines and liquors
which they had selected from the side
board.
Dawn was close at hand before this
strange party broke up. The burglars
gave their victim a few parting threats
and walked out of the front door like gen
tlemen—the bag of loot under Whelan’s
arm, the check for 11,000 in Ellwood’s
pocket.
Servants discovered the banker's plight
a few hours later. So deep was the im
pression the burglars' threats had made
upon him, however, that he swore his
household to secrecy and made no effort
to stop payment on the check or notify
the police. It was several years later,
when Ellwood was under arrest for an
other crime, that the banker confessed
what had happened to him.
“Gentleman George” was fond of good
things to eat and drink—so fond that
when he had finished looting some man
sion of its cash and Jewelry he could
rarely resist the temptation to sit down
in the dining room and enjoy as sump
tuous a repast as the larder afforded.
One night he and Whalen entered a
house in a fashionable section of St. Louis
where lived a young man and his bride of
a few weeks. The couple had Just re
turned from their honeymoon, and the
wedding presents with which thetr home
overflowed were what had attracted the
burglars' attention.
The husband awoke to find the two men
in his room. He put up a good fight, but
was quickly overpowered, tied, gagged and
locked in a closet.
The burglars then turned their atten
tion to the wife, who, by this time, was
nearly fainting from fright. In the most
brutal manner they stripped her fingers
of their rings and tore the diamonds from
her ears. Dragging her from the bed,
they tied her securely to a radiator and
proceeded to ransack the house for valu
ables.
When they had filled their bags with as
much plunder as they could safely carry,
they proceeded to the dining room to get
a little supper Suddenly what he thought
an unusually bright. Idea struck "Gentle
man George," Why not make the newly
weds, whose unwelcome guests they were,
serve them with food and wine 7
They hurried upstairs, unbound their
victims and marched them to the dining
room at the point of their revolvers.
No stranger scene than what followed
was ever set anywhere The burglars
lolled at ease around the table, gorging
themselves with food and drink. The
young wife, In her nightgown, pale and
shaking with fright at the desperadoes'
profanity and their menacing pistols,
waited on them with hands that dripped
blood where her rings had been wrenched
off Her trembling pajama-clad husband
opened wine, lighted matches and executed
all the ridiculous orders the Ingenuity of
his tormentors could suggest.
As remarkable a character as “Gentle
man George." but in an entirely different
way, was the burglar I knew as
"Sheeney Mike.” I told you in a previous
article how he secured his release from a
Massachusetts prison by drinking soap and
voter and by cutting an ugly gash in has
side; but I did not go into details about
the amazing methods which made him a
unique figure in the underworld.
His real name was Michael Kurtz. We
called him "Sheeney Mike" because of his
habit of squeezing every penny he could
from the “fences" to whom he sold the
diamonds and costly silks which formed
his criminal stock in trade. He could make
a closer bargain than anv other man I ever
knew.
‘‘Sheeney Mike" was for years associated
with the gang of clever burglars of which
George Howard was the leader. This was
one of the most desperate bands that ever
operated in this country.
Howard had long made a special study
of safes and locks, and he held his place
as chief through his expert knowledge of
their mechanism. “Sheeney Mike” was a
valuable member of this combination on
account of his quickness in observing the
peculiar construction of the buildings it
was planned to rob and in pointing out
their weak points. He was especially
clever at secreting himself in buildings
during business hours and later cutting
through floors and partitions to get at his
plunder.
One of the ingenious schemes which
originated in “Sheeney Mike’s" fertile
brain was that of tying long threads a foot
or two above the floor at various points
in a store or warehouse. This obviated
the necessity of long hours of tiresome
watching to see what places the watchman
visited during the night and whether any
of the employes were in the habit of re
turning to the store after business hours.
When “Sheeney Mike” planned a rob
bery he would visit the store under some
pretext or other and hide himself away in
some corner until the place was locked
up for the night and the watchmen had
made their first rounds. Then he would
stretch his threads around the place, go
back to the hotel and go to bed. Before
daybreak he would rise and make, his
way into the store again.
An inspection of the threads—which
were broken and which were unbroken—
would give him a pretty clear idea of
what had been going on there during the
night, and he would lay his plans for the
robbery accordingly.
"Sheeney Mike” was never a bank bur
glar, but made a specialty of robbing
jewelry and silk stores. While Howard
and the rest of his band were engaged in
some bank campaign he would devote his
attention to the peculiar crimes which he
knew how to plan and carry out more
him a liberal share of
skilfully than any
other thief. In some
of the most daring of
these ventures he
had no one to assist
him—except a few
truckmen, who were,
as a rule, entirely
ignorant that the
goods they were
hired to cart away
were being stolen.
