Yard Conductor Alleged Thief

The yard-conductor at Byrd Street Station allegedly stole multiple pairs of shoes. The Planet compares his punishments for stealing with that of a black man.

Harry Marshall, yard conductor at the Byrd Street Station, was arrested early last night while in the act, it is alleged, of stealing a quantity of shoes from cases in the freight depot. He was seen by Special Officer Perkins, who made over to Policeman Atkinson. Marshall is twenty-six years old, and hales from Manchester. The evidence seems to be against him, as five pair of shoes and two pair rubbers were found in his possession. He took his arrest calmly, and had little to say. Does this indicate that all white men steal shoes when they get a chance or that only a few of them are guilty of these criminal indiscretions? We have our opinion, but ask that the same tape line be used in measuring the chicken-stealing Negro that is employed in getting the dimensions of the shoe-stealing white man. Further comment is unnecessary.

“Yard Conductor Alleged Thief,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed May 17, 2025, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/703.