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diff --git a/old/53145-0.txt b/old/53145-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index f29c0a8..0000000 --- a/old/53145-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2862 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Great Taxicab Robbery, by James H. Collins - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Great Taxicab Robbery - A True Detective Story - -Author: James H. Collins - -Release Date: September 25, 2016 [EBook #53145] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GREAT TAXICAB ROBBERY *** - - - - -Produced by ellinora and The Online Distributed Proofreading -Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from -images generously made available by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - Transcriber’s Note - - Obvious spelling and punctuation errors have been corrected. - - Spelling variations have been kept as in the original. - - Italic text is indicated by underscores surrounding the _italic text_. - - Small capitals in the original have been converted to ALL CAPS. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - THE GREAT - TAXICAB ROBBERY - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -[Illustration: - - RHINELANDER WALDO - Commissioner of Police, New York City -] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - THE GREAT - TAXICAB ROBBERY - - _A True Detective Story_ - - BY - JAMES H. COLLINS - - WRITTEN FROM RECORDS AND PERSONAL ACCOUNTS - OF THE CASE FURNISHED BY THE NEW - YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT - - - NEW YORK - JOHN LANE COMPANY - MCMXII - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1912, BY - JOHN LANE COMPANY - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - This book has something to say about practical - results of wiser police administration in New - York. It is respectfully dedicated to - - HON. WILLIAM J. GAYNOR - - MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY - - the official who took the initiative in improving - conditions - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - PREFACE - - -There are several reasons for this little book, but the best of all is -the main reason—that it is a cracking good story, and right out of life. -The characters will be found interesting, and they are real people, -every one of them. The incidents are full of action and color. The plot -has mystery, surprise, interplay of mind and motive—had a novelist -invented it, the reader might declare it improbable. This is the kind of -story that is fundamental—the kind Mr. Chesterton says is so necessary -to plain people that, when writers do not happen to write it, plain -people invent it for themselves in the form of folk-lore. - -But apart from the story interest there are other reasons. - -When the New York police department had run down all the threads of the -plot, and accounted for most of the characters by locking them up, they -had become so absorbed in the story themselves, as a story, that they -thought the public would enjoy following it from the inside. - -While the crime was being dealt with, the police were subjected to -pretty severe criticism. They felt that the facts would make it clear -that they knew their trade and had been working at it diligently. - -The story gives an insight into real police methods. These are very -different from the methods of the fiction detective, and also from the -average citizen’s idea of police work. They ought to be better known. -When the public understands that there is nothing secret, tyrannical or -dangerous in good police practice, and that our laws safeguard even the -guilty against abuses, there will be helpful public opinion behind -officers of the law, and we shall have a higher degree of order and -security. - -The directing mind in this case was that of Commissioner George -Dougherty, executive head of the detectives of the New York Police -Department. Thousands of clean, ambitious young fellows are constantly -putting on the policeman’s uniform all over the country, and rising to -places as detectives and officials. The manufacturer or merchant may -find himself in the police commissioner’s chair. Even the suburbanite, -with his bundles, may be, out at Lonesomehurst, a member of the village -council, and thus responsible for the supervision of a police force -that, though it be only two patrolmen and a chief, is important in its -place. So in writing the story there has been an effort to show how a -first-rate man like Commissioner Dougherty works. His methods are plain -business methods. Most of his life he has earned his living following -the policeman’s trade as a commercial business. What he did in a case of -this kind, and how, and why, are matters of general interest and -importance. - -Finally, the story throws some useful light on criminals. It shows the -cunning of the underworld, and also its limitations. To free the -law-abiding mind of romantic notions about the criminal, and show him as -he is, is highly important in the prevention of crime. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - - FACING - PAGE - - Rhinelander Waldo, Commissioner of - Police, New York City - - _Frontispiece_ - - George S. Dougherty, Second Deputy 20 - Police Commissioner - - Edward P. Hughes, Inspector in Command 40 - of Detective Bureau, and Dominick G. - Riley, Lieutenant and Aide to - Commissioner Dougherty - - Geno Montani, Eddie Kinsman, Gene 60 - Splaine, “Scotty the Lamb” and John - Molloy - - James Pasquale, Bob Delio, Jess 80 - Albrazzo, and Matteo Arbrano - - “Scotty” Receives Final Instructions 110 - - “The Brigands” “Stick-up” the Hold-up 126 - Men for Theirs - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - THE CAST - - - GENO MONTANI, a taxicab proprietor. - WILBUR SMITH, an elderly bank teller. - FRANK WARDLE, a seventeen-year-old bank office boy. - EDDIE KINSMAN, alias “Collins,” alias “Eddie the Boob,” a hold-up man. - BILLY KELLER, alias “Dutch,” a hold-up man. - GENE SPLAINE, a hold-up man. - “SCOTTY THE LAMB,” a thieves’ helper, or “stall.” - JOE PHILADELPHIA, alias “The Kid,” a runner for thieves, or “lobbygow.” - JAMES PASQUALE, alias “Jimmy the Push,” keeper of shady resorts known - as “208” and “233.” - BOB DEILIO, partner of “Jimmy the Push.” - JESS ALBRAZZO, a middleman, formerly keeper of the Arch Café, pal of - Montani, “Jimmy the Push” and Bob Deilio. - MATTEO ARBRANO, } - PAULI GONZALES, } The “Three Brigands.” - CHARLES CAVAGNARO, } - “KING DODO,” a Bowery character. - RHINELANDER WALDO, Police Commissioner of New York. - GEORGE S. DOUGHERTY, Second Deputy Police Commissioner, executive head - of detectives. - INSPECTOR EDWARD P. HUGHES, in command of Detective Bureau. - POLICE LIEUTENANT DOMINICK G. RILEY, Aide of Commissioner Dougherty’s - staff. - DETECTIVE SERGT JOHN J. O’CONNELL, Official Stenographer. - THE DETECTIVES on “Plants,” “Trailing,” “Surrounding,” “Arresting,” - etc.: - - John P. Barron, Edward Boyle, Frank Campbell, James Dalton, James J. - Finan, John W. Finn, Joseph A. Daly, Daniel W. Clare, John Gaynor, - Anthony Grieco, John P. Griffith, Daniel F. Hallihan, Edward Lennon, - Henry Mugge, Richard Oliver, Gustavus J. Riley, James F. Shevlin, - Joseph Toner, George Trojan, James A. Watson. - - “SWEDE ANNIE,” Kinsman’s sweetheart. - MYRTLE HORN, a pal of Annie. - ROSE LEVY, a newcomer in Thompson street, Jess Albrazzo’s girl. - MRS. ISABELLA GOODWIN, a police matron. - MRS. SULLIVAN, keeper of a West Side rooming house. - “JOSIE,” a lady of the Levee district, Chicago. - - Detectives, policemen, informants, witnesses, denizens of the - underworld, newspaper reporters, trainmen, ticket sellers, etc., - etc. - - * * * * * - - PLACE—Chiefly in New York, with Scenes in Chicago, Albany, Memphis, - Boston and Montreal. - - TIME—February and March, 1912. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - The - Great Taxicab Robbery - - - - - CHAPTER I - WHAT THE PUBLIC HEARD ABOUT THE CRIME - - -On Thursday, February 15, 1912, the New York evening papers had a -startling news story. - -Between ten and eleven o’clock that morning two messengers were sent in -a taxicab from the East River National Bank, at Broadway and Third -street, to draw $25,000 in currency from the Produce Exchange National -Bank, at Broadway and Beaver street, in the downtown financial district, -and bring it uptown. This transfer of money had been made several times -a week for so long a period without danger or loss that the messengers -were unarmed. One of them, Wilbur F. Smith, was an old man who had been -in the service of the bank thirty-five years, and the other was a mere -boy, named Wardle, seventeen years old. The taxicab man, an Italian -named Geno Montani, seemed almost a trusted employee, too, for he -operated two cabs from a stand near the bank, and was frequently called -upon for such trips. - -While the cab was returning uptown through Church street with the money, -five men suddenly closed in upon it. According to the chauffeur’s story, -a sixth man forced him to slacken speed by stumbling in front of the -vehicle. Immediately two men on each side of the cab opened the doors. -Two assailants were boosted in and quickly beat the messengers into -insensibility, while their two helpers ran along on the sidewalk. The -fifth man climbed onto the seat beside the chauffeur, held a revolver to -his ribs, and ordered him to drive fast on peril of his life. This -fellow seemed to be familiar with automobiles, and threatened the driver -when he tried to slacken speed. That is a busy part of the city. Yet -nobody on the sidewalks seemed to notice anything out of the ordinary. -The cab dodged vehicles, going at high speed for several blocks. At Park -Place and Church street, after a trip of eleven blocks, at a busy -corner, the chauffeur was ordered to stop the cab, and the three robbers -got down, carrying the $25,000 in a leather bag, ran quickly to a black -automobile without a license number which was waiting for them, and in a -few moments were gone. - -That was the substance of the story. - -Information came chiefly from the chauffeur, because the two bank -employees had been attacked so suddenly and viciously that they lost -consciousness in a moment. When the chauffeur looked inside his cab -after the crime, he said, he saw them both lying senseless and bleeding. -They could give no description of the assailants. Eye-witnesses were -found who had seen men loitering in the neighborhood where the cab was -boarded shortly before the crime, but their descriptions were not very -useful. - -That night the New York evening papers published accounts of the crime -under great black headlines, and on the following morning every news -item of a criminal nature was grouped in the same part of the papers to -prove that the city had entered one of its sensational “waves of crime.” -And for more than a week the public read criticism and denunciation of -the police force. - -It was charged that the police had become “demoralized,” and various -changes of administrative policy introduced into the department within -the past eight months were blindly denounced. - -The most important of these changes was that devised by Mayor Gaynor. -Eight or ten years ago, every uniformed policeman in New York carried a -club, and often used it freely in defending himself while making -arrests. Abuses led to the abolition of this means of defense except for -officers patrolling the streets at night. There were still undoubted -abuses, however, and when Mayor Gaynor came into office, bringing -well-thought-out opinions of police administration from his experience -as a magistrate on the bench, he took a determined stand for more humane -methods of making arrests, and strict holding of every policeman to the -letter of the laws. Every case of clubbing was prosecuted, the plain -legal rights of citizens or criminals upheld, and the Police Department -began teaching its men new ways of defending themselves by skillful -holds in wrestling whereby prisoners may be handled effectually and -without doing them harm. Sentiment against the use of the club began to -grow in the Police Department itself, it being recognized that clubbing -was an unskillful means of defense, and that special athletic devices -were more workmanlike. - -Now, however, the newspapers published every chance opinion of -discharged, retired and anonymous police officers who objected to the -new regulations. It was alleged that criminals had got out of bounds -because policemen no longer dared club them into good behavior, and the -editors, without paying much attention to the many good points of the -new regulations, or trying to understand the merits of a settled policy -applied to an organization of more than ten thousand men, set up a cry -for the presumably “good old days” of Inspector So-and-So and Chief -This-and-That, when every known criminal was promptly struck over the -head on sight and thereby taught to know his place. If the files of New -York journals for those days following the robbery are examined they -will reveal a curious exhibition of pleading for official lawlessness -and autocracy. