'k. ^^'V. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I |5o "^ li^H ^ us, mil 2.0 lit L25 i 1.4 18 1.6 V v: V Hiotograpliic Sci^ces Corporation ^ \ \ V ^^- JIIE GREAT INTERNATIONAL CONFEDERACY %>ji '"'S^^j&SS^^i^'' -5=^* (3 A' w ^. THE GREAT INTERNATIONAI CONFEDERACY OF THIEVES, % ON THE CANADA FRONTIER. FROM THE SWORN STATEMENTS OP REPUTABLE WIT- NESSES AND MATERIALS COLLECTED BY SEVERAL TRUSTY DETECTIVES. BY L'ARMITAGE. QCK N a t] tl fc ir a] ti tr vi Ic fl CHAPTER T. Network of Criminal Agencies on the Canada Frontier.— Faoilitiea of ^Escape over the Border. — Extensive Ramiflcationa «f the Qang. — Their Alliance with th« Police, in several Cities.— Ex-Chief Oarruthers and Ex-Deteotive MoGlogan illegally smuggle a man of tho Canada Border for money ; they are Convicted for the ofFenoe, fined $200 each, and are retained in their places. — Detective Armstronft, his History and Exploits. — He goes to Canada and is introduced, through Dick Murphy, of Toronto, and Nevins Jones, of Esquesing, to ' Tom Taylor,* Parker, and other Burglars.- He loams all about the Hamilton Rob- beries, and buys some Stolen Goods. — The Robberies at Gates' Store.— Arrest of < Tom Taylor' and Mrs. Parker, at Parker's house, [Hamilton, by the Sheriff's Officers.— Parker Fires on tho Officers and Escapes.— A large quantity of Booty and Burglar's Apparatus found — Jeffrey's house visited, and Mary Edwards Arrested. — Jeffrey, Murphy and Nevins Jones also Captured. — Taylor tried and sent to tho Penitentiary.— Parker and McGlogan meet.— The latter fires on the former. A vast network of criminal agencies overspreads Canada and a large part of the United States. It is a necessity of their calling that thieves, burglars, pickpockets and incen- diaries, who burn buildings to cover up their crimes or create an opportunity of a scramble for booty, should fre- quently pass over the frontier line, from one country into the other. They seldom commit a crime in either country for which the law provides for their extradition for trial in the other. For none of the crimes enumerated, except arson and burglary in a dwelling house, can their extradi- tion be demanded when they once get safe across the lines; for though robbery is included in the Ashburton treaty of extradition, its legal interpretation is robbery with violence. This impossibility of rendition is equally true whether the crime was committed in Canada or the States. The result may easily be imagined. When a brace of pick- pockets have " worked" on the Grand Trunk or the Great Western railway trains, and at the principal stations, as long as it is safe — till public attention to the crime has caused special agencies to be set to work to discover the perpetrators — they step over to Buffalo, or some other frontier town, where they can remain in perfect security. In the same way they shift from the other side, into Canada for security, when it is no longer safe for their to remain in the States. There are but few cases in which a boundary between two countries offers equal facilities for covering crime with such complete impunity. On both sides the same language is spoken ; and though thieves have a vast num- ber of phrases of their own, they do not constitute a distinct language, and they are not the same in different languages. Much of the vocabulary of the English speaking thieves consists of a corruption and combination of words belonging to that language, and especially the slang part of it. The facility which a common language affords the thieves on the two sides of the border is of immense use to them. The immunity which they can obtain by simply crossing the frontier is a great crime-breeder and crime-preserver. "When the facts are fully stated, it will be for the statesman to consider whether it would not be a mutual advantage to the two countries to have the list of crimes for which extradition is provided extended so as to bring many of the operations of these criminals within it. As things go now, the asso- ciated international gang of thieves, pickpockets and bur- glars, unlese they break into dwelling houses or add arson to their other crimes, after plying their vocation on one side of the line have nothing to do but to move to the other for safety. When special work has to be done, any requisite number on one side of the line can be detailed to do it, and then go back into perfect security. Thus at the annual Agricultural Exhibitions of Canada, at races, reviews and whenever and wherever crowds are collected, a swarm of these criminals pass over the boundary line, do their work and return in a few days. This gang counts among its numbers residents in Toronto, Hamilton, London, Montreal, Sarnia, Port Huron, Detroit, Buffalo, New York and several other places. It has or recently had allies in the police of Hamilton, Toronto, Montreal, Detroit and other places. ^ fii ■^ I It ispartof their system to obtain allies in the police, when- ever that is practicable, and to divide with these officers the booty they obtain. Six months ago, this statement would have been received with a general feeling of incredulity ; but the exposures which have lately taken place in Hamil-' ton, Toronto and Montreal have fully prepared the public mind to receive it. Those members of the police force with whom criminals found favor soon became extensively known among the confederated gang ; and the first thing a burglar or pickpocket does when he goes to « work" in a place that is new to him is to make the acquaintance of those mem- bers of the police in whom he is to find friends. These gentry naturally find it desirable to make frequent changes of residence ; for when a given number of the gang have become known, they are replaced by others. This necessity is much less urgent wherever the thieves have friends among the police ; and the experience of the best detec- tives is that thip is the case in every large town or city. In New York and Detroit, the old police became thoroughly corrupted. When the police of New York were placed under the control of the state, a new chief was appointed ; and he at once set to work to find out the unreliable mem- bers of his force. One of the stratagems he resorted to was to disguise himself, put some money into his pocket and feigning being drunk, throw himself in the way of some of his men to be picked up. He was repeatedly robbed by the men. This went on till dismissal following dismissal, the guilty parties began to compare notes, and they commu- nicated to other members of the force the suspicions they entertained. But in spite of every vigilance, the State police has become nearly as corrupt as that which it replaced, a few y^ars ago. In Detroit the strongest intimacy was dis- covered to exist between criminals of every degree and the Police ; and to such a pass did things come that neither life nor property was safe. In Hamilton, a member nf the 6 police force has recently been charged witli "sotting" houses— that is watching them— for thievOs, while others are alleged to have assisted to do the very opposite of what their duty prescribed. In Toronto three or four members of the force were in league with the gang; and a foriner detective was in the habit of harboring favorite criminals at his house. In Montreal, Taylor— now in the penitentiary for robbing a store in Hamilton, last winter— had his friends among the police, at least one of whom has been hit upon the investigation into the conduct of the police in that city. Into the general character of the Montreal police, this investigation has given much insight. It was customary for them to levy black mail on houses of ill repute ; several witnesses swore to having subscribed money to secure them from the annoyance of the police, and one stated that $350 had been subscribed for this purpose. Instances were also mentioned of thefts being committed by policemen, and of policemen letting prisoners free for money. Two members of the committee of investigation, Mr. Labelle and Mr. Archambault, were accused of having proposed or committed frauds, as members of the Council, in connection with the police ; and there has been no proper investigation into these charges. Members of the Hamilton police force, including ex-chief Carruthers, have long since been known to be guilty of illegal acts. The first case that was made a subject of judicial enquiry was the kidnapping of Snow, by Carruthers and McGlogan, in Toronto, on the 12th October, 1858. Snow had been charged with having committed in the States an offence which did not come under the extradition treaty. A reward was offered for his arrest, and he changed his quar- ters to Canada. Carruthers and McGlogan saw there was a chance to make money, and they resolved to make it. They went to Toronto, and called upon Constable Webster, and told him that a person who was living with Snow had ^'1 t i 1 1 J> ■i^ committed an offence in Huinilton, and th^y wanted Iiim to go with ilioni to make tlie arrcHt. Tlio three (h'ovo to the then somewhat famous lager Itecr HaU)on of Louis Kurtz, Adelaide Street. McGlogan wer^ 1" to lind Dr. Shucli to enquire of liim wliere Snow was ; and when the Doctor came out, Constable Webster in his innocence, ])clioving the story lie had been told, asked if Snow had removed or whether there were any one living with him. ^^huch said Snow was then in Kiirt/'s snloon, and he did not tliink any stranger was stopping with him. When the fact could no longer be concealed that it was Snow whom thoy intended to arrest, Carrutltcis apologized for the lie McGlogan had told in saying that it was some one else. Webster did not know what to make of it ; but McGlogan and Carruthers threw him off his guard by inventing additional lies. They said Snow had committed a penitentiary offence in Hamil- ton, and that they had a warrant for his arrest ; the truth being that he>ad committed no offence there, and that they had no warrant for his arrest. They told Webster not to interfere in the arrest, as they would make it themselves. They went into the house, on Richmond Street, Webster re- maining on the opposite side of the street. McGlogan seized Snow by the collar, when the victim demanded " who are you ?" " I am an officer," was the reply. " Sbow me " your warrant, if you are an officer and have one ; then I " will go with you ; if not I will cry murder." But McGlo gan had no warrant to show, Snow then cried murder, in which he was joined by his wife. Webster, attracted by those cries, went over to the house, when he found McGlo- gan and Snow struggling together, at the foot of the stairs. Webster told Snow who he was, and the victim offered no further resistance. Snow, McGlogan and Webster then got into the cab, and Carruthers on the seat with the driver. Webster told the cabman to drive to the City Hall ; but he either did not hear or had his instructions to go west beyond '<:'■:■ 8 Bathurst Street. Here the cab halted ; the door was opened, ard Chief Oarruthers then told Webster they were going to taka Snow to Port Credit ; and he added in rei% to a ques- tion that his papers were all right ; the fpct being that ha had no legal warrant, and that they were smuggling Snow away to the Credit, because they dare not run the risk of be'ng exposed ?t the Toronto station. As Carvuthers and McGlo- gan were going to make money by thin act of audacious kidnapping, they thought it right to give a trifle of hush- money to Webster. The latter refused, he says, to take what appeared to be a bank note ; but Carruthers, in the parting grip, adroitly left it in his sleeve. . It turned out, by the light of the nearest lamp, to be a five dollar bill. The kidnappers arrived at Port Credit, with their victim, a little after daylight. When they arrived at the Suspeusion Bridge, they telegraphed for one McTaggart, an American police detective, with whom they had previously commu- nicated theii- doings by telegraph, and to whom they deli- vered their victim. These facts were provta in the court of assize at Toronto, on the 15th January, 1859 ; when after an elaborate defence by the late Mr. Eccles, and the jury had been out about an liour, Carruthers and McGlogan pleaded guilty, amid great sensation. One of the jurors had come out of the room to ask some questions, when Mr. Justice McLean told him that " any persons with common ''■ understanding and a desire to do right, could have no diffi- ♦' culty in arriving at a determination." An obstinate jury- man rtTas standing out for the prisoners. At that time, one of the Hamilton papers, the 2\nies, very properly called on the police commissioners to dismiss Carruthers and McGlogan ; but the demand was unheeded. '' Carruthers and McGlogan," it said, "must be dismissed. " They stand convicted on their own confession of the most "dangerous use of the authority with which the;y are invested "for the protection of thft nn-.TnrinTiiK TTnrlor /^rtlrvr ^^ f^>x^|». 9 'I office, they have most culpably violated the law, and it is "evident that we cannot have an efficient police force in " Hamilton as long as the men at the head of it are neglecting " their duty in order to kidnap of^enderb against the laws of " the United States." These words, in the light of the recent disclosures, have a prophetic sound. But neither Car- ruthers nor McGlogan was dismissed. Ihey got off with a fine of $200 each, and were retained in their positions. That these two worthies continued their old tricks, in various forms, there is no room to doubt. Here is a story told of McGloj^an, of an occurrence that took place within the past eighteen months. The office of Spring brewery, the property of Mr. Grant of Hamilton, was robbed of a cash box, and a man named Shannon, a well known pick- pocket, was arrested on good grounds of suspicion. While in charge of McGlogan, he managed to escape. McGlogan was suspected of purposely permitting the escape and was suspended; but the affair was involved in mystery, till Shannon wrote to Mr. Grant, tellingj him that McGlogan took him into a room in a tavern and offered to release him for money Shannon then offered a certain sum ; but it was not sufficient to satisfy the cupidity of this trusty detec- tive, ard a bargain was finally struck at $235 for Shannon's release, McGlogan allowing him only |5out of the $143 he had left of what he had stolen to take him over to the other side. Shannon did not choose to run the risk of coming back to give this evidence ; and as there was no legal proof against McGlogan, who had been bound over to appear at the Recorder's Court, he was reinstated. But if there was no legal evidence against him, there was gross neglect of duty in allowing Shannon to e'^cape ; and McGlogan ought not to have been reinstated. Shannon, it seems, has fre- quently told this story in the States, with all the piquancy it can gain from the repetition of the conversation between him and McGlogan. When Shannon was asked for money, 10 he pretended to have only a certain sum ; McGlogan dis- credited the story, and demanded more ; and when he had got the $125, he told Shannon to go and make the best of his time. The facilities which a corrupt police afford to pickpockets, robbers and burglars, are so great that it was necessary to give some details of the protection they are sworn to have thrown around this great international confederation of cri- minals. The reasons why Hamilton should have been made the headquarters of the association of criminals are now understood. If some extraneous aid had not been obtained in the work of detection, there would have been no hope of any discovery of the crimes