CHAPTER XI SOME TYPES OF CROOKS

The “con man,” the bank sneak, the counterfeiter (of notes) and his allies, the forger, the big dip, and the badger man are what might be called the aristocrats of the underworld because their work requires on their part always a polished exterior. A good “front” (appearance) in their line is essential to success.

The morning sun may see the criminal the acme of contentment, money in his pocket, a smile on his face; the evening shadows may fall on him pacing a cell in some detention house. Yet the crook takes the chance.

It’s a peculiar characteristic of all crooks, that sooner or later they know they’ll see the inside of a “stir” (prison). They realize that at the end of their road a prison waits for them with open arms. I believe it is[Pg 62] this fact which makes the crook so philosophical in defeat.

The “con man” is invariably a man of fine appearance, possessed of a better than ordinary education. He must have a personality to attract, a conversational ability to hold attention. They are invariably “good livers,” used to the best, and are attracted only by large money. The big dip, the forger, and the bank thief are all men above the ordinary of the underworld.

At the head of all of them I would place the counterfeiter, the man whose mechanical ability and resourcefulness makes him a menace to the government. His work requires a technical training of many years. Cleaner than the average in mechanical skill, his is a profession envied by his lesser fellows.

Another type of the gentleman crook is the badger man—a sort of blackmailer, whose work is helped to its consummation by a woman companion. In this species of crime the woman is always the principal, the man but an accessory. It is a type requiring[Pg 63] a good appearance, the ability to assume certain emotions, such, for instance, as a wronged husband is supposed to have on viewing his wife in the company of another man. This type differs from the majority of crooks in that it is cold and heartless.

In the rougher class the yegg stands prominently at the top. Taking the place of the old bank burglar, he has proved one of the most feared and the most desperate of all crooks. His is a roving life entirely. Using the railroads of the country as a method of transportation, distance to him but lends enchantment. In the yegg class are found graduates of all the other criminal professions. I have known stick-up men and former dips, burglars and a former counterfeiter as members of different gangs. The class is exclusive, the members seldom fraternizing with the others of the underworld. There is a loyalty to each other found among the yeggs which is characteristic of them. In all of my experience I know of but one yegg turning a “squealer” (State witness) against his pals. Woe to[Pg 64] him if caught without the protection of the police. The yegg, unlike the gentlemanly types of the underworld, cares little for women. The ill-gotten gains are spent “slopping up” (getting drunk) in the jungles (outside the city) in the summer, or in some particular rendezvous of the city in the winter time. He never saves; his is the life of the present.

The stick-up man (hold-up), the burglar, and like, make up the other types, along with the bum, the tramp, and the hobo. I have often seen the bum, the tramp, and the hobo classed as one type of those fellows who love life better than they love work. As a matter of fact, each type is a class distinct in itself. The bum makes his residence, if it can be rightly called residence, exclusively in towns and cities; he never leaves them. He never works, and stands the lowest in the life of the other half. The tramp is a mixture of thief, mendicant, and loafer. He will never work; the genuine tramp excludes from his society those who ever do work. If he is ever required to work in return for a meal,[Pg 65] he forfeits the meal rather than to soil his reputation by labor. He steals when opportunity offers, and begs when he gets the chance. He differs from the yegg, in that his life is not entirely devoted to crime. From the ranks of the tramp the society of yeggs is sometimes recruited; from the bum, never. The hobo differs from both in the respect that he works occasionally, and seldom steals. Roaming about the country, working here and there in railroad and lumber camps, and canneries, his traveling is always to a destination. A stake is made and he and his pals go to the city for a spree. The money spent, he is back again on the railroad looking toward a job.

In the spring, when the warm sun begins to kiss the green into the grasses, the tramp stretches his frame and listens. He hears the call of the road, and his nature hearkens thereto. Soon the railroads know him, and the farmers feel the weight of his appetite. It’s a care-free life these tramps live. Living in the present, without responsibility, they go their way until death claims them.