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -[Illustration: - - GEORGE S. DOUGHERTY - Second Deputy Police Commissioner -] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -Another point of criticism centered on a new method adopted in the -distribution of the detective force. This comprises more than five -hundred men. For years they were all required to report at Police -Headquarters every day, coming from distant precincts, and had an -opportunity to see whatever professional criminals were under arrest. -Then they went back to different precincts to work. This took too much -time, it was found, and the old-fashioned “line-up” of criminals was -chiefly a spectacle, the same offenders dropping into the hands of the -police with more or less regularity. So detectives were re-distributed -on a plan that attaches a proper number of plain-clothes policemen to -each precinct, according to its needs, and in those precincts the men -live and become acquainted with local criminals. Many of them work in -sections where they were born, and detectives speaking foreign languages -are assigned to foreign quarters. - -The newspapers charged that red-tape had brought the Police Department -to such a low state that young detectives had no idea what a real -criminal looked like, and urged the restoration of the old system, with -its picturesque “line-up.” - -In the days of Inspector Byrnes, when practically all the banking of the -city was done around Wall Street, the police established a “dead line” -beyond which criminals were supposed not to operate. In its day, the -“dead line” was real enough, undoubtedly. But it was not necessarily an -ideal police measure, and the growth of the city has long made it a mere -memory, living only in newspaper tradition. To-day, banking extends as -far north as Central Park, and millions upon millions of dollars are -being carried about daily by people of every sort. Despite the fact that -the last loss of money from a New York bank through professional -criminals (apart from fraud and forgery) dated back some fifteen or -eighteen years, the newspapers seemed to agree that life and property -were no longer safe in the city because this purely mythical “dead line” -had been disregarded by the robbers. - -There was other comment of the same character, and it had an immediate -and grievous effect. - -On the day after the robbery a chance remark about a safe in an East -Side bank, coupled with the general excitement, led to a run of its -depositors, chiefly people of foreign birth. The bank was solvent, and -the run was undoubtedly stimulated by gossip started by criminals for -their own ends. But the frightened depositors insisted on drawing out -their money, and exposing themselves to danger of robbery and assault. -The situation was met by careful police co-operation. - -About six months before the taxicab robbery, the New York legislature -put into force a measure known as the “Sullivan law,” providing -penalties for the carrying of pistols and concealed weapons. This is -unquestionably a wise measure fundamentally, and one that was badly -needed for police administration and public safety. It is perhaps open -to certain modifications, to be made as actual conditions are -encountered in practical working of the law. Newspaper opinion drew a -connection between this law and the “wave of crime,” and its repeal was -urged, so that every citizen might arm himself as he pleased. Hundreds -of persons who had felt safe in going about their business unarmed now -applied for permits to carry pistols. - -Fortunately, a sensation does not last long in New York. - -Though the Police Department felt this criticism keenly, and was -hampered by it, pressure began to slacken in about a week. Other -sensations came along. There was nothing to publish about the taxicab -case, as police information was withheld for good official reasons. -Presently the town ventured to joke about the case. At an elaborate -public dinner one night, among other topical effects, a dummy taxicab -suddenly scooted out before the guests, held up a dummy police -commissioner, took his watch, and scooted away again. The diners -laughed, and that was fairly representative of the town, which was now -ready to have its joke about the crime, too. Had there never been any -further action by the police, the case would have quietly dropped out of -sight. But fortunately there was police action, and with that we shall -now deal. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER II - HOW THE CRIME WAS HANDLED BY THE POLICE—ON THE TRAIL - - -Now, let us follow the police story. We will begin at the very -beginning, watch the incidents and character unfold, and give quite a -little attention to the technical methods by which results were arrived -at. For the story is a study in clean, straightforward detective work, -and that work ought to be better known by the public, so that -intelligent public opinion may back up honest police effort. - -The story starts with a burly, genial man, sitting in a big office at -Police Headquarters. The office is that of the Second Deputy Police -Commissioner, and the man is the Commissioner himself, George S. -Dougherty. - -Commissioner Dougherty dominates the story. The taxicab robbers were -caught by his methods, plans and supervision, backed by the splendid -team work of the men under him. His own sources of information supplied -the clues, and his personal skill in examining criminals brought out the -confessions that saved the city the expense of trials with all but one -offender. It is far from the writer’s wish to indulge in hero-worship, -however, so these details will appear in their proper place in the -narrative. - -George Dougherty has had nearly twenty-five years’ experience in -criminal work in New York, and over the whole country. Until his -appointment by Mayor Gaynor in May, 1911, he was connected with the -Pinkerton organization. Bank and financial crimes have long been his -specialty, so the taxicab case fell right into his own province. He -knows the ways of forgers, bank sneaks, swindlers, burglars and -“yeggmen,” and is personally acquainted with most of the criminals in -those lines in and out of prison. He has also had much to do with -protecting the crowds at races, ball games, aeronautic meetings and -other big gatherings. As executive head of the detective bureau, five -hundred plain-clothes policemen scattered over Greater New York cover -all crimes of a local and routine nature, and are subject to his call -when a special case like the taxicab robbery comes up for his personal -attention. - -On an ordinarily quiet morning at Police Headquarters, there will be a -steady stream of people passing into Dougherty’s office. Several -assistants guard the doors leading from two ante-rooms, and marshal the -visitors. Now a group of detectives enters and hears a talk on methods. -Then two detectives come in, make a report and receive further -instructions. Then there will be an interruption, perhaps, while an -assistant soothes and sends away a crank who occasionally turns up with -a purely imaginary affair of his own, and two more detectives pass in -accompanied by a man and a woman who look just like the people one sees -dining at a fashionable uptown restaurant. The woman’s furs are -magnificent, and her hat a costly Fifth avenue creation. - -“A couple of taxpayers?” speculates the group of reporters, waiting -outside to get a statement about some important case. - -“Two of the cleverest check swindlers in the country,” corrects a -detective, and presently the reporters are called in, and Dougherty -recites names, dates and facts connected with the gang to which these -prosperous “taxpayers” belong, gazing reflectively out of the window as -details come back in memory, and chuckling with the delighted -journalists as the pithy slang and professional names of the underworld -are jotted down on their pads. They fire a scattering volley of -questions at him and depart, and then his secretary announces that the -saloon-keeper who knows a good deal about the Blind Puppy Café case is -outside, but refuses to talk to the police at all. - -“Hullo!” is the Commissioner’s off-hand greeting as the cautious -saloon-keeper comes in, and in two minutes the latter is answering -questions freely. - -“Why, say!” he exclaims, “I’ll tell _you_ anything.” - -Then a humble little woman in a cheap hat and a long cloak is brought -in. For more than an hour she has been waiting outside, with her eyes -fixed patiently on the door leading to the inner office. - -“Stand there,” says the Commissioner, with gruff kindness, and he makes -a formal statement about her husband, who has been arrested with a -criminal gang, and is pretty certain to go to prison. He tells her what -has been done in the case, and what will follow, and the little woman -listens mutely. When he finishes, her eyes fill with tears. But she -makes no reply, nor any sound. The Commissioner winks fast as he looks -out of the window again, and then says, sympathetically: - -“That’s the best that can be done. But don’t you worry. Come in and see -me again. Keep in touch with me, and don’t worry yourself. Come in and -talk with me—come in to-morrow.” And she bravely wipes her eyes and goes -out with her trouble. - -The procession continues. - -Police captains and detectives in squads, prisoners and witnesses in -twos and threes, newspaper men in corps and singly, and occasionally a -cautious gentleman who wants to see the Commissioner alone, and is -anxious that nobody say anything about this visit to Police -Headquarters—for he is an informant. - - - _The First Alarm_ - -The taxicab robbery took place on a quiet morning like this. - -Suddenly, around eleven o’clock on Thursday, February 15, a brief -message comes from the second precinct, stating that a robbery has been -committed in the financial district. A little later there is a fuller -report over police wires. The details are few, as will be seen by the -general alarm that presently goes out over the city: - - _Police Department, City of New York_, - - February 15, 1912. - - To all, all Boroughs—notify the patrol platoon immediately. - - Arrest for assault and robbery three men: - - No. 1, about 35 years, five feet eight or nine inches in height, - 160 or 170 pounds, small stubby dark mustache, dark complexion, - medium build, dark suit and cap, no overcoat. - - No. 2, about 35 years, five feet ten inches in height, slender - build, dark hair, possibly smooth shaven, light brown suit, no - overcoat, wore a cap. - - No description of No. 3. - - Stole $25,000 in five and ten dollar bills, contained in a brown - leather telescope bag, 24 inches long, 16 inches square, from - two bank messengers in a taxicab about 11 this a. m., at Park - Place and Church Street, and escaped in a five or seven-seated - black touring car, top up. Look out for this car, bag and - occupants on streets, at ferry entrances, bridge terminals, - railroad stations. Inquire at all garages, automobile stands, - stables, etc. - - If found, notify Detective Bureau. - -Before noon, the Commissioner has postponed appointments, assigned -routine business, and is engaged in an investigation that will keep him -busy until that morning, twelve days later, when the first arrests are -made, and the case is, in police parlance, “broken.” - -Where do the police begin in such a crime? What do they start with when -there is apparently so little to work upon? - -In spite of the wide popular interest in police and criminal matters, -the average citizen has no very clear idea. Even the newspaper reporter, -following police activities every day, is not well informed in technical -details. Some information is necessarily withheld from him, and he is a -busy young man, with his own technical viewpoint, working hard to get -his own kind of information. - -This lack of knowledge leads to a feeling of mystery, helplessness and -terror after a sensational crime, and to criticism of the police. They -are at work, skillfully, honestly, diligently. But results take time. It -would do little good to make arrests without evidence. The citizen’s -sympathies are aroused by brutal lawlessness, and he urges that somebody -be caught and punished. If results are not at once apparent, he jumps to -the conclusion that the police are “demoralized.” He would be startled -if he could see how quickly and persistently the underworld takes steps -to strengthen him in that conclusion, and use him to discredit the -police. - -Sixty detectives are immediately called into the case. Five of them go -down to the scene of the robbery, with orders to work there until -further notice. They make a thorough search of the neighborhood, -following the route taken by Montani’s taxicab, and questioning -merchants, newsdealers, porters, truckmen and other persons likely to -have information as eye-witnesses. They go through the streets that may -have been taken by the escaping robbers, and work over the whole ground. -This search through one of the busiest sections of New York in a busy -hour, amid the excitement created by the crime, may appear like hopeless -business. But, as will be seen presently, it yields important results. -Other detectives search garages for the black automobile without a -license number in which the robbers are reported to have got away. Four -uniformed policemen on beats along the route taken by the taxicab are -questioned. Other detailed inquiries of the same nature are started. - -But the most important work of the first day centers at Police -Headquarters, where a conference is held by Commissioner Dougherty and -his assistants, and in the examination of Montani, the taxicab driver. - -Strip all the labels off a suit of clothes and lay it before a committee -of tailors. In a few moments certain points would be agreed upon. It may -be a new suit, or an old one, a fine piece of tailoring, or a cheap -hand-me-down. The committee could often identify the cheap suit and tell -the name of its manufacturer, while with a seventy-five-dollar suit it -might be possible to determine the maker’s name. This holds true of many -other lines of work, and it is particularly true of criminal -investigation. - -Who cut and made that suit of clothes? - -The conference sat down to determine this, judging the robbery strictly -as a piece of workmanship. Names of known bank criminals were brought -up, one by one, and details gone over. It soon became clear that none of -the men identified with bank crime were likely to have the brains, skill -or organization to plan and execute so complicated a robbery. - -The criminals had known the habits of the bank in conveying cash uptown. -They knew the route, and were aware that the guard was only an elderly -man and a seventeen-year-old boy, both unarmed. They had boarded the cab -at the best point, and evidently made arrangements for stopping it. -There was team work in every detail. It showed marked insight, for -instance, to provide additional men to boost each assailant in at the -doors. For young Wardle, the bank employee, had made a plucky attempt to -shove his robber out and shut the door, and might have succeeded had -there not been an outside man. Robberies are committed under exciting -conditions. They sometimes fail because criminals balk. That outside man -was there not only to help his “slugger” into the cab, but to _force_ -him in if he shrank, and make certain he did his work. Whoever planned -such details, it was agreed at the conference, possessed more cunning -than the ordinary bank criminal. - - - _Montani is Examined._ - -When Montani, the taxicab driver, arrived at Police Headquarters, he was -willing to talk, and seemed anxious to help the police in every way. He -knew suspicion might be directed toward himself, but did not resent -that. He talked like a man confident of the truth of his story, and -certain that he would be found blameless. - -Montani is an Italian, from the northern part of Italy, about 30 years -old, five feet six inches high, rather stout and thick-set, with very -dark complexion. The striking feature of his countenance, his large, -intelligent brown eyes. Commissioner Dougherty found himself thinking of -Napoleon in connection with Montani. - -The first examination lasted all afternoon, Montani going out to lunch -with the Commissioner. Hundreds of questions were asked bearing on the -robbery, the appearance of the criminals, and Montani’s past and -personal affairs. The story was gone over again and again, and different -questioners relieved each other. Yet the taxicab man never lost his -temper or patience, and did not contradict himself in any important -particular. - -Montani had been in this country since the age of twelve, it appeared, -had a wife and two children, and was the owner of two taxicabs operated -from a stand at a hotel near the bank, whose money he regularly carried. -He had owned three cabs, but lost one through business reverses. In -fact, he had passed through money troubles, and his story excited -sympathy. Starting originally as a truckman for a salvage company, his -ambition and intelligence had won him such confidence that this company -lent him money to set up trucking for himself. Still more ambitious, he -had become a taxicab proprietor. Through the trickery of an ill-chosen -partner, however, he has lost some of his savings. He seemed a little -bitter about this, and it was a circumstance not likely to escape an -expert police examiner, for the loss of money through fraud, coupled -with temptation, is often the starting point in crime. The Italian’s -former employers spoke highly of his character when questioned by -detectives. He gave the names of chauffeurs who had worked for him -lately, and of business people who knew him, and careful investigation -failed to disclose any suspicious circumstances. Montani quite won the -newspaper men—so much so that, when he was discharged in court a few -days later for apparent lack of evidence, the newspapers criticised the -police for having held him at all. - -And yet, before that first night, Montani himself, largely through -simple answers to questions, had become so involved that there was -ground for holding him under arrest. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -[Illustration: - - EDWARD P. HUGHES - Inspector in Command of Detective Bureau -] - -[Illustration: - - DOMINICK G. RILEY - Lieutenant and Aide to Commissioner Dougherty -] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -In the questions and cross-questions, the checks and counter-checks of a -skillful examiner, there are possibilities little suspected by those not -familiar with that kind of work. - -Montani had slowed down his cab at the point where the robbers boarded -it. He said that an old man had suddenly got in front, and he had -slackened speed to avoid running over him. But detectives along the -route found eye-witnesses who had seen the robbers board the cab, and -who could testify that there had been nobody in front of the vehicle. - -Both of his cabs had stood in line near the bank that morning, the one -driven by himself being second, and the other, in charge of an employee, -was first. When the call came from the bank, Montani answered it himself -out of his turn, sending the other cab uptown, as he explained, to have -some tires vulcanized. But it was not a good explanation. - -He said that as soon as the robbers left his cab he had raised a cry for -help. But eye-witnesses were found who denied this. - -Instead of running north after the robbers’ automobile when he had taken -a policeman aboard his cab, he ran south, away from it. This action, he -maintained, was taken under orders from the policeman. But the latter -denied that. - -He was not able to explain how the robbers had known where to post their -automobile so it would be waiting at the spot where they finished their -work. - -Interest centered in this mysterious black automobile without a license -number. For, though Montani was an experienced chauffeur, and his -replies to other questions showed that he had seen both the rear and the -side of that car, he was unable to tell its make. - -Meanwhile, it was learned that three men had hurriedly boarded an -elevated train near the scene of the robbery shortly after, not waiting -for change from a quarter. The ticket-seller was unable to describe -them, but connected them with the robbery when he heard about it. - -Montani was held in the custody of the Commissioner that night, to be -put through further examination in the morning. But long before morning -the police were working on an entirely new development. - - - _The First Direct Clue_ - -The law-abiding citizen goes around New York with little knowledge of -the crowding underworld all about him. It is perhaps just as well that -he knows nothing of the lives and morals of hundreds of people who elbow -him on the streets, sit beside him in the cars, and scrutinize him with -a strictly professional eye in many places. - -Nor has he any clear conception of the relations that a good police -officer maintains with members of this underworld. It is a world just as -complete as that of business or society, however, and much of the time -of a detective or police official is spent keeping track of people in -it, forming acquaintances and connections in various ways, and -establishing the organization of informants that will help in the -detection and prevention of crime. A good detective is like a good -salesman—he keeps track of his “trade.” - -Shortly after midnight of the first day, Commissioner Dougherty received -a message over the telephone that sent him uptown to meet an informant. -At two o’clock in the morning of Friday, February 16, he and this person -had a talk at a fashionable uptown hotel. Indeed, most of the meetings -with informants during this case were held at two well-known hotels, -perhaps the last places in the city that anybody would connect with such -conferences. - -Informants are not always right, nor always possessed of useful -information. But this one had the first real clue. - -On the afternoon of the robbery, it was learned, a fellow known as -“Eddie Collins” had come to his rooming house, on the lower West Side, -told a woman with whom he lived, known as “Swede Annie,” to pack up and -be ready to leave the city in a hurry, and presently disappeared with -her. He was also reported to have a large roll of money. With a rough -estimate of the size of this roll, given by the informant, and a dummy -roll of “stage money” made up for the purpose, the police were able to -judge that Collins must have had between $3,000 and $5,000. That would -have been his probable share in a division of the stolen currency among -five men. - -The house where Collins had lived was kept by a Mrs. Sullivan. Steps -were at once taken to “surround” this woman, as the operation is known -technically. For before a possible source of information like Mrs. -Sullivan is followed up, it is necessary to know something about it. The -person in question may be criminal, or in league with the underworld. On -the other hand, he or she may be quite innocent, and willing to aid the -police. The “surround” is an interesting operation. It is often made -without the knowledge of the person investigated. In many cases it takes -time. - -Mrs. Sullivan came through the ordeal handsomely. - -She proved to be a wholesome, hard-working landlady, keeping a house -that sheltered occasional suspicious characters, but entirely honest -herself. She was not only able to furnish information about her late -lodgers, but willing. - -“Sure, it’s a good deal I know about that Collins, as he calls himself,” -she said, “and mighty little that’s good.” - -It seems that about two weeks previously Collins had offered to pay the -landlady if she would appear in a Brooklyn court and testify to the good -character of a criminal named Molloy, who was being held for trial on a -charge of robbery. - -“They’re paying fifteen to twenty dollars for ‘character’ witnesses,” -said her lodger. - -“And do you think I’d take the stand and perjure myself swearing for a -man I never heard of?” asked the indignant landlady. - -“Oh, that’s nothing to some of the things we do,” was the reply. - -Several days later, while she was putting some laundry into Collins’ -bureau drawer the landlady caught sight of two new blackjacks. She asked -Collins what he was doing with such weapons. - -“Aw, we use them in our business,” he said. Then, with the confidence -often bred in criminals by success, he told her he knew a gang that was -planning to rob a taxicab that carried money uptown to a bank every -week. Mrs. Sullivan questioned him as to details, and he assured her it -would be an easy job. - -“For we’ve got it all fixed with the chauffeur,” he said. - -At that point, however, like many an honest person who might aid the -police with information, Mrs. Sullivan let the matter drop out of her -mind. It is a simple thing to mail a letter or telephone to Police -Headquarters, giving such information, and the experience of the -Detective Bureau is such that the information can be investigated -without involving innocent persons. But perhaps Mrs. Sullivan concluded -that, in a big city like New York, it is well for people to keep their -mouths shut. Or maybe she decided that Collins was merely boasting. - -On Friday, less than twenty-four hours after the robbery, a “network -investigation” was begun. - -Sixty detectives searched that part of the city where Collins and Annie -had lived, seeking further information. Photograph galleries and other -places were investigated on the chance of finding pictures. Denizens of -the underworld were talked with casually. Professional criminals, -prostitutes, dive-keepers, receivers of stolen goods and other shady -characters were brought before Commissioner Dougherty in couples and -half-dozens for quick cross-examination. By Saturday evening the police -had some highly important information. - -It was learned that Annie had been seen going away on the afternoon of -the robbery in a taxicab, accompanied by two men, one of whom was -Collins, and the other unknown. Good descriptions were secured of Annie -and her sweetheart, especially of her hat, which was a cheap affair, but -conspicuous by reason of a row of little red roses. It was also -discovered that Collins had been a boxer, that he hailed from Boston, -and that his real name was Eddie Kinsman. Finally, the police secured -two photographs, one an indifferent picture of Kinsman, and the other an -excellent portrait of Annie. These were quickly put through the -department’s photograph gallery, where there are facilities for making -duplicates in a hurry, and more than a hundred copies were soon ready -for work which will be described in its proper place. - -The trail now seemed to lead to Boston. At all events, further -information was to be secured there. And here came in a little -refinement imparted by Commissioner Dougherty’s experience with the -Pinkerton forces. For where this private detective organization works -unhampered over the whole country, the official police forces in most -cities confine their searches to their own territory. When it is -believed that criminals have left town, as in this case, a general -description is telegraphed to other cities. Dougherty’s method, however, -is always to send a man from his own staff, with detailed instructions. -There are no local boundaries for him. - -Late on Saturday night Inspector Hughes, of the Detective Bureau, -slipped out of headquarters with Detective O’Connell, and took a train -for Boston. Their departure was kept strictly secret. They bid good -night to associates, saying that they expected to be up and at work -again early next morning, and until their return on Monday everybody who -asked for the Inspector was told that “he is usually around the building -somewhere.” - - - _Montani Points Out “King Dodo”_ - -All through Friday and Saturday, while the network investigation was -going on, Commissioner Dougherty continued his examination of Montani. - -Some important information against him now came from outside. - -It developed that Montani had been involved several months before in an -insurance case, claiming indemnity for a burned automobile under a -policy. He had presented, as part of its value, a bill for repairs -amounting to $1,348. The insurance company, however, had found that this -bill was fraudulent, that the repairs had never been made, and had -obtained a statement to that effect from the Italian chauffeur. Out of -pity for his wife and two children the case was not pressed against him. -Now that he was involved in another crime, however, the insurance people -came forward and laid the facts before the police. - -Of course, Montani knew nothing about this new development. - -For two days the chauffeur was questioned at intervals, and the inquiry -centered chiefly on the knotty points in his story of the crime. He was -particularly pressed for better explanations of the slackening of his -cab when the robbers boarded it, but stuck to his original statement -about a man getting in front of the vehicle. He described this person as -an old man, and said he must have been in league with the criminals. As -the police had good evidence that there had been nobody in front of the -taxicab, however, this point was returned to again and again, and toward -night on Saturday, February 17, the little chauffeur began to feel the -strain. - -On his way to supper that evening with men from the Detective Bureau, -Montani was taken through the Bowery. Suddenly he stopped, dramatically, -and exclaimed: - -“There! That is the old man who got in front of my cab!” - -His finger indicated a Bowery character as typical as anything ever seen -in melodrama—a ragged little old figure with an amazing set of whiskers, -engaged in picking up cigar butts along the gutters. He was immediately -taken to headquarters. - -No detail of his work interests Commissioner Dougherty more keenly than -his study of the many picturesque characters who turn up as an important -case unfolds. He has a ready appreciation of everybody who appears, from -the society lady who lost her jewels to the typical Bowery loafer. He is -as ready to look at facts from a criminal’s point of view as that of an -honest man. He has often gone half across the country to get acquainted -with a good burglar, and in this warm human interest lies the basis of -his skill as an examiner of suspects. These details are set down, not in -glorification of Dougherty, but for the guidance of every police officer -interested in his methods. - -The moment Dougherty laid eyes on this new character, with his -magnificent whiskers, he gave him a nickname. - -“King Dodo!” said the Commissioner, and that by that name he was known -in so far as he figured in the case at all. “King Dodo” proved to be -entirely innocent, and nothing more than the victim of a chance move of -Montani’s, who evidently thought that he ought to produce something -tangible to back up his assertion that the cab had been intercepted by -an old man. “King Dodo” established a perfect alibi, proving that he had -been elsewhere at the time of the robbery, and after being questioned -and the truth of his story established, he was released, there being no -reason for holding him. - -“I feel safe,” said the Commissioner solemnly, “in paroling you on your -own responsibility, to appear again if wanted.” - -That may have been a heavier responsibility than had been put on his -shoulders in years. But he rose to it. Two days later a decently -dressed, clean shaven, elderly gentleman came in and asked for the -Commissioner. He was “all dolled up,” in police parlance, and looked -like a retired small shopkeeper. The staff did not recognize him for a -moment. But it was “King Dodo,” doing his best to fill the part of a -minor figure in the great taxicab mystery. There being nothing for him -to do, he dropped back into private life. - -On his Sunday visit to Boston Inspector Hughes talked with Chief -Inspector Watts of that city, learned where Kinsman lived, and that his -family was a respectable one; found a bright patrolman named Dorsey who -knew Kinsman, and gave more information about his personal appearance, -habits and career as a boxer, desertion from the Navy, and so forth, and -made arrangements to have the Kinsman home watched so that news of his -return would be secured immediately. It was clear that Kinsman had not -returned to Boston. - - - _Discovery of Kinsman’s Trail_ - -As soon as Inspector Hughes returned from Boston, on Monday morning, the -Commissioner took steps to question the crews of every train that had -left New York since one p. m. on the