Daily British Whig (1850), 2 Oct 1909, p. 12

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. ' ed Wr op Pee reporter 'was not informed how In- "S spector Byrnes obtained McGloin's confession, - he gave. his own explanation in a phrase that has become inseparably connected with police * inquisition the world over. YE eT (Copyright, 1000. by the New York Herald Co. All Rights Reserved.) NEW YORK\ Saturday. T Police Headquarters "one day within the memory of 'men still in service there a story was given out of the confession of a crime which had left no immediate cletv. The news- papers had failed to trace it and it seemed to baffle the police the Incompetency of the force. Much comment hid been afloat on When the affair cooled and the public had shelvell it away among things to be forgotten the confession came out Among the writers at Headquarters was one who had worked hard on the case and had not spared the police, Sowe of the questions he asked about cir- cumstances leading to the confession dil not yield replies to satisfy him, His newspaper (splayed the news, as id all others, but in lieu of a clear explana- tion of the way the exposure had come about he sald 3 "The police .put the prisoner through the third de gree and wrung a confession from him." : It proved a good catch phrase. it left much to the imagination. The public liked it and it made itself at home in police parlance. No longer in active service, It is still paraded on occasion and everybody recognizes it. Explaining nothing, There has never been an attempt to give an' exact definition of it. Its survival through the stress of years may be due to the mysticism that envelops it Were it susceptible to reduction in fixed terms it possibly wou'd have lived out its season and then gone to the realm of the multitode of abandoned phrases that once had vogue. Vagueness has'been its charm, for it enables one to plage his own construction on it and it "does not provoke cross-examination. No one con- fesses Inability to understand it. Undue pressure, intimidation, cruelty lurk in it; it may mean anything In the range of espionage, from common spying to a comradeship cultivated to win confidence and then betray ft; charges of torture have heen veiled behind it; it physical has always im- plied methods surely abnprmal and usually not mate legiti- Rumor worked the. third. degree with much dili- gence In with tle Louis Hanler, who kept a. French wine shop and saloon in connection murder of I'wenty-sixth street between Sixth and Seventh ave aes. He resided with his family above the saloon and was shot af the top-of a stairway leading from a hail on When giivon the saloon floor to tii. upper part of the house. found the oor of the stock of wine which Hanier car- the police arrived ihey wet with the ried Phe spig { lhe + barrels #0 the saloon had been turned ope ind Whoever shot | the cosh drawer was emply wi heard him preparing to descend and must have into the hall with intention to Thieves are !ike rats pref fire dangerous when cornered have the te rouse Hanler Wy but erring to run if they ing been noisy enongh the descend, the floor above amd having heard Ig ne ruders etidently had™ho wish to get away. The wanton waste of wine pointed to malice little, for Hanier in the day time and the empty cash drawer proved it: con- * tained only a wallet used by for bills whi Surface Iv he took upstairs with him at ni appearances were compatible with the theory that personal enmity furnished the motive for we murder. Not a fact could be Jonund, however, fo {ster that theory. Hanler did a small ed a quiet life business and The saloon was not a rowdy resort 1 ig. family nor his neighbors could suppose that lev! il an enemy. 'I'he case opened avenues foi suffice mjecture to keep publit interest in it at tension fora fortnight. No apparent headway hav ng then be made toward clearing it, notices were esredd in Tenderloin resorts offering SHOU rew ard for evden wonld lead to the arrest aud conviction uf the gu Tracing the Crime. a 3 Almost inning the police dismissed the suggestion per al enmity They felt certain alse es had not opened the wine bar and if ¢ goes away quietly and hopes I'he Not finding money, they be 1eiive I'he 1 thief rununages a piace were els visitors al shooting was wan motive other than bravado the pride only of hoodlums. they estimate of the case aml erie known in the pre- composed of riminals, but with ten- urned '|eventh Avenue Gang, mifirmed Old enough to wark, they heir be- repute in that part ployment faces d "fim-famwing the some attention. The Seventh Ave ie Retoriety f would enter a saloon, call for & irge denomination in bartender Turnéd to get change the i r Ih r : stock of wi ral companions, :. the bartender order one of thém would fall\to the sivally x 7 the saloon a rip a iten ym its proficiency in He Was Completely Broken and in a Frenzy of Fear around