Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1874-07-16

prowling in the purlieus of water street and
the dock to the bediEzened female dwelling |
in brown stone palaces of shame, in the up !
town streets and avenues. The aims house,
the insane asylum, the dissecting-table OF the
medical college, and lastly. the potters feId,
is the common end of them ALL A brief Pc
riod of gilded sin, a rolling in carriages, and
flashing in silks and jewelry, and then they
90 down the steep descent. until nsmeless
grave hides them and their shame together.
Worthless and dangerous" under this head
are classed fifteen thousand miscellaneous
characters, roughs and rowdies, too lazy to
work, and who subsist by their ''wits, COM
ing to the surface as.sneak thieves, street-car
highwaymen, rising to the dignity OF keepers
of groggeries, and the tools of unprinclpled
politicians, who pay them well for repeat
ing" and intimidating honest voters.
Next in the black list, in point OF numbers,
are ten thousand professional gamblers
some worth hundreds of thousands, and 9th
ers living on the uncertain earnings OF the
green cloth and the wheel of fortune. Nearly
three hundred gambling houses, of different
grades, from the faro and banquo dens OF the
Bowery aud adjacent streets, to the palatial
establishments Of the princes of the profe'-
sion, were found in this city until recently;
but their suspension will not last long. Their
net is spread for all, and many poor wretch
dates his fall from the time when he tempted
the tickle Goddess over the table of the gam
bier. Gambling seems to be passion with
all classes, and in several places in the city
are vile dens frequented by colored people,
who gamble away the proceeds of "wa:tisg,"
or the earnings of the whithwash-bru The
lower class of gambling establishments main-
tain a numerous class of hangers-on. in the
shape of 'ropers-in" and ''cappers. whose
business it is to entice the unwary into their
dens and fleece them as clean as possible.
Miscellaneous thieves come next in point
of numbers, and of those there are seven
thousand in the city, who s',bsist by thieying,
and who will steal anything from bean to
locomotive, provided they can carry it OIL.
Occasionally they promote themselves to the
ranks of murdcrers, by crushing victims
hoaa with slnng- shot or club, or stabbing
him with dirk knife. This class
also includes those plausible, we'll
dressed scoundrels, known unoer the title of
boarding-horse and hotel thieves-fellows
who engage board and then decamp with ey-
erything they can lay their hands on. They
also slip quietly into q hall when the door is
left open, and carry off the umbrellas and
wearing apparel upon the hall stands. In
fac: oil the miscellaneous thieving in the city
10 carried on by this class of scoundre)s.
Anything and everything is fair game to
them. All is fish that comes into their nets.
Next come the most delicate and adroit of
criminal classes, whose exploits are in every
body's mouths, for almost every one has suf-
fered at their hands one time or another
The pickpockets number four thousand, and
. more divine array Of intellect il seldom
! found within the limits of any occupation.
| Men and women of brains and education, of
parts and breeding, whose looks belle their
occupation, are found devoting themselves
to the relief of the overburdened condition
of their neighbor's pockets. Old men and
young children are found in the ranks of the
profession, and their field of operations are
wherever there is crowd. In railway and
street cars, upon steamboats,, in the lobbys
and corridors of hotels, theaters, aud assem-
bly, rooms, at church, even, they are found,
meeting we,l-dressed people with the air of
persons of position in society-old men who
look like bank presidents or railway directors,
professional looking gentlemen, whose white
cravats and gold-rimmed glasses give the ap-
pearance of ministers of the gospel, beautiful
women, ruling in silks, and flashing costly
jewelry, looking like queens of beauty. They
are the ones who prey upon the pockets Of
unsuspecting humanity, aud whose neighbor-
hood is not suspected until the loss 10 discov-
ered Their deftness of hand and delicacy
7 of touch would do credit to the most adroit
magician or slight of hand performer. The
leading members of the fraternity are well
known to the police. and when any great loss
occurs, they ore obliged to accoun, for them
selves. They work in twos ana threes and
share the gains of the labor. One does the
work and the 0bers distract the attention OF
the victim.
Next to the p,ckpockes, In point Of adsois-
ness and numbers, 81 the sboplift@s. This
class is composed alm"st exclusively of f.
males, aud many thousands Of dollars worth
Of goods do they surrepei'iously carry awsy
from the cousten Of the seerss sod shops
alosg Broadway and the avsnaea, and -