Daily Los Angeles herald., 1884-02-21
PICKING POCKETS.
khat > Dstsotivs Says Of the Art
and Its votar1es.


aisvss who must be especially
TED for the business" said I
hicAgo detective TO . Daily News
lportsr. They go through :
3urss Of instruction, % ! general
hing, and learn ii as Z child
arns to read. But no instructors
III accspt y : pupil any one
Eith short, stumpy fingers. II
pquires for picking pockets just
) Il does for playing the violin
ing, lean, flexible, and even SEN
Itivs hngsrs."
DO you mean to Gay that there
rs regular INSTRUCTOR in the art
I digital appropriation 7"
"Oh, Yes, old experts have re-
uoed il 10 scisncs. Some of
hem, who are advanced in years,
+ otherwise incapscitatsd for
ptivs work on their own hook,
svots sll their time TO inslrueting
hisves and putting up jobs for
pom. II Il ! peculiar profession,
ad requires psouliar talents, a.
Eell ~ poouljsf suEfoundings and
rcumslanoee, TO make Il Z snc-
-. The piekpookst out Of .
S66 oily csasss To be . great
tit. and in . poorer town or
lIags would degenerate into .
sre burglar, Or even become
Qnest and prosperous. The
lskpocket never commits vio-
bnss, q the lootpad, burglar OF
arrctsr does. he performs his
Iofk unostsntatiously, unobtru-
|vsly-I might say dslioatsly.
[s il : judge Of character, too.
rs 10 : soft Of detective in bis
Isy, knowing at Z glance the
ind Of . man whose watch Il
kelly to bs solid and valuable, !,
nd not bsloneing 10 the order Of
ash iswslry. Long experience
re- made him about ~ good 4
Judge Of the value Of things a .
swsIer or Z pawnbroksr. There
! daily danger In bis mode Of
10 which, no dostt. has at
ract;ons for the adventurous.
e goes forth with his liberty in
Bic band. He lives in the face Of
Hanger. He tses friends and
kompanions struck Of the roll Of
snilsmsn at large. He knows
sot whsn his own day Of doom
|nay arrive"
! "Doss his business pay. gen.
brally spssking?'
"HaSdly. That is TO say there
krs very few rich thieves Of this
description. They are nearly all
Paupsrs, or in their boots;
nsny Of them at the hands Of
thsif comrades. Fear and guilt
|ars the passions that sway them.
There il no such thing - honor
among thjsvss. Some have
amasSsd wealth, bat TO how many
has Il been Of use =
"Do professional pickpocksts
opssats sinely OF In gsngsr'
"Soms Of them prefer to go>it
alone, bot - 8 general thing they
travel In Organised mobs Of three.
It takes three men to do . safe
and neat job. except in dsnss
|crowds who're the usual prscau-
tions srs not necessary; but then
thsy> >nsasly al work in gangs:
Il ths paSlanes Of the craft those
three individuals are known re-
spectivsly - the wire, the stall
and tho 'covsr.' The wire is the
pickpockst himself; the stall
doss duty BY distracting the
mAn's or Woman's attention while
The opsrator's fingers are in the
pocket; the cover places himself
IN position 20 that the movements
ol The swirs' cannot b discovered
Il y very often that the WIRE IL .
boy while the other two are men.
For The moro business Of relieving
poeksls Of their contents boys are
The sblsst adspts. Many . street
Arab hes bssn driven to the work
BY want and bad company at IN
early age, becoming . professional
long befors he has attained his
fall growth
II havs heard, also, that women
ere smooth ct the business.
$50 they srs. They frequently
travel with male pals. and always
do the dslisAts and risky part Of
the work. You seldom hear Of
one being caught. This 10 not 90
much owing 10 their superior
summing - TO the fact that they are
earsfulIy covered and projected
by thsir male oonfreres. / have
nosiesd that IL . female piokpockst
travels alone she prsys upon her
own ssx slmost exclusively.
When pickpockets ere working in
: crowd, - l said before, they 60
10 gangs. The chief manipulator
|. eoes ahead. He selects victim,
Mans his pocket to sss Il there is
k,thing in IL. then slips his hand
tily into il and takes out the
b or roll Of money. which be
81 3 back 70 one OF his com-
rsdss.N Sometimes II changes
hsnds hrss or four times in ~
many 5soonds and even i the
operator IL nsbbsd Immediately
sltsr the work 10 done, nothing
l. found upon him TO convict hin
Of his guilt"
"What do you mean BY fan
ming . msu's pocket9"
ssThat il simply ths slang 70
feeling II in . light. esntiou
msnnsr, which 10 learned b.
training. A shsrp thief nsve
ruts bis hand into . mans poke
4 random, but goes through IN
"A A.nk .rd the