Omaha daily bee., 1883-02-28
RocUE's QUIET TRICKS.
Sly Work Of Artistic Criminals.
Sick P;ckpockets Who Ply
Their Vocation at Wed
dings, Parties and
Funerals,
Whore tho Swag IL Surs and the
Detection Almost Impes-
sible.

"Get out Of the rutr," shouts uome !
oratorical refcrmer. However gocl
advice this may be In some iustau.es 81, |
It would BIO unfortunate IL II were fol.
lowed In all cases. The ~. may be q
good one, and It may ba far better for
all concerned II 1t be kept. The fact
that people are apt to have q particu-
lar way of doing things, and that their
acts are apt to bear some resemblance
to each other, both in character and
method, is of great service to detec.
tives In their attempts to bring crimi.
mails to justice. There are many ways,
Of course In which a murder or q burg.
larry or theft may be committed, and
. sharp detective will always carefully
study the case he is investigating, and
try to arrive at a conclusion as to how
the deed itself was performed. Then
he will recall the many criminals the
knowledge Ct whom he has gained
during, It may be, his long experience.
He will try to recall one who has
shown a bent for operating In that
particular way. Criminals, as soon as
caught, are studied and Classified.
"We find OUT" said O detective.
"what he has been doing and where
he has been doing II, and we almost
invariably find that he has been opsr-
ating in some particular way, which
he sticks to. There are few thieves,
indeed, who work In all fashions and
10 oil places. The bulk Of them make
themselves familiar with one or an
other mode of working and carry on
their operations among q certain class.
You see. there is fine art in rcguery
as In honest business. A man begins
as q thief by simply stealing, but he
soon finds that there are some places
where he can steal more safely end
ind more to steal than others. OF
course he selects these. Thieves have
~fancles in their work, too. They like
to steal in certain places and to rob
certain people. They take a sort of
pride In their operations, and thus one
influence or another always operates
to keep them in q certain rat, thanks
to which we assign them a certain
classification which facilitates all our
movements against them. Indeed, az
the detectives say, 1t would DO posi-
BILE to mako out q long list of crooked
people who have fallen into or chosen
their OWE lines of work, and to illus
trate 1t with cuts from the rogues'
gallery"
It il the superstition of many that
detectives are engaged for the most
part In bringing murderers and bur.
glars and the like to Justice. On the
contrary, very much of their time ia
occupied in bsgging small game
smaller In o certain sense, and yet
fully as difficult to entrap. There Is O
class Of crooked people who may be
denominated society thieves. They
often get In their work with exceeding
ingenuity and artistic skill. When
brought to Justice these persons often
escape, for their victims are reluctant
to acquire publicity. Consequently
the public hears but little.of the s~ociety
thief, and that little 20 incompletely
that 1t really forgets all about him.
The detectives hear enough of him,
however, for he has grown 30 numer.
Gus and audacious that no mixed re.
ception In society IL safe from him
without special protection. A dsteo-
tive 10 now 10 necessary o feature Of
most swell social occasions a. the guests
themselves. II the gathering Is q large
one 1t takes several detectives to do II
justice. Az many "a half q dozen are
sometimes called In.
The society thief il invariably q
man or woman with more standing
than means to support 1t. Not o few
of them of late years have been drawn
from the ranks of the needy adven.
turers whom English society has vom.
tied forth to prey upon our own.
Their operations are usually quito
simply conducted. They merely
watch for an opportunity to slip out Of
the crowd, on some pretext or an.
other, and then work at their ease In
tina deserted rooms Of the houre. In
some cases whole houses have been
rsnsacked by them while the dance
went on. They steal only portable
and valuable objects, of course, and
generally work alone. Sometimes
husband aud wife will engage In the
business together.
Not long siace q respectable appear.
ing man and wife we're arrested fol
stealing some trinkets presented tc
the little laughter Of their host at her
birthday party. While mother and
father were robbing her, their son wal
dancing down stairs with the chic
: they were plundering. The socia
gathering which offers the best oppor
tunity for peculation Is the wedding
. and the wedding thief has everythin,
: his own way. His greatest difficulty
y Is In being admitted. Sometimes
. he holds y position In society
circles which enables him to, entel
by invitation. Sometimes he enter
= on the pretext Of being . reporter, ant
sometimes he sneaks In. Once in b,
takes his choice of o~vercoats, hats
. and other articles Of wearing apparel
Q He inspects the presents with o view
of a~soertaining which Of the more
valuable of the smaller articles will
Q please him the best, and when I'M.
! solved he slips them into his pocket o,
under his coat. The more public tn,
q q wedding the better the opportunity
( has the thief to realize from his efforts.
. When a wedding Is solemnizad in a
' church there Is always y display OF
jewelry, which offers tempting Induce.
ments to q dextrous practitioner. Men
! and women dress in their best to
honor such events, and If they have
any ornaments of price put them on.
The wedding thief Is commonly q
facile hand nj MAKING n nocLat aud n