San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1878-10-19
Sun astartus frse Press,
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PROFESSIONAL THIEVES.

Their Habits, Is Told by Police Superin.
tcndent Waliing How They are Educated
SUICIDAL Lines of Thievery-The Hard
.bjps Of the Profession as Related by Il
Thief.
lFrom the New York Tribune'l
"New York thieves" said Police SUI
perintendsnt Walling, the other day.
s'are of two sorts-those who steal only
when tfeyare tempted by want, or when
an unusual opportunity ifor successful
thieving is thrown in their way, and
those who make a regular business OF
stealing. The first class embraces men
of every grade in society, from the pres
ident Of y bank who appropriates a mil.
lion of dollars to his own use, down to
the poor mechanic who steals q loaf OF
bread To feed his starving family. 1t is
difficultlto imagine grades of excellence
in a business so low as professional
thieving,s and yet the old adage, 1t
takes a smart man to make o good thief, ;
is true enough. A professional thief
ranks among his fellows according to his
ability. !, Many professional thieves are
burglars 4, They drink to excess, and
commit SO many plumbers that they are
easily DETECTED BY the police. They
gamble greet deald When SUCCESSFUL
they quarrel over their booty and betray
each other SO often as *, justify the say
ing, There is no honor among thieves ,
A smart thief seldom drinks and never
allows himself to get under the influence
of liauorso He takes care to- keep him
self in the best physical trim. He is al
ways ready for a long run when purc-,
sued, or for a determined struggle when
cornered9e He must always have his
wits about him. A thief of this class
makes q. successful bank-robber, forger
or confidence swindler. ,.-l..
Professional thieves" Mr.! Walling
continued rBeldom have any home!
Many of them find tempory shelter in q
dull season in houses Of ill-repute. They
associate with, and are often married to,
disreputable women, many OF whomare
alsoq.thieves. The smartest thieves do
not have homes for the reason that they
dare not remain long in one place for
fear'of arrest. Large robberies are
much less frequent in this city than they
were q few years ago, not because there
is less,to steal, but because robbery is
attended with greater peril. Many ho-
tel thieves, burglars and safe operators
prefer to work in adjoining cities and
towns, ,returning here with their plum
der. During the past year q large part
of the detective work has been in max
ing arrests for thefts committed outside
of the city. No sooner is a large rob-
berry committed in any part of the ooun-
try than the New York police are in
formed of it, in the hope that the
thieves will return here and be caught.
During the summer New York thieves
are to be found at all the watering
places, and seaside resorts. The sum
mer hotels, with bedroom windows
opening on long verandas, are well de-
signed for the operations of hotel
thieves, who become acquainted with
the habits of the occupants, watch their
opportunities, and enter chambers when
they are left vacant at dinner hours.
Many siadies take with them to such
hotels, costly jewelry and dresses, which
they wear at evening parties and
leave in their room at meal
times. Thieves who frequent such
hotelsog are usually we'll dressed,
fine looking persons, who are seldom
suspected by strangers. Confidence
swindlers and pickpockets reap u har-
vest in the crowds at seaside resorts
during the summer months. Later in
the season they attend country fairs and
agricultural shows, and come back to
the city at the beginning of winter.
They are fond Of political meetings in
Jersey City and other places near New
York, but they do not appear often at
meetings in this city More than BUSH
ell of watches were stolen by New York
thieves at a single political meeting in
Jersey City last fall" N..
In reply to the inquiry whether there
were in this city any places where
thieves were educated, Superintendent
Walling said: "No. 1t would be i'm
possible for such places to exist without
being discovered. Thieves educate
themselves, or get their knowledge by
associating with other thieves more eX-
perienced than themselves. Those peo-
pie who believe in the existence of
schools where boys are taught the art Of
picking pockets, have got their belief
from works of fiction like Dickens
SOLVER Twist" The buckui-shops
and brothels of the city, where thieves
congregate, are the only places which
can be called schools for crime. IL is also
mistake to suppose that thieves have
any organization for mutual aid and
protection. Thieves do not trls: each
other enough TO allow such organ
izations to exist. 1t sometimes happens
that thieves who are on terms of PERSON
al friendship with each other will give
assistance TO a comrade in trouble, but
there is little sympathy or self denial in
common among professional thieves =
Police officers and detectives, who
make study OF thieves and their modes
of working, say that the most important