being made. In Mr. J. S. Armstrong, an expert detective, who assumed the name of Barber, the instrument necessary to unlock this mystery of t*fe crime was found. There is a natural curiosity to know who Armstrong is, with his wonderful talent of worming him- self into the conndence of thieves ; and we shall proceed to gratify it, Armstrong's father lived at Newcastle-upon-Tyne before he emigrated to America ; and his son, the future detective, was born in the State of New York. He went to live in the Township of London, Canada West, in 1830, and remained there about twenty years ; living'withhis father till he was married and then going to far jaing — the occupa- tion he had previously followed — on his own account. After leaving Canada, he wf nt to Port Huron, whore he was in the pork and grocery business. But being out of health, he removed to Lexington, Michigan, where he became Under- Sheriff of Canalack Co., Michigan, residing at Lexington ; here he did all the business of the office and h. d charge of the jail. He applied to O'Maby, then acting justice, to have a gang of counterfeiters arrested, but O'Maby refused. It turned out that this official was connected with the gang, as well as several other prominent citizens. O'Maby's con- '• 11 n6ction with them afterwards becoming notorious, he found it necessary to abscond. The implements for the manufac- ture of counterfeit money were found in his possession, and several of his accomplices were convicted and sent to the States prison. Armstrong then removed to Detroit, where after a while, he was induced by Mr. Jacob M. Howard, then Attorney General of the State of Michigan, to enter the detective force of the state government of Michigan. There had for some time been a gang of counterfeiters and burglars carrying on their operations there. Armstrong arrested over thirty-three of the gang for uttering forged paper and counterfeit gold and silver. Seven or eight of them were caught in the>ct of distributing it. Mr. J. P. Whiting, with B.j[)08se of men made the arrest, nearly all of whom were convicted— all that were tried— one or two getting out on bail absconded. Mr. Jacob M. Howard con. ducted the prosecution. Armstrong took from one of them, John Stewart, no less than $8,840 in ten dollar bills on the City Bank of Montreal. Many persons in Canada will recol- lect the circumstanceofthese counterfeits being in circula- tion, causing a run on the City Bank of Montreal, about the end of the year 1852. Several of the Detroit police were deeply implicated with these criminals; and some of them absconded to escape trial. In fact it has been Armstrong's iuvai^iab^e experience, in his long and perilous career °as detective, that some of the police have everywhere been connected with the criminals, whose operations, he has brougt to light. For from six to seven years Armstrong acted as a detective at Detroit, and in other parts of the State of Michigan. After the affair of the counterfeiters, a trio of burglars- Ellis, Fairfax and Spaulding— went from Ohio to Detroit. They were all armed with revolvers, bowie knives and slung shots, and on each bowie knife the word " Revenue" waa cut in the steel. Smith Ellis was the chief°of the It ruffianly trio. They committed several burglaries in Detroit and other places ; Armstrong had notice of their coming to Detroit, and laid his plans to arrest them. Seven of the city police went with Armstrong to arrest them ; but on arriving at the house where they were, they all refused to go in. Armstrong entered alone ; but the burglars escaped through the back door. He tracked them, however, and they were all arrested next morning, about fourteen miles from Detroit. They were all convicted and sent to State's prison. Ellis was reported to have committed no less than fourteen murders. After their conviction an attempt was made, by means of a forged petition, to get them released. It purported to be signed by several principal persons of the place. Governor Bingham was near yielding ; but he was so pressed to decide that night that he began to suspect something wrong, and next morning he discovered that the petitions were forged. Ellis was afterwards pardoned, upon false representations ; and the Governor finding that he had been deceived, refused during his term to pardon any more prisoners. The next important arrest which Armstrong made was of Ferguson and Bennet, two noted burglars and counterfei- ters, in Lima, Indiana. Bennet kept the Exchauge hotel then. Armstrong afterwards went back to Indiana, and arrested a band of thieves, burglars and counterfeiters. They were distributed over a large part of the State. To such a pass had this gang carried matters— the boldness and immunity of their depredations having deprived both life and property of its safeguards and protection — that the respectable citizens formed themselves into a vigilance com- mittee—the first instance of the kind in the States— fo selt- protection. The lite of Armstrong and several others had been threatened. Angus McDougall, formerly of Wallace- burg, Canada West, was tried by a vigilance committee and hanged, without other process, about two miles from 18 Lima. They allowed his wife to see him in the morning ; when he had been executed, they put his body into a pine' coffin and gave her $20 to bury him. Armstrong was not present ; he had tried to get there to stop the irregular proceedings, but arrived too late. The gang was known to comprise over a hundred persons ; horse thieving was one of the offences extensively engaged in by them. McDougall was connected with one Eainhart, in Canada, a brother-in- law of Nevins Jones, through whom Armstrong, last winter got admittance to the Hamilton gang of burglars and incen-' diaries. Armstrong personally arrested one Flemings, a tavern keeper, near ].ma, a leader of the gang, whose house was a refuge for the associated scoundrels. Seveval wealthy Jarraersw^ho were engaged in the manufacture of false money —dies and presses were found in the possession of one of them by name Eandolph— left their property and absconded. When this gang had been broken, a totally different state of society prevailed. The state of constant terror in which the honest and respectable part of the community had hitherto lived was exchanged for one of calm serenity. We next follow Armstrong to the state of Kew York. He there broke up a gang of coiners of false gold and silver, whose headquarters were at Hornellsville. They were a most expert set of coiners, their productions being reputed the most perfect of the kind that ever went into Albany, About nine of them were convicted and sentenced to rine years in the State Prison. Armstrong afterwards broke up another gang of counterfeiters, thieves, burglars and incendaries, some of whom were residents of Potter County, Pennsyl- vania, and others of Albany, Troy and Buffalo. Armstrong next arrested c >e Dr. Edwards, for robbery aud murder, at Detroit. Edwards had first administered a dose of poison to a young man, the son of a respectable farmer, und then robbed him and thrown the body into the )i these crimes he was convicted. The ' ^roughs," of river. u Detroit, several Deputy Sheriffs and some of the police tried to save Edwards, by trying to break down Armstrong's evidence, but in this they completely failed. Armstrong afterwards arrested a gang of thieves, burglars and coun- terfeiters in Oakland County, Michigan. Among them were two physicians, Dr. Burdock and Dr. Bostwick. Here again several leading men of the place — farmers, doctors and others previously supposed to be respectable — were found to be implicated, and were arrested. No man could pass through the perils which these dis- coveries involved without having his life constantl)^ in danger. Armstrong had to do with desperate men by whom the life of any enemy was held cheap. The dis- covery of his real character would at any time have proved fatal, when he was in the power of the villians with whose deeds of guilt he was becoming acquainted for the purpose of disclosing them, that justice might be done and the public protected. Several times, he narrowly escaped with his life. He was attacked by 16 or 18 of the Hornells- ville gang, in that place. They used their knives freely, cutting and bruising him so severely that he was laid up in Buffalo some six weeks. At another time, after leaving Indiana for Deti'oit, strychnine was administered to him in a drink, from the effect of which he lost the use of his feet for some time, and the palsy which took possession of his hands was never entirely cured. A third time he was struck with a slung shot, at Battle Creek, by which he was ruptured, and nearly lost his life, having been confined to his bed lor several weeks. The fourth time his life was attempted, at Thornton, Michigan. He had a number of prisoners in charge ; and in a glass of lemonade the land- lord of the hotel where they were, administered a potion of corrosive sublimate to him. When he discovered what had been done, and felt himself helpless, he handed his revolver to the driver and told him to shoot the first prisoner that 15 i attempted to escape or the first man who should aid any of them to do so. Not a prisoner escaped— he never lost one at any time— and several of them were convicted, through Armstrong. So seriously had he been injured that he was not able to appear as a witness, having been confined by illness resulting from the poisoning for a period ot nineteen dreary months. When he partially recovered, he removed for safety to Canada, his life being in danger in the States, and besides he was tired of the perilous occupation of a detective. After remaining with a relative in London Township a year, he went to Berlin, 0. W., in 1861. Here he acted as agent of the Middlesex Insurance Company, as well as of the Hart- ford and -^tna. This business took him much through the country to obtain policies ; and in 1862 he made the ac- quaintance of Nevins Jones, an old member of the once notorious Markham gang of horse thieves and general rob- bers, near Georgetown. Armstrong knew the character of Jones by report ; and the old habits of the detective came back in all their force upon him. He was soon enabled to find out that Jones had a large circle of acquaintances among thieves and counterfeiters. Among others, Jones mentioned Dick Murphy, of Toronto, and McCraney, of Oakville. Armstrong conveyed this information to Mr. Childs, of Niagara Falls, by whom he had been employed as an insurance agent. Childs at once saw its importance. He thought the cause of the epidemic of incendiary fires might by this means be searched out ; and though Arm- strong was anxious not to resume the occupatioa of a detec- tive, Childs would not take a refusal. Armstrong consented with reluctance to face once more the perils of a calling that had so nigh proved fatal, and on the 24:th December, 1864 he resumed the occupation of detective. He made trequent visits to Jones ; stopped at his house over night, met him at Thompson's tavern, in Georgetown, and in every way 16 apsiduously cultivated his acquaintance. He gave him to understand that he wanted to buy cheap goods generally, which Jones readily understood to be stolen goods. Dick Mur- phy, Jones said, was a heavy dealer, especially in watches ; and so to Murphy Jones introduced Armstrong, under the name of Barber, as a recruit in the band. The three met at the market, in Toronto, in the fore part of January last, and Jones described Armstrong as *' a right sort of fellow," whom Murphy might not be afraid to tell any secrets of the craft. Murphy said he could get goods ; and named a party in town from whom he had recently got a chest of tea. On the 2l8t of January, Murphy met Armstrong in Hamilton, the headquarters of the gang in Canada, and intro- duced him to ''Captain Taylor." Taylor produced some goods, and said he could get any quantity. He explained the process of acquisition by pulling a little brass key out of his pocket, and saying " that is the little devil that will do "the work." On the Sunday following, Taylor went back with a long face. He had met a failure, broken the key in the door, and the story would get into the papera next day. Besides Murphy, Armstrong had taken with him to Hamil- ton Nevins Jones and Mrs. Potter. The latter, represented as a clairvoyant, had been engaged by Armstrong to ac- company Jones west of Hamilton, where she was to watch his dealings with some counterfeiters. The whole party put up at the International hotel, Armstrong paying the bill. But like many other distinguished persons, they dined out occasionally. They honored Parker, a local leader of the gang, in this way. Parker showed them some goods, of which his wife, a sister of Taylor, fixed the price ; and Armstrong purchased to the extent of #20, besides a watch. Jones had pressed for the purchase, saying he wanted the goods for some of his hands-— he has a saw mill and a farm. Armstrong introduced Mrs. Potter as a thief; and key •filirirt' J5 17 business topics of conversation. They were invited to drmk plentifully ; as Parker had " fixed" a cellar where cham- pagne was to be had at first cost. Jones also drove Arm- strong a distance from the city of twelve miles and intro- duced him to an old thief of his acquaintance. Jeftrey said one of the head men was sick, and unable to work. So both Parker and Taylor represented the necessity of delaying for a while the attempt to get goods. Armstrong, Jones and Mrs.l Potter returned to Georgetown ; Mrs. Potter being left at Jones' to watch his movements, in the detective's absence. On the 31 St of January, Armstrong returned to Toronto, when, he swears, Murphy told him he could furnish all the goods he wanted, as he had three or four first rate fellows, who were going, next day, up to Hamilton. Armstrong went with him, and they stopped again at the International. Next morning. Murphy took him to Jeffi^y's house, where they were met at the door by Mary Edwards, the house- keeper, who was sometimes called by a certain kind of right, Mrs. Jeffrey. Jefirey was not in. They were soon re- inforced by Parker, and when the three returned to Jeffrey's, were informed, in reply to a question put by Parker, that Jeffrey would be back next day. Murphy asked Parker if all was right ; and the reply was that goods would be got as soon as Jeffrey returned. Armstrong, with the air of a busi- ness man, in danger of being balked of a promised bargain, said he had spent a good deal of money in the business and did not want to be fooled. In the evening Jeffrey returned, and Armstrong was introduced to him by Parker, as the right sort of man to purchase goods. Jeffrey was very communicative, and spoke freely of the robberies he had committed ; how he had left a wholesale merchant in Ha- milton not worth a cent ; how he had been nearly caught on one occasion, and mentioned a place near Watertown that he intended to rob, and another Toronto where, instead 18 . of the large haul expected, he got only a few dollars in silver. He went deeply into the mystery of burglaries ; the taking of impressions of key holes, etc. In this latter work he said he had been assisted by an Alderman. When Murphy had heard all this, he went from generalities to par- ticulars. When, he desired to know, would Jeffrey be pre- pared to commit a robbery ? Jeffrey had had the tonsils of his throat cut, and had been warned by his medical adviser not to go out at night till he was better. He consulted the almanac and said they would not be able to " work" till about the 22nd (February). The thieves were emboldened by their alliance with the police ; of which a full account will be given in the proper place. The store of Gates and Co., was the one robbed on the night ot the 2lst Feburary. It was not intended as a great robbery, but only as *' a feeler." Two nights after, the second and great robbery was committed. And now sufficient evidence had been obtained to warrant the arrest of the burglars. Armstrong arranged with the Sheriffs' officers that they should make a descent on Parker's house, at four o'clock on the morning of the 24th February. A number of persons in the secret, went near Parker's house, at that time to witness the operation : they remained over an hour and nobody camo, and they went away, but some ot them returned to^witness the arrest. The arrest, for some reason was delayed till six o'clock, and it is quite probable that some of the parties who had been engaged in the robbery, had been at Parker's at four o'clock and gone before six. Only Parker, bis wife and Taylor, her brother, were found. Parker's house was in Merrick Street. Milne the Sheriffs' bailiff took a number of assistants with him, and stationing them about the premises to prevent the escape of the parties they were in search of, demanded admittance. The (back) door not being opened it was soon forced, they met 1» ImAoy in the hall, but it was not yet h'ght enough to see who he was. He was asked if he was Parker, to which he replied " yes." But the answer was not true, for it was Taylor He was at once secured. Parker was in the back room, on the ground floor ; once ho opened the door and looked into the hall ; Milne advanced towai-d it, when it was at onco closed, Parker swearing he would shoot the first man that entered, but Milno, who was armed with a revolver as well as Parker, was resolute and broke open the door. While this was being done Parker escaped through the window. Milne then hastened to the back door, and Par- ker, who was now in the yard, turned round and fired at him, the bullet lodging in the door sill. Milne returned the fire and Parker fired two other shots at the men in the yard without injuring any of them. After the last shot, Parker junaped over a small side gate that had not been guarded as it should have been, and then over a shed and through some livery stables into James Street, where, in the dark of the morning, his pursuers lost sight of him. Mrs. Parker and her brother were the only persons arrested. A large quantity of goods of the most miscellaneous description were found in the house : silks, ribbons, cottons, shirts, merinoes-— every kind of dry goods ; in quantity about two sleigh loads. A plentiful supply of bui^lars* apparatus was also found : a dark lantern, skeleton keys, chisels, &c. A visit was also made to Jeffrey's house, but he was too ill to be moved at the time. Mary Edwards, who lived with him as his wife, was captured, and he followed soon after to the jail. Furphy and Kevins Jones were also afterwards arrested, and are now awaiting their trial, in jail at Ham- ilton. Taylor was tried at Hamilton for his part in the burglary, found guilty, and sentenced to seven years in the Penitentiary. McGlogan, the Hamilton detective, received information QT VfThckVCk Povlrtii* TiTQe liirJiT* 5 anajf. XT^ £^11 O-LC XUllUWtiU. auu ar' riyod juBt in time to see him get off a train, went np towards him, and being well known to the thief, Parker started off towards the woods, and escaped. McGlogau pretends that he threatened to fire at Parker, and that Parker did actually fire at him, but however this may be, Parker escaped. He has since been seen hanging about Buffalo. j I •1 irds off hat ally He CHAPTER IT. Dfliectivfl Armstronff sutipootod of havinK betrayed the Gaog, is arretted by Oarrnthers and MoGlogan, on the pretence that he wan bona fide one of the Gang.— Mary Edwards and Mrs. Parker brought up as witnesses againnt him- — Heis roloasodon hail, and It soon gets whispered that he is'u Government Detoo^ive. — Ex-Chief Carruthers and Alderman Patterson iinplioated with the Gaiig. — Investigation into thr> charge against them. — Recorder Start's decision. lip reoumiaeods the dismissal of Carruthers and MoOlogan. — Alderman Patterson receives money under false and fraudulent pretonoes. — Patterson absconds, and is pursued over the Suspension Bridge. — Jeffrey writes a letter making eriminal charges against Police Magistrate Cahiil. — Cahill admits that he is in the habit of remitting parts of fines, though he has no legal warrant for it.— Charges against Poiioeman Ford.— The charges againsi. Sergeant Major McDowell. — Review of tlie eyidonoo in the case. When Taylor, Mrs. Parker and Mary Edwards had been arrested, it was evident that there was treachery somewhere. Who had let out the secrets of the gang, and sent the SheriflP's officer — the Police not being worthy of trust— on the track of the burglars ? The old members had doubtless proved their trustworthiness — had known themselves pos- sessed of the proverbial thieves' honor — and it was evident that the traitor must be a new recruit. Strange to say, that Chief Carruthers pounced upon Armstrong, and arrested him as an accomplice of the gang. But it is pretty plain that the Hamilton police was desirous to have nothing to do with Barber, as Armstrong called himself among the thieves ; and they seem to have been only too anxious that he might turn out u real thief and escape, tor which McGlo- gan took care to give him ample opportunity. He let it be known on the Saturday night that Barber was to be arrested ; but the arrest was deferred till Monday morning. He went to the trouble of calling Kichardson out of his bed, on Saturday night, to confide this intention to him ; and Richardson, thinking Armstrong ought to know all about it, L^^A u; — TLr.«r3i,w-,^ i — axa ^^t. x^*. — a tx.^ £-.*. *_ «2 reach Armstrong's ears, but it does not appear that he laid any injunction of eecrecy on Richardson. The arrest i7&s effected by Chief Carruthers and McGlogan— two members of the force who have "ince been di.^missed for improper conduct^and when it was being made, Or.rruthers remarked that Barber looked more like a detective than a thief. Bar- ber was found occupying a suite of rooms at the International Hotel ; two bedrooms opening into a common sitting room, one of them occupied by himself and the other by Mrs. Potter, a woman who to the business of a clairvoyant had added that of assistant detective. After Armstrong had been arrested, imdfer the name of Barber, it is singular t*ipt Mary Edwards— the woman kept by the thief Jeffrey, at whose house Chief Carruthers was a regular visitor— should have been brought up to swear against him, and the matter was not mended when Mrs. Parker was ushered in to sup- port her. Barber was released on bail by Judge Logic, and the mystery was soon half solved by its becoming whispered that he was a government detective. This suspicion arose from the entries made in his note books, which the Hamilton Police seized. Barber alias Armstrong had been careful not to divulge his real character, at the examination, as he had not made all the arrests that were intended. The story that the Chief of the Hamilton police were in league with the burglars was told at different times by several of the gang, Taylor and Mary Edwards, separately and at different times, told it to Armstrong; Jeffrey repeated it, saying that he paid Carruthers and Patterson ten per cent on the proceeds of his robberies to protect him, and that the chief watched for him while he entered a building. Parker and Mrs. Parker both spoke to Armstrong of the arrange- ment with Carruthers to protect the burglars. Nor was it to Armstrong only that this statement was made. Parker told Jit to Taylor, a bold resolute burglar, who did d8 not require any such assurance of security tc tempt him into a calling which he had followed all his ,life. Five of the gang told Armstrong that Chief Carruthers and Alder- man Patterson were their allies, friends, co-partners and protectors, and while Parker repeated the same thing to Taylor, Jeffrey, when visited by the grand jury in his cell in prison entered into the following conversation. Mr. Edgar, one of the Grand Jury. — "Well, Jeffrey, how are you getting along here ?" Jeffrey — " Oh, first-rate ; but there are some others who ought to be here along with me." Mr. Epgar— " To whom do you refer ?" Jeffrey—" To Alderman Patterson and the Chief of Police." Another of the Jurors—" Why, you do not consider them guilty ?" Jeffrey—" Well, if I am guilty, they are guilty too I " A Juror — " Then you acknowledge your guilt?" Jeffrey — " Oh, no one is going to own up his guilt ; but they are guilty if lam." Jeffrey has since denied this statement ; but his denial is worthless, in opposition to the sworn statements of grand jurors. Five members of the gang told the same story. Carruthers admitted a sort of intimacy with Jeffrey, but he sought to give it not only an innocent but a necessary offi- cial character. Jeffrey, he alleged, was in the habit of giving him information about robberies; and two instances are given in corroboration of this statement. ^N"© doubt this occurred, but how came Jeffrey to know so much about thieves ? He was no detective ; when he found the opera- tions of his own gang interfered with by the intrusions of interlopers, he used to set the poUce on his rivals. Car- ruthers was heard on oath in his own behalf, unfortunately perhaps for himself; for he pretended to a degree of ignorance of Jeffrey's pursuits, which, if true, was little creditable to the Chiel of police ; but which was opposed <-o probability, and to the statements of some of the men in th^ force. While the police were getting information from 24 Jeffrey, OaiTutliera says, tliey did not know that he was keeping ^a gambling dcii. Constable West swears that as long as seven or eight years ago, the Chief, himself and "others went to Jeffrey's house " to sieze every thing and "break up the concern as a gambling house." This shows that Carruthers had long known the habits of Jeffrey, and he could hardly have been ignorant of a fact so notorious as that this man still continned to keep a gambling house. Bible, a member of his own force, swears : " we all" [that is the whole police force] " knew that Jeffrey's was a notor- ious gambling house, and that ho was a notorious gambler." He gives this as a reason why the police visited the house, at the time of the Provincial Fair ; at which time only, Carruthers pretends, the trne character of the house was discovered, and even after that, he admits he did not tell his men to keep any particular watch on this gambling den. When Mary Edwards was arrested she said that Patterson and Carruthers had been there on the night of the 23rd of February, 1865, that they knew her and Jeffrey well, and would go bail^for them. Carruthers denies that he was there on that occasion, and yet it is dfficult to see what object the woman could have in making this state- ment if it were not true. On this point, the evidence of Mary Edwards is corroborated by that of Taylor. He swears thai he saw both Carruthers and Patterson there on the night of the 23rd of February. It is easy to see on which side the weight of the evidence lies. Taylor has heard Jeffrey say that he has often given presents to the Chief ot police, so he swears. As Carruthers was charged with watching buildings till the burglars entered them, it was important to prove that he could not have done so on the night of the 23rd February, when the second great robbery of Gates' store oc- curred. But the attempt completely broke down. Con- Btabie west and Ferris between iliem made out that Car- u ruthera was in the police office that night till between one and two o'clock in the morning ; but "Wm. Carruthers, the son, swears that his father came home that night earlier than usual, and Mrs. Carruthers that he came home early and did not go out again. What are we to understand by the term ** early," used by the wife and "earlier than usual," used by the son? "We find from the evidence of Mary Carruthers, a daughter, and Mrs. Jane Carruthers, that the Chief went home on the night of the 21st February at from 20 to 30 minutes past twelve ; and that the reason he was so late was that he had been detained by business at the office. We thus arrive at the fact that lialf past twelve was a late hour for Carruthers to bo out ; and if he was home earlier than usual, as his son swears, on tlie night of the 23rd February he could not have remained in the Police office till between one and two, as West and Ferris allege. The aUU failed completely ; and the attempt to establish it only makes matters worse. The Recorder of Hamilton, Mr. Start, could not see in this evidence any proof of the connection of Alderman Patterson or Chief Constable Carruthers with the thieves ; and he virtually acquitted the Chief on that charge. At the same time, he admits that there was an acquaintance or an intimacy between Carruthers and Jefi'rey which had been ' * fraught with disad vantages to the city." He saw in the cir- cumstances connected with the arrest of Jeffrey reasons lor a " want of confidence in the judgment, if not in the honesty" of both Carruthers and McGlogan ; that on many occasions they had been guilty of carelessness and indifference ; that the delay of McGlogan in executing the warrant against Parker was quite inexcusable, and that, coupled with his contradictions as to where ho was on a particular night it was a strong ground of suspicion ; and that the Chief was equally to blame for having failed to report the matter or complain of McGlogan's conduct. On these grounds Carruthers and 36 McGlogan were dismissed ; and it is evident, on comparing the evidence with the findings of the Kecorder, that the view he took was much more favorable to these members of the Hamilton police than the evidence would have warranted, Patterson's case, he summed up by saying that this func- tionary had " grossly used or abused his position as alder- ** man and magistrate of the city; it being proven that, on *' one occasion, he took and received from one Burke and *' agreed in consideration to sit on the bench and to shield and " protect him from a charge of crimping, which was then " being preferred against him, the said Burke, and did on " another occasion take and receive the sum of $5 from Mr. "Egener, an innkeeper of Hamilton, promising in considera- " tion thereof that said Egener might safely abstain from '* taking out his license for two or three months, and subse- " quently represented for the like consideration that he need " not obtain any license to remove his business in a tavern '* from one part of the city to another, thereby obtaining such *' money under lalse and fraudulent pretences, holding out ** his position as Alderman to obtain the same." Patterson, the Chief of Police and McGlogan were dismissed from the force. Alderman Patterson resigned his seat in the Council; and subsequently absconded to the States. Pat- terson learned that a warrant had been issued for his arrest for robbery ; and he started by rail for the Suspension Bridge. TheMayor, Mr. McGill, of Hamilton, happened to be on the same train ; and he telegraphed to the bridge to have Patterson arrested, when the train should stop. But Pat- terson bolted the moment the train halted, and ran, closely pursued by the officers of justice, across the bridge, gaining the American sidejin advance of his pursuers. The case is not one in which a demand for his surrender can be made