"Sheeny Mike” sel
dom made a haul
amounting to less than
$6,000. He sold ail
his stuff to “Mother"
Mandelbaum and a
few other noted
“fences." Most of his
crimes were commit
ted to order—that is,
the "fences" pointed
out certain goods
they wanted, and
Mike made his terms
in advance for steal
ing them
"French Gus" Kindt
was another burglar
who, like "Sheeny
Mike,” applied shrewd
business methods to
crime. He was a fa
mous key-fitter, and
there w-as always the
keenest rivalry be
tween him and a
burglar called "Dutch
Dan” over which was
the more expert In
this line.
But Kindt’s reputa
tion in the underworld
rested chiefly upon his
ability as a maker
of burglar's tools. The
tools he made were
generally considered
better than those of
any other man—with
the possible exception
of Mark Shmburn.
So many burglars
came to him to buy
tools that Km.dt final
ly conceived the idea
of renting them out
on a percentrge oasis.
The tools remained
Kindt's property, the
burglars who took
them, agreeing o pay
everything they
stole. It was, you see,
a veritable “ crime
trust" which he had
formed.
As Kindt was a shrewd judge of human
nature and would supply his tools only to
the most capable men, he soon was getting
in this novel way a large, steady income,
with very little risk to himself.
It was generally thought impossible to
cheat Kindt out of what he regarded as his
rightful due. No matter how far away
from him the robbery was he was sure to
hear of it, and to put in a claim for his
share at the first opportunity.
As I have already said many times, Harry
Raymond and Mark Shinburn were the
cleverest burglars who ever blew open a
safe. In previous articles I have traced
the history of their surprising careers, but,
if I remember right, 1 did not mention an
amusing incident in which they figured
once when they were trying to get some
friends of theirs out of jail.
Raymond and Shinburn were the leaders
of the desperate gang which robbed an ex
press car on the New York Central Rail
road and got away with $100,000. All the
express robbers escaped except Ike Marsh
and Charley Bullard. They were arrested
in Canada, and, after their extradition,
were lodged in the jail at White Plains,
N. Y. Raymond and Shinburn at once put
their heads together to get them out.
As a first step they engaged a lawyer—
ex-Recorder Smith, of New York City—
and paid him a retainer of $1,000. Smith
put the money in his pocket, and with
Raymond and Shinburn started for White
Plains to have a talk with the prisoners.
Before they reached their destination
Smith found to his amazement that dur
ing the journey his pockets had been
picked. The one thousand dollar fee he
had just accepted was gone—and so were
his gold watch and chain!
Raymond always denied having robbed
the lawyer, but the twinkle in his eye
when he told the story made me some
what incredulous.
“Anyway,” he used to' say, “it was a
waste ol good money to hire a lawyer. In
less than a week we had Marsh hnd Bul
lard out of that jail without any legal as
sistance, and all it cost us was a night’s
hard work.”
And that is really what happened. The
White Plains jail was a dilapidated old
structure. One dark, stormy night Ray
mond and Shinburn, with the assistance
of Billy Forrester and some other thieves,
tunnelled through its rickety walls and
freed not only Marsh and Bullard but ten
other prisoners.
This was an exploit in which Shinburn
always took a peculiar pride. “I have
broken out of more jails than I can re
member,” he once said to me, “but that
was the only time I ever broke into one.”
A man almost as shrewd as Shinburn or
Raymond, as close-fisted as “Sheeney
Mike" or “French Gus," and as audacious
as “Gentleman George" was Chauncey
Johnson. He was not a burglar but a
“bank sneak," and in this exacting line of
daylight thievery he had no superior and
few equals.
One of his earliest feats was the theft
of a bundle containing $85,000 worth of
bonds from a woman prominent in New
York society.
Johnson saw this woman leave the bank
for her carriage with the bonds in her
hand. He was prepared for just such an
opportunity.
Stepping behind a door in the bank he
quickly exchanged his coat and hat for
an ink-stained linen coat and a skull
cap such as bookkeepers wear. Thrusting
a pen behind his ear he followed the
woman to the street.
Just as she was entering her carriage
he stepped up to her and said
politely:
“The cashier finds he has
made a slight mistake in re
cording the numbers of your
bonds. May I take them back
to him for just a moment?”
Thinking that, of course, he
was one of the bank clerks,
the lady handed over the pre
cious package without the
slightest hesitation.
Johnson returned to the
bank, took off his simple but
effective disguise and disap
peared with the bonds by an
other door.
His victim waited patiently
for fifteen minutes — then,
when it was too late, she
told her troubles to the bank
officials and learned how she had beefi
duped.
