The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1879-09-10

SWELL THIEVES IN SUMNER.
A Mulberry Street Detective Classifies the
Criminal Fraternity ~ Net ut Watering
[Esw York world.l
"Tell me something about the habits
Of the swell thieves in the summer
timer" said World reporter yesterday to
a Mulberry street detective.
'They devote the summer to recreative
and prospective work-that is, studying the
bearings and acquainting themselves with
the resources of the places which they pro-
pose to attack when favorable opportunity
presents itself. They seldom stop long in
one place. They can be met one day in
Saratoga and the next at Newport, Long
Branch, Cape May. or doing the Canadian
tour, all the time having an eye to business
and spending their leisure moments in gam
bling dens.
sistent regularity at the approach of summer
to the watering places, put up at the most
fashionable hotels and carry on their bust
ness as opportunity affords. The swell pick
pocket seldom gets caught. He generally
travels with companion, to whom he passes
whatever he snatches, and should the finger
of suspicion be pointed at him
he assumes an air of virtuous
innocence and wounded dignity which is
amusing to behold, and offers, it may
be in the most plausible manner possible, to
show up, if necessary. Even if he is searched,
nothing is found on him, and unless he is
really caught in the act he can not be held
The hght-fngered gentry are always in
swarms at horse-raees, fairs, conventions and
camp-meetings, and indeed. wherever there
| is big crowd. They ply their trade with
! persistency and an energy worthy of a better
cause"
"What do they do with their spoils2"
Cali property besides cash which they
| manage to ley their hands on they send to
the city, where agents receive it and convert
it into cash the best way they can. The
| hotel and clearinghouse thieves who make
their headquarters in the city are the dread
of every watering-place in the summer.
| They live in grand STYLE drink the most e1-
| pensive wines, smoke the most expensive
| cigars and drive in the gayest available
coaches. Groups of them may be seen night
| " in the corridors of the Saratoga hotels.
| They are easily recognized, but not SO easily
| gotten rid of. Their restless manner gives
them away, but the hotel detectives, as long
as they have nothing against them and they
have no certainty beyond appearances that
they are crooked, can not safely interfere with
| them. They are watched. The detective
forces at the hotels and watering-places have
to be reinforced in the summerto watch these
/ guests, and pretty hard time they have of
it. In a day the thieves find out all about
the guests, how much money or jewelry they
are likely to have in their rooms, and when
| they go to their meals they invade their
| apartments and carry away whatever OF
value they can lay their hands on. The
buaco, faro and three-card-monte men spend
| the summer travelling on the cars trying to
| rope in countrymen. They reap rich har-
vest, for the average countryman is the easiest
being in the world to impose upon. The
sneak-thieves remain in the city in the sum-
n,er, and so do low class of burglars. look
ing for favorable opportunity to get into a
| vacant house.
"Your swell thief is generally an educated,
well-dressed, respectable-looking, heightened
gentleman. He lives well, spends money
lavishly when he has it, and industrously
cultivates the friendship of the wealthy and
refined. His demeanor is SO pleasant, his
outward code of morals so apparently strict,
and his dealings with his fellow-men when it
suits him, SO seemingly straightforward, that
to the uninitiated he appears to be the very
paragon of honesty and the embodiment of
all that is noble and virtuous in manhood.
That class of thieves are the most dangerously
the community. They are hardest to detect
in the act of committing crime, and their
tracks are so skillfully covered that after the
perpretration of crime it is difficult either to
catch them or to trace any of the stolen
property The swell thieves live in fine style
in the city during the winter, doing an occa-
sional Job as their necessities require. In the
summer they go to the watering-places-
everywhere in fact where there is a proba
bility of being crowd. They may be class
flied as follows: Burglars, pickpockets
confidence msn bunco-steererS faro and
three card-monte men, hotel and boarding
house thieves, and sneak thieves.
"Nearly all the first-class burglars belong
to the SWELL class. Education is necessary
to make really good, reliable, level-heade6
and effective burglar. Take the most fam
Gus burglars now in prison and st large il
this Countrywide Hopes, Brady, Dobbs
Leary, Irving, and Porter, for instance
They are all men of brains, and would hav,
probably succeeded at any trade or profes
sion they might have chosen. They are re
garded as frst-class men by the theivins
fraternity; for they are cool, daring, anc
merciless when any one crosses their patl
while they are cracking bank or plumber
ing house. In the summer time the swell
burglars cease from active labor. The dark
ness of the night is an essential element o
|
long, dark winter nights that they prov
about with all their vigor and misguide,
enthusiasm, and under cover of night com
NIT their depredations.
"The haunts of criminals in this city," tn
old detective continued, "are distributed al
over. You will find men who live by thei
wits and by dishonesty in Fifth avenu
boarding houses and hotels, and you vii
find them in the slums of the Fourth ward
BY far the greater number of those who d
the work planned by others live miserabl
existence. Their dread of State prison force
them to keep out of sight as much as possible
while those swell thieves who do the brai
t work and supply the funds for a job lead
life of luxury and comfort, unsupported b
their neighbors.'
Cunning Expedient.
There is a fable among the Hindoos tbs
thief ho hpan datactad ond q