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THE housebreaker and sneak are the most numerous of the thieving fraternity. It is from the slums that the lower grade are recruited, but the successful robber must combine superior qualifications to make him an adept at the business. Still the former are not devoid of ingenuity. Locks and bolts cannot be relied upon as a rampart against these men. There are but few dwellings in this city or country that are proof against the assaults of the burglar and sneak thief. Some people believe their homes secure when they have fastened the doors and windows. The average sneak thief laughs at the flimsy barriers, and can undo every one of them with a few simple instruments which he carries in his vest pocket. Even the chain-bolt, which has been considered so formidable, is of no protection at all when pitted against the skill and science of this class of rogues. When the massive bank vault offers no serious obstacles that the trained and experienced burglar cannot overcome, how can it be expected that the ordinary contrivances should be effectual. While the operations of the former class of criminals are comparatively few and infrequent, on account of the multiplied risks and difficulties to be encountered, the well organized army of sneak thieves and house-breakers carry on their operations with a confidence born of repeated success.
Some housebreakers are daring and desperate rascals. These are the ones that enter dwellings in the night-time in search of plunder and with masks on their faces and murder in their heart. Sometimes night robberies are planned beforehand, but many have been committed at hap-hazard. From servants or others employed in or about a residence, confederates of these thieves collect the information they desire. The manner of entering the premises depends upon its internal arrangements. In some cases the front basement door is entered by a false key, in others the rogues climb up the front of the house and enter the second-story window, and still in others an entrance is effected from the rear. Once inside, the burglar ransacks the apartments in which he expects to obtain the most booty. He works expeditiously, going through an occupied chamber as carefully as he would an unoccupied one. Often these criminals disturb the sleeper, but the latter is so frightened at the presence of the robber that he lies still and offers no resistance. Naturally housebreakers are not brave, and it is only when cornered they become bold and desperate in their anxiety to evade a long sentence. The noise made by rats has on more than one occasion scared burglars away from silverware worth hundreds and thousands of dollars, which they abandoned after collecting and packing up for removal.
Three or four of these men have been known to band themselves together, but a desperate man would rather work on his own hook. “Long John” Garvey, who was killed by falling through a house in Brooklyn, a few years since, for years before his death took no one into his confidence, but planned and executed his own robberies. He gathered all the information that he desired from the columns of the morning newspapers. He made a specialty of robbing young married couples of their jewels and wedding presents. A marriage notice or a report of a wedding was the only news that Garvey wished to read, and he gloated over the announcement that the pair had received costly presents from their friends. When the robber ascertained where the pair had taken up house, either while they were off on their wedding trip or had returned to housekeeping, Garvey, by hiring an attic room on the same block, would pay them a midnight visit. He invariably secured the prize he was in quest of, but after a long career of thievery he died as most thieves do, a violent death. Becoming reckless at his successes, he undertook to ransack a house while in a state of intoxication. He secured property worth several thousand dollars, and as he was carrying it over the roof-tops he fell through a new building into the cellar. The groans of the thief attracted attention, and Garvey was found with the stolen jewelry in his possession. He was seriously injured and was removed to an hospital, where he died next day.
Another well known housebreaker was in the habit of attending all the fashionable balls. He never went there for pleasure, but always on business. The rogue, with envious eyes, watched the ladies bedecked with expensive jewelry and wearing necklaces and pins set with brilliants. He had but little difficulty ascertaining the names and addresses of the wearers of the diamonds. When the ball was over he would, with the assistance of a companion, dog his intended victim to their homes. He would keep a constant watch upon the house or its inmates for several days, and if in the meantime the jewels had not been taken to a Safe Deposit vault, the robber would conclude that the lady was in the habit of keeping her valuables in the house. When the opportunity offered, the thief, under some pretext or other, would make his way into the premises in search of the diamonds or jewelry he had first seen in the ballroom, and he generally succeeded in getting them.
The men who make it a business ransacking flats, first watch the occupants, and learning that a certain suite of rooms is rented by two or three persons reputed to be wealthy, they ascertain and note their habits. Should several of them pass the day at business, when the lady goes out shopping and the rooms are locked up, the thieves boldly enter the house, and, with the aid of a pick-lock, make their way into the apartments, which they ransack in the absence of the tenants. “Second-story” thieves, after locating a house that they intend to rob in the early evening, watch until the tenants in a private residence are down stairs at dinner. Then a young man, with the agility of a cat, crawls up the front of the dwelling, and enters the second-story window. He rifles all the rooms in the upper part of the house in a few minutes, and with the booty noiselessly descends the stairs and leaves the house by the front door. In several cases, however, the robber has been known to drop the property out of a front window to his confederates on the street. This is only done when he has become alarmed by hearing footsteps on the stairs, and is forced to retreat in the same manner that he had entered the premises.