day of the robbery. - -Just the other afternoon the writer sat with a squad of young detectives -at Police Headquarters and heard a talk on methods given by Dougherty, -and one point clearly brought out was the usefulness to the -thief-catcher of routine information. - -He began by relating an amusing incident. Some days before a detective -had turned up at headquarters for instruction, and naïvely asked the -Commissioner to lend him a pencil and a slip of paper, so he could make -some notes. Another detective was found who had only a hazy idea of the -location of New York’s telephone exchanges. Taking these as his text, -the Commissioner explained the value to every police officer of what -might be called “time-table” information—knowing the depots and ferries, -what roads run out of them, the cities reached, the number and character -of trains, the general methods of dispatching trains, and so forth. The -Commissioner himself is as well informed on such matters as any railroad -man, and thoroughly familiar with routine methods in many other lines of -work and business. How such knowledge can be employed was shown by the -next move in the taxicab case. - -Detectives were sent to every railroad terminal to secure lists of -trains, learn the names of the crews, and make out schedules of the time -when each crew would be back in the city. Then each man was found and -carefully questioned. His memory could be helped by pictures of Kinsman -and Annie, and by intimate details of personal appearance and manner. - -The search bore fruit, though it took time. - -On Wednesday Detective Watson, who was a railroad engineer before he -joined the police, found that Train No. 13 on the New York Central had -taken on three passengers answering the descriptions on the afternoon of -the robbery. They had boarded the train at Peekskill, the town to which, -as it was subsequently learned, they had ridden in a taxicab. The -conductor’s attention had been drawn to Annie by her smoking a cigarette -on the sly in the toilet of the day coach. He remembered her high cheek -bones, and the black velvet hat with its little roses, and the athletic -build of her men companions, who both appeared to be boxers. It was also -established that the trio had gone to Albany, for one of the trainmen -distinctly remembered helping Annie down at that station. - - - _“Plant 21” Is Established_ - -Monday, February 19, was an important day in more ways than one. - -While the train investigation was going on, it was learned that a woman -known as “Myrtle Horn,” an intimate of Annie’s, had moved to a lower -West Side rooming house, taking Annie’s trunk with her, as though Annie -expected to return to the city. After a preliminary survey, this house -was visited by Commissioner Dougherty in person. He explained that he -was a contractor, about to build a section of the new subway, and that -he was looking for a quiet room at a reasonable price where he might -have some of the comforts of home. After a little talk with the landlady -it became clear that she was honest and trustworthy, with no information -of the new lodger who had taken her front room in the basement. -Arrangements were quickly made to put this house, inside and outside, -under constant surveillance. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -[Illustration: GENE SPLAINE] - -[Illustration: EDDIE KINSMAN] - -[Illustration: GENO MONTANI] - -[Illustration: “SCOTTY THE LAMB”] - -[Illustration: JOHN MOLLOY] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -Along in the evening Mrs. Isabella Goodwin, a police matron, was -installed there. The Commissioner brought her, and carried her bundle. -The landlady and the matron had never seen each other in their lives, -but kissed ostentatiously, and made considerable fuss on the chance of -being overheard. Mrs. Goodwin was “planted” as the landlady’s “sister,” -who had come from Montreal to live with her and help in the housework -until she could find a position in New York. The Commissioner grumbled a -little about her stinginess in refusing to pay an expressman to bring -her bundle, and then took his departure, explaining that the train had -been late, and the baby was not well, and his wife, Aggie, would be -worried about him, and so forth. Mrs. Goodwin established herself in a -room at the rear of the basement, handy to that occupied by Myrtle Horn, -and kept her eyes and ears open as she went about the housework, -slipping out to report when she had any information, and receiving -instructions. - -Outside surveillance on this house was conducted from an empty store -across the street. Arrangements for the use of such property are usually -made by the police without difficulty, though occasionally a -close-fisted owner expects rent. Blinds were put up over the windows, -peep-holes made, and a few hammers provided, with some nails and boards. -Then six of the best “shadow men” in the Detective Bureau were stationed -there. They made a little noise occasionally, in “getting the store -ready for a big firm moving up from downtown,” and watched the house day -and night. Whenever Myrtle went out she was followed. If she had -visitors, they were investigated. This store was known by the code term -of “Plant 21,” so that reports could be sent without disclosing police -information. - - - _Montani Goes Free_ - -On Monday, too, Montani was arraigned in court, and discharged for what -appeared to be lack of any evidence against him. - -At this point the Commissioner took the liberty of fooling the newspaper -men for the good of his case. - -Newspaper criticism for three days had been particularly severe. Editors -made many charges, and were fertile in suggestions as what ought to be -done to reorganize the presumably “demoralized” police department. The -present writer feels confident, however, that a careful search of the -files for those days will disclose hardly any suggestions likely to be -at all helpful to public servants in the discharge of duty. Many -questions with no real bearing on the case had been brought up by the -journalists, and the Commissioner, who was patient in answering the -newspaper men, began to be a little tired. - -On Sunday night his big office was filled with reporters. They sat about -everywhere. He had admitted them because he wanted them to see that he -was working. From time to time they quizzed him in this fashion: - -“Is it true that you and Commissioner Waldo have quarrelled?” - -“Is Waldo going to resign?” - -“Do you favor the Sullivan law against pistols?” - -“Will the ‘dead line’ be maintained now?” - -“Hadn’t the daily ‘line up’ of criminals ought to be restored so that -detectives will know crooks when they see them?” - -“Hasn’t Mayor Gaynor tied the hands of the police?” - -And so forth, and so forth, and so forth. - -Suddenly, on Sunday night, Dougherty turned and read the newspaper men a -lecture. He said that he wanted them to understand that he was no spring -chicken at his business, that he was working eighteen hours a day, and -that he knew he would show results if the people would only be patient, -and give him time. His only recommendation in the way of new laws or -reforms was for a statute that would enable the police to put known -criminals, without occupation or visible means of support, at work -mending roads. He outlined a plan which, rather strangely, did not get -any attention in the newspapers at all. His idea of dealing with idle -criminals, he said, was to have a cart, with commissary and sleeping -quarters for twelve men. As soon as twelve idle criminals with records -had been sentenced, they would pull this cart out of town themselves, -under guard, and go to work repairing roads. If that plan were adopted, -New York would not only be as free from criminals as the District of -Columbia, where a similar measure is enforced, but the roads all around -the city would be so well cared for that they could be used as -roller-skating rinks. - -The newspapers next morning were quite certain that Commissioners Waldo -and Dougherty had quarrelled, and when the journalists went down to -report Montani’s examination in court they were decidedly partial to the -taxicab man. - -Dougherty had told the newspaper men beforehand that he had evidence -enough to have Montani held for trial. He had made very positive -statements about this. Montani would be arraigned, he predicted, and if -discharged on one count, would be immediately arrested on something -else. If he was discharged on that, he would still be arraigned on -further charges. - -It needs no very brilliant imagination, therefore, to picture the effect -upon the newspapers when Montani, after being arraigned on the doubtful -points in his own account of the crime, and those not too vigorously -pressed, was discharged, with comment by the court upon the flimsiness -of the police case. There was one striking discrepancy in the evidence -presented at that examination which, if pressed, should have resulted in -the holding of Montani for trial. He still insisted that he had stopped -his cab because an old man had got in front of it, but this was denied -by a witness. That point was permitted to pass by Lieutenant Riley, who -appeared for the police. Montani could have been re-arrested on charges -based upon his attempt to defraud the insurance company. But he was -permitted to go free. That course had been decided on at Police -Headquarters after some difference of opinion. - -The newspapers were now more pessimistic than ever in their comment. -They contrasted this outcome with Dougherty’s promises that the -chauffeur would be re-arrested. It was taken as a confession of police -incompetency and bewilderment—which, as will be seen in its proper -place, was very useful in its way. Montani went free, and was jubilant, -calling on the Commissioner next morning to thank him. But from the -moment he left court until he was arrested again the Italian chauffeur -never got out of sight of the Police Department. - - - _What Developed on a Busy Tuesday_ - -It was on the day after Montani’s release that Commissioner Dougherty -began to uncover more interesting characters in the taxicab drama. - -Bit by bit, through points supplied by informants and persons who had -come in contact with him in various ways, a very good working knowledge -of the fugitive Kinsman was pieced together. It appeared that he had -come to New York the previous summer, from Boston, and after a brief -career as a boxer, had gone to work in a Sixth avenue resort known as -the “Nutshell Café,” where he was a waiter. Among his associates there -had been two characters who invited further inquiry. - -The first of these was a fellow called “Gene,” described as having a -“parrot nose,” and a criminal record. He had been a close pal of -Kinsman, and had also introduced another intimate, a wily little Italian -called “Jess,” who had formerly owned a thieves’ resort which he called -the “Arch Café.” A good description of Jess was secured. - -There was some delay while the Commissioner “surrounded” this -last-mentioned resort to find out if it was a place where any -information might be obtained openly. The question was decided in the -negative. So a plain-clothes man was quietly “planted” there to pick up -information. - -When a criminal is arrested (or “falls”) it is customary in the -underworld to raise a fund for his defense. The Arch Café was a center -for the deposit of such “fall money.” It was learned that a hundred -dollars had been raised for the defense of a man named Clarke, alias -“Molloy,” under arrest in Brooklyn for robbery. This was the same Molloy -to whose fine character Kinsman had asked his landlady to swear in -court. The Italian named Jess had taken charge of Molloy’s defense fund, -but squandered it in a spree. Later, making it good, he had sent it over -to Molloy’s relief by Kinsman’s pal, “Dutch,” and an Italian known as -“Matteo.” - -District inspectors of police were then called upon to find a detective -who knew Jess, and an Italian plain-clothes man, Antony Grieco, who had -grown up in that part of New York where Jess had kept a café, and who -knew the latter well, was detailed with another detective to look him up -and keep him under surveillance. They found that Jess, whose last name -was Albrazzo, had headquarters in a tough resort in Thompson street, -kept by an Italian named James Pasqualle, better known as “Jimmie the -Push.” From that time Jess was kept “on tap,” to await further -developments. - -Then the Commissioner undertook to find out more about the character -called “Gene.” Working in New York, as waiters and bartenders, were many -members of a criminal band known as the “Forty Thieves of Boston.” The -Commissioner called in all of them that he could find, and sounded each -for information about this “Gene.” After the time of day had been -passed, the talk would turn on members of the band and criminals in -general, and after curiosity had been excited, “Gene” would be referred -to casually. If the party interviewed said he knew “Gene,” the -Commissioner would probably be sceptical, ask his last name, press for -details of appearance and habits, and then pass to some other subject. - -It was found that “Gene’s” last name was Splaine, that he had served a -term in prison in Boston as a boy, and that, by his general description, -he must be the third fugitive accompanying Kinsman and Annie. When -Detective Watson got better descriptions of the third man at Albany, and -comparisons were made with sources of information in New York, it became -practically certain that Gene Splaine was with Kinsman. - - - _Annie Shows at “Plant 21”_ - -It was on this day, too (Tuesday, February 20), that “Swede Annie” -suddenly stepped into police view, _wearing a new hat_. She turned up -quietly at the house where Myrtle Horn had moved with her trunk, and -began living in the front basement room. Matron Goodwin and “Plant 21” -immediately reported her presence, and from that time the shadow men -across the street had something to do besides driving nails. For -whenever Annie or Myrtle went out of the house they were followed. - -Shadowing is a highly interesting kind of police work, at which some men -have exceptional ability. - -The general conception is that of a detective following closely behind -the suspected person, with his eyes glued to him, and cautiously -crouching behind lamp-posts and trees when the victim turns suddenly. -But that is far from the real thing. The work is done in ways altogether -different. Shadow men operate in pairs, as a rule, and keep track of -their party from vantage points not likely to be suspected. They dress -according to the character of the case, always in quiet clothes, changed -daily, and with absolutely no colors that will attract attention or lead -to recognition through the memory. They know how to follow when the -person under surveillance rides in cabs, cars or trains, to cover the -different exits from a building into which he or she may have gone, and -to loiter several hours around a given neighborhood, if need be, without -attracting the attention of honest citizens. - -This work is done by shifts. The operators relieve each other almost as -regularly as office employees, no matter how far the trail may have -taken them. They are in constant touch with