to assist in restoring the unfortunate The confusion incident to such an affair gave opp riunity for one of the pafty to slip behind the bar the till. Then the party and empiy wonld go away, carrying the had 10e. of d that it he again on th night of the murder, but fa loose This trick 1t develo 2 cash. been Hanier wus {ri The police ber d men of themselves as pons possible of everything them niight -be identified I'l an ash barrel avenue wer empty walled Thirtic pistal of neay morning f wing Killed by .a bullet In a they very tvs the p fe " t that knew who had committed They Incked legal evidence here wa need te hasten arrests, for the suspects had no the of detection, and consequently hood would hold in a court tive skill, A woman in. further She liad previously frequented the Tenderloin. when arrested she told ow story so pitiful. that were provided the poll to send her home in Northern sw York "Lor charge of the Detective Burea the time. ot Hanler murder the home one night he saw a crowd wi hered at § ruer It seatfeved at his ag rch, ie this woman there he why she | of her for it impos to cone hack Inspector be had if she Conversi wis obtained ro assist work Once funds to her Jvrnes had aidguarters at the wiry Luspe 1 returned (« r life here had ren for h 1h remn but there wi expressed the 0) alone Keds her sible really wanted i The Girl Detective. ean't fie CRS) "Well, 1 think it so to do" "Come to the of give you someihi She kept the appointment t terview which then occurred si to gratiate herself wiil ne of the Seventh Avenue Gi to in his mover ts, so far as she might know of n, and to ho! counsel. She had no idea why this was to be done, except that the police wished track of There was no hint that he ¢ crime. She was left to inf that it might be «¢ . able at some time to m ang that this means had been s his face known to certain police. fined HN SUPPOUSE to. Ke him hosen to ws In gf day or so she reported that she had become ° friendly with McGloin, From time to time neckties and similar small gifts were handed to her to present to McGloin. © By that means detectives were able go where the girl said he was to be at stated times to pick himout in a erewd and te become acquainted with the faces of his associates, Zhe sul's work oh. - THIRD. viated the necessity of seiting Jow theming. kxperience has taught detectives that men prote to crime expect ts be shadowed and are constantly on ghard against it. By the plan now adopted various policemen had opportunity to observe MeGloin and his associates as If casually and nothing whatever occurred to excite suspicion that the gang was under cbeervation, George Lauthier, with a stubble beard and dressed roughly, appeared one day in Thirtieth street. He called at various saloons between Sixth and Seventh avenues, . While making no attempt to scrape ac. quaintances,- he let remarks fall which implied that jie was an-escaped convict. By the time he reached the. resort where McGloth was to be that afternoon glen to watch or fol THOMAS BYRNES Police Inspector From a Photo Taken at the Time of the McGloin Ingul- sition 2nd Published in "Professicoal Criminal cf America" seemed; to be fuddled w at a table adjoinin thing and dozed off. The joon paid no attention to hi Detective (now luspect and meked directly over the notice of the reward of 3 MotGloin and his' friends When Sehn Metioin's, ordered [son eo a tabla § sat a srofiernt ibe cally Vier in contemptuous defi wilnessed 1 revs showed Robert Mot means He | re seated McG the front door the lnspectos sutersd yom where, w There the two policemen ined him ALL th d to back x MeGloin door the ouly Rio x gued other garef who dr and seemed fo nspector scription : The Third Degree. + "pake that man to the office," bie said, jloin Was under MITeSty oS. It was intended that McGloin shold not know why he was taken and that his companions should hive no occasion to suspect the true cause. When McGloin arrived at Hegflquarters Moran, - Morrissey aud Banfield were already there, but no one of them knew of the arrest of the others, and nothing had been sald to any of them to disclose the cause of arrest. They were allowed to remain in separate cells undisturbed for several hours. All each pris- omer knew was that he had been brought in as a susplelous' character. That classification has done excellent service in policg work. Persons unjustly have nothing to fear, but others are left to guess what, the pelice mean, and in the solitude of the cell f i I \ « rf a "& fpoesT STEIN all the various things that might subject them to arrest how te meet charges in respect to these sthings may account for their detention. The cell reflections of such per: only tax ingennity but breed fear. the experience that day wd gone as far as he thought necessary Inspector Byrnes sent for McGlein. As the Inspector sat at his desk he boeked close to a window overlooking