CRIME IN U.S.A.

Greymouth Evening Star, 1 May 1936, Page 3

CRIME IN U.S.A.

A PERPLEXING PROBLEM The recent “flight" of Colonel A. Lindbergh with his wife and little ‘son to England and Wales to escape [the flood of threatening letters from j cranks or would-be kidnappers and [the pitiless publicity to which his I family had been exposed by the ultrasensational Press, has shocked the I American people, as perhaps nothing [else could have done into a realisation of the increasing hideousness of the | crime situation in their country, i (writes R. Webster-Jones, in the “Sydney Morning Herald”). Only a few newspapers and individuals have criticised his action. Public opinion as a whole has sympathised deeply with his position. There can |be no doubt that this national hero. I admired for his courage and enterprise [in making the first solo non-stop air I flight from New York to Paris, for his subsequent modest bearing as the I greatest honotirs were heaped upon I him and for his achievements in proj moling the popularity and safety of [air travel, actually feared that his | second son might be taken from him |by kidnappers. In addition, his life [was made intolerable by the daily intrusions on his privacy by a certain class of reporters and photographers, who literally stopped at nothing to obtain material for sensational headlines photographs. One of the most reprehensible incidents took place a few weeks before Colonel Lindbergh’s departure, when his wife and little son John and a nurse were riding in a motor-car on their way to a nearby school. Another car occupied by several men crowded them to the kerb, and a photographer alighted and snapped several pictures of the boy and his mother. The first thought of Mrs. Lindbergh land the nurse was that the men were kidnappers, authors of some of the threatening letters that had recently been received. Colonel Lindbergh when informed of the incident, declared that he would have thought the same, and significantly remarked that he would have hastened to take ‘'appropriate action.” Fie is accustomed to carry an automatic pistol, and is an expert shot. At this writing it is not clear whether Colonel Lindbergh intends to reside permanently abroad or to return after the excitement attending the execution of Hauptmann, convicted kidnapper and murderer of his boy. is over, but he has expressed to intimate friends his indignation over the reign of crime in America, which was once a safe country jn which to bring tip children, even the children of celebrities, in wholesome privacy and peace of mind. To-day adults are not free from the fear of being captured and held for ransom, as has been the lot of several wealthy and prominent men. There have been numerous kidnappings since that of Colonel Lindbergh’s son, despite the unusual activity of the Federal “G men,” offi-.. c'ers of the Secret Service, operating. frOm Washington.

ELABORATE PRECAUTIONS A friend of you'r correspondent recently described a di'iiiier party which I lie attended at the country, or rather suburban, home ot an exceedingly

wealthy citizen of Philadelphia, whose name is known in lands far beyond the seas because of the great industries of which he is the head. Guests were met. at the entrance gates by armed guards, who conducted them to the mansion. On entering the reception hall, this guest was struck by the appearance of two of the largest police dogs he had ever seen, who sniffed at each stranger.

During dinner one of the dogs lay in the doorway of the dining-room. The other, this guest was informed later, had been let out to roam the spacious grounds surrounding the residence. The wealthy host remarked that every night one of the police dogs slept at his bedside “with one ear open.” Elaborate electric burglar alarms were fitted to all the windows and doors. Underneath the carpets of the stairways was a system of myriad push-buttons. Anyone attempting to ascend a staircase after a switch had been thrown for the night would immediately sound an alarm which would be heard by one of the armed watchmen constantly on guard.

This may seem to he an extreme case of the “millionaire jitters." But there are many wealthy men who would never dream of going outdoors without their armed bodyguards. At the recent hearings before the Senate Committee at Washington, which was investigating the activities of American bankers during the World War for information to be used in framing a new neutrality law, Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan was accompanied each day by several armed men. He cannot forget that only a few years ago he was attacked in his country home near New York by a would-be assassin and was stabbed in the abdomen. More recently, a wealthy resident of St. Paul. Minnesota, paid a large sum for his release from bandits, and there have been several similar cases. Most American banks, whether in large or small cities, resemble fortresses. A small item in the newspapers the other day. which attracted little attention, recorded the fact that the armed guards of the Philadelphia National Bank, the largest financial institution in Pennsylvania, had won first prize in a competition with picked marksmen of the State Constabulary.

Several banks in Philadelphia, and an even larger number in New’ York and Chicago, maintain shooting ranges in their basements where their guards have pistol practice daily. One Philadelphia trust company has a force of 75 armed guards. Some wear plain clothes and pose as customers or clerks. The operators of the lifts and the doormen are really guards, with pistols in their pockets which they know how to use.

In addition, notices posted up in many banks state that the premises are equipped with tear-gas apparatus, which can be released by the touch of a teller’s foot. A banking-room flooded with tear-gas would not be a very pleasant place for an innocent customer who happened to find himself in the midst of a hold-up. The plan is to shoot the mainstream directly into the face of a bandit standing before a teller’s window. But undoubtedly all within the room would experience serious, if temporary, discomfort. So far as known, it has not yet. been necessary to have resort to this disconcerting device.

THE PILL BOX SYSTEM One Philadelphia bank maintained for some years a “pill box.” similar to the armoured “coop” utilised in the World War. This was just above the main entrance, and was occupied by an expert sharpshooter, armed with a rifle. One morning, just after the bank was opened, the sharpshooter at last got his chance when three masked bandits, one carrying a sub-machine gun, rushed in and. announcing “This is a hold-up,” demanded all the cash in the safe. The machine-gunner got a bullet through the brain. The others decamped without any booty. The “pill box” scheme had proved its value after years of waiting. But bankers generally do not favour this device. They say that after going through the routine for a few days or weeks without any excitement, the lone guard in his cramped quarters is apt to fall asleep at his post. They prefer to have armed guards walking around on the floor of the banking-room, reinforced by the tear-gas system. An express company, engaged in transporting large amounts of cash and other valuables in armoured “tanks” through the streets of the principal American cities, has a standing offer of 500 dollars reward for a dead bandit. One of these tanks guarded by a man of 60 and his sturdy son, was approached on a recent Saturday night in Philadelphia by a man in the uniform of a. police officer, who rebuked the driver for parking the car improperly at the kerb. Suddenly the pseudo-policeman drew a revolver and commanded “hands up.” The elderly guard seized his wrists, and in the ensuing struggle the revolver went off and the would-be robber was fatally wounded. Two confederates then appeared, ami in the ensuing pistol battle one was shot dead and the other, apparently wounded, managed to escape. He was found early next morning on the steps of a hospital and died within a few hours. Each of these armoured “tanks,” and there are more than 100 of them in New York City alone, is insured as to its contents to the extent of one million dollars. The premium is not excessively high, since they are rarely attacked, and the guards, sitting inside the steel and concrete vehicle, are provided with loop-holes through which to fire. In the ease mentioned in Philadelphia, the armoured car had been halted to collect some cash from a shop to be taken to a bank. In similar circumstances in Brooklyn a short while ago a robber disguised as a street peddler and pushing a cart containing a machine-gun covered with a cloth, held up a “tank” at the kerb, and, with his confederates, got away with 450,000 dollars, which has never been recovered.

The greatest problem confroniing the American people to-day is the overthrow of this reign of desperate criminals. It is safe to say that Colonel Lindbergh is among many intelligent citizens who see no prospect of its easy solution.