National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-12-25
OURB-STONE THIEVES.
HOW STRANGERS ARE TAKEN IN AND
DONE FOR IN NEW YORK


DONE FOR IN NEW YORK
During . stroll through the BsWery Tuesday
afternoon, the attention Of Mr.. Julius Zschornd,
Of Fair River, New Jersey, was attracted by
crowd Of people, who seemed much interested In
the proceedings Of man who was addressing
them from the curb-stone. Now, this was bad
crowd, and Mr.. Zschornd, unfortunately for him.
self, did not know IL. The man was what is known
to the fraternity Of thieves and pickpOckets as .
'sosp fsksr," and he was attended by two Of his
confederates or "heelers," and all three were on
the lookout for the unsuspicious stranger in order
that they might either get his moneyIby trick and
device, or boldly take It out Of his pocket. The
way in which
THE "soAP RAKKR" OPERATES Is INGENIOUS
and eifeetusl. In the first plAce he is provided
with q satehel which has two compartments,
either Of which he can open at viii. He then has
q number Of little gilt paper boxes about an inch
long BY halt an inch wide and half an inch
deep, in each Of which Is contained q small cake
Of common white soap. The rest is very simple.
In each one Of q small number Of the boxes,
compartments Of his satchel, he places q green
back on the top Of the soap. In the larger num-
Der Of boxes, which he keeps in the other side of
the satchel, he places nothing. He is then
ready for business, and attended by his "heelers"
takes his stand in some crowded thoroughfare
and Vociierously invites the attention Of the
passers-by to
THE MAGNIFICENT OPPORTUNITY PRESENTED
to them by which they can not only possess them
selves Of q cake OF the unriValed patent soap for
the eradication o. stains from everything on the
face Of the earth, but may also draw prize Of
from q to s. Having secured the attention Of a
sufficient number Of people by his cries and gestic-
ulatlons the !" soap tSker then opens the COM
out some three or four Of them opens them and
exhibits the money they contain. He then re-
and at this junctuTe one Ct the "peelers does does
step up pays his twenty-five cents, or halfdollsr,
as the case may be, and draws a box from the
al kah 1a@d air
to see what luck he has, and he triumphantly
DISPLAYS THE BILL WHICH HE HAS DRAWN.
He then retires, aud the crowd are again IN
Vited to try their luck, and the bag is closed in
1t is again opened, the compartment which con-
tains the boxes which have no money in them is
the one from which the succeeding boxes are with
drawn. 1t is strange to see how many people are
cheated by this cheap device, but tits So and the
'soap faker" and HIS ccnfederates make q CON-
Portable living out Of it. The "heelers" AFTER
having started the game are not idle by any
means, for 1t is also part Of their duty to relieve
persons whose curiosity gets the better Of their
discretion, and who stand gazing at the lottery
game, Of such portable property in the shape Of
watches and wallets as they may have in their
pockets. Mr.. Julius ZschoTnd was one Of these.
He stood and watched the game, and seemed to
be so much interested as to have entirely forgot
ten all else In the world. The "sOap fsker" d.
rected the attention Of his heelersn to this gen.
tleman, who suddenly felt himself violently
pushed from behind, and turned to see what was
the matter, when
HE FELT HAND IN HIS WATCH. POCKET.
Turning back suddenly he saw 1t was the
"ak himself who was in the act Of stealing his
watch. Before he we'll knew what had happened
he discovered that his watch was gone, and that
the lottery men were going too. To his joy Mr..
Zschornd saw policeman rapidly approaching,
and to him he told his tale and pointed out the
men. The officer, who was Sergeant Moloney, Of
the Second precinct, who was on his way home to
dinner, Immediately followed them until he saw
them go into an oyster saloon. He then waited
until the patrolman of the post came, and the two
then entered the place and captured the party.
When taken to the fOmbs police court, before
Justice Murray, they gave their names as VIII
liam Waters, OF No. IL Nassau street, Brooklyn;
Isaac Loring, Of Bostsn, and John Jones Price,
Of No. 200 Schemerhorn street, Brooklyn.
Zschornd sWore positively that Waters was the
man who took his watch, and identified the
others as the men who had hustled him. They
pleaded not guilty, but were held to answer by
Justice Murray. in default Of g, 900 bail each.