At another time Johnson counterfeited
the appearance of the cashier of an express
company so exactly that he was able to
slip in behind the desk of this official
while he was at lunch and walk away with
several thousand dollars in plain view of
all the clerks in the office. ,
Once when a large city bank vault was
open for the deposit of boxes from brokers’
offices, Johnson made his way into the
bank as a broker’s clerk, hung up his cap
with consummate coolness, stepped into
the vault as if his right to enter was be
yond all question, and walked out again
bearing a box on his shoulders containing
$60,000 worth of bonds. When a reward
was offered for the return of some of this
plunder he personated an attorney repre
senting the thief, and actually obtained the
amount put up for the recovery of the
stolen property.
One of his most remarkable thefts was
effected by following the president of a
New York national bank who was carry
ing a package of bonds amounting to $125,- y
000. When the president entered the bank
he laid the package for a moment on his
desk while he stepped to a closet to hang
up his overcoat. As soon as his back was
turned Johnson snatched up the package
and successfully made his escape.
Johnson can probably claim, with truth,
that he has entered more banks than any
other sneak thief, living or dead, and stolen
a greater amount of money. He drew y *
$37,810 in one lump from the Bank of New
York by watching the movements of the
bank messenger, who had the money in
charge. When this messenger was called
away for a moment to another part of the
bank he laid his small canvas bag, contain
ing over $37,000, on an unoccupied desk.
When he returned a few moments later
the bag was missing and so was Johnson,
who had contrived to reach it and carry it
off under his coat.
All the men I am telling you about here
to-day were master criminals. If anybody
could make crime pay surely they could.
But how did they succeed?
“Gentleman George” Elwood was shot to
death while trying to fight his way out of a
Rhode Island prison where he was serving
a twenty-five-year sentence. Harry Ray
mond and Chauncey Johnson died paupers,
and so did “French Gus” Kindt. Death
came to end “Sheeney Mike's long suffering
in the charity ward of a New York hospital.
Even Mark Shinburn, the “King of Burg
lars," to-day has nothing to show for all
the millions he stole.
You see, it’s the same old story—one
that’s brought home with increasing em
phasis by the career of every criminal I
can mention—CRIME DOES NOT PAY; it
never has paid any one in the long run,
and it never will.
HOW HE STOLE THE BONDS.
1 —lohnson saw the woman
-*■ leave the bank for her car
riage with the package of bonds
in her hand.
O —He quickly exchanged his
" coat and hat for an ink-
stained linen coat and a skull
cap such as bookkeepers wear.
O —Thinking he was one of
the bank’s clerks, she hand
ed over the bonds without ques
tion when he said there had
been a mistake in the numbers.
l4 —Johnson coolly walked
* back into the bank, removed
his simple but effective dis
guise, and disappeared with the
bonds by another door.
SOPHIE LYONS.
====== I
How Long Are We Young ?
By Dr. Hugo Kirsch.
HILE this is an age of suc
cess-making, man attains
success more slowly than
he did in previous generations. This
is because he retains his youth
longer and the dividing line of old
age has been moved twenty years
farther on.
Our grandfathers considered a
man middle-aged at thirty, and at
fifty they placed him indubitably in
the old men class. To-day a man is
still looked upon as young at forty,
and even after he lias considerably
passed that period. Thereafter he
is middle-aged until ne is well past
sixty, and no intelligent person has
the hardihood to class him as old
until he is seventy. Napoleon con
sidered his marshals who were over
forty old men. He, like his con
queror, Wellington, Mirabeau and
Marat, and the English Pitt, had
reached the height of his fame and
power when he was thirty. Thack
eray lampooned De Florae as a fool
ish old man. because while he was
thirty-five he still claimed to be
young.
“We have never had time to be
young,” said Bonaparte of himself
and of them. From childhood they
passed into the gravity of responsi
bility bearing manhood. Responsi
bility aged them early, and at fifty
they were Indeed old.
But the tendency of life to-day is ^
to prolong youth and to place age
afar off. At thirty a man still feels
all the buoyancy of youth, its light-
spiritedness and, to some extent, its
lack of a sense of responsibility.
This spirit and manner continue in
most men until they have reached
or passed forty-five years of age. It
is only when he reaches fifty that a
man alludes, or permits others to al
lude, to himself as middle-aged. *
One reason for the ability to say
“stay” to youth and “stand back” to
age is the growing tendency to live
out of doors. A young man who has
slept out of doors nine months of
every twelve looks at forty-six like
a youth of twenty-eight. The law
yer’s and business man’s habit to
take a Saturday afternoon off and to
play golf has aided in this length
ening the span of youth and mid
dle age.
There is no doubt that the cheap
ness of the automobile, placing its *
ownership within the means of those
of moderate income, has done much/
to lengthen youth and to keep old
age at a long distance. Its preva- '
lence is correcting the tendency tc <
wear and tear of the nervous system
that exists in the concentrated man
ner of city life, especially in the
business districts.