Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1883-11-09
Picking Pockets.

business SAID a Chicago detective to
DH5y Nems reporter. They 60 through
course Of Instruction, as general
thing, and learn it as child learns to
read. But no instructors will accept
as a pupil any one with short, stumpy
fingers. 1t requires for picking pock-
ets--just as it does for playing the vio-
lin--long, lean, flexible. and ev, n SEN
sitive fingers
DO you mean to saw that there are
regular instructors in the art of digi-
tai appropriation::'
'Oh, yes; old experts who have re-
duced it to IA science. Some of them
who are advanced in years, or other
wise incapacitated for active work on
their own hook, devote all their time
to instructing thieves and putting up
job for them. 1t is a peculiar profess
sion, and requires peculiar talents. as
well as peculiar surroundings and Cir
cumstanceS, to make it ii success. The
pick pocket out Of a large city ceases
to be great artist and in "a poorer
town or village would degenerate into
Il mere burglar, or even become honest
and prosperous. The pickpocket nev-
cr commits violence, as the footpad,
( the burgl:r. or the garroter Goes. He
performs his work unosientatiously,
unobtru>lvely-I might even say deli
catcly- He IS Il Judge OF character,
too. He is sort of Diet ctive in his
. ,Yi. LIN Of
man whose watch is likely to be solid
and valuable, and not belonging to
the order # flash jewelry. Long ex
perIence has made him al out as good
Il Judge of the value of things as a
jewcler or a pawnbroker. There is a
daily danger in his mode of life which,
no doubt, has attractions for the ad-
yenturous. He goes forth with his
liberty in his hand. He lives in the
face Of danger He sees companions
and friends perpetually struck off the
roll of grntlemen- at large. lie knows
not when his own dy of doom may
arrive
/ Does his busin ss pay, generally
speaking:'
/ Hardly. That is to say, there are
very few rich thieves Of any descrip
tlun. Thay nearly all die paupers, or
+ in prison or in their boots; many at
/ the hands of their comrades. Fear
aud guilt are the passions that sway
them. There is no such thing as hon
/ or among thieves. Some hase amass-
ed wealth, but to how many has it been
~ -5a,-ssl- -a-ssl- : ---------- a----'=
DO Professional pick pockets usual
I ~ operate singly or in gang?:
Some Of them prefer to 60 it alone,
but as general thing they travel in
organized mobs of three 1t takes
three men to do neat and safe job,
except in dense crowds where the usu-
al precautions are not necessary but
even then they nearly always work in
gangs. In the parlance OF the craft
these three individuals are known, re-
sptctiyeIv, rs the wire, the STALL and
the cover The wire is the pick
/ pocket himself; the stall dos duty
I by detracting the mans or woman s
attention while the operators fingers
are in the pocket; the cover places
himself in position so that the move
ments of the wire cannot be observ-
ed. 1t is very often the case that the
wire is boy, while the other two are
men. For the mere business OF re-
lieving pockets Of their contents boys
are the ablest adopts. Many IA street
arab has been driven to the work by
want and bad company at very early
age, becoming a professional long be-
fore he has attained his growth
i have heard, also, that women are
very smooth at the business
SO they are, they frequently travel
with male pals, and always do the del
lcate and risky part of the work. You
seldom hear of one being caught. This
is not so much owing to their superior
cumming as to the fact that they are
carefully covered and protected by
their male confreres. | have noticed
that when a female pick pocket trav'
els alone she preys upon her own sex
almost exclusively. When pickpock
Gus dit WI MIL III q SiSot SiO"e', es
said before, they go in gangs
The chief manipulation goes ahead
He selects victim, fan his pock.
ct to see if there is anything in
it, then slip his hand daintily into ii
and takes out the purse or money
which he passes back to one of his
comrades. Sometimes itchanges hands
three or four times in as many seconds
and even if the operator is nabbed i'm
mediately after the work is done no.
thing is found on his person to convict
him of the theft
What do you mean by tanning a
mans pocket
That is simply the slang for feeling
it in the light, cautious manner, which
is learned ty training. a sharp thiei
never puts his hand into a mans pock
ct at random, but goes through the
the tanning process at first, and 10
Gates the object he desires to pinch.
Sleeping Together.