was born in brock lynn, he would say, i am proud of it. his first home was a crowded tenement on the street that led to maingate of the brooklyn navy yard, he grew up watching the boys in a local gang called the boys of navy street, he watched while they'd hassle and assault the sailors who poured out of the maingate and as soon as he was old enough, which was probably when he was around eight years old, the joined this gang. he was big for his age, and he was a fast runner. so no sailor ever caught him and by the time he was 12 he had great wade imfrom being the gang's mascot to being one. its most dependable and fearless fighters. he stayed in school through the sixth grade, which he had to repeat, but not because hoe was a bad student, because thrill he was very good student. but because he played hookey so onhe was seldom in the classroom. his parents believed in education, and they wanted all their sons to stay in school as long as possible, but every one of them quit at the first opportunity, and they found work such as it was, in pe