100 years ago in the Saratogian
Friday, Aug. 16, 1918
The war of words over the Spa City crime wave continues as both Mayor Harry E. Pettee and The Saratogian respond to yesterday’s criticism from Saratoga County district attorney Charles B. Andrus.
In a public letter on yesterday’s front page, Andrus chided the paper for covering an August 12 city council meeting in excessive detail. The council appropriated $1,500 for emergency crimefighting measures after it was reported that the city police force was understaffed. Andrus argued that admitting this publicly only invited more criminals into town.
In response, Mayor Pettee accused Andrus of playing politics and promoting himself. “The sincerity of your expressed anxiety that present conditions should not be exploited is obviously challenged by the fact that while you could have had an interview with me any day, which would have been without any publicity, you preferred to write your letter and publish it at the earliest possible moment.”
While Andrus downplayed the current crime wave, the mayor insists that “A gang of criminals has gathered here, such as Saratoga has never before known, attracted, I am told, by the word that this was to be a wide open town this summer.”
Despite downplaying the crime wave, Andrus reportedly has hired a number of special detectives to supplement the Pinkerton agents already in town for the meet. “Is it not simply to create jobs for your friends?” Pettee asks.
The Saratogian’s answer to Andrus is twofold. On the front page, it reports the theft at gunpoint of $365 from a Woodlawn Avenue lodger last night at the top of a list of robberies over the last three days.
Inside, an editorial affirms that the mayor and council “should be commended, rather than criticized, for warning the people of the presence of so many crooks, thus permitting the people to take precautions to protect themselves.”
As for Andrus, “As the District Attorney admits in his letter, it is none of his business to apprehend the crooks, merely to prosecute them. The wonder then is why he should meddle in the City Council’s business. It may be paving the way for some fat bills against the county, as of yore. Who knows!”
Meanwhile, efforts continue to drive the criminal element out of the city. In city court this morning, Judge Michael McTygue orders two men arrested last night for disorderly conduct to leave Saratoga Springs within two hours.
In further crime news, Herbert Carragan, the first man arrested here under the state anti-loafing law, is arraigned tonight for robbing eighty cents from George Uveges’s pants pockets.
-- Kevin Gilbert