Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-09-19
PICKING POCKETS.


Pick-pockets are a class Of thieves who must
be especially fitted for the business" said q
Chicago detective to Daily Ne,ns reporter.
''They go through a course Of instruction, as a
general thing and learn 1t as q child learns to
read. But no instructors will accept "a a pupil
any one with short, stumpy fingers. 1t require.
for picking pockets-just as it does for playing
the violin-long, lean, flexible, and even sensi.
tive fingers"
"DO you mean to say that there are regula,
Instructors In the art Of digital appropra
tiOn?"
ION, yes; old experts who have reduced it to
science Some of them who are advanced in
years, or otherwise incapacitated for active
work on their own hook devote all their time
10 instructing thieves aud putting up jobs for
Them 1t is peculiar profession. and requires
peculiar talents, a. well as peculiar surround
1ngs and circumstances, to make il success.
The pick-pocket out of large city ceases to be
great artist and in poorer town or vii
lage would degenerate into a mere burglar, or
even become honest and prosperous. The pick
pocket never commits violence as the foOtpad
the burglar, or the garrOter does. He performs
his work unOstenetOusly. unObtrusvely-I
might even say delIcateiy- He is a Judge of
character. too. He is a sort of detective in his
way. knowing at glance the kind of man W hose
watch is likely to be solid and valuable and not
belonging to the order of flash jeweIry. Lone
experience has made him about as good Judge
OF the value OF things as jeweler or a pawn
broker. There is daily danger in his mode of
HE which. no doubt. has attractions for the ad-
Eenturous. He goes forth with his liberty in
ms hand He lives in the face of danger He
sees companions and friends perpetually struck
on the roll of gentlemen at-large He knows not
when his own day OF doom may arrive
Does his business pay. generally speakng?"
Hardly. That is to say there are very few
thieves N an oil,
die paupers, or in prison, or i'm their boots;
many at the hanus OF their comrades. Fear and
guilt are the passions that sway them. There is
no such thing honor among thieves. Some
been of uSe?"
DO professional pick-pockets usually operate
singly or In gaDgsI"
''SOme of them prefer to 90 it alone but as a
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 usual
precautions are not necessary; but even then
they nearly always work in gangs In the par
lance of the craft these three individuals are
known. respectively. as the wire the stall and
the cover The wire is the pick-pocket HIM
self; the stall does duty 10y detracting the
mans or woman attention while the operator 8
fingers are in the pocket; the cover places him
Self 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
adopts. Many 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"
so 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 cunnin" as to the fact that they
are carefully covered and protected by their
male confreres. | have noticed that when O
female pick-pOcket travels alone she preys upon
her own sex almost exclusively. When pick
pockets are working in great crowd as | said
before they go in 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 dantily into it and takes out the
purse or roll OF money, which he passes back to
one OF his comrades Sometimes it changes
hands three or four times in as many seconds.
and even if the operator is nabbed Immediately
alter the work Is done. nothing is found on his
person To convict him oil 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 by
training sharp thief never puts his hand in
70 a man S pocket ut random. Dut goes through
the tanning process at first, and locates the
OBJECT he desires to pinch"