The Secrets of the Great City: A Work Descriptive of the Virtues and the Vices, the Mysteries, Miseries and Crimes of New York CityMcCabe, James Dabney
History
The Secrets of the Great City: A Work Descriptive of the Virtues and the Vices, the Mysteries, Miseries and Crimes of New York City
McCabe, James Dabney
New York (N.Y.) -- Description and travel; New York (N.Y.) -- History
Families living in the city cannot, of course, know who they are taking
into their midst as servants, and it frequently happens that these
girls are the confederates of burglars. They come for the purpose of
spying out the premises, and from time to time report the internal
arrangements to their "men." At the proper moment, the burglar, who has
thus acquired a sufficient familiarity with the house, is admitted by
the girl. He performs his work sometimes without detection, but
sometimes adds murder, or attempts at murder, to his crime. These men
are well known to the police, but as they are to be deemed innocent
until _proved_ guilty, it is hard, if not impossible, to prevent their
crimes. A servant girl is seen in the area, towards evening, with a
broom in her hand; by her side is a man who is conversing earnestly
with her. The policeman, as he passes along, recognizes him as a
notorious burglar. That night the house is broken open and robbed, and
perhaps some of the family murdered. The officer knows perfectly well
who did it, but this knowledge goes for nothing in law. The man must be
regularly tried, and proved guilty. Although the officer feels sure the
man and woman are planning a burglary, when he sees them in the area,
he cannot prevent it by arresting the man.
An incident in point has transpired of late, in illustration of this
familiar danger. A gentleman's house, situate on Fifth Avenue, near
Thirty-second street, was entered on the night of March 24th, by a
brace of burglars, who were, as subsequent investigation proved,
admitted at the basement, or servant's entrance, by one of the
chambermaids.
The burglars succeeded in obtaining a considerable amount of plunder,
but were alarmed by the unexpected awakening of some of the inmates of
the house, and hastily departed. Suspicion fell upon the delinquent
maid, who was examined, confessed her guilt, stated that the principal
burglar was her sweetheart, and promised that if she was permitted to
escape the deserved public punishment of her crime, she would see that
the missing property was restored to its rightful owners. This
'arrangement' was accepted, the girl fulfilled her part of the
contract, and every article that had been stolen was promptly restored.
The chambermaid was dismissed, and any further prosecution of the
affair was summarily closed. In this particular instance, it will be
seen that matters terminated favorably, but it would be well if wealthy
citizens would be warned against the 'family' risk to which their
property is exposed, and led to adopt the most stringent precautions
against these dangers, especially when summer pleasures will entice the
majority of the votaries of gayety and fashion 'out of town,' leaving
their dwellings almost wholly to the 'care' of not always reliable
domestics.
A HAIR THIEF.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account