The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1869-01-12
The Art of Pocket Picking,

The Art Of Pocket Picking.
The late Mr.. DeQuincy wrote a curi=
Gus and elaborate paper on Murder
Considered as one of the Fine Arts."-
Had he lived half century later he
might have extended his inquiries so as
to include pocket picking in that cate
CORY; for an art it has certainly become.
Your artistic pickpocket is gentlemanly
looking fellow, wears neat boots and
gloves, always has a new looking hat, |
and is altogether the last man you would
suspect Of any sinister designs on yodr
pockets. He lives III first-class hotels
and boarding houses, often frequenting
the same house for years, totally unsus-
peeted, and remarkable only for his
quiet and gentemanly demeanor. He
carefully chooses four companions,
equally respectable in appearance, to
form what is called a mob, each produ-
cling certain sum to make bank, to
be used in case one of them falls, tia
ken by the police, in order to provide
bail or to pay his counsel fees. They
then frequent railway stations, public
meetings, or any place where they can
find a crowd A victim is quietly select
ed as probable fnd. Two of the mob
then place themselves in front of him,
and two remain behind, occupying, as it |
were, the angles Of a square OF which
the victim is the centre. These are
called the front and back stalls. The
unfortunate victim is then famed; that
is, his pockets are softly padded to find
out the one in which he keeps his wallet,
the sign is passed to the operator, who
is termed the wire, who Immediately
proceeds to work. He does not place
his hand in the pocket-that is fatal
error but with the two first fingers he
gently draws up the lining of the pocket
to the opening, and with it the wallet,
and the trick is done. This system is
called reefng. The wallet is Immediate
ly passed to one Of the back stalls, who
quietly though quickly levants..
The most dangerous place for money
is undoubtedly the pockets of the pants.
Again, one of the front stalls passes
his arm before your face to touch the
other front stall on the shoulder, only
to say s:How are you p but the wire from
behind has your diamond pin in his
possession If possible they return the
empty wallet to the pocket to avoid de-
lection in its possession, or the danger
Gus necessity of throwing it away: For
instance, two gentlemen sitting at one
end of the car get into angry alteration
high words ensue, the attention of the
other passengers is attracted to their
dispute and the young lady who sat
next to that nice looking man at the 9th
er end of the car finds on arriving at
Stewards that her purse is empty. The
angry gentleman and the nice looking
man are simply confederates. This they
term wedding. A correspondent of a
newspaper lately lost $500 in this way
while riding in Fourth avenue car.
Pickpockets are necessarially migra-
tory in their habits, finding a long resi-
dence in one place inconvenient. This
renders it difficult to make any estimate
of their probable numbers in New York.
They prefer locality for the scene of
their operations that has numerous lines
of rail, to enable them to separate in va
rious directions as soon as they have a
good swag, and to meet again in some
other town. These men stand by one
another in trouble, and are strictly square
in their mutual transactions. A curious
incident of ''honor among thieves" is
found in the following anecdote: The
elder Mathews and Theodore Hook, on
one occasion, went together to the thea
tire; while ascending the staircase Mat
hews playfully took a bundle of papers
from Hooks pocket, when he was touch
ed on the shoulder from behind by a
gentlemanly looking man, who handed
him his own pocket book, apologizing
for taking it by saying, 81 didn't know
you was one Of us" and pertinently ad-
ding "but what fool you must be 10
carry it there" Pickpockets, however,
never save money, for they are all bitten
with mania for gambling, and, strange
to say, are generally unsuccessful at it.
Their language is most peculiar, only to
be understood by that intelligent body
of gentlemen who hail from Mulberry
street. Their depredations on the pub
lie amount to very large sum in the
course of the years. a considerable. por-
ton of which is never recovered, from
the general inability of the victims to
give any description which might lead
to Identification; they never, if possible,
allowing you to have full view Of their
| face.-N. Y. Tribune.