headquarters for the purpose -of making reports and receiving instructions. - -In this branch of detective work, as in many others, the chief requisite -is resourcefulness. The detective of fact wears little disguise apart -from clothes that fit the surroundings he moves in. But he has an -instant knack at accounting for himself as a normal character who has -happened quite naturally into the scene. Ready wits do the trick—not -false whiskers. Thus it came about that whenever Annie and Myrtle were -hungry, and sat down in a restaurant, what they said was noted by a -couple of fellows at another table, who quickly made a party of the -chance patrons they found there, discussing wages or the suffragettes. -Or if Annie used the telephone in a drug store, a polite young man -turning over the directory said to her, “Go ahead, lady—I’m in no -hurry,” and listened. - -At the same time, Matron Goodwin was reporting conversation from inside -the house. It appeared that Kinsman had sent Annie back to the city -after buying her a new hat and giving her $125. He promised to write -soon, but did not tell her where he was going. Toward the end of the -week, as no letter arrived, Annie began worrying, and was talkative. She -feared that Eddie no longer loved her. She reproached herself for -letting him go without taking her along, and spoke of setting out to -find him. - - - _The Trail Is Taken Up_ - -It was now Wednesday, February 21, and all the careful detail work began -to come together. - -It was this day that Detective Watson found the crew of Train No. 13, on -the New York Central, which had taken Kinsman, Annie and Splaine aboard -at Peekskill the afternoon of the robbery after they had ridden out of -New York in a taxicab to avoid possible police surveillance at the -railroad stations. Commissioner Dougherty dispatched Watson to Peekskill -and Albany with thorough instructions. His motto in working out a case -is, “Supervision is half the battle.” - -“When you get to Albany,” he said, “go to that big hat store on Broadway -near the station. I’ll bet that’s where Annie’s new hat was bought—they -sell the best millinery in the country outside of New York.” - -Nothing important was learned at Peekskill, but at Albany, sure enough, -Detective Watson found the saleswoman right in “that big hat store” who -had sold the new hat, and secured Annie’s discarded headgear. The new -hat had cost twenty-five dollars. The old one looked as though it might -have cost ninety-five cents—a “Division Street Special.” Its black -velvet was of the cheapest grade, the famous little red roses proved to -be, on close inspection, nothing more than little loops of pink cotton -cloth, and the general state of the hat indicated that it was about time -Annie had a new one. This interesting “bonnet,” however, seemed just -then more handsome than any costly article of millinery ever smuggled -over from Paris. It was immediately sent to New York by express, with a -copy of the sales slip covering the purchase. The saleswoman was able to -add one or two details of description, and remembered how, after the -woman had selected a hat, the two men had joked about who was to pay for -it. - -“She’s your girl,” said Splaine, and so Kinsman had paid the bill with -five five-dollar bills. - -Nothing could be learned as to the direction in which the two men meant -to travel. Detective Watson now began a search among train crews running -out of Albany, and Commissioner Dougherty, in New York, got the Albany -ticket-sellers by long-distance telephone. His knowledge of how railroad -tickets are sold, accounted for, taken up, cancelled and checked by the -auditing department made it possible to sift matters down to the -strongest kind of probability. After considerable telephoning, aided by -Detective Watson on the spot, it was determined that Kinsman and Splaine -had been the purchasers of two consecutively numbered tickets for -Chicago sold together on Friday morning, twenty-four hours after the -robbery, and that they had gone west on Train No. 3, leaving Albany at -12:10 p. m. Their tickets were available for that train, and the -conclusion was strengthened by calculating Annie’s movements. For it was -found that she had come back to New York the same day, between four and -five in the afternoon. She had kept out of sight until she appeared at -Myrtle Horn’s lodging and was reported by Matron Goodwin and “Plant 21” -on Tuesday. But she must have taken a train from Albany about the time -that the men were starting for Chicago, reaching New York at 3:45 p. m. - -Commissioner Dougherty felt that the chances of finding his men in -Chicago were so good that, without wasting time in an investigation of -the crew of Train No. 3, he put Detectives Daly and Clare aboard a -Chicago train that same night. Kinsman and Splaine would both find -congenial company among the pugilists in Chicago. - -These detectives were given names to conceal their identity, and ordered -to report under the code term of “Orange Growers” to eliminate all -flavor of police business. They received detailed instructions about -where to go and what to do. Again the Commissioner covered the trail -when it led out of New York by sending capable assistants, instead of -merely wiring the police in other cities. Before the “Orange Growers” -departed, the “boss” gave them a little talk about expenses. - -The detective attached to a municipal police force is very often -hampered by fear of making unusual expenditures. Accounting routine is -strict. Telegrams are often limited to the minimum of ten words where a -hundred are needed to send a working description or report. The -long-distance telephone is used as a luxury, and in many instances where -the plain-clothes man can get valuable information through an informant -he pays the shot out of his own pocket because there is no other way of -paying it, and trusts to the chance that this private investment out of -his salary will help him “break” a knotty case. - -Commissioner Dougherty told the “Orange Growers” that they would be kept -on this trail if it led all around the world. They must not consider -expenditure when there was vital information to put on the wire. He -expected them to turn to the long-distance telephone whenever they -needed new instructions in a hurry. Briefly, he took the blinders and -shackles off them, and sent them out to do good work, and the outcome -justified this far-sightedness. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -[Illustration: JESS ALBRAZZO] - -[Illustration: MATTEO ARBRANO] - -[Illustration: JAMES PASQUALE] - -[Illustration: BOB DELIO] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -At that period of the winter trains were delayed everywhere by storms, -so the “Orange Growers” had opportunities to make inquiries at stations -and railroad restaurants all along the line to Buffalo. They were in -search of their “brother,” who was described in terms of Kinsman’s -personal appearance, and was supposed to be on his way somewhere with -another man. At Syracuse an observant waitress remembered their -“brother” distinctly, having served both the men when their train -stopped for supper. Finally, the two “Orange Growers” got snowed up in -Michigan for a time, and there we will leave them for the present. - - - _Montani Quizzed Once More_ - -By Thursday many loose ends of the case were being brought together so -effectually that the outlook seemed exceedingly bright. - -But only to the executive circle in Dougherty’s office. - -Outside, all was dark. Newspaper criticism had become more caustic than -ever, and the public, after the ingrained habit of New York, was turning -its attention to fresher news sensations. - -At a big annual dinner of police officials held that evening, February -22, the atmosphere of gloom resting upon the department was most -tangible. The fourteen hundred guests, who were chiefly police -inspectors, captains and lieutenants, felt that a stigma lay upon the -service with which they were identified. They had no means of knowing, -of course, that one week from that night the gloom would have lifted, -criticism be turned to praise, and that policemen generally would be, as -a witty lieutenant put it, “back to our official standing again—which -never was so very high.” - -Montani had called at Police Headquarters repeatedly, accompanied by his -unseen shadowers. He professed to be anxious to furnish further -information, if it lay in his power, and the Commissioner chatted with -him cordially, leading him to believe that he no longer rested under the -slightest suspicion. - -On Friday Dougherty made an interesting effort to “break” Montani. - -He now had a minute physical description of Kinsman, as well as two -photographs of him. The chauffeur was asked to describe once more the -man who had sat upon the cab seat with him. The questions went over -details from head to foot, and were prompted by details of Kinsman’s -real appearance. - -Montani said the man had large brown eyes, which was true. - -He remembered that he had talked with a good American accent, and used -words not common to the criminal, which was also more or less true. - -He suddenly recalled a gold-filled tooth in the robber’s upper -right-hand jaw, a point already furnished by informants. - -In fact, as this new examination went on, it became clear to the -Commissioner that Montani was actually describing Kinsman, changing only -one detail. He said that the robber had had a dark mustache, while it -was certain that Kinsman had been smooth-shaven. - -Suddenly the Commissioner tried what is known as a “shot.” - -The examiner in such an inquiry is often in possession of incriminating -evidence. Instead of producing it bluntly as evidence, however, he will -perhaps let it slip out bit by bit, as though by awkwardness, meanwhile -maintaining an appearance of absolute confidence in the suspect’s -integrity. A classic example of this device is found in the Russian -writer Dostoieffsky’s “Crime and Punishment.” The skillful “shot” is -usually far more disconcerting than evidence produced openly to -overwhelm. For the suspect assumes that the examiner really knows -nothing, and has merely blundered. So he is on his guard outwardly. But -he also worries inwardly, and this trying conflict between inner doubt -and the need for keeping up outer calm will often break him down -completely. - -Dougherty’s “shot” was a photograph of Kinsman. - -By pre-arrangement an assistant came into the office and began turning -over some papers on the Commissioner’s desk. The photo of Kinsman popped -out where Montani could see it plainly, and then was hurriedly put out -of sight again. The Commissioner scolded his assistant, and the latter -stood shamefaced and silent. - -But in this instance the device failed. - -Montani not only betrayed no interest in Kinsman’s picture, but took the -awkward assistant’s part, and asked the Commissioner not to scold him. - -Montani had planned his crime, fitted the plan with men, laid out every -detail in his mind, and arranged his story beforehand. He expected to be -arrested, and said so. He admitted that there were inconsistencies in -his story, but hoped to clear them up. He had discussed the crime with -Jess and Dutch, and had not been seen in the company of the other -criminals. So, having settled on his story, Montani stuck to it without -variation under every form of pressure. Others forgot what they had -arranged as their defense, or departed from it, or broke down and -confessed. But not Montani. He alone went to trial, and stuck to his -story until the end. - - - _The “Orange Growers” in Chicago_ - -When Daly and Clare, the two New York detectives working as the “Orange -Growers,” arrived in Chicago, they went to Police Headquarters in that -city, made inquiries about Kinsman and Splaine, and secured the aid of -Chicago detectives. Then they put up at a hotel where, by arrangements -with the house detective, they occupied a room on the second floor handy -to a little-used stairway leading to a side street, which would make it -easy to slip in and out without going through the lobby. On the trip -from New York both of them had neglected shaving, and Daly was an -especially tough-looking citizen, for his beard grows out stiff and -bristly, with black and red intermixed, and a little green to help the -general effect. With suits of old clothes and sweaters they were so -little like their official selves that for several days, though they -went rather freely around resorts frequented by crooks who knew them in -New York, they were not recognized. - -The “Orange Growers” now became a pair of hardened “yeggmen,” or bank -robbers, and for three days were busy visiting thieves’ haunts all over -the city, from the Levee district to the Stockyards. It was found that -Kinsman and Splaine had put up at a high-class boarding house in a -fashionable residence section. Kinsman seemed to be doubtful about the -impression Splaine might make there, though in the opinion of the police -Splaine was by far the more intelligent of the pair. So he took the -landlady aside and asked her, privately, if she had objections to a -prize-fighter in her house. The landlady replied, “Why, no! if he is a -gentleman—many prize-fighters are just like other people!” Thereupon, -Kinsman undertook that Splaine should behave himself. He also wanted to -know if valuables were safe there, and the astonished landlady assured -him that her house was like a home, that the guests were like one big -family and seldom locked their doors, and that Mr. Smith, well known as -an officer in one of the leading banks, had lived there for years. - -The pair had spent considerable time in criminal haunts, but had now -disappeared. Kinsman, as it was learned later, had returned to New York. -Splaine was apparently in Chicago still, spending his money, but the two -“Orange Growers” seemed never to catch up with him. Their man had always -gone around the corner within the past hour. - -Finally they planned a ruse with the aid of two Chicago detectives. -Splaine had been intimate with a certain woman of the underworld, known -as “Josie.” Clare went to her, represented himself as a “stick-up man,” -said he and his partner were after that guy with all the money and -diamonds, meaning Splaine, and that they meant to rob him. If Josie -worked with them, like a good girl, she would come in for her third of -the plunder. - -Josie professed ignorance. She was sure, so help her Mike, cross her -heart, that she knew nothing about no gent with any money or diamonds—no -such a party had been near the house in months, worse luck. Clare argued -awhile with no results, and then said he would come back a little later -and bring his pal. Then Daly was introduced to Josie as the extremely -undesirable citizen who would do the strong-arm work. But Josie still -insisted that she had no idea what they were talking about. - -They went out, and within a few minutes the two Chicago detectives, -Dempsey and McFarland, known by Josie as officers, came in, described -the disguised Clare and Daly as two of the most desperate “yeggmen” in -the country, said that they had warrants for them, and asked if they had -been seen. Josie crossed her heart again, and said that there had been -nobody around there all evening—believe