A charitable worker who has come in touch with the young of the poorer
districts, whence comes the tough lad, estimates that there are over
10,000 boys in Chicago who are worse than homeless. In other words,
they are in direct line of becoming criminals or public charges, under
the teaching of the trained criminal who makes the city his refuge.
Anderson, the stickup youth who operated extensively on the north
side, choosing women for his victims, is but 23 years old. The men who
relieved Alderman C. M. Foell at the point of a gun are less than 20,
and thus it goes down the line.
They laugh at the efforts of the police to catch them. For the most
part they live at home or with relatives, and in the neighborhoods
are known as dissipated and tough boys, but not as hold-up men. With
companions they sally out at night to isolated sections of the city
where they know the police protection to be inadequate. They choose
secluded spots offering the protection of darkness and lay in wait.
Then, with plenty of time deliberately to stop the victim and take
from him valuables, they operate until it is time for the policeman
to be in the vicinity, or until the profits of the expedition are
sufficient to satisfy their spirit of revelry and riot.