under the extradition treaty. With a connected historv of the casp. hfifnre it- th« r^nhli,- will be able to form its own opinions on the correctness of nparing he view I of the rranted, is fimc- 8 alder' that, on rke and ield and ''as then did on om Mr. osidera- in from I subse- be need tavern ng such ing out tterson, 1 from in the Pat- rest for Bridge. be on ;o have It Pat- closely gaining e case ;an be I less of 27 the jSndings of Eecorder Start. It certainly takes the most lenient view of the case of Carruthei-s that it would bear. Jeffrey wrote a letter, from the Hamilton Jail, dated June 30, 1865, in which he made several accusations against different officials. He alleged that Police Magis- trate Cahill called him into his oflSce, when he was going up King Street and offered to hush up a charge of crimping against him for $50, that he (Jeffrey) offered $10, which was refused with a statement that the case would be tried. Cahill has publicly denied as " wholly untrue," the charge that he demanded $50 from Jeffrey in the crimping case. He adds that he postponed the enquiry to give Jeff- rey an opportunity to procure witnesses ; and that Jeffrey called at his office and offered him $10 for the trouble he had taken in adjourning the case ; upon which Mr. Cahill says he ordered him out of the office. Another charge made by Jeffrey is admitted by Cahill ; and the practice — that of remitting a large part of fines imposed for offences — defended. Jeffrey mentions one case of a fine of $20 being reduced to $10 ; another of $20 being reduced to $10; a third of $100 reduced to $30; a fourth of $50 to $10 ; a fifth of $70 to $25 ; a sixth of $100 to $50 or $25 ; a seventh of $20 to $10. M>-. Cahill defends this practice on grounds which, we believe, are not true in tact, and are indefensible in principle. " As to the second charge," he says, " that of remitting parts of the fines men- tioned, it has been usual here, and in other cities, not to enforce a balance of a fine when the party is unable to pay the whole ; it being considered better to take a part than to put the city to the expense of supporting the prisoners in jail. The fines were all imposed for criminal acts, and it is a strange doctrine that it is better to compound the fines and take one-lialf or one-third the amount levied, rather than throw on the public the cost of maintaining the prisoners in jail. At this rate, we might cease to imprison altogether, 28 ill case8 for which fines are held a sufficient atonement, pro- vided ever to make a part of the amount be paid. Mr. Cahill does not tell us that any stated per centage shall be required, and if he may compound a fine by receiving thirty-three per cent, jf the amount, he may equally do so on receiving any other or less per centage. A fine in criminal cases is usually treated as the equivalent of a certain term of imprisonment ; and it can be in fact an equivalent punishment only in case it is paid. The plea that a remission of a large part of the fine saves the expense of keeping prisoners in jail would, if admitted, carry us to the length of abolishing jails altogether. The ground of ex- penses cannot be admitted as a legitimate reason for remitting a large part of fines. This expense is what we part with out of property in order to protect the remainder. We do not know, and Mr. Cahill does not tell us, in what other cities besides Hamilton this practice exists ; but we know that he has no legal power to remit fines. And the prevalence of a dangerous practice, in the adminstration of justice, would not justify it. Mr. Cahill's explanation must be held to be unsatisfactory ; and as Jeffrey has told some truth, all the charges he has made ought to be en- quired into. It appears that these fines were remitted at the urgent request of members of the City Council, one of whom. Alderman Patterson acted as fine broker, and took money to procure the remission of fines. Whether any or how many others did is yet among the undisclosed secrets of this affair. Mr. McKinnon, a member of the Hamilton City Council, takes umbrage at the statement of Mr. Cahill that no member of that body ever urged him more strongly than he (McKinnon) to remit fines ; and he denying that he did more than ask if the Police Magistrate could not fine one Moffatt less than $50, lets fall suspicions about unclaimed goods. " And one," ho says, " can believe that of all the 29 goods which fell into the hands of the Police authorities for years gone by, the whole have been claimed except two old dresses," as Carruthers had stated. Then follow questions about what became of the material connected with break- ing up of a number of faro banks, each of which is valued at $200. Six of these banks had been seized within ten years, and the question is asked what became of the proceeds Here again light is evidently wanting. Jeffrey next turns upon the police of Hamilton. Policeman Ford, he says, arrested one Fitzgerald at the station for rob- bing, and set him at liberty next morning for $4. Also that he demanded $26 and received $5 from one Kerr for having torborne to arrest him for enlisting men for the American army. An investigation took place, on the 3rd July, into this charge, before the Police Commissioners ; when Kerr's evidence fully bore out the statement of Jeffrey. But the Police Magistrate, eliciting from Kerr an acknow- ledgment that he had twice enlisted in the American army, twice taken the oath and as often committed perjury by deserting, refused to believe him. The commissioners de- cided that the charges against Ford — there were some others — were not proved, and Ford was acquitted. There has been shown or admitted to be quite enough truth in Jeffrey's statement to justify a full and independent enquiry into all the charges he has made. Before the end of the first week in March, the story that Barber was a detective, and that his real name was Arm- strong, got into the papers. This was told with some detail of circumstances, as that he had received advances of money from Insurance Companies to enable him to carry on his operations. This tact must have been obtained from a perusal by some official of Armstrong's note-book. This story found its way into one of the Toronto papers as early as March 6 : and it was inevitable that, from that moment, Armstrong should be suspected by the associated members f 80 of the gang in that city. Any less astute a detective than Armstrong could not have hoped to do any thing further with Murphy and his associates after this ; but he went on after there were reasons why suspicion should attach to him. McDowell, Sergeant-major in the Toronto police force, who was afterwards accused of complicity with Murphy, had every opportunity of hearing from the papers, as early as March 6, that Armstrong was a detective. Besides the circumstance of the Sheriff's officers having been employed to make the arrests, at Parker's house, showed that there was somebody at work besides the Hamilton police, and besides that there must have been some reason for not trusting them. This could not but have struck McDowell. But we find that, about the end of that month or the be- ginning of April, he had apparently not quite resolved the question on which his suspicions had been aroused. Ho went to Captain Prince Chief of 'the Toronto police force, and asked him to write to the government to ascertain whether Armstrong was a detective. The Chief had pre- viously been informed, by Mr. 0'Brien,Insurance Agent,that McDowell was suspected of being mixed up with Murphy. Captain Prince appeared to fall in with McDowell's views, and promised to make the enquiry. He accordingly wrote to Mr. McMicken, Stipendary Magistrate, at the same time giving him a hint that it was necessary to serve the ends of justice, that McDowell should be thrown off his guard. Mr. McMicken replied that he did not know much about Armstrong, that what little he did learn was not to his advantage, and leaving it to be inferred, rather than saying so, that he was no government detective. This answer threw Murphy off his guard. His confidence in Armstrong was restored ; and he was more communicative than ever. Up to the Sdth of May Murphy had, or appear- ed to have, confidence in Armstrong. But Mr. McMicken's letter did not altogether allay McDowell's suspicions ; and 81 judging by Armstrong's statement, it is pretty plain that the suspecting and suspected Sergeant-major had been pushing his enquiries in other directions. " On the l3th April," Armstrong swears, " I met Murphy at the market " (Toronto) and he said Sergeant Major McDowell had told '• him that he heard from the Chief of police of Hamilton and *' McGlogan, that I was a government detective, and that he " (Murphy) was to notify the boys to be careful of me." McGlogan, on the contrary, swears that he never told McDowell who Armstrong was ; but we look in vain through the sworn statement of Carruthers for any such disclaimer. Carruthers must have been in a position to give this information from the moment Armstrong's note- book had fallen into his hands. This was on the 3rd March. That this note-book was at once scanned and the result that Armstrong was a detective drawn from it we have the means of knowing. Two days after, March 5th, the Hamil- ton correspondent of the Toronto Olobe wrote " It is a fact " that certain entries are found in his (Armstrong's) pocket- *' books relating to money received by him from Mr. W. H. " Childp and other well known agents." Hence the conjec- ture that he was a detective officer. Murphy now, by his " -^ account, tried to turn the tables on Armstrong. How io phy bar' suspected Armstrong to be a detective thei ' . neans of knowing positively ; but it is reasonable to suppose that he would not be long in learning of a fact that had been published in the newspapers. Nineteen days after the announcement in the Toronto pii^"»ers that Armstrong was a government detective, according to McDowell (letter to the Leader and the Gldbe^ June 1, 1865,) Murphy told him (on or about the 25th March) that Armstrong had offered him (Murphy) $15 000 of counterfeit money at fifteen cents on the dollar. Murphy said he would take the whole —at least so he swears — and if so he probably wanted to get an offer of it from Armstrong^ that he might use it in case anything might go wrong. Armstrong had shown him two new bank bills, both of them good, as specimens of what he could do in conterfeiting. Murphy took over $50 from Armstrong, on an engagement to go to Montreal with six men to commit a robbery. Murphy^s story indicates that, from the moment he suspect- ed Armstrong to be a detective, he determined to be on the safe side, and that after communicating with those members of the police force, in the two cities with whom he had a suspicious acquaintance, he was advised to get Armstrong into his own trap if possible, and acted accordingly. But this is not consistent with other facts sworn to as noto- rious. The robbery to be committedin Montreal by Murphy's gang, ^was ot a silk store, which had been already entered and " weeded out" to the amount of $2000. The lock had been "fitted" and all that had to be done was to turn the manufactured key once more. This was to be a great rob- bery, and was to be covered up by the burning of the premises. Of the men selected by Murphy for this work one had served a term in a State prison, and was more likely] to go into real than sham robberies. On the 24th of May Murphy told Armstrong that he had learned from McDow- ell that Armstrong was a detective, and that he was to tell the boys to beware of him. Murphy gave this reason, Armstrong swears, for not going to Montreal. It was now evi- dent that no more discoveries could be made through Murphy, and his arrest was determined upon. Murphy was therefore arrested on the night of the 25th May, at his house on the Kingston Koad, near Toronto, and next day Sergeant-major McDowell attempted to repeat what Chief Carruthers of the Hamilton police had previously done under similar circumstances — to get Armstrong arrested. With this view he took to Captain Prince, Chief of the Toronto police, two men, one of them a brother-in-law to Murphy— and in- troduced them as among the most respectable men in the city, saying that they could prove that Annstrong had engaged them to go to Montreal to commit a burglary. But of course this attempt did not succeed. Finding his name connected by witnesses on the investigation into the charges against th6 Hamilton Police, with Murphy, McDowell published a letter in the Toronto papers, in which he tried to put his superior officer in the wrong for refusing to cause the arrest of a government detective, whose crime was that he had used the necessary means to break up the worst gang ot burglars and incendaries that ever infested the frontier. He was promptly suspended and an investigation into his conduct ordered. Many points of the evidence in investigation have been anticipated. We have come down to the arrest of Murphy. When Armstrong went into the house Policeman Clark who was engaged in the arrest swears, Murphy said "get out, you <' d d sucker ; one of the city police has told me all " about you." The expression "sucker" was much remarked upon when this evidence was given ; it seems to be tanta- mount to saying "you have been sucking information out of " us for the purpose of using it for our injury, as this arrest " proves," what are we to underetand by the expression that a city policeman had told Murphy all about Armstrong ? According to Armstrong's evidence he told him that he was a detective ; a fact which, as we have seen, McDowell had long surmised, and there were many reasons for his suspicion : the statement of the Hamilton correspondent of the Olobe ; the fact of the arrests being made by the Sheriff's officers, and Armstrong showing what purported to be counterfeit bank bills, a common practice of American detectives. Against the direct statement of what Armstrong was told by Murphy, with such corroboration from circum- stances as have been noticed, what is there to be placed in the way of rebuttal? There is the denial of Murphy, who is anxious not to implicate himself; and it amounts to really o 84 no more than a circumstantial plea of not guilty, since he'ift to be put on trial for the part he is said to have taken in connection with the Hamilton robberies. Clark's evidence agrees with that of Armstrong; Murphy's evidence must be set aside as worthless ; and McGarry, the third person en- gaged in the arrest, seems to have acted very strangely, though it is proper to say he has hitherto borne a good reputation. The warrant for the arrest of Murphy con- tained also the name of Nevins Jones. McGarry who read tho warrant was repeatedly told to omit the second name ; but both Armstrong and Clark swear that he did neverthe- less read it. This he denies, and he is supported in his denial by Murphy. But these two interested witnesses are not entitled to belief against the sworn statements of Clark and Arm^ trong. And this rule will hold good in case of any other conflict between these witnesses. There were several other charges against McDowell ; and it is evident that his name was used with a strange familiarity by the confederated thieves; McDowell was engaged in the arrest of Mrs. Shaw, of Toronto, in Decem- ber, 1862, and Armstrong swears that Murphy told him that Jones would have been able to get a large quantity of goods from her, if the officers had not given her three hours notice of the intended arrest ; the goods being burnt in the