Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-09-24

What a Chicago Detective Says of the
Art and Its Xotaries

I
! ''PickpOckets are a class of thieves
who must be especially fitted for the bust
/ ness" said Chicago detective to DGiI,l
/ Nelcs reporter. ''They 90 through a
/ course OF instruction, as general thing,
/ and learn it as a child learns to read.
/ But no instructor will accept as a pupil
/ any one with short, stumpy fingers. II
| requires for picking pockets-iust as 1t
! does for playing the violin-lOng, lean.
I flexible, and even sensitive fingers
do you mean to say that there are reg
ular instructors in the art of digital ap-
/ propriatiOn?'
'Oh, yes; old experts who have re-
duced 1t to science. Some of them whe
are advanced in years, or otherwise inca
/ pacltated for active work on their own
hook, devote all their time to instructing
thieves and putting up jobs for them. 1t
is peculiar profession, and requires Pc
cullar talents, as well as peculiar sur
roundings and circumstances, to make it
a success. The pickpOcket out of a large
city ceases to be great artist and in a
poorer town or village would degenerate
into mere burglar, or even become hon
est and prosperous. The pickpOcket never
commits violence, as the footDad, the
burglar, or the garroter does. He performs
his work, unOstentatiOusly, unObtrusiveIy
! might say even delicately. He is a
Judge of character, too. He is a sort Of
detective in his way, knowing at glance
the KIND OF man whose watch is likely
TO be solid and valuable, and not belong
ing to the order of flash jewelry. Long
experience has made him about as good a
judge of the value of things as a ieweler
or pawn-broker. There is daily danger
in his mode of life which. no doubt. has
attractions for the adventurous. He goes
forth with bis liberty in his hand. He
lives in the face Of danger. He sees COM
panlons and friends perpetually struck
on the roll of gentlemen-at-large. He
knows not when his own day of doom NAV
arriYe.'
Does his business nav. generally sneak
ing2"
"Hardly. That is to say, there are very
few rich thieves of any description. They
nearly all die paupers, or in prison, or
In their boots; many at the hands of their
comrades. Fear and guilt are the pas
slons that sway them. There is no such
thing as honor among thieves. Some have
amassed wealth, but to how many has it
been of use?'
"DO professional pickpockets usually
operate singly or in gangs?v
"Some of them prefer to go it alone. but
as general thing they travel in organ
lied mobs of three. 1t takes three men
to do neat and safe job, except in dense
crowds where the usual precautions are
not necessary; but even then they nearly
always work in gangs. In the parlance
OF the craft these three individuals are
known, respectively, as the WIRE the
STALL and the cover The wire is the
pickpOcket himself; the 'stalP does duty
by detracting the mans or wOman's at
tentiOn while the opertaOr's fingers are in
the pocket; the cover places himself in
position so that the movements of the
wire cannot be observed. 1t is very
often the case that the wire is boy.
while the other two are men. For the
mere business of relieving pockets of their
contents boys are the ablest adepts. MANY
a street arab has been driven to the work
{ By want and bad company at very early
age, becoming a professional long before
he has attained his growth"
Il have heard, also, that women are
very smooth at the business"
$50 they are. They frequently travel
with male pals, and always do the delicate
and risky part of the work. You seldom
hear of one being caught. This is not so
much owing to their superior cunning as
to the fact that they are carefully covered
and protected by their male cOnfreres.
have noticed that when a female pick
pocket travels alone she preys upon her
own sex almost exclusively. When pick
pockets are working in a great
crowd, as l said before, they 90 im
gangs. The chief manipulation goes
ahead. He selects a victim, fans his
pocket to see if there is anything in it,
then slips his hand daintily into it and
takes out the purse or roll of money.
which be passes back to one of his com
rades. Sometimes it changes hands three
or four times in as many seconds, and
even If the operator is nabbed immedi-
ately after the work is done, nothing is
found on his person to convict him of the
theft
What doyou mean by tanning aman's
pOcket:"
That is simply the slang for feeling it
IN the light, cautious manner which is
learned by training. A sharp thief never
puts his hand into mans pocket at ran
dom, but goes through the tanning pro-
cess at first and locates the object he de-
sires to pinch"