a court at tieallquarters For -that -eccasion he had 2 chair the desk and facing the window, capant of that chair must see what passed in _ and if it made an impression on him the - would knew it from his appearance. : their wits are sharpened to re they done and to decide whichever of present have sons not When cell TY near Edward Unger, Who Confessed Murder Under Third Degree twenty minutes after i oman should enter the y the Inspector the pistol with which that ten minutes later Moran should court. that after another teu win- homhl be led across and that after ninuies Banfield should cross the wiof could not see into the court, Mctilain nmst see his companions, knew to thg minute when that J 7 well An hand when, be entered » to tall about the watch, declared Lie had been unjustly suspected nothing whatever to deserve asked him about various af. fu which McGloin said posi- When at the end of twenty brought in the luspector no- ged color. ' led with that" sald the In- see it before? ad mo hand in that" the Hauler nfurder. Sud- gave a start He had seen Moran {lie luspector persisted in questions Ww + McGlain was stumibling over pouts that night a police « court. McGloin's face The story halted and be- tor coutinued quietly y he said:-- \ nothing about this and the others say that you himself bout where nse Ins Pina Phe giesiiof was timed with reference tot DEG detained under it my [ ce, on i - F { T exactly as planned. MtGloin flung himself to. the floor, clasped the Inspector about the kuees and "1 give uw Taspector. It is all true. Hut save me, Eve mer © was completely broken and in a freszy Mr. . "Get back Into your chair, McGlein," was the re ply. "I don't knaw what I can do, but If you are prepared to make a statement 1 will gtibmit it to the District Attorney. It 'will be for him to decide." ; McGloin's Confession. " . A stenographer was summoned and McGloin told his ory: When it had been transcribed he signed it. ost of it is related. The party had tried thar evening tg "8im-flam" Hanler. The attempt failed because Hanier had tricked by the same game only a little while previously. This time he ordered the party out under threat of 'ealling the police. The quartet decided to return after the saloon was closed and work' revenge on Hanier for not falling into their trap. They broke in the front door and procended to upset-the place, reckless whether Hanier. nterfered or not. As soon as they heard him mov-. ing overhead, however, Moran, M nd Ban- field started to get away. McGlol Pot peopose to be frightened off so easily ani ) futo. the hall to await Hanler's appearance. He fired as soon az Hauler dppeared at the top of the staltway. He at he did net' al the hal entered Hanier's heart. to. XN, oe 8 When MeGloin had been returned the confession the other mien Were 1 singly be- fore the Inspector. The confession was read to them and they in turn confessed. Banfleld proved a little obdurate, but that had been anticipated and he was held to the last." He could not stand "gainst three confessions, and bis ows made the fourth and completed the police end of the case. That night Inspector Byrnes gave out fhe story. He did not tell everything related, but the coufesslonw were shown, so that the reporters got all that the prisoners had said. The murder occurred pu De- cember 29. Public excitement over It lasted a fort- night. January 31 was the date of the arrests aad confessions. It was published widely that the police had worked the third degree to 'procure the con- fesslons.' It had not been thought wise fo say any- thing of the device hy which McGloin had been seated to face the court across which his companions were marched, the police not being in the habit thew. more than pow. of exploiting 'the means cmployed, to gain results. The confessions omitted nothing cob cerning the murder. and that was the story which -- the police thought the public wanted. There was no legal proof on the day of the arrests that these were the menewho had visited Hanier's places From the beginning it had been belived the murder was committed by young men belonging he that part of the city. It was not such work as tried criminals would have done. The task was fo locate the men, Circumstances, many of them trivial, point. ed to these four.- The scene in the saloon when Me- Iloin, scoffed at the reward notice was the culminat- ing circumstance. If any one of the four at the time of the arrest had been faced with the charge of mur: der there would have been danger that the others would have heard of it and all would naturally ave _ braced themselves with denials, Against Such denials evidence must have been wholly circumstantial and not strong enough to con- vince -a jury. The Inspector planned to surprise Mc. Gloin into confession, not alohe by what was said bat also by making MecGloin see his companions under arrest. Thus filled with fear he easily fell into the trap set for him. The other three had no reason to suppose that there was anything in the crossing of the court beyond a transfer of cells. They could not know that MeGloin saw them, much less that they were paraded on his account. MeGloin's confession came when he felt bimself caught. Then he wus - mainly anxious to save his skin, ' in February the trials ocenrred. MeGloin was con- vieted of murder in the first degree and hanged in March. The other three went to prison for tpmiva years. his cell a, cr The Case of Unger. 