In the lower part of New York near the Battery, in the vicinity of Washington and Greenwich Streets, there is and has been for several years what is known as the Syrian colony. The few immigrants that come from Damascus, Beyrout and other parts of the Turkish Empire all seem to gather here. As it is contrary to the Koran for any of them to use liquor of any kind, or sell it, these Mohammedans are seldom in prison, yet they are lacking in saintly character as much as the Latin and Slavic nations of Europe. At the time of which I write there was a hotel or boarding house in the Syrian colony, kept by a widow named Lazarus. She spoke the English language very imperfectly. But she had in her employment an experienced hotel manager who attended to all her affairs whose name was Abirams. He had been in the country a number of years and could speak the English tongue fairly well. Everybody liked Abirams as he kept the house clean and sought to make it respectable. On one occasion a countryman named Kahn came with a young girl and tried to hire a room in the hotel for immoral purposes. Abirams positively refused to receive him or the woman. Words passed between them. Then he left the place swearing vengeance.
It was afterwards learned that Kahn was a criminal of the deepest dye and would do anything to ruin an innocent man. Twice he had been saved from the gallows by turning King’s evidence in his own country. Since he came to America he was known to have sent many of his countrymen to prison for long terms on perjured evidence. He would do anything to save his own neck.
In an hour afterwards Kahn returned to the hotel with a police officer and charged Abirams with robbery. The prisoner was at once put under arrest and then locked up over night. In the morning he appeared in the Tombs Police Court. Kahn was on hand and presented before the Magistrate a sworn affidavit that Abirams had robbed him of money and a watch in the Syrian hotel the previous night. The woman was also present as a corroborative witness. Without further examination the prisoner was committed to await the action of the grand jury. For five or six weeks the poor Syrian, Abirams, neglected and forsaken by his countrymen, lay in prison on a false charge founded only on malice and perjury. I made an investigation of the case and secured affidavits of Abirams’ previous good character, showing him to be an exceptionally good man. I visited the Syrian colony personally and soon had ample reason to believe that Abirams was innocent of the charge placed against him by Kahn. After a few weeks the woman in the case disappeared for fear of arrest, then Kahn was given to understand that if he went before the grand jury and perjured himself, he would receive a long term of imprisonment. Indeed, he had offered to withdraw the charge for a money consideration, but he, too, became afraid of arrest and then fled to parts unknown.
In the meantime I visited the District Attorney’s office where I sought to interest Mr. Henry W. Unger, Col. Gardiner’s chief assistant, in behalf of the poor Syrian. Mr. Unger, always courteous and gentlemanly, gave me much encouragement—eternal blessings on his head—he has always tried to temper justice with mercy by giving the friendless a helping hand, and doing it kindly, and will certainly not lose his reward.
It was afterwards learned by indisputable evidence that Kahn was a tough character and had done the same thing before—that is, he sent innocent men to prison who angered him, and was ready to perjure himself again if we had not made an investigation and showed him up as a notorious liar and blackmailer.
It is needless to say that Abirams was honorably discharged and returned to the colony a wiser man. The notorious Kahn was so scared that he kept out of New York for many months afterwards.
A Crook Whose Specialty Was Knock-Out Drops
On October 9th, 1903, a gentleman of the crooked profession named Walter Wilson, alias George Hill, alias Herman Fentner, alias Mr. Hawkshaw et al., was sentenced to thirty-three years imprisonment in the Court of General Sessions. There were eighteen indictments pending against him but he pleaded guilty only to four, with the above results. Wilson has had a criminal record extending over twenty years. His specialty in crime is said to be in the scientific use of knock-out drops, which in the medical profession is known as chloral, and at this he was an adept.
For some years he has worked in the Tenderloin, giving his entire attention to all kinds of robberies, including panel work in which he seems to be expert. He has labored assiduously for several years with women of the street and made a large amount of money, only to lose it as fast as it came to him. How many persons have received his “drops” and with fatal results God only knows.
Wilson is a most interesting character, is intelligent, wide awake, and has the ability and genuine reserve force in sufficient quantities to command an army or govern a republic or quell an insurrection. He is a “crack” criminal of the twentieth century type and while in the panel business usually went for big game. He is alert, daring and muscular and would have been a dangerous character to meet in a lonely road. He has the brains of a leader and could handle men. His gray piercing eyes and the facial expression show that he would allow nothing to stand in his way if put to the test. His weakness seems to be that when he has plenty of money and is full of “booze” he becomes garrulous and says too much.