in- terval. Kevins Jones, a very costive witness, also swears that he had a convereation with Murphy about stolen goods being burnt, and that their destruction had been oc- casioned by a notice of two or three hours being given of an intended arrest. Murphy denies that he ever mentioned Mrs. Shaw's name to Armstrong ; and George Shaw, a son of Mrs. Shaw, swears that no goods were or could, without his knowledge, have been burnt in his mother's house. Mrs. Shaw being ill was not brought to the stand ; nor did McDowell bring ex-detective Crowe, though he must have been better qualified to speak to the facts than any one 85 else. "When Mrs. Shaw was tried for stealing a fur from Mrs. Salt, it was chiefly owing to the evidence of McDowell that she was acquitted. Mrs. Shaw explained why she had a quantity of silks and other goods in her possession, at the time of her arrest, by alleging that she had received them from a Mrs. Wilson to sell. McDowell on the trial, swore that he had every reason to believe that there was such a person as Mrs. "Wilson, and that he had received information to that effect within a few days and that he hoped to be able to find her ; that she had been in the City since the 12th July ; yet both Mr. Doyle, who acted as counsel for Mrs. Salt, and Mr. McNab, County Attorney, swear that he told them on the morning of Mrs. Shaw's trial, that there were no traces of Mrs. "Wilsons Mr. Cameron, McDowell's counsel, states during the in- vestigation, that the idea was that Mrs. Wilson was no other than Mrs. Parker, one of the most expert shoplifters in the country. How had she become acquainted with Mrs. Shaw? And how did McDowell know that she had been in the City since the 12th July. Another charge was that McDowell having once arrested Tom Taylor, " about a watch," let him go for a bribe of $20, which he demanded as the condition of the prisoner's release. Taylor made this statement to Armstrong ; the best defences in this case, ought to be Taylor's evidence ; but McDowell did not put him into the box. Wliy not ? Again McDowell — this is admitted — arrested a man of the name of Weir on a charge of rape, and put down the case in the book as "drunk and disorderly," which led to Weir's discharge. The most natural way to allay the sus- picion to which this case gives rise ought to be to obtain Weir's evidence. Why was this not done ? Ex-detective Colgan swore that, about four years ago, he arrested two persons, at the ticket office of the Crystal Palace grounds, at the time of the Provincial Fair, in Toronto. He 36 canglit one of them with his hand in the pocket of Mr. Thomas Davis, and he found the papers on the person of the second. McDowell, in company with the late detective Arnold, went to him before he took the prisoners to the station, and asked them to try to get them off ; for which service, if he succeeded, the three were to get $100. " He " told me," Colgan's evidence runs, " he would speak to the ** Police Magistrate, and as he did not know them, he (McDo- " well) would get them off". The case came before the Police " Magistrate and the prisoners were discharged." McDowell, on the same day, told Colgan that Arnold had mad6 it all right ; and it was arranged that the three should meet at McDowell's house that night. They met accordingly, had some oysters and something to drink, when McDowell took out $100 in Canada bills, and divided it into three shares, two of $30 each and one $40 ; keeping the largest himself, and Arnold taking one of the others ; as to the disposal of the third Colgan refused to speak, though he admits that it was offered to him. Colgan mentioned two other cases: but these may be omitted, as they have been in a great measure explained. An attempt not wholly unsuccessful was made to show that Colgan harbored spite against McDowell. But the attempt to attribute an improper bias to Colgan's evidence was not at all successful. Sergeant major Cummins swore that he had heard Colgan say he would rid the force of McDowell; that he would be on the watch for him. McGarry swore he had heard him say he would be revenged on McDowell, but he was to seek this revenge in a legitimate way, " if lie (McDowell) ever did any thing ^ while he was in " the force, he (Colgan) would let the Commisdoners know.^^ That is simply he would denounce instead of concealing any wrong act he might discover McDowell to be guilty of. And he intended, as Sergeant-major Cummins stated, to be on the look out for any improper act of which McDowell might be guilty. This he called by the name of revenge, but it I, 1 37 certainly would not be unjust, though the motive of the act might be indefensible. Detective Mack swears that he had heard Colgon say that he never would be content till he had got McDowell out of the force, but he said nothing about the course he was going to pursue to attain that end. We have heard from the other witnesses that Colgan only in- tended to take advantage of any wrong of which McDowell might be guilty to enable him to get McDowell dismissed. Those who know him best would be incHned to estimate at very little value the evi-^ence of Mack, when his friend McDowell is concerned. Colgan's reputation is not the best, but we cannot admit that his evidence has been successfully impeached. His statement raises a very important question. How came Arnold and McDowell to know that the prisoners would give $100 to secure their release ? They were in the hands of Colgan, and could hardly have told them so then. Was therea prior agrement between them and these members of thee force that they should be allowed to " work" at the Exhibition on shares? This question cannot of course be answered, but it arises naturally from the circumstances sworn to. What are we to understand by that part of Colgan's evidence where he says McDowell told him that he would speak to the Police Magistrate, and procure the release of the prisoners— Stone and Burgess— who had picked Mr Davis' pocket, at the ticket office ? The deposition made' made by Colgan on that occasion, September 29, 1862, was just in, on the investigation into the charges against Mc Dowell ; and on reading it one is puzzeled to understand why the prisoners were released. Colgan swore : " I got ' up close behind Burgess, when I noticed his feeling round " a gentleman, and soon aCk A' r»or»fa ^jj.Wf» oxi-i • Ji-rciixl, VixU vx ii.i.\, -—.'tilicivlcu ^ti -111 rtl il. vj Xx&v-xiVKj, went to Detroit to enquire into the characters of the wit- 39 nesses against Armstrong, and he found that their state- ments were not entitled to credit. It is well that the public should understand the reasons they have for hating the detective. One of them, Sicotte, was convicted of rape, and only avoided the States' prison by escaping before sen- tence was passed. Several others of them had been reported by Armstrong in 1856-7, as connected with an extensive gang of counterfeiters, at Detroit, over thirty of whom were sent to States' prison through Armstrong's exertions. Bill Champ, fire Marshall, Stephen H. Purdy, Police Justice, both of Detroit, were so reported; so was Duncan McKeilar, tavern keeper of Port Huron, and his house described as the rendezvous of thieves and counterfeiters. Ladrobt, De- puty Sheriff of Detroit, allowed one O'Mady, one of the counterfeiters, to escape from custody ; and Thomas Finn was convicted of the States prison offence of having assaulted Archibald Greer with a view of releasing a prisoner who was under arrest for a serious crime. Wm. P. Yerks an- other of the certifiers, was actively engaged in trying to get the counterfeiters free, though nothing criminal was brought home to hini. The decision of the Police Commissioners, Mr. Boomer and Mr. Medcalf, in the case of McDowell, frees him on one point, and leaves him to be proceeded against crimin- ally on the charge made by Colgan, that he took money from thieves to protect them and divided it with one or two other members of the force. It is in these words : " The charge against Sergeant-major McDowell, of complicity with Mm-phy, we do not consider sustained by the evidence. With respect to the charge made by the late Detective Colgan, the County Attornev will, we have no doubt, deal with that or any other cr" ninal charge made against Mc- Dowell during the investigation." i< CAPTAIN TOW" TAYLOR. i» CHAPTER III. " Captain Tom.'*— His History and Character.— Extensive Acquaintances among Thieves.—" Squaring" a Policeman — Operations in Canada.— Thieves' "work" —The Hamilton Headquarters .~A " Bobby's" " Piece." — How Pockets are Picked.— "Till-diving'* in a "Big Push.**— « Stalls."— A Novel Challenge and Contest — Taylor the Champion "Knuck." — How Provincial Exhibitions are " Worked."- A Neat Thing in Silk — " Cross-Coves" in Luck.— Taylor finally arrested. — His prewnt Abiding Place. In the foregoing narrative I have dealt only witli the operations of the gang therein shewn to have been combined together against the peace and welfare of society. I pur- pose now to give brief sketches of its personnel — to show the character of its principal members — so that, while the ingenuity with which crime is sometimes carried on may be exhibited, the lives of the criminals themselves, chequered as they are, but still affording much that is instructive, may be understood and appreciated. There is something in the study of the criminal character to attract the enquiring mind- It has its lights as well as its hideous shades, and though in the main selfish and brutal it is not without a tinge of sad- ness — reflections of former innocence are not forbidden to tho robber — that surrounds it with a melancholy interest. The halo of romance casts a kind of lustre even upon the villainous cut-throat of modern civilization, as it did upon the accomplished and murderous bandit of a remoter period. The leading spirit of the gang in Upper Canada was un- doubtedly " Tom " Taylor, although Parker for a time was looked upon as its iniquitous head. The latter, however, although his desperate escape at Hamilton showed him to be audacious and reckless to an extreme, lacks many qualifi- cations necessarv to constitute a chief amoner criminals, and these Taylor possesses in an eminent degree. He has great u physical powers-no mean attribute amongst this class-is ingenious and fertile in resources, and withal bears ap- parently such an open and honest mien that suspicion unaided would be loath to settle upon him as a dangerous c-iminal. This appearance of innocence is given by an ab- sence of the "flash" style which many of the "swell-mob" affect when in a prosperous condition, and by a wdl-studied and successful affectation of the airs and manners of a country "yokel." Taylor is an Irishman by birth ; and his proper name— which he has discarded for years-is, I believe, Pat Brennan He has given it to bo understood that he once served on board a man-of-war and was discharged at Halifax, but this is a fiction invented without purpose as far as can be discovered. The thieving propensity was developed in him at a very early age, and from childhood in fact he has lived in an atmosphere of crime and debauch. He has roamed over a large part of the continent, and has lived at various places in the United States and Canada for a dozen years past. He has honored Quebec, Montreal, Hamilton and Toronto with his presence, making occasional trips to the States to diversify his employment and give him a passing glimpse of life among the "fast" men and women of the chief cities of the republic. He is well acquainted with burglars, thieves and pickpockets throughout both countries, and is ever at home with all of them. Wherever he imagined he could succeed Taylor's first effort was to get as many policemen as possible ^' squared." This IS thieves' parlance and means in plain English bribed. Unfortunately lor the proper administration of justice Tay- lor's success in this line was considerable. He had a most msmuating way with a *' peeler," and often before the latter took time to reflect upon Ms conduct he found himself many dollars the richer from Taylor's generosity, and under - . _!ji wnivii. gave mm lull immunity, as far as that policeman was concerned, to practice his evil calling. 46 About four years ago a number of alarming robberies were comm ited in Montreal. Stores wore broken into and large quantities of valuable goods stolen. Taylor was one of the party that effected these crimes, and he reaped a profitable harvest from his operations. He was associated with several other hardened criminals, whose meeting-place was a saloon kept at that time by one Alexander Gallagher, who was as <* hard" as his customers, and has since found a proper resting-place in one of the State Prisons of the neighboring country. The offences of this gang were winked at by the Montreal detectives, who had been duly " squared" by Taylor's adroitness, receiving a good share of the plunder and taking it, of course, in cash, not in kind. Finally, Montreal got too hot to hold the gang, rotwithstand- ing their protecting friends in blue, and they were obliged to leave. Thieves often have "pals" or particular associates who aid them in their enterprises and divide the spoils. Three years ago Taylor had an Englishman as his "pal," a man known as " Cockney Bill," an accomplished *' cracksman" of the old London school, whicH turns out some of the most finished scoundrels in Christendom. " Cockney Bill" and Taylor " worked" together for a year in Toronto, Montreal and other cities, and their labors were not without success? for the proceeds of their robberies — heavily discounted as they were by the " fences," or receivers of stolen property — were sufficient to support them in idleness and debauch for over a year, when the " pals" separated. Thieves dignify their crime by the name of labor. "When they are contem- plating or carrying out a robbery of any kind they are amongst themselves politely said to be "working." After the Montreal robberies — in which Taylor now says three of the Toronto police whom, with one exception he will not name-=-Wcre impiicritcd vvith tiic thieves, his rea- 46 son for this reticence is that he may, when he gets out want his old chumi to work with Frofessionality— that is tlie word he uses again. Taylor went to Hamilton, wliere perhaps he had previously visited, and made it his principal headquarters. From this place he made incursions into the States and to other Canadian cities, but always returned to Hamilton as to his home, and spent there what he had dishonestly made elsewhere. It was in this way he formed acquaintances among the Hamilton police, a small and needy force, and was successful in "squaring" some of them, among the rest— as recent events have shown— the heads of the force, with "Johnny" Patterson, the Aldern.an who is now urgently " waiited"by the authorities. ' On one of these excursions Taylor got " nabbed" at Baltimore for picking a lady's pocket, but his happy faculty of making things pleasant with a policeman did not desert him. He slyly gave the officer his " piece"— that is a bribe— and the complacent " star" conveniently looked the other way while Taylor walked off and quickly left Baltimore behind him. This little bit of official venality was afterwards discovered in a manner WQrth relating. One of Taylor's friends had got into trouble at Baltimore and Taylor thought it his duty to aid him in getting out of it. Accordingly be wrote a letter to the imprisoned " bloke" in which he ad vised him that « tly-cop" so-and-so, naming the policeman in question, had been duly and properly " squared" and that « if you ' see' him you will not be cop't dead to rights'^ -the equivalent for which slang is, that ifthe prisoner gave the policeman money means would be devised for eettino. him out of limbo. This letter, on being sent to the prison ei^ was read by his jailors and transmitted to the Chief of Police of Baltimore, who took action against the purchased police- man and endeavoured through the Buffalo Dolice to procure Taylor to testify against the officer. ^Captain Tom however, kept quiet and took care to aav noMnir,^ f,,..i--' to prejudice the case of his friend in blue. 4n Besides being an adept at house-breaking, Taylor is a very clever pickpocket, and it was this branch of his business that he chiefly carried on during his flying visits to the TJnited States. There was less risk about it, and it did not, like burglary, require much time to plan and effect. Picking a pocket or « till diving," as the thieves elegantly term it, is sometimes an easy and often a very neat and dexterous achievement. In a " big push," that is a great crowd, the operation is quite simple of accomplishment. The pressure of the crowd is favourable to the " cly faking" fraternity, who " graft in" in the coolest manner, while the innocent victims are deeply concerned about their corns and elbows. Most pick-pockets who attend these crowds — either at a meeting, a funeral, a procession, a wedding or a street fight — and who are known as " knucks," are accompanied by another called a "stall" and sometimes by a second «* gon- noff*" who acts as a receiver. It is the business of the " stall" to stand beside or in front of the intended victim, so as to form a cover for the pickpocket. The *• stall" will push against the person to be robbed, and at the critical moment so divert his attention that the thief behind can extract his ««skin" (purse,> or "thimble" (watch) without attracting attention. Amongst the devices of the " stall" is one often resorted to with success. The " flat" who is in a " push" may be 'cute enough to keep his hand over his pocket-book or watch, knowing thieves 'to be around, and it is an object with the " stall" to get him to remove his hand so that the pickpocket can perform his work, for which a moment generally suflSces. Other expe- dients failing, the " stall" gently tickles the ear of the victim with the point of his finger, a straw or a piece of paper. The "flat" takes his hand away from his pocket, slaps it upon his ear, which he forthwith energetically rubs, and in the meantime the thief, having the desired opportunity, re- lieves him of his valuables. To discover whether a person is worth the trouble of "going through" or robbing, the .onsiti.e arc the digits of tl.eso gentry tS^ Z^ ^'^f'o^ely Bi'o generally sulHcient to tell them wL H , "'^ '"''' Ho then makes a si™ to Z i ^ '""='''-'' conW"". i.>an inconcei:;:,;iC ^j; J°^^^^^^ -* it requires a little more attL«n„ , ^"y'"""' '"''«"'' inetaneethopockctof ho SmraS ""' "'"" '"' dive into than usual. i„ :T:::T"':::ftT ducod. This is a piece of wire bent fl.tnn„ """ /f ""ro- inserted into the poeket isTontlv Im,? ' T''''^'' ''<'■'''? l.ri.e hooked at the end of rJhXX.tffi ""'"'"' engage the '.flat" that he will no .• f' ' '° '"^ by which he is robbed. Th^'le oL '^nn'o^rC"" IlensUstandTa'aiCe^ffar " ll "^ ^""- the pnrso or watch so ZTif ''"""•>' ^"""'"^^ detected he has no hU on 1'* "'" ''^'"''' P'^^^P^oket i« very short confinemt^l he IrtTa*: 'r""t ^"'"- ^ So expert are these people TnlT """ then suffer, plunder that it is oflei'^pS from ^'7^ ^'"^ '""''^ skirts of a large crowd in „ ffwlIndsTf™ ."5 "" °"'- the "flat." At night and wlfl f "**'' *''''^" fr»™ dense, "knucks" S'n g' ^^e 1^"'. " J'"""''*'''^ abettor, so easily are pLIedtn 1 7 T "*" "'• «"'«•• the thi f feel oi hTsS 7 '""' '° '=°"^''«'>' ^oes among the deteeti: of e tf Z'llT'T '''''^''' line. He was on board a cro:ld 'sirortr " "f Kingston in 1863, where the ProvincTaT Exh r. '^ '" then being held. Othem of the same Mn ^^'"'""°" ^^«« 4» do no "businoss" on the ])oat, ])ut as it neared Kingston an altercation sprang np amongst them as to which was the quickest and shai-pest " knnck" of the number. " The doc- tor'» said to Taylor that Billy Baker, who was on board, and who has the reputation of being the cleverest pickpocket in the United States, could " go through more men" in a given time than Taylor. The latter quietly rejoined that he thought otherwise, and Baker thereupon challenged Taylor to the novel trial of skill, the crowd on the steamer affording a fine field for their enlightened labors. The challenge was accepted, it being agreed that "skins" only should be counted, and that he who exhibited the greatest number of pocket-books when the boat landed should be entitled to the nefarious championship. So to " work" they went, " stalls" were dispensed with, the croivd being largely composed of " greeneys," and there was presently such a howling outcry on board the steamer, when the victims dicovered their loss, that the thieves split with laughter. The piteous cries of poor wights who had lost their little stores, so carefully husbanded for this pleasure jaunt, the indignant shouts of others who had lost watches as well as money, the mean- ings of women whose pockets and persons had been rified of purses and jewelry— all had no effect upon these wretches except to make tbem laugh the merrier as the rascally competition proceeded. Taylor and Baker elbowed their way through the crowded boat, looking as unsophisticated as any backwoodsman on board, and *^ worked" with marvellous ease and success. They con- tinued at it busily till the wharf was reached, when they quickly disappeared and made for the appointed rendezvous, where upon examination it {was found that Taylor had 44 pocket books, while Baker could produce only 42. " Captain Tom" was hailed as the " champion knuck"by all the enthusiastic "cross-coves" who were present. 50 The thieves were very active at this exhibition, and did a thriving business both in the town and at the fair grounds where the Provincial Penitentiary almost cast its shade over them. But it Had little terror for them. Like gamblers these rascals trust a great deal to luck, and they will rob and steal under circumstances that alone would make an honest man pale with fear. Even under the gallows pick- pockets are known to ply their calling. There was a fair division of labour between Taylor and the New Yorker, Billy Baker. The former took booths and other places at the fair and " went through" every man he came across who had a wallet in his pocket. Baker attended to the " go aways,"—the persons who left the city in the evening by rail or steamer, and who in the bustle and confusion of departure offered tempting opportunites to the expert "gun." "The doctor" performed the office of " stall" for eithor as occasion served. Before the « cross-coves" left Kingston they effected a neat little operation upon a silk draper by which they came into possesion of a considerable quantity of silk. The goods were quietly conveyed to Toronto and thence to Jeffrey's house in Hamilton by the "doctor," who, it may here be stated, has since gone to the States and got into some misunderstanding with the police. The latter took an unfair advantage of him and he finds himself now de- prived of his liberty, a great injustice in his estimation. Some short time after the silk was stored at Jeffrey's it was feared by the thieves that the Toronto police were going to search for it at the house, and one night after midnight it was removed to Dundas. It was subsequently taken to Buffalo and disposed of there to a receiver of the Jewish persuasion. A " cove" named John Berry was concerned in this robbery, and with Taylor stopped at the Montreal house in Toronto after it was accomplished. There Berry was arrested, but as there was no legal proof of his guilt he had to SI be di^chirged. He and Taylor then returned to Hamilton, where no doubt they had each their " whack out of the pile " and spent it gloriously. From this period Taylor resided in Hamilton till he was arrested through the instrumentality of Detective Arm- strong. He made occasional visits to Toronto and other places, wherever he could do a little business in his peculiar line, and continued this life of crime till his career was arrested by the shrewd enquiries of Armstrong. He is now safely confined within the stone walls of the Penitentiary at Kingston, and a greater scoundrel they do not enclose. He is a most daring and determined thief, and would stop at nothing to effect a bold stroke of robbery or to cover up all traces of his crime. Society is well purged of him, and if only for getting rid of him alone Armstrong is entitled to the thanks of the community. Taylor is now upwards of forty years of age. He has dark eyes and dark complexion, with a powerful thick set frame capable of much endurance. He has a very subdued appearance, but an experienced observer would discover in his furtive glances as he walked along, grounds for suspect- ing him to be something other than the honest man he as- sumes to be. i4)S I CHAPTER IV. of Mrs. Shaw.— A Visit to thn Sf^itM o«^ «.„ b 5 W"e.~Acquaintance Modest PropLl to a Chief% pfe^^^ Escape.-A ^ohherje.JvaT^^r'B\^p^JJt -^'"^ '' ^«« received.-The Gates ParL-er alias Joe Briggs, a leading spirit of the gan'r iust broken up, is a brother-in-law of " Captain Tom's," having mamed his sister, who is as idroit at shoplifting as her husband is at picking a pocket. In personal appearance larker IS small and insignificant, but though he lacks strength he has plenty of spirit, and when driven into a tight corner would not hesitate at any desperate plan to get out 0. It. He has a dark, swarthy complexion, with a keen, piercing eye, whicii rolls uneasily when he suspects danger m the form of an honest policeman, to be lurking near. In 18C1 Parker arrived in Toronto from JSTew York armed with letters of introduction from the " head gonnoff'' of mw York city, a man who possesses great influence over the fraternity in all parts of the Northern States and Canada He was accompanied by his wife, and was welcomed by a Jew "fence" who at that time kept a jewelry store on Kin- btreet East, under cover of which he had many quie^t transactions in stolen goods of various kinds. Parker's first move in Toronto was to establish relations with one of the city detectives, who from the numerous "pieces" with which his palm had been tickled by the " coves" came justly to be regarded by them as a " square cop" who would not ''blow" upon them or otherwise do them harm, A satisfactory understanding arrived at between them, the nature oV r'J 53 which it is not necessary more minutely to detail, Parker lost no time in entering upon his peculiar business. He could afford, however, to " work" at his leisure, the detective being so thorouglily in the pay of the gentry that he was unable to make an arrest of any recognized member of the '' cly-faking" gang. It was only independent operators of no account that he could venture to interfere with, and this he had to do occasionally to keep up appearances. Picking pockeis being Parker' a forte rather than bur- glary, it was to this branch of the profession he turned his attention. He cngao:ed the services of a " Reformatory" boy who had been sent out of England with others as a use- ful and valuable class of emigrants, and the two commenced to "work" the trains corning into the city. Passengers by the Grand Trunk Railway from the East at night were the favorite game of tlio promising pair. The manner in which they pursued it is worth noticing. On the evening appoint- ed for a " haul" Parker would proceed to the Union Station a short time before the expected arrival of the train, and the boy at the same time would proceed to the Don Station, about a mile and a half to the east. When the train reached the latter point the boy would get on board and eagerly scan the passengers, " spotting" those who were likely to have the most money or valuables in their posses- sion. He was thus prepared without loss of time to point out the most profitable looking victims to Parker, when the train reached the Union Station, and that worthy was enabled at once to determine the matter by appropriating, the contents of the unsuspecting traveller's pockets. He would stand at the door of tlie car— one hand holding a handkerchief to his tace, the other plying nimbly in and out of the pockets of the persons who crowded out to. reach the platform. He has been known to operate in this manner while four policemen were in the vicinity looking' for the pickpocket whose doings had been reported to the 54 authorities. They failed to detect him, either through the treachery of the " square cop" or their own want of sagacity. On one occasion Parker, who then passed by the name of Briggs, was pointed out to his detective, Jerry Arnold by name, as likely to be the pickpocket. He scouted the idea, remarking— " It's impossible. I'm too well posted as to the look of thieves to mistake hi.m for one." ^ And thus Briggs plied his trade with impunity. Sometimes the "gquare-cop" would meet him after the work was done, and quietly say to him, " Come and see me." A mysterious passage from the " knuck" to the detective would quietly and quickly follow, and the latter would then walk away with the satisfied air of a man who had dis- charged a debt of hospitality. His satisfaction arose, however, from another feeling. '< Come and see me" is a phrase that does not mean, when addressed to thieves, a kindly invitation to a visit, but amounts to a plain in- timation that he who employs it wants a share of the proceeds of some robbery ho has seen effected, as the price of his silence. The words "come and see me, " accompanied with an out- stretched hand have, generally a magical effect on a thief. He at once draws forth the plunder and divides it, or in some other way satisfies the person who is so urgent in his demand to be seen. The phrase is much in vogue too amongst blacklegs,— the fellows who throw dice on a ^*| sweat-board" at the fair or races, the thimble rigger, the Hhree card monte" man, et hoc genus omne. When a " green one" is to be taken in and done by means of a sweat-board, which is simply an excuse for robbery, he is usually seduced to his fate by the marvellous success of some knowing one w'^o is playing with desperate eagerness with the blackleg, and to whom he is apparently an entire stranger. This individual invariably wins, and he finally walks off with a lot of money. The countryman, seeing this " luck," is tempted 66 to try himself, and he invariable loses. It is impossible to win except when the blackleg pleases, and he pleases to allow it very seldom when a " greenhorn" is concerned. The first individual whose success was a bait for the unso- phisticated is known as a " capper." He belongs to the same fraternity as the blackleg, who meets him after the days' work is done and invites him to " come and see" him. The " capper" '* sees" him by returning a portion of the money he has won, retaining the balance as payment for his professional services. Briggs was obliged to abandon his operations upon the trains by the outcry that was at length created by them. They had been exceedingly profitable while they lasted, and he could afford to spend a period of elegant leisure. In the meantime his wife had not been idle. Several cases of shop- lifting occurred about that period in which she had a hand ; and if some merchants in Toronto missed goods in an un- accountable manner, they may safely set down the loss to her presence in the city. It was while carrying on this work that she became acquainted with Mrs. Shaw. Mrs. Briggs, as we have seen, is the woman referred to as Mrs. Wilson, whom Sergeant major McDowell, at the trial of Mrs. Shaw, w?is sanguine of securing, but of whom the public has heard nothing since. After spending a few weeks of dignified ease, Parker, ac- companied by his excellent and faithful spouse, went 'to the States, where he " worked" trains at one place and another with considerable success. This is described by thieves as a light and agreeable occupation, which often turns out remarkably profitable. How it can be carried on so extensively without conductors or other railway oflicials detecting it more frequently than they do is some- what of a mystery. In the followino- vear, 1862, Parker honored Toronto with another visit. He put up at a hotel on King Street, 56 and his wife actually stayed at the house of the detec,iv„ who had been ■' squared" a year before. The husbtd I once eommonced operations at the trains a^ain bT J;t;apfd\T„:re'i f ;Hs:rrs "r/ "'-• one's pocket at the station when Constab e McBtn tb' does special duty there, singled hi. out asfe^Im offender and made towards him to arrest him. PaXr 7 ^mng h.s object, took to flight, and running alt tie Esplanade turned up towards tlie Parliament T'f- where soldiers are now garrisoned On IcMnfT' grounds he darted into them, hotly pursued by tt L rnan Some soldiers seeing ,he ^.