her, it was like living the -simple life, and if things kept on bein’ so quiet she’d blow the town -and go back to Keokuk. - -Then, enter the two “Orange Growers” once more, to be warned by the fair -Josie. - -“Say, the bulls are after you boys, an’ you better pull your freight, -‘cause if you stay around here they’re goin’ to _get_ you.” - -“Aw, hell!” was the reply, “We’d just as lieve kill a cop or anybody -else. We stick in this house till you tell us where we can reach that -guy with the money and the diamonds—understand?” - -Then Josie broke down, and told them Splaine had been there early in the -evening, but had gone away to take a train out of town. She did not know -the railroad, and urged them to leave. This was evidently the truth, so -they hurried to Police Headquarters, telegraphed descriptions to other -cities with a request that arriving trains be watched, and went to bed -to get a little sleep, so that they could be at work early the next -morning. - -But in the morning word came from the Memphis Police that Splaine had -been arrested there on alighting from a train, and they thereupon -notified New York, went to Memphis, secured Splaine on extradition -papers, and brought him back to the metropolis. - - - _The Traps Are Sprung_ - -On Saturday afternoon, February 24, while most of the energy of the -Detective Bureau was centered on the taxicab case, a brutal murder was -committed in Brooklyn. - -Word came that a Flatbush merchant had been found dead in his store, -shot by unknown criminals whose motive was robbery. They had taken his -watch and five safety razors. - -Inspector Hughes was sent to the scene of the crime, and Commissioner -Dougherty quickly followed. The murder occurred about one p. m. By six -o’clock the same day the number of the watch had been learned through a -canvass of jewelers in the neighborhood, it being on record by one of -them who had repaired it, and the watch and two of the safety razors had -been found in pawnshops. Descriptions of the murderers were obtained, -and by three o’clock Sunday, the following day, their identity had been -established. Within thirty hours after the crime these men had been -arrested, positively identified as the pawners of the stolen articles, -and completely tied up in their own statements. - -At half-past nine Sunday night, while the Commissioner, Inspector Hughes -and Captain Coughlin, in charge of Brooklyn detectives, and Lieutenant -Riley were winding up their work on this murder case, word suddenly came -over the telephone to Commissioner Dougherty from an informant that -Eddie Kinsman had been seen in New York with “Swede Annie,” and that he -was accompanied by an unknown man, wearing a red necktie, supposed to be -Gene Splaine. At the same time Matron Goodwin, stationed inside Annie’s -lodgings, telephoned that she had information indicating that Kinsman -had returned to the city. - -When the Commissioner motored over to New York, he found his men -covering a hotel on Third avenue, not far from 42d street. Kinsman and -Annie were inside. - -The Commissioner hurried to the 18th precinct police station and sent -out a call for twenty-five detectives. Team work on the case had -developed to such a degree by this time that, though the men came from -many stations, they were all on hand in record time, a matter of twenty -or thirty minutes. Then a squad of these plain-clothes men was sent to -watch every railroad station and ferry house, each accompanied by one of -the men from “Plant 21,” familiar with Annie from having followed her -movements for a week. Surveillance on the hotel was strengthened, and -steps taken to ascertain whether the unknown man in the red tie was -really Splaine. - -While making these arrangements, a curious incident occurred, showing -how small is New York, after all, with its five million people. As -Dougherty sat in the 18th precinct station, Detective Rein brought in a -prisoner arrested for shooting a citizen. He was drunk and extremely -disagreeable, and gave his name as “Steigel,” living at 98 Third avenue. -Something in this address echoed to something in Dougherty’s memory—a -keen one for names, dates, addresses and facts generally. He -investigated further, and found that this prisoner was no other than the -criminal Molloy, whose urgent need of “character witnesses” had played -so important a part in furnishing the first information in the taxicab -case. - -By some mischance, these operations came to the ears of the newspaper -men. Word went about, beginning in Brooklyn, that important arrests were -to be made. The reporters followed the Commissioner in a crowd when he -refused to make a statement. They not only hampered the work, but -greatly endangered the outcome. On the following day, Monday, the papers -published information about the police activities of the night before. -The hazard here may be appreciated when the reader is told that Kinsman -had been a persistent reader of newspapers from the day of the robbery, -and that it was largely the pessimistic newspaper comment upon Montani’s -release in court that led him to return to New York. Deceived by the -newspaper chorus of “police demoralization,” and the easy way in which -Montani had got free, he concluded that the taxicab investigation had -been given up as hopeless. - -Kinsman was arrested in the Grand Central Station at half-past eleven -Monday morning, with Swede Annie and the unknown in the red tie. They -were about to set out for Boston. - -There were some amusing circumstances in the arrest. - -Kinsman’s immunity over night, and police precaution in deferring the -arrest until the last moment, on the chance that other persons would -join the party, gave him a false confidence. He afterward admitted that -ideas of a “pinch” at that time were far from his mind. - -When a criminal thought to be dangerous is to be arrested in a crowded -place like the Grand Central Station, police officers operate by methods -that prevent a struggle. As two detectives closed in on the party, -Kinsman watched one of them out of the corner of his eye. While a waiter -at the “Nutshell Café” he had often thrown objectionable guests out onto -the sidewalk. He now fancied that one of the detectives resembled a man -he had once “bounced,” and was ready to fight if attacked. - -“I was just folding it up,” he said, referring to his fist, “and getting -ready to land on him when one had me from behind and the other in front. -Then I knew they were cops.” - -Annie was gorgeously dressed in a new blue suit and fine fur coat, -bought out of the taxicab money. The unknown man proved to be Kinsman’s -brother, who had come down from Boston with him. Kinsman had visited his -native city before returning to New York, but had escaped the police net -there by stopping at a hotel and sending for his brother. He sent a grip -home by this brother, and it was afterward found to contain three -packages of bills of $250 each in the original wrappers of the bank. - -As soon as word of these arrests was telephoned to Police Headquarters, -the other traps were sprung. Detectives brought in Montani, Jess -Albrazzo and Myrtle Horn, the latter, with Annie, being held as -witnesses. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER III - HOW THE CRIME WAS HANDLED BY THE POLICE—THE CONFESSIONS - - -Now begins some of the most interesting work connected with the taxicab -case—the examination of the first prisoners, which led to confessions, -the implication of other guilty persons not yet under arrest, and the -voluntary pleas of guilty in court which saved costly trials in all but -Montani’s case. - -This sort of work is familiar under the term of “third degree.” It is -popularly supposed to be accompanied by force and sometimes -brutality—and in wrong hands often is. Commissioner Dougherty’s -experience with a commercial detective agency, however, has led him to -develop intelligent methods. The commercial detective organization has -none of the authority of an official police force, and at the same time, -through its national operations and the general character of its work, -deals chiefly with the most accomplished criminals. Therefore, tact and -legal subtilty are depended upon in examining suspects, and the -Commissioner long ago learned to get his results mainly by straight -question and answer. He puts his own wits against those of the suspect, -backed by experience in many other cases. He has a practical grasp of -criminal psychology, as well as many ingenious ways of using evidence to -the best purpose, overwhelming the suspect, and breaking down stolidity -and deception. Dougherty is not only opposed to force in the “third -degree,” but knows that it is of absolutely no use. - -The first prisoner examined was Eddie Kinsman. - -When he was brought to Police Headquarters Kinsman appeared to be -thoroughly satisfied with himself, and confident that no policeman would -get anything out of _him_. He proved to be a good-looking young fellow, -of athletic build, and by no means a fool. - -Methods of examination are never twice alike, for they depend upon the -case and the suspect. As a rule, however, when the criminal first sits -down to answer Commissioner Dougherty he is astonished by that -gentleman’s apparent lack of guile, and ignorance of worldly knowledge. -When Dougherty composes himself for an inquiry, he is rather a -heavy-looking citizen, not unlike a country magistrate, and his first -questions, put for the purpose of determining the suspect’s character -and previous surroundings, usually relate to bald routine matters, such -as name, age, residence, education, family, and so on. - -“Gee!” thinks the suspect, “This guy is the biggest lobster I ever got -up against! I wonder how he ever got to be a police commissioner. He -must have a strong political pull.” - -Kinsman was ushered into a large, quiet office, where this bureaucratic -official began by asking his name, birthplace and other details. - -“Will you kindly stand up a minute while I get your height?” asked the -questioner, and Kinsman did so in a patronizing way. Then the -dull-looking gentleman turned back Kinsman’s coat and looked at the -little label sewed in the inside pocket. - -“I see that you have been in Chicago recently,” he observed. “This suit -was made by a tailor there. You ordered it February 17th, two days after -the robbery.” - -He looked into Kinsman’s hat. - -“That was bought in Chicago, too.” - -He examined the label on Kinsman’s tie. - -“This was also bought in Chicago.” - -He turned up the label at the back of the neck of the new silk -underclothes worn by the prisoner. - -“Those were bought in State street, Chicago, and from a very good store, -too—I know it well.” - -Kinsman now began to be pugnacious and defiant. - -“See here!” he said, “You must take me for a boob.” - -“Yes, I think you are a boob,” replied the Commissioner. “You might as -well have made your getaway with a brass band as to take Swede Annie -with you to Albany, attracting attention all the way, and then send her -back to New York with a hundred dollars to tell the police where you had -gone.” - -Suddenly Lieutenant Riley, personal aide, walked into the Commissioner’s -office carrying a cheap article of millinery—a shabby black velvet hat -with a row of little red roses across the front. Commissioner Dougherty -apparently grew very angry. - -“What do you mean by bringing that thing in here now?” he exclaimed. “I -am not ready for that—take it away.” - -This “shot” had been previously arranged, of course, but Riley pretended -to be injured when called by his superior. - -“Cripes!” exclaimed Kinsman. “Annie’s old hat. How did you get that so -quick?” - -“Oh, that is only one thing we’ve got on you,” replied the Commissioner. -“We know that you went to Peekskill in a taxicab with Annie and Splaine -on the afternoon of the robbery. We know that you took Train 13 to -Albany, and where you stopped that night, and where you bought Annie’s -new hat, and how much you paid for it, and what train you took to -Chicago Friday noon. Suppose you tell me something more about your -movements?” - -Kinsman became scornful. - -“If you know all that,” he said, “maybe you know more about where I went -and what I did than I do myself. So what would be the use of me telling -_you_ anything?” - -While certain people were being found outside, the Commissioner worked -upon the prisoner along another line. Enough of Kinsman’s personality -was now disclosed to show that he was vain and egotistical. This side of -his nature was therefore fed with flattery. He was assured that the -taxicab robbery had been a wonderful “stick-up.” Everybody in New York -had been astonished. The whole country was talking about it, and about -him. He must be an awfully bright, cunning fellow to have planned and -carried out such a piece of crime. - -Kinsman warmed up genially under this admiration, and seemed to be more -confident than ever that so shrewd a young man as himself would have -little difficulty in fooling the police. - -But presently self-satisfaction was subjected to shock after shock. - -Detectives were bringing in Montani, Myrtle Hoyt, Rose Levy, Mrs. -Sullivan, the landlady with whom Kinsman had lived, and her housekeeper. -Jess Albrazzo was under arrest. Kinsman’s brother was there for -examination, and Inspector Hughes and Lieutenant Riley were bringing in -startling intelligence every few minutes. - -The housekeeper was ushered in, and told how Kinsman had given her five -dollars from a huge roll of bills before leaving for Peekskill. - -Commissioner Waldo came in and sat while Mrs. Sullivan told what she -knew about her late lodger. - -Kinsman’s brother gave information about the former’s movements from the -time he had arrived in Boston until he brought him to New York to have a -good time, and Kinsman knew that at the home of his parents in Boston -the police would surely find money in the original wrappers of the bank. - -The prisoner was put under pressure to explain how a man like himself, -known to be working as a waiter in a cheap resort, could suddenly have -come into possession of such sums. Statements from the women in the case -had been secured, and were produced, and finally Kinsman was brought to -detailed admissions, one by one. He agreed that it was true he had gone -to Peekskill in a taxicab with Annie and Splaine, that he had gone to -Albany, had bought Annie a hat there, had gone to Chicago, and so forth. -Opportunities were given him to see Montani and Jess, under arrest. -Nothing but the truth was told him, yet by degrees he was led to see -himself surrounded on all sides by evidence and confessing accomplices. -At last he broke down completely, his vain self-confidence destroyed, -and made a detailed confession. - -Kinsman’s story brought up fresh circumstances and new actors in the -taxicab case. - -He told how he had come to New York nine months before, to have a good -time and make money, and how, after going penniless and hungry, and -getting a few dollars for taking part in a boxing match, he had become a -waiter at the “Nutshell Café.” There he soon made the acquaintance of -criminals, meeting Gene Splaine, “Dutch” Keller, “Joe the Kid,” “Scotty -the Lamb” and other characters who were afterward to assist in the taxi -robbery. There he also