Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1873-04-04

say that you are not thief; that you are
thief catcherP Do you suppose, with
your villainous face, you can make me
think you are anything but theft You
ought to be thrown from the cars; and ],
for one, will assist In 30 doing.p A crowd
of excited men gathered around the un-
fortunate detective, and, In spite Of his
protestations, persisted In abusing him
shamefully, and were about to hurl him
from the platform Of the flying train,
when the thief interfered with, "Gentle-
men, trust you will use no violence TO-
ward this unfortunate man. l cannot
permit it. He is my prisoner. He is in
the hands of the law, and the law must
take its course" Fortunately, perhaps,
for the detective, the train reached New
York about this time, and he escaped.
Political meetings, theaters, churches,
cars, stages and other places where crowds
do congregate present favorable fields
for the operations OF the light.hngered
gentry. A Presidential campaign yields
them a bountiful supply of greenbacks.
Sometimes they resort to devilish and in
genious expedients TO bring together a
number of people. They occasionally set
fire to building In some neighborhood
that promises profitable crowd of vic
billSs NJ OluCI JWO vi NUM-
ber will engage In a street fight, while
their confederates pick the pockets of the
excited and interested spectators. One
gang of thieves EMPLOYS man who at
tracts crowd by falling down In the
street, In an apparent At, and assuming
the most frightful contortions.
| These men saw gentleman draw 5000
from bank the other day. They fol-
lowed him, without exciting his suspic.
ions, for over a mile. When near the
corner of Canal street and Broadway, one
OF their number passed on In advance
and fell to the sidewalk, within a few feet
OF the gentleman they had been watch
ing. Within a minute twenty people
were pushing and crowding around the
PROSTATE man. During the commotion
the money was stolen and the thieves es
capped. While the gentleman was excit
edly informing the bystanders of his loss
the decoy regained his feet, and quietly
stole away to reioin his confederates and
receive his share of the plunder.
Many people are robbed on the differ
ent ferry.boats. A favorite mode o.
operation among thieves who steal from
the passengers is TO select some victim
who gives promise of possessing well
filled wallet, and gather around him il
such way as not to excite his suspic
ions. When rush takes place, as tn,
boat reaches the slip, he is pushed, frs
on one side, and then on the other, ant
perhaps his hat is knocked down owe
his eyes. During the melee he is quietl,
relieved of his pocketbook, and, befor
he discovers his loss, the thieves hav
escaped.
Pockets are sometimes cut in such
l ~ III 4 r ~
into the thief's hand This is done wit
: a sharp, circulars shaped blade, worn o
: the finger like ring The writer ono
received dangerous wound across th
, back of his hand from one of these il
struments, while standing with his hand
in his pockets, among crowd of specti
tors at the Jerome Park races. The thiC
l probably mistook the unfortunate men
Der for a plethoric purse.
l Travellers in street cars are the greatc
I sufferers from thieves. Not day passt
when we are not called on to publish a.
counts of several robberies committed
8 the cars. Pickpockets are plying the
: vocation in this direction to an alarmin
I extent, and until the authorities take o.
5 tive measures to protect citizens from th
! depredations of these rascals it would
! well for those who ride in street-cars |
, adopt some way of carrying their walt
7 ables.
t When it is possible ladies should plat
! money inside their gloves, next the pain
I or perhaps the securest receptacle is in
: pocket corresponding to gentleman
!, inside vest pocket, but of course this col
( trivance is open to objections, on the plt
4 of Inconvenience. They will find it ne
e essary, however, to adopt some such pla
S or avoid travelling in street-cars.
Commercial AduertSer.