[30^, u^ ^tf tt 8 and and McBrien tookhim into custody. Upon earchin him, however, nothing co,Ud be found He had TrI? away the stolen pocket-book, and there being no ovidn^e^: convict h mi he was liberated by the magistrate AfLr fh 1 ■ was more careful in his operations, andCeltt S have h,s w,fe waiting for him at the station w th a wS coat, which, after picking a pocket or twT ^ ,! exchange for his dark one "and tZs escape de^^t picKpocJiets, and while nearly half-a rln^nr, , t were on the alert to " nab" him. policemen It was towards the end of this vonr fi^nf m ot arrested on a charge of shopSir "^nd ^7;? trst;i;re!:nr ^-- --^-'-^ra: Shirs ofVs^Sn-USr^ar^^'^ ''' '--^^'- Having escaped the meshes of the law, Parker made « foray mto the States, halting at Buffalo to ascertain he chances of "working" there with success and p ofi In accordance with his practice his ti,.t object was t . ga b tl^ favor of some one connected with the police foi'c e, a d 57 summoniDg move thaa customary impudence he addressed himself at once to headquarters. Meeting the Chief of Police he modestly asked him if he would not be allowed to " work" in Buffalo on payment of a consideration. The wily officer seemed to favor the proposition, and enquired of the scamp what he would be prepared to pay for the pri- vilege. Parker, highly pleased at the turn the negociations were taking, said he was prepared to deal in the most liberal spirit, and for the pleasure of being winked at by so honest and worthy a gentlemen as the Chief, he would bo willing to " fork out" at the rate of $60 or $70 a week, taking his chances of doing a remunerative business while he remained in the city. If this would not satisfy the ex- pectations of the gentleman whose protection was asked, Parker said he would undertake to pay him tifny per cent. of the net profits of every operation, giving his word of honor as a gentleman that a fair division should be reo-u- larly made. The Chief, Mr. Darcey, whose object in listening to these overtures was to obtain information about others if he could, said the offer was a pretty fair one, and he would consider it. Parker was too shrewd, however to criminate any one in his conversations with the Chief, and failing to get anything out of him Darcey had him and his wife arrested and sent to the house of correction as vagrants. After serving a short time in this useful institution Parker, much chagrined at his humiliating failure in Biiffiilo, pro- ceeded to Cleveland, where he "worked" on the railway trains for some time, and picked up enough to maintain him and his virtuous spouse in a life of idleness. Driven out at length by the watchfulness of the police, he returned to Hamilton and renewed his acquaintance with Jeffrey and the other members of the band who gathered there. Besides engaging in the burglarious offences previously re- counted, he {attended concerts, theatres and other places where crowds congregate, and many a victim who at these ¥ t 58 gatherings was surprised to find that he had lost a watch or other valuable, will now have a shrewd suspicion as to the manner m which he was despoiled. Parker also made it a pomt to be present at every volunteer review that took place throughout the country, and at these he and his asso- ciates often made ^Mieavy hauls." One was hold last summer at DrummondviUe, near the Falls of Niagara, at which the thieves did a large business, although there was a strong detective force upon the ground. The prevalent opinion that Parker is a bold and desperate villain, and that as such he was the leader par ex- cellenoe of the gano^, is founded upon the incidents of his escape from Karrnlton after the disclosures of detective Armstrong. This, however, was but a single act of desper- ation, to which he was driven when he found hinself in a tight place, and is not characteristic ot the man. The facts of :his escape are as follows :-A warrant having been issued for the search of Parker', house, after the robbery of Messrs. (^afccs & Co s storb, it wt s entrusted to Mr. Milne, one of the Sheriif's officer's of Hamilton, to execute. Milne tak- mg ^ posse of assistants went to Parker's house, on M^errick Street, about 6 o'clock on the morning of the 24th of Feb- ruary. It was arranged by Armstrong, who at that time was known only to a few to be a detective, and who was believed by the burglars to bo one of themselves, that the visit should be made at four o'clock when it was expected that nearly all the gang would be in the house dividing the spoils taken at Gates & Go's. For some reason, however, Milne was two hours late, and it is sup- posed that in tJie interval some of the parties left the house. At any rate when Milne arrived there only Parker his wife and the children, with Tom Taylor, were in the house. Milne having stationed his men around the building so as to prevent escape, demanded admittance. This bemg refused the officers went to work' to force the door, /"atch or 8 to the ade it a lat took lis asso- 3ld last ?ara, at ere was Jsperate yar ex- i of his Jtective desper- If in a e facts L issued Messrs. one of le tak- Cerrick f Feb- t time 10 was lat the t was house some s sup- house. 3r, his house, ing so This door, 59 and while this was going on Parker called out that he would blow ont the brains of the iirst man who entered. Nothing daunted by this threat the constables forced the door, Parker then having locked himself into a room on the ground-floor in the back part of the house adjoining the passage, the door to which the constables were breaking in. Out of the window of this room Milne saw some one put his hand with a revolver and fire along the wall towards the door. Milne had provided himself with a revolver — indeed all the officers had armed themselves for the expedition — and drawing it he fired towards tbe window. The man in the room fired once more, from or through the window, and then boldly jumped through it into the yard, firing again as he reached the ground. He revealed himself to the officers as Parker, but giving them little time to gaze at him he made for a fence in the rear of the premises. In running to this several shots were exchanged between him and the officers, but none took effect, and Parker reached in safety a small gate in the fence, through or over which he went at abound, and springing lightly over a shed in the next premises made his escape through some livery stables, while the astonished officers were enquiring of each other whether any one was hurt. This was the last seen of Par- ker, who forthwith fled the city and is believed to be in one of the "Western States. Those who remained in the house were easily secured, namely, Tom Taylor and his sister, Mrs. Parker. An examination of the premises showed that in- genious preparations had been made for the concealment of stolen goods, of which a considerable quantity was discover- ed. There were about 250 pairs of gloves, besides pieces of cotton, flannel, silk and ribbons — the whole sufficient in quantity and value to start a good country store. The character of the inmates of the house was indicated by the discnvfirv of bnro-lars' tools. fiVfilpifon kftvs. fnses fnr blowing; open locks, dark lanterns and other articles of a like character. 60 CHAPTER V. '^''"heir'^'H;:;;^fWr'' '» 1»« •^T^JI^ ^^ Hamilton.-rnterior of a « gamblin. 11 B career as a horse thief and counteZter L" jSny "^^^^^^ ^Z'J- 1 wigging. '-Weeding out.»-Incendiari8m.-Futur8 dovolopmenta The noted individual, James Jeffrey, has been a resident of Hamilton for several years past. A roue and a gambler he was a fit subject of crime, and he did not long make Hamilton us home till he lent himself willingly to the schemes of those by whom he was surrounded. The keeper of a house of pubhc resort, it became the headquarters of the vile and the debased, and thither all who lived upon their wits and preyed upon others made their way as soon as they reached the city. Jeffrey received them with open arms, and haying the reputation of being a jolly " sport" was <' hail- fellow-well-met" with the whole of them. As well as bein<. the favorite home of the fast fraternity, Jeffrey occasionally lured the unwary to his domicile and getting them there did not scruple about " taking them in." The toils were cleverly set, and many a victim fell into them and afterwards rued it. After the anest of Jeffrey a visit was made to "his resi- dence by the Tolice Magistrate and several gentlemen interested in the robberies that have been committed, together with a sufficient number of constables to enforce respect for their orders. Descriptions of what was seen by these gentlemen have appeared in the public press, and to re cop,'* these I am mainly indebted for tlie particnlarB which follow* The residonco of Mr. Jeffrey ia situated on the north side of Market street, between McNab and Park streets, and is a frame building two stories in height. The first floor was consecrated to domestic uses and plainly furnished. The most noticeable feature, an observer remarks, was Mr. Jeffrey s penchant for bibles and other religious works, the collection embracing several elegant volumes. The second floor was devoted to other and less pious purposes, being no less than what is known as a " gambling hell" of the very worst character. The examination shewed the existence of ingenious appliances to enable the sharpers who frequented the house to swindle the victims whom they enticed to the house. In the garret over the room devoted to " the tiger' a system of wires was discovered, leading in various direc- tions, and places arranged where blacklegs could be concealed who, by means of small orifices in the ceiling could quickly and easily survey the cards held by the players below. The wires enabled them, by understood signals, to communi- cate to their brother blacklegs who were in the secret the cards held by their opponents, who could thus be fleeced of their money at the discretion of the sharpers, "^he signals were conveyed by movements of the paper on the walls of the ffamblinff-room and were made without noise and in such a manner as to attract only the attention of the party or parties who watched the particular spot on the wall^ The pattern of the paper had doubtless been caretully se- lected to favor the working of the villanous apparatus. The ceiling was papered the same as the walls, and the gmall holes through which the confederates of the gamblers watched the game were made in a figure of the pattern, where they would escape the closest scrutiny from those below. The apparatus was tested by the visitors and was found to work readily at the will of the operator. It had no doubt been frequently employed to despoil untortunate vie- time of money which perhaps was the savings of a life or purloined from some employer who little guessed the prac- tices of those whom he trusted. In the gambling-room was a variety of articles and singular contrivances used by gen* tlemen who pursue this vocation. There was a faro table — the veritable " tiger" in " bucking" which many a wight has smarted severely — with its green cover and cards pro- perly arranged for the betting man. There was the little ball and cups apparatus, a most efficient toy for cutting one's eye-teeth ; loaded dice and " advantage" boxes for shaking up the little jokers ; marked cards of many varieties to swindle the uninitiated who touched them, and some de- vices employed by enterprising gentlemen who indulge in the " confidence game" — such, for instance as a British six- pence which, by being relieved of a thin shell, could be converted into an American dime, and again reduced to a smaller piece by a similar process, much to the astonishment of the individual who, trusting to his optics, is induced to stake his money on the fact of the piece being a veritable " Yorker." In short, as a reporter humorously puts it, *• Mr. '* Jeffrey's cabinet included all the requisites for exhibiting " to unsophisticated humanity the entire elephant, from the *' tip of his attenuated proboscis to the final kink of his sym- •' metrical tail." A closet below contained boxes of carpenter and other tools, keys, burglars' tools, and " twigs," the use of which I will describe hereafter. A very fine vice was also fixed up, concerning which one of Jeffrey's children innocently remarked—*' Papa used it for filing keys with." Mr. Jeffrey's study revealed a large file of newspaper extracts, having reference to robberies, and circulars offer- ing rewards for the prepetrators of great robberies in the United States and Canada. This discovery was peculiarly significant. The private papers of the gentleman were quite extensive, showing that he had extensive ** business" con- nections- D.S was indeed the fact- as ws have seen. Mr. I ' C3 Jeffrey's lares and ponatea looked favorably upon art, of which ho seems to have been a votary, after a manner. His collection of pahitings and prints was largo if not very choice. The subjects were of that delicate character known as " sporting pictures," hardly adapted for a public arts exhibition. Ilis album of cartes de visile presented many a dubious phiz, the possessor ot which might bo capable of '* cracking a crib" or relieving one of a " dummy" or " thimble" in scientific style. To recount further the vir. tues of this excellent gentleman, it must be added that he was a true sport, and the kennels in his back yard were well stocked with a noble pack of rat and fighting dogs, including black and tan, and a pug bull of most un amiable mien. On the premises were large quantities of cigars, fragments of cloth, a lar^,e bundle of silk cravats, and a variety of articles not usually necessar}'- in the domestic economy of a well-regulated family. Mr. Jefi'rey kept a chronological record of the Jeffrey " dynasty" which was printed, framed and hung up in several rooms. The patri- arch of the house was James Jeffrey, born August 20, 1791. Then follows a list of six or eight names, bringing the record down to April 2, 1823, when the present James Jeffrey awoke to life and entered upon his career of usefulness. He ia now safely ensconced in the jail at Hamilton, and it is to be hoped will get his just deserts. He is of sanguine temperament, and exhibits a phrenological development not particularly adapted for a missionary or a professor of moral ethics. The interesting creature, Mary Edwards, is the unwedded partner of Jeffrey's joys and sorrows. She has linked her lot with his for sixteen years past, and is now perhaps thirty-five years of age. She retains some traces of former good looks, and displays a " style" that would bo appreciated by many of a peculiar class. It is said that Mary did not intend to re- iUUiXii, lUU^Ul Willi UOii.icV ti-lci-LX liiisa >jUi.ijLiij\,i , xjivj llivrXu^ l»-wij 64 by a long course of debauch, many of hm ™o„7 and thereby made the fair Ma,^ rather Ll^^i f "i^ announced in a friendly way to 1 1^^^ t^ "1 ^^ quite made up her mind that she would lei a h!f than Jeffrey, and if she came across him ^f ,."