Other thieves, who also pillage houses during the supper hour, pick the lock of the front door and steal in without making any noise. They wear rubbers or woolen shoes, and succeed at intervals in making large hauls. Private residences are easily plundered by these rogues during the summer months, while the occupants are in the country. Then there are the several types of sneaks who, under all sorts of pretexts, manage to get inside of a dwelling for a few minutes without attracting any attention, and remain just long enough to steal whatever they can lay their hands upon. Some of these go about as pedlers, piano tuners, health and building inspectors, book canvassers, sewing machine, life and fire insurance agents, and in various other roles. They do not confine their operations to apartment houses or dwellings, but also rob business buildings in the daytime. Cash, jewelry, and valuables is the plunder most sought by the leading professional rogues of this class, but those of the lower grades seem to be satisfied with more bulky plunder. Young men make the most daring house thieves, but in the ranks may be found old criminals, who have passed the best years of their life operating in that way.
The names of a number of those who are classed as the most expert sneaks and house workers will be found in the following list:
David C. Bliss, alias Doctor Bliss (2).—B. B. Bagley (163).—Jim Burns, alias Big Jim (165).—William Wright, alias Roaring Bill (174).—Charley Bennett (188).— George Bell, alias Williams (193).—Tom Biglow (see records of Nos. 20, 131).— Bill Bartlett (see records of No. 71 and George Wilkes).—Dan Hunt, alias George Carter (71).—John Curtin, alias Reynolds (169).—Henry Cline, alias Weston (177).— Joe Colon (178).—Tommy Connors (61).—Dave Goldstein, alias Sheeny Dave (30). —Dave Mooney, alias Little Dave (173).—Joe Dubuque (see records of Nos. 74, 12, and Sam Perry).—John Duffy (see record of No. 50).—Stephen Dowd (see record of No. 190).—C. J. Everhardt, alias Marsh Market Jake (38).—Charles Fisher, alias Purdy (41).—Billy Forrester (76).—Billy Flynn (see records of Nos. 3, 50, 95, 165).— Eddie Guerin (see records of Nos. 11, 187).—Andy Gilligan (see record of No. 13).—· Tom Gorman (see record of No. 146).—Horace Hovan, alias Little Horace (25).— Robert Hovan (179).—William Hague, alias Curly Harris (196).—Charles Williams, alias Woodward, alias Hoyt (194).—John Jourdan (83),—Thomas Leary, alias Kid Leary (6).—Ned Lyman (102).—Sophie Lyons, alias Levy (128).—Freddie Louther (161).—Tip Little (172).—Matthew Lane (see record of No. 2).—Rufus Minor, alias Rufe Pine (t).—John Mahaney, alias Mahoney, alias Jack Shepperd (62).—Billy Morgan (72).—Tilly Martin, alias Pheiffer (125).—John McGuire, alias Shinny McGuire (155).—John Murphy, alias Riley (166).—Emanuel Marks, alias Minnie Marks (187).—Tommy Mulligan (see record of No. 8).—Joe McCluskey (see records of Nos. 8, 50).—Eddie McGee (see record of No. 169).—Joe Otterberg, alias Oatsey, alias Stern (69).—Tim Oats (136).—Johnny O’Brien, alias The Kid (see record of No. 22).—Phillip Phearson, alias Philly Phearson (5).—Joe Parish (84).-—Paul Wilson, alias Little Paul (29).—John Price (see records of Nos. 1, 9, 154).—Augustus Raymond, alias Gus Raymond (26).—Joe Real, alias Hoggy Real (67).—Ed. Rice, alias Big Rice (12).—Walter Sheridan, alias Ralston (8).—Frank Shortell (168).—Frank Stewart (see record of No. 12).—Christopher Spencer (see record of No. 69).—Charles H. Dorauss, alias Jack Strauss (see records of No. 92 and Sam Perry).—William Russell, alias The Student (see records of Nos. 136, 171).—John T. Sullivan (see records of Nos. 163, 168).—John Tracy, alias Big Tracy (28).—John B. Towle (106). —Bill Vosburg, alias Old Bill (4).—Joe Whalen, alias Wilson (65).—William Ogle, alias Billy Ogle (13).—Westley Allen, alias Wess. Allen (164).—Albert Wise, alias Jake Sondheim, alias Al. Wilson (203).—Theodore Wildey, alias The. Wiley (171). —John Larney, alias Mollie Matches (n).—Jim Brady, alias Big Jim.—James Hoey, alias Orr.
See regular index for further information.