Rensselaer Republican, Volume 16, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 March 1884 — HOW CRACKSMEN WORK A JOB. [ARTICLE]

HOW CRACKSMEN WORK A JOB.

The Many Persona with Whom a Thief Has to Divide His Plunder. “Suppose,” asked a reporter of a well-known ex-detective, “that I had $5,000 worth of diamonds and other jewelry stolen from my house, how much would I have to pay ; the thieves or middlemen to get the property back ?” “Well, there are many things connected with the business which might suggest many different answers. ” “What business ?” “The business of thieving, for it is a business and has several grades. For instance, the men who robbed Alexander Lewis and David Whitney were not the men who did the ltolshoven work. The perpetrators of that job consider themselves several degrees above ‘ porch-climbers ’ who rob dwellinghouses, and Would not even recognize them on the street or elsewhere. ” “How do you know all this?” “I,do not absolutely know the facts -in the instance cited, but I form my conclusion on my knowledge of thieves of all classes, and their code Of ethics. A safe-breaker is an aristocrat when he meets a porch-climber, and in fact they strive to avoid meeting or associating with persons any lower in thiefdom than themselves.” “Now, to return to the question of returning stolen property for a reward and no questions asked, what do you know of the methods?” “Ip the first place, nine out of ten of the safe-blowing jobs are ‘put up’ by persons living in the town where the work is done. They * size up’ the enterprise and send for some one to do the trick who is particularly good at that kind of work. That some one comes from abroad generally. Thus it follows that there are four persons or gangs of persons, who know just who does a job as quickly as the news comes that it has been done.” ~ ; “And who are the persons thus in informed ?” “First, the person or persons who ‘put up’ the job; second, the ‘fence* who receives the property; third,, the thieves who do the work; and fourth, the associates of the thieves, who live in the town they hail from, and who know that they have left home to do the work. Now, then, all of these parties watch the papers and use every means to keep posted in relation to each job, and the minute any reward is offered or any settlement is made, they clamor for their ‘whack,’ and generally get it.” “But suppose a thief leaves Chicago, Toledo, or Cleveland to do a job in Detroit, how do his associates know where he has gone or what he does ?” “Because they know the thief is out of town, and they know the kinds of work he does and his methods of work. ” “I see. Now, how much would a thief get on $5,000 worth of plunder?” “From 40 to 50 per cent, of the total valuation. You see it's this way; the party who ‘puts up’ the job ‘steers’ the thief to a ‘fence.’ We’ll say the ‘fence’ whacks up half and half with the thief. Then the person who puts up the job calls on the ‘fence’ for a divy of 15 or 20 per cent, of his 50 per cent., and on the thief for a like shair of his half.” This statement being a trifle complicated, the detective prepared the following table illustrating liis half.Value of property stolen $5,000 Share received by “fence”.., 2,500 Share received by thief..............;...... 2,500 Commission paid by “fence”.,............. 500 Commission paid by thief 500 Reward received by party who "puts up” the job 1,000 Profit received by “fence” 2,000 Profits received by thief 2,000 “Then, to satisfy the thief, provided I wanted to recover my property by paying a reward, I should be obliged to give him the $2)000 lie’d realize on a $5,000 haul!” “Ob, dear, no. You would be obliged to pay fees to all the parties I have mentioned. They are all in the job, and must have their ‘whack’ just the same whether they dispose of it to a ‘fence.’ There would be this difference: Considering the safety that would follow all concerned by restoring the property to you and no questions asked, the ‘putter up’ of the job, the thief, afid the ‘fence’ would consent to smaller profits. Accordingly, on $5.000 worth of property stolen you would be obliged to pay SI,OOO to $2,000 to get it back.” “But hold on! You’ve left oqt the whack clamored for by the associates of the thieves at their home.” “That the thief is obliged to settle for after he returns to his home, and if he fails or refuses to do the square thing, then some one ‘squeals’ to our police, an officer picks up the squealer, and sometimes works out the ‘kick’ to conviction. But there is sometimes trouble there, for a man who will‘blow 5 on a partner will settle with him on the shortest notice, leaving the officer entirely at sea and without witnesses or any evidence. ” “It’s a sort of dog-eat-dog occupation which thieves engage in,.isn’t it?” “It certainly is, and in the long run every dog becomes food for some other dog.” —Detroit Free Press.