'Y shird degree had an airing when Edward confessed to the murder of August DBohle. Unger kept a saloon, and_Bobhle, a butcher, resided with him. The killing occurred _in a fight. Then 1 Unger cut up the body, packed it fn a trunk, semi it to Baltimore and threw the head into the East River. Part of the body was wrapped in a coat, fron» which Unger had neglected to remove the business ecard of a Brooklyn butcher with whom Bolle had relations. The police did not make public any infor- mation about the card, Unger protested his inno- cence nniil transferred to a cell cotitainiig the sofa on 'which Bohle had fallen In the fnght and the knife and saw used 10 dismember tlie body. That sight set "him howling, and he told his story. The public knew nothing of the scene in the cell. Full details of the killing were Issued, but enough was withheld as to means of detection to feed sensation for quite a while. Unger made out a case of self-defence and rec. wed a sentence of 1wenty years. There was much talk of the third degree whe Chastine Cox confessed to the murder of Mrs. June L. De Forest Hull. Dr. Hull, the victim's busband, fell under suspicion, At the inquest a whtness aps peared who declared that wlsile sented in Bryant I'ark one evening he had been approacied by an aged ma (whom he identified as Dr Hulli. who produced $160 and promised to give It to him. if he would Kil Mrs. HII. The police got from Dr. Huila Hist of Mrs. Hull's missing jewelry, some of which (ney hn mediately recovered in pawnshops where a 0 u had left it. 'They noted that there had been no forceful entry into the house, and Cox. who bad been at sed vant in the house: was missing. ' They traced Cox to Boston, When he was ariested there Mrs. Hull's watch was found on him. Cox cole fessed without pressure, The motive behind the tes- timony at the Coroner's was ever investizated, but the withess was a convict aid he had Leen procured by a person whom the poll e Labltually distusied Cox suffered the death peony These dre sample instances in which the third degree had couspicnous public parade, Exact narra- tion of the means by which the several coufessions were obtained seenied Inexpedient fo the police 'in their fiwconniis of current work. Henee at such tines juference and imagination had plenty of ropo. Unger's transfer to a cell coutnining the hnptements of fils butchery way be noted Wx the only instance which (grrov was juvoked to. furce confession. As to charges of prolonged cruelty. the law entities every prisoner to a prow hearicg bef re a mags trate, who may discharge or send to prison to awall action by higher authority, pelice cus dy being thus very brief, A defective whose reputation became {nterna- tional through his service with the New York police makes (his statement on the subject:-- "Take my. word for it that the third degree '13 me#hiugless us applied - to. methods in this city. Success In detective work implies a training which fits a man to act in any emergency. The ways of criminals are to be jearned only at close range-- by association™with them. Wher a detective learns them the scene and outward circumstances of « crime enable him to judge by what elass of criminal it was committed. Then he knows how and where to push his search. He has a problem to solve which habit' has made professional. «A detective of strong will and clear head will outmatch any criminal, He has the tremendous ad- vantage of being single minded in his work. If he needs to be adroit In questions, with the view of not disclosing at first precisely what Is wanted, he will soon wear down the eriminal whom he erdinarily meets, for the eriminal thus questioned has ali the things he. has ever done buzzing in the top of. his head, and that soon tires him, "Detection of crime in this city has come from reasoning . on experience and from quick and de- cisive action. 'The detective's case Is pretty well worked out when he makes an arrest In any ce. cupation the traiged man KBoOWS howto fandle siinn- tions that would dismay one untrained. That is emi. nently true in the deteciive line When a dele tive knows his business he knows haw fo {race eridee vid to fasten it whore it belongs. That Is wii tha ci The Unger crossing of the cvurt by Buufivid, which gee the third degree in New York, or ever ¥i 0

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