met “Swede Annie” and became her sweetheart, and -finally, Jess Albrazzo, a dark little Italian who seemed to exert marked -influence over all the others. It was from Jess that Kinsman first heard -about the plan to rob a taxicab carrying money to a bank. This “swell -job” was discussed, and Jess told him he had a friend named Montani who -carried the bank’s cash, and would cooperate in stealing it. The job -would be easy, because Montani would run the cab through a side street, -and the only guard was an old man and a boy, neither of them armed. - -One Sunday night, two weeks before the crime, Jess took Kinsman and -other accomplices over the route, after all had drunk themselves into -optimistic mood, and pointed out the bank from which the money was -drawn, the streets through which Montani would run, the place where the -gang could board the cab, and the point at which they could leave it and -escape uptown. Details were discussed. There was a difference of opinion -as to methods, and the plotters parted that night with the understanding -that each would submit his own ideas of how the robbery could be most -effectively and safely carried out. Eventually there was a definite -agreement as to boarding the cab, preventing an outcry, making the -getaway and splitting up the money. - -According to Montani’s information, the bank messengers usually carried -between $75,000 and $100,000. When the day for the robbery had been set, -word suddenly came that there would not be so large a sum. This was -disappointing, but the gang decided to put their project through, -nevertheless. Kinsman was busy at the café, where he worked until four -o’clock on the morning of February 15, and “Dutch” called for him -several times, asking if he was going to “lay down on the job.” Finally -Kinsman got away, went to a room in a lodging house taken by “Dutch,” -and found the gang all there smoking and drinking. At five o’clock they -all went to sleep. At eight everybody was awakened. “Dutch” and Splaine -took blackjacks, and offered Kinsman a revolver, which he refused, -saying he could take care of himself with his hands, being a boxer. -There were six in the party—Kinsman, “Dutch,” Splaine, “Joe the Kid,” -Jess and “Scotty the Lamb,” whose part was to stumble in front of -Montani’s cab at the place selected for the boarding, and thus give the -chauffeur a colorable reason for slackening speed if eye-witnesses -afterward called his honesty into question. The gang had breakfast in a -cheap restaurant, stopped for a drink at the saloon of “Jimmie the Push” -in Thompson street, where the booty was to be divided, and proceeded -downtown, after parting with Jess. The latter was the organizer, and -took no part in the robbery; as he explained, he was known as a friend -of Montani’s, and wanted to arrange so that he could prove an alibi if -suspected, proving that he had not been near the scene of the crime when -it was committed. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -[Illustration: “Scotty” Receives Final Instructions] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -At that saloon they had met a trio of Italian criminals known as the -“Three Brigands,” who said they were not to take part in the robbery, -but would be on hand to see that it was vigorously put through. - -Arrived upon the ground, at Church street and Trinity Place, Splaine and -Kinsman waited on the west side of the thoroughfare, while “Dutch” and -“Joe the Kid” stood on the opposite side. “Scotty the Lamb” posted -himself fifty feet off. - -As Montani’s cab came speeding along, “Dutch” raised his hat as a -signal. “Scotty the Lamb” did not have time to step in front of the -vehicle before it slackened, and the robbers were aboard. “Dutch” opened -one door and struck the old bank teller, Wilbur Smith, and “Joe the Kid” -boosted Splaine in on the other side, where he assaulted young Wardle. -Kinsman mounted the seat beside Montani, and the latter put on full -speed, telling Kinsman to point his finger at his side as though he had -a revolver. The cab slipped past trucks and dodged pedestrians. Kinsman -said he seemed to see policemen everywhere, and was dazed when the -vehicle stopped at Park Place and Church street. All the criminals got -off there, “Dutch” lugging the brown bag containing the money. Splaine -and “Dutch” were both covered with the bank guards’ blood. Taking -Kinsman, they jumped aboard a street car. It was crowded. Several -passengers noticed the bloody men, but were told that there had been a -fight, and the occurrence was not reported to the police. After riding -two or three blocks they got off, boarded an elevated train, rode to -Bleeker street, and went to a back room in “Jimmie the Push’s” saloon, -where the money was to be divided. Here they found Jess and the “Three -Brigands,” and the latter now set up a claim for a share in the booty. -Matteo, leader of the trio, pulled out a revolver, and there was a -discussion. Finally the bag was opened, and found to contain $25,000. -There were three packages of $5,000 each and one of $10,000. Matteo -grabbed the latter package, saying that his gang was to get $3,000 -apiece, and that the odd $1,000 would go for “fall money” to get Molloy -out of jail in Brooklyn. The robbers then divided the remainder, Jess -taking $3,000 for himself and another $3,000 for Montani, Splaine -getting $3,000, Kinsman $2,750, “Joe the Kid” $250 and “Scotty the Lamb” -nothing. Kinsman then told how he had called for Swede Annie, and left -town in a taxicab, going as far as Peekskill, to avoid the police at the -Grand Central Station. - - - _Jess Confesses and Assists_ - -The next prisoner examined was Jess Albrazzo, a dark little Italian, who -appeared to be somewhat ignorant. - -In this examination the Commissioner had ample outside proof, and he -also employed what he calls his “psychological study.” Years ago, in -dealing with negro suspects in Southern crime, Dougherty devised a -little instrument which he dubbed his “lie watch.” This was a dial with -a needle, hung round the suspect’s neck. If the latter told the truth, -the needle presumably pointed to “Truth,” and if he didn’t, it pointed -to “Lie.” Being out of the suspect’s sight, it had a strong effect. - -From that, Dougherty went into studies of the mental states of suspects -under examination, and found rough physiological indications which he -uses as a guide to the integrity of the suspect. Investigations of -European criminal experts like Professor Hans Gross amply demonstrate -that there is a real scientific basis for such methods. - -Dougherty took it a little easier with Jess. They sat down, and the -Commissioner went over the Italian’s movements for the past few months, -showing him how thoroughly he was implicated. Jess had worked for -Montani, and been intimate with the rest of the taxicab “mob.” He and -Montani were confronted with each other, and points brought out in -Kinsman’s confession were skillfully used. - -At one point in this examination the Commissioner rose from his desk, -took the lobe of Jess’s ear between his thumb and finger, pinched it -slightly, looked at the ear closely, and then walked out of the room. - -Jess was all on edge with curiosity. - -“Why did he pinch my ear?” he asked of Lieutenant Riley. - -“To see if you are telling the truth,” was the answer, and in a moment -the Commissioner came back and examined that ear again. - -“Yes, he’s lying,” he declared. “Look at his ear—can’t you see it -yourself?” Others were invited to look at Jess’s ear, and the little -Italian became so curious that he actually tried to look around the side -of his skull and see his own ear! - -This psychological study was backed up with abundant proof that Jess had -not told the whole truth. Presently he weakened and confessed. He told -how he had handed $2,000 in a collar box to “Jimmie the Push” on the day -of the robbery, which was to be taken to a Bowery bank and put in a -safe-deposit vault for Montani. He agreed to accompany the police to -Jimmie’s place in Thompson street, and late that evening a party made up -of Commissioner Dougherty, Inspector Hughes and Lieutenant Riley went -there, taking Jess along. - -“Jimmie the Push’s” place is one of the most picturesque thieves’ -resorts in lower New York. - -“Typical of the old village,” as Dougherty puts it. “In fact, this whole -case has a strong flavor of the little old village of New York.” - -Jimmie was out when they got there, but this saloon was in charge of the -biggest, swarthiest Italian bartender in town, a tough Hercules weighing -somewhere around three hundred pounds. The room was crowded with motley -characters, drinking beverages known to the neighborhood as “shocks” and -“high hats.” For their edification, a tramp magician was taking coins -out of his ears, his nose and the air. - -Jess was not known to be under arrest, and immediately sent a boy called -“Reddy” to fetch the proprietor, who had known the three police officers -for years. Presently Reddy came back and said that Jimmie would come in -about half an hour, as he was playing cards and had a fine hand. - -Reddy was sent back to impress upon Jimmie that Jess wanted to see him -right away—it was very important. In about two minutes, just as the -Commissioner had bought a “high hat” for everybody in his party, Jimmie -appeared. He was told that Jess had got into trouble in connection with -the taxicab robbery, and asked about the money in the safe deposit -vault. “Jimmie the Push,” with his partner, Bob Deilio, had by this time -been implicated themselves, for it was clear that the money had been -divided in their resort, and that probably they had taken part in the -planning, and the decidedly one-sided division of the spoils. Jimmie was -led to believe that he did not rest under suspicion, however, and that -he was only asked to aid the police. He said Jess had handed him a -collar box on the day of the robbery, asking him to put it in a vault in -his own name, but that he had had no idea what the box contained, and -had left it lying behind the bar for a couple of days before he got a -chance to go to the bank with it. He readily promised to appear at -Police Headquarters the following morning, bring the key to the safe -deposit box, and help recover the money. Thereupon the police officials -bade him good night and went away. But no chances were taken on “Jimmie -the Push.” From that moment he was shadowed. - -That Monday was a busy day in many other ways. - -Developments came thick and fast. - -Kinsman’s home in Boston was visited, and $750 of the bank money -recovered in the original wrappers. It had laid in his grip, unknown to -the honest Kinsman family. - -Swede Annie, Myrtle Horn and a girl named Rose Levy were examined, -quickly broke down, and made tearful statements to be used in evidence. -These women were held only as witnesses, and as the case cleared up -after a few days’ detention, were released. - -The girl, Rose Levy, greatly attracted the Commissioner. She was only -nineteen years old, a mild-mannered little Jewess with jet black hair -and very remarkable eyes. The Commissioner went into details of her -personal story. It seems that she had left her home in Brooklyn two -months before, after a quarrel with her mother, and had come to New York -looking for a position. But she quickly fell into the lower world, -became known as Jess’s girl, and was ambitious to be “one of the gang.” -After a fatherly talk she was persuaded to return to her home and live a -decent life. But within a week she was back in New York again, in her -old haunts, trying to raise money to help Jess, for whom, she told the -Commissioner, she would willingly work for the rest of her days. - -Before visiting Jimmie’s saloon the Commissioner called up the “Orange -Growers” in Chicago, had a long talk with them, told what progress was -being made, and put new life into them. - - - _More Money Recovered_ - -True to his word, “Jimmie the Push” walked into Police Headquarters at -nine o’clock Tuesday morning, February 27, closely followed by his -unseen shadowers. He produced the key of the safe-deposit vault, and -went with officers to see the money recovered. There was $2,000, as Jess -had stated, still in the wrappers of the bank. Jimmie was still -permitted to go free, under the impression that he had come through the -ordeal “clean,” while fresh evidence was being obtained against him. - -That morning the Commissioner also took Kinsman down over the route of -the robbery, to have him explain it in his own way. This was done to -strengthen the case against Montani, and upset his story in court. - -Then “Scotty the Lamb” was located, arrested, brought to headquarters -and led to confess. “Scotty the Lamb” was in some respects a pathetic -figure in the case, and also a humorous one. He had been in charge of -the lunch kitchen at the Arch Café when Jess owned it, and later worked -as a dishwasher in a Washington Square hotel. A Scotch youth, from -Glasgow, he had been in this country about four years, and while no -criminal record appeared against him, he was plainly in the company of -thieves most of the time. According to his statement, he had been -promised $25 for doing some work for Jess, and without inquiring into -the nature of it at all, had shown up with the gang and gone along to do -his minor part of a “stall,” stumbling in front of the cab. But before -he could get out into the street, the cab had been boarded. So poor -“Scotty the Lamb,” without a nickel for carfare, plodded all the way -uptown again to the saloon where the money was to be divided, and got -nothing whatever. He was a cheerful soul, however, and the life of the -party when the gang was locked up, cracking jokes, and taking the view -that, as sentences ought to be proportioned to the amount of money each -member of the gang had got in the division, and he had got nothing, he -might be let off with six months’ imprisonment. - -“Scotty, haven’t you got any overcoat?” asked Inspector Hughes, -sympathetically, as they were going to court one brisk morning. “Did you -_ever_ have an overcoat, Scotty?” - -“No, sir, I never had an overcoat,” replied Scotty, and then as he -thought of his prospects for going to prison, added drolly, “And now I -don’t expect, sir, that I ever will!” - - - _The Fine Italian Hand_ - -The next step in the case was that of arresting “Jimmie the Push” and -his partner, Bob Deilio. - -Another phase of the robbery now began to come out plainly. - -Up to the present time the main burden of proof pointed to the four -“hold-up” men of American birth as the chief actors in the crime. -Montani and Jess, the two Italians, appeared to be accessories. - -But as the tangled threads were unravelled, one by one, it was found -that the Italians involved outnumbered the American thugs, and that -furthermore they had outwitted them. - -When Bob Deilio was arrested he drew $215 in five-dollar bills out of -his pocket and handed it to the police, admitting that it was part of -$5,500 of the stolen money. The rest, he asserted, had just been paid -for rent of the two resorts operated by “Jimmie the Push” and himself. - -Jimmie and Bob were taken to Police Headquarters and examined, with Jess -present. Commissioner Dougherty played one against the other so -skillfully, with cross-questions and counter pressure, that in a little -while each was excitedly telling tales on his two companions with the -desperate hope of clearing himself, and denunciations flew back and -forth among the trio as evidence came out that was likely to send them -all to prison. Their confessions were obtained, and used in a new effort -to break down Montani. But this was without results. The little Italian -chauffeur still stuck doggedly to his original story. - -From these new confessions it appeared that the Italians had planned the -crime, enlisted the American hold-up men to carry out the dirty work, -and laid a counter-plot for holding them up in turn when the money was -divided. The “Three Brigands” were ostensibly offered a chance to take -part in the actual robbery, but refused on the plea that it would be too -risky, and that they did not believe Montani could carry it out -successfully. On the morning of the crime they walked north over the -route. When they met the taxicab coming south, with a policeman on the -seat beside Montani and two unconscious bank messengers inside, they -knew that the project had succeeded. So the “Three Brigands” hurried -uptown to “Jimmie the Push’s” saloon. They got there so quickly that -they were ahead of the robbers. Jess made a rehearsed protest when they -insisted in sharing in the plunder, but the “Three Brigands” drew -revolvers, threatened to make a disturbance that would bring in the -police, and finally helped themselves to $10,000. When the thugs who had -done the actual work left the saloon, they had only $8,000 all told. The -Italians, who had “played safe” at every point, had $17,000. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -[Illustration: “The Brigands” “Stick-up” the Hold-up Men for Theirs] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - _One of the Brigands Comes In_ - -The actual whereabouts of the “Three Brigands” was not known to the -police then. But there were certain channels through which news might -reach at least one of them. Word was sent through those channels, -therefore, that it might be best for them to appear and give an account -of themselves, and on Friday, March 1, just at the time Splaine had been -brought back from Memphis, the little leader of the brigands, Matteo -Arbrano, an undersized Italian wearing spectacles, who had carried out -the job of robbing the hold-up men, surrendered himself to the District -Attorney. - -Arbrano said that he had divided his $10,000 with his two companions, -Gonzales and Cavaquero, and immediately left New York, taking a steamer -for Mexico by way of Havana. At the latter city he stopped over night, -met a woman and accompanied her to a resort, was drugged and robbed of -$2,700, and woke on the Prado with only $100 left, a single bill that -had been concealed in his shoe. With that he returned to New York. The -story is regarded by the police as more picturesque than convincing. It -is probable that Matteo’s share of the plunder, with that of other -Italians involved, has been carefully “planted.” - -Pauli Gonzales, another of the brigands, was traced to Vera Cruz, -Mexico. In the present state of that country, however, it was found -impossible to arrest and extradite him upon the evidence at hand. - -Three other persons concerned in the robbery are still at large at this -writing—“Dutch” Keller, “Joe the Kid,” and an “unknown” whose identity -is concealed for police reasons. - -Montani pleaded “Not guilty,” and stood trial. After two days, exactly a -month and a day subsequent to the robbery, he was convicted by a jury, -and sentenced to not less than ten years and not more than eighteen -years and two months in prison, with hard labor. - -A word must be said about the prompt action of the District Attorney’s -office in the taxicab case. Where crime has had such publicity there is -an opportunity to make a demonstration of great value by pressing the -prosecutions. It was not lost. Under Assistant Charles C. Nott, Jr., -evidence was succinctly laid before judges and juries, the trials -finished in a matter of hours, and convictions and sentences secured -within six weeks after the robbery. Furthermore, the various sentences -were just, being carefully graded according to the part played by each -offender, his character and previous record, and his individual effort -in facilitating justice. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - _Name_ _Arrested_ _Pleaded_ _Sentenced_ _Sentence_ - - MONTANI, GENO Feb. 26,’12 Feb. 29,’12 Mch. 16,’12 Not less than - 10 yrs. nor - more than 18 - yrs. 2 mos. - Judge - Seabury. - - KINSMAN, EDW. Feb. 26,’12 Mch. 1,’12 April 9,’12 Not less than 3 - yrs. nor more - than 6 yrs. - Judge Crain. - - SPLAINE, EUGENE Mch. 2,’12 Mch. 4,’12 Mch. 25,’12 Not less than 7 - yrs. 6 mos. - nor more than - 14 yrs. 6 - mos. Judge - Seabury. - - DELIO, ROBERT Feb. 28,’12 Mch. 4,’12 Mch. 29,’12 Not less than 2 - yrs. 6 mos. - nor more than - 4 yrs. 2 mos. - Judge - Seabury. - - PASQUALE, JAMES Feb. 28,’12 Mch. 4,’12 April 8,’12 6 mos. - (“Jimmie the Penitent’ry. - Push”) Judge Davis. - - LAMB, JOSEPH Feb. 27,’12 Mch. 18,’12 Mch. 29,’12 Indeterminate - (“Scotty the sentence, - Lamb”) Elmira. Judge - Seabury. - - ARBRANO, MATTEO Mch. 2,’12 April 3,’12 2 to 4 years. - Judge Davis. - - ALBRAZZO, JESS Mch. 26,’12 Mch. 18,’12 3 to 6 years. - Judge Davis. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - FINAL - A WORD ABOUT THE NEW YORK POLICE - - -It has been the writer’s good fortune to look into the work of both the -London and the New York policemen recently, within the same year. - -A somewhat embarrassing point arose. - -In London, the “bobby” was anxious to know which police force the writer -considered best. The “bobby” gets his ideas of the New York “cop” from -such accounts as filter through the cable dispatches from our -newspapers. He hears chiefly the worst, and pictures the “cop” as a -lawless individual, wielding pistol and club indiscriminately, with whom -it is not safe to pass a civil word. So, when he puts his little -question about the respective merits of the two organizations, he -reserves the right to keep his opinion that the London force is best -anyway. - -In New York, it is much the same. The “cop” has heard just enough about -the “bobby” to regard him with mild tolerance. He pictures him as a -policeman servile to the last degree, thankfully accepting sixpenny tips -from pedestrians, and occupied chiefly with unarmed thieves and harmless -political offenders. - -When one has good friends in both forces, the question “Which do you -think best?” is to be met with tactful evasions. And the more one thinks -it over, the more it becomes clear that there is really little -difference at bottom. Both police organizations are made up of good men, -following the same trade along the same lines, and dealing with about -the same general conditions. - -The London “bobby,” however, enjoys excellent leadership, is governed by -a definite administrative policy, has the backing of the courts, and -therefore comes in for a general public good will which is exceedingly -useful to him in the performance of duty. - -The New York “cop” rather lacks public good will. Administrative policy -has not been well defined in the past. The courts do not always accept -his evidence, much less back him up, and he has been made the scapegoat -for various shortcomings in leadership. - -But to-day the New York policeman is working on an entirely new basis. -Before long his public is certain to understand and like him as -thoroughly as London does its “bobby.” - -The change began with Mayor Gaynor, who insisted that both policeman and -citizen have plain legal rights—until the citizen has committed a crime -the policeman may not arrest him. The policeman has plain rights—the law -empowers him to use all necessary force in making arrests in grave -cases. But force must not be used for minor offenses. Confusion existed -on these points to such a degree that when the Mayor began insisting -upon them, many people thought he was putting into effect some of his -personal whims. But they are all in the statute books, and many of them -were there before the Mayor was born, because they are constitutional. - -The present Police Commissioner, Rhinelander Waldo, is not only -administering the department along the strict legal line pointed out by -the Mayor, but is effecting improvements of organization and method that -must favorably alter the whole future of the service. - -Commissioner Waldo is a soldier, with a record of service in the United -States Army, and the Army’s fine standards to guide him. - -In some ways the administration of the New York Police Department is a -soldier’s job. If the ten thousand members were mobilized, they would -make quite an impressive little standing army, with eight or ten full -regiments of patrolmen, a brigade of cavalry, a small transport corps, a -little navy, and so forth. As in an army, too, the men are enlisted, and -may only be discharged for serious offenses. It is a force scattered -over three hundred square miles of territory. The leader must be -skillful in laying down regulations, and handling men in the mass rather -than by personal contact. He must define duty plainly, hold everybody to -it, eliminate departmental politics and abuses. Every man, wherever he -is stationed, must feel that the general knows his business, that he -lays down regulations for good reasons, and that day by day he is taking -the organization somewhere. - -For years, every Police Commissioner has asked for more men to keep pace -with the growing city. When Waldo took charge he asked, too. While he -was waiting, however, he overhauled the organization and got one -thousand additional patrolmen by cutting off men detailed for clerical -and other special duty. Every large working force tends to create -superfluous routine work. The useless routine was eliminated by better -accounting methods, and the men sent back to do the street duty for -which they originally enlisted. - -Then Waldo’s system of “fixed posts” was introduced. Complaints that -policemen were hard to find at night had become common. So the platoon -on duty from 11 p. m. to 7 a. m. was distributed by a plan under which -the men work in pairs, one patrolling a given beat and the other -standing on a street intersection. Each hour they change places, or -oftener in severe weather. The fixed posts are about a thousand feet -apart all over Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn. The system has been -indiscriminately criticised, but produces its results. Fire losses were -cut down the first six months, night crime has decreased, and many -notable arrests are due to the fact that policemen stand all over town -like checkers through the night. The exposure is no greater than that -endured by traffic men. The men have better opportunities to advance -themselves by making meritorious arrests, and the Commissioner knows -that, as citizens see the police on duty, night after night, and crime -decreases, there will be a growing good will for the department. - -The Detective Bureau has not only been reorganized so that plain-clothes -men are distributed over the whole city, but a new spirit has been -introduced. Formerly, when the patrolman rose to detective rank, he felt -that he had “arrived.” No longer wearing the uniform or keeping -scheduled hours, he was in danger of going to sleep. To-day, however, -the detective has, not a job, but an opportunity. He must maintain his -rank by results, or be reduced. To help him do this, he is taught -methods in the school for detectives. But he knows that hundreds of -ambitious men in brass buttons are working to attain that rank. - -In an organization of ten thousand men, it would be strange if there -were not some intriguing and politics. New York policemen are -exceptionally shrewd, and occasionally they will try to “put one over” -on the Commissioner, going around his authority. But Commissioner Waldo -has proved singularly resourceful. He meets such an emergency with the -quickness, certainty and impartiality of a natural force like gravity, -and the department has found it out. - -He has laid out a clear path for advancement all through the department. -The newest uniformed patrolman understands that, for meritorious work, -he will have a chance of promotion. If he makes a commendable arrest, he -is sent to the Detective Bureau, given instruction, and tried at -detective work. If he makes good, he stays. If unfitted for -plain-clothes duty, he has still had his chance. What is just as -important, the Detective Bureau has had a chance to see him. - -Under Commissioner Waldo and Deputy Commissioner Dougherty, the -so-called “Black Hand” crimes among Italians have been checked, and will -be stopped. Many of these cases were traced to sensational reporting of -ordinary quarrels and assaults, and others to business rivalries. In the -serious cases, arrests have been made and convictions secured. - -Another well-known form of law-breaking in New York is gambling. This is -particularly difficult to check because of ingenuity in concealing -evidence, developed by long experience on the part of the law-breakers, -and also the strong political alliances of gambling-house keepers. But -after several experiments in dealing with it, the Commissioner now feels -confident that he has a method which will result in the suppression of -gambling, and that, as he says, “When you put a crimp into things of -that sort they don’t generally come back.” - -In other directions red tape has been abolished and economies brought -about; the way has been opened for individual merit in all ranks; steps -have been taken to develop and teach better methods; the work of the -department has been brought closer to the public. There is a new spirit -in the New York Police Department to-day—a spirit certain to develop the -public good will and appreciation that is so necessary to the best order -of public service. - - * * * * * - - SOME INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE POLICE - DEPARTMENT OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK - -The Police Department of the City of New York is made up as follows: - - Commissioner and four Deputy Commissioners - - 19 Inspectors - - 25 Surgeons - - 95 Captains - - 624 Lieutenants - - 586 Sergeants - - 8,585 Patrolmen - - 191 Doormen - - 69 Matrons - - 1 Superintendent of Telegraph - - 2 Assistant Superintendents of Telegraph - - 1 Chief Lineman - - 5 Linemen - - 2 Boiler Inspectors - - ------ - - 10,207 Total uniform force - -Of this number, 500 are detectives in civilian dress. - -In addition, there are over 247 civilians employed in clerical capacity. - -There are 6 automobiles and 161 other vehicles, including patrol wagons, -used by the Department. Also 679 horses for mounted patrolmen. - -The Harbor Squad numbers: 1 Captain, 7 Lieutenants, 9 Sergeants, 36 -Patrolmen, 2 Doormen, besides civilians employed as engineers, firemen, -oilers, deck-hands, etc. - -It is provided with one vessel of 235 tons, five launches, two dories, -and six boats. - -These boats patrol about 340 miles of water front. - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Great Taxicab Robbery, by James H. 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