■ °""" to him fast." Perhaps thllZl^l^T.7''^ since fallen may causeLr affection, S Z btfc )' .T old channel, for lovely woman alway chn" tolh t, ' man. The detective Armstrong on odp 1 • '*" approaches to Mies Mary which.'al lugh si:~dr'' It, were not unkindly received. He des Sd to h^ "" more intimately acquainted with Jeffrevtll- T" order to accomplish his object ^solf sou^J?""' ""'^ '" himself in her favor. Enterino. 11 ^ . ^ «g™'>8te his most engaging smiles. "Oh, first-ratr" J^ T with a smile and a lighttoss of the head i^nded to bf '""'^ chantmg, and the convei^ation dropped ^thlL . standing, that it would not be diriicuhat T^J "■" for both these hearts to beat as 1 ^ Itve maV '""'. Armstrong's was one of the most intereS^; Sdes ln\is career as a detective at Hamilton, and the Jv^!l. u was compelled by other eventa to' « sLw hifhand' hi; The individual who hf^ara ih^ r.^ n -^ Murphy is ^ « T i ? ^f "^^ /^® "^mo of Richard }/'' Z ''huliy butcher boy" who h.. resided m Toronto for many years ff? • . ^ thirty-fiye years of no-P ^.Ta-^ •' ^ '^ ""^^ ^^^^^ J' VL years ot age, 13 medium sized and Ji^htlv bniif and a man of considerable intelbVeuce H.l. r • .' modestinhis demeanor, but hasTr;^..^.!^^^^^^^^^ > > 65 should rather be said a sly— air about him that would cause to distrust in the mind of the close obserrer. He possesses a large share of the *' cunning of the serpent," and it enabled him to cover up his misdeeds so as to decieve nearly everybody who knew him, and it was not till the startling discoveries made by Armstrong were given to the public that many acquainted with Murphy knew his real character and that of the men with whom he darkly associated. Some fourteen years ago Murphy, then little more than a lad, left his father, who carried on business as a butcher in Toronto, and went to Rochester, in the state of New York, where he hired himself out as a " butcher boy." His habita at this time we* e quiet, and he gamed the good opinion of his employer, who considered him as rather a model youth. His stay in Rochester was not very long, foi seized with the desire to roam which possesses many boys of his age he pushed on to New York, where it is believed those seeds of vice and crime were sown which have since sprung up to such injurious growth within him. A butcher boy seems proverbially to be a precocious youth, thoroughly up in the slang of the day and quite independent of parental or any other control. New York butcher boys are the fore- most of their class, and little is known worth knowing in the way of wickedness that they are not acquainted with. Thrown amongst them Murphy was not long in acquiring their habits— their worst habits— and from this period his knowledge of thieves and the lowest stratum of society ihay be dated. After this experience in New York he removed to the west, and then he returned to Canada and worked with his father in the St. Lawrence Market, Toronto. Whether he had shaken off the evil effects of his New York life or not is not known, but if he had not he was shrewd enough to keep them well concealed under the guise of a quiet and unassuming exterior. He attended B ^6 church i-egularly, was a strict member of a tempei*fthce so* ciety, and by the practice or apparent practice of these virtues was recognized as a steady, industrious and promis- ing young man. As such he paid court to and married the daughter of a respectable family living in the west end of the city, and shortly afterwards was enabled to start in busi- ness for himself. He lived in an apparently respectable manner for some years, and his affairs prospered. During this period the house in which he carried on business was destroyed by fire, under circumstances which caused some suspicion, but Murphy's character was regarded as good and the suspicion finally dropped. After a time his wife was seized with illness and died, and before any great interval he married again, the second wife being now alive. Passing some portion of his life after the fire which destroyed his premises on Queen Street, we find him be- coming very intimate with Arnold the detective, which undor ordinary circumstances one would not regard as an indication of evil on his part. It must be remembered, however, that Arnold was a "square cop," or at any rate was believed by thieves to be such, and in this aspect the in- timacy of the two men is somewhat suggestive. It was at this time Murphy, who is passionately fond of money, first became a " fence" by buying small articles from thieves, with whom he came in contact in a very quiet and concealed manner. This business was profitable, and as his gains in- creased he gradually extended his operations, so that from a dealer in small articles he came to be an extensive pur- chaser of stolen goods. These he sold in various parts, and BO skillfully did he dispose of them that no suspicion of his operations was excited. About two years ago Murphy went to Chicago and en- ' gaged in the large killing-house at that time carried on by the United States Government. Whether he was driven there by fear of discovery in Toronto, or hy some desire to 6Y return to the paths of honesty, is not clear; but whatever the motive, he did not find the work agreeable or very profitable, and he shortly abandoned it. He then went to BuflEalo and other cities in the States, but remaining long in none he returned at the end of six months to Toronto, where he obtained a stall in St. Lawrence Market and car- ried on business as butcher. From this time up to his arrest this was his ostensible employment, but the most profitable labor in which he was engaged was in putting thieves on the right track to make large "hauls" and then buy- ing the proceeds of their robberies at prices which afforded him a very liberal margin ot profit. He was too cunning to engage in robbery himself, but this was even the more iniquitous part ot encouraging and abetting it. His calling as a butcher afforr^ed an admirable cloak for the disposal of stolen goods all over the country. As a buyer of sheep and cattle he would leave town at any time without causing suspicion among those acquainted with him, and his excur- sions were frequent and sometimes protracted. As if pursued by fear, however, he usually so arranged his hours of departure and arrival that they fell either at night or early in the morning, when his movements would attract little observation and when darkness favored the unobserved handling of the luggage with which he was often burthened. In this manner, it is believed, he made away with large quantities of purloined goods, and he has frequently been seen travelling to or from the railway station at hours when it is difficult to conceive that lawful business would call him Murphy and Arnold were personally acquainted with most of the pick-pockets and burglars who at different times visited the city ; and in trips the former has made to New York since his apprenticeship there, he has had ample op- portunities of extending his knowledge amongst this class. These he availed himseil of, and whenever a "knack" or a 68 ** crackBman" arrived in Toronto he was ready either to buy goods from him or in conjunction with Arnold levy contri- butions upon him as the price of their silence. " Come and "see me" was a phrase not foreign to their vocabulary, and up to the period of Arnold's death the partnership between them continued. It is strongly suspected that they shared in the proceeds of a forgery that was cleverly effected upon a butcher in the market, and in which one Burdett alias H. B. Arnold a person well known among the " cross-coves" in New York, figured in a rather prominent manner. Although the poHce were unable to fasten this offence upon any one whom they were able to proceed against in Canada, the private information I have received points distinctly to these parties as the offenders. Since his arrest Murphy has been very careful to deny any knowledge of the p-incipal members of the Hamilton gang, and he has had opportunities of making this statement under the sanctity of an oath. In one of his depositions he stated that he was never intimate with Parker and first be- came acquainted with him at the Police Court in Toronto, when that individual was charged with picking pockets at the railway station. I am possessed of other information which contradicts tliis statement and which in my opinion is far more trustworthy. By this information lam assured that before Parker was interfered with at all by the police of Toronto, Murphy was acquainted with him and knew tlie nature of his " work" in that city. He and Arnold held meetings vrith the pick-pocket, and were in the house where he stayed, discussing with him the safety or otherwise 0£ " working" the cars as they approached the city. It wag decided by them that Parker would be tolerably secure in this ** work," because Arnold would be at the station to divert suspicion from and protect him, and both of them en. joyed the spoils reaped on that occasion. T/iase are facta /! With regard to his acquaintance with Taylor, Murphy says he knew him only as a silk pedlar. The truth is, how- ever, that Taylor never peddled silk in his life except perhaps it was some he had stolen, and that Murphy wm intimately acquainted with him and knew exactly what his character was. Such close intimacy was there between them indeed that Murphy occasionally "stalled" while " Captain "Tom" picked pockets. They frequently consulted together in a certain house in Toronto as to the best plan for carrying on the war against honesty and society. The same may be said with regard to the relation between Murphy and Jeffrey — they were as " thick as thieves," Mary Edwards to the contrary notwithstanding. Murphy was a frequent visitor to Jeffrey's house in Hamilton, and Jeffrey occasionally visited Murphy in Toronto. To believe the statements of Murphy which he has had an opportunity of making, one would look upon him as the innocent victim of the rascality of others, butaccording to Armstrong's evidence he is equally as bad as the worst ot thorn. *It is true that he had not the courage himself to rob, 80 far as I have been able to ascertain, but he aided those who did to prepare and carry oat their plans, and after- wards to dispose of the proceeds of their crimes. In this nefarious work he appears to have been prompted solely by the love of gain. He was not a gambler or a spendthrift, nor did he as a general thing frequent places where young men often waste their means, but dishonest courses resorted to by him in order to satisfy his avarice. He masked skill- fully as long as lie could, and when detection came he rea- lized fully the effects of who '^twig" would of course, have flown out, warning them to take greater pre- caution in their manner of entering the building. The " twig" being in its place would show that c verything in the place remained as it was after the inspection of it by those who " spot" for the thieves. "Weeding on ," another phrase that has been referred to, means the powers by which burglars gradually reduce a stock of goods without the owner's attention being partic- ularly called to his loss. Some burglars are very expert in selecting valuable goods from a stock in such a manner as not to disarrange other goods or give any indication of the presence of thieves. Stores can thus be repeatedly visited and robbed of their contents, whi''^ the unfortunate pro- prietor IS pUxsiing uIS uralUs tO ECCOU 7« between his receipts and the value of the ^oodt he seemi to liuvo disposed of. The cafie has been mentioned of a mer- chant in Hamilton whose store was gradually " weeded out" till he had to avail himself of the bankruptcy act. He knew there had been dishonest somewhere, but he had no idea that it was burglars who had contributed to his ruin. It was one of the practices of the gang to bum down buildings to avoid detection ; and it is believed that London, Canada West, has suffered peculiarly in this way. " A few months ago," says a local paper, the ^ree Press, *' London was known as the city of fires. A London mer- ** chant would be asked, when from home, with a certainty "that was annoying, 'have you had any more fires "lately?' and a sharp glance of the eye, if not a knowing " wink' would convey what was passing in the enquirer's ^ mind. In some cases, Montreal houses declined to do " business, so strong had the impression become against the " city. Insurance offices were anxious to withdraw their " operations to more promising fields, and a perceptible cloud ** of disgrace hung around." "When the stores of Buckley, Manning and Beaty were burned, inquests were held, and dark suspicions were muttered. It is now known that this fire was the work of the gang of burglars and incendiaries. Armstrong had learned that a fire was to takj place in Lon- don that night, and he telegraphed, by way of warning, to the manager of one of the principal insurance companies there ; but the agent to whom the despatch was sent was out of town, going eastward to Toronto, and he did not get it in time to set the necessary watch. But for this clue being obtained it is all but certain that innocent persons would have continued to suffer from un- just suspicions. But Armstrong's telegram put suspicion on another track. " If one fire in London has been planned " and executed by this infamous gang," says the local paper above quoted " who shall say how many of l^m were not I 77 " due to the same cause ? The fire at the crystal block, burn " ing it all down and adjacent buildingB ; the fire at Meiers, " M'DonoughA Rents, spreading to the premises beyond; the " fire comencing at Buckley's : may not all these bo trace- " able to the operations of the same gang, whose ramifications " extend over the Provinces and the States who are a sworn " brotherhood of devils protected by passwords, known to " each other by signs, and have accomplices in every grade " of society, in every place of any note, and find harbourers " of their persons and of the products of their plunder even " among the apparently unsophibticated tillers of the soil ?" There are future developments to be made in this mystery of crime, even more startling than any that have yet been made ; when, it is safe to predict, men who now or recently occupied official positions, and of whose guilt the public is still in doubt, will be found to have committed crimes for which the law provides no milder punishment than that of confinement in the penitentiary. The great international confederation of thieves, burglars and incendiaries has been broken in upon, but it is doubtful whether a tythe of its crimes have yet been dragged to light.