The Red Cloud chief., 1884-09-12
Among the Criminal Glasses.

49, ~ hfF' -
he meir,pols = As a rule I found rhe.r
homes poorly furn she'd: the wives. if
hey had any. were fond Of gin aud beer.
mi their children were Often small.
wizenci. imperfec:ly developed and
sery nomadic in their habit.. Some
'emalc pic.pockeis whom | knew gen
orally dressed in semi-mouruing aud
wore little jewelry. They often con-
rived TO steal purses containing large
sums in notes and gold At the West
End. but they were always in s state of
terror. and were often s.nt to prison for
two years At i time. Their most zen
teel looking boys were sometimes
dressed - resemble young gentlemen
from Eton and Harrow. aud sent To
pi X pockets; but as they could mo-
work with gloves On their hands this
alone enabled keen we'd detectives to
know them. for no Eton or Harrow
little man ever walked down Regent
street without wearing his gloves. One
very clever thief bad a glass ~ which
he sometimes wore. and At other tim =
kept in his wiistcoat pocket, aud by
suddenly replacing il in certain critical
moments he cleyerly escaped detection.
He always tried for the gold watchc, of
elderly gentlemen. and. ~ some of his
prizes were very costly. he frequently
hal much money To spend. n he soon
spent it on vicious pleasures. He was
At last sent away for seven Years 10 a
convict prison. Many Of the most in
genions pickpockets spent much OF their
time in prison cells. | knew one who
I.l 49,. 49, - i... -,
jail. Yet | have known meE Of this
class refuse honest employment, be-
cause they wished TO enjoy their lib
erty.'
Large gains simply meant large
waste. have known a thief sIuauder
ESQ in less than a month. Champagne,
phcasants, oysters. cabs. theater-. cards
and other similar means of disiribu-
ton made the heap OF gold melt like
now Then he told me they stole each
others money when they could, for
there is no honor among thieves. Some
members o. the criminal classes, how
ever. enioye wonderful immunity from
capture and punishment. | was ac-
quainted with "A man and n oma who
passed false coin for thirteen years.
They lived in one room. in a dark court
with their tour children and We're a
striking illustration of the truth that
honesty is the best policy. II did not
matter how much bad coin they on
trived to pass. they were always on the
verge Of starvation. The peace and
beauty OF q good home were never
theirs, nor Of the other criminals who
lived in the same court. That some
thieves often got large sums of money
by their depredationS vas well known.
Three of them cOntrived to rob a LAZY
Of her ~reticulc, which contained nearly
$500. and they succecde | in battling all
pursuit. When they stole bank notes
they took them 1t once to certain agents
who gave them e for each 20 note,
and then sent it off to another agent in
a Co ~tinental city. One confederate of
burglars had a melting pot always
ready To dissolve plate, je.'elry, etc,
ami therefore, if 4 burglar could only
reach his house with his spoil, it was
soon reduced to molten metal and the
burglar could walk of with the pro-
ceeds in his pociet. The forgers of
foreign n ties were often Russians.
Poles II Frenchmen. and they mostly
lived near Leicester Square.
Much alarm ha3 been caused by
burglars having used revolvers. As y
rule, 4 skillful artistic would not 60 SO.
a revolver makes n noise, alarms the
neighbOrs and summons n cruwd Of pur-
suers. What the burglar wants. when
foiled, is TO get away unseen. and hence
the use of the revolver is not general
among clever house-breakers. One of
them. who gracefully showed me how
cas- il VA, to enter my own house, told
me with 4 smile that a man who used
violence did not know his business. and
was not one of his people" He was
a very smooth, gentleman himself, and
often visited my private house for a
little talk. am glad to say that he be-
came an honest man and gave a kind
employer every satisfaction. Forgers
were men of another stamp. They had
been schoolmasters. clerks, diapers as
sistant>. commercial travellers, and 50
on. The cleverest forger | knew was a
pretended clergyman, whose history
would ill a volume He forged docu-
ments which enable him To preach. +
marry people. to become the chaplain
of ~ emigrant sbip. aud 10 perform all
the sacred functions of his office, but he
got seven years penal servitude nj last.
He was r good scholar, excessively po-
lite. polished in spec III. but era ", false
and ~ungrateful beyond degree Another
was the son OF respectable parents and
pursued 4 course of crime against the
p~ost-olliccs for a long time. until at last
he found himself in prison. He has sat
ut nv table with friends who paid me
an unexpected visit, and they little
knew that the chatty gentleman beside
them was n convicted iOrger.
Not a few criminals connected with
the commercial classes escaped punish
ment through compensation to their
wronged employers | have known a
father pay nearly t2o0) to prevent his
q being ent at one to the Old Bal
ley; but the wretchei yGung man did
not reform after all. Indeed. in some
cases it is better ia leave the las to
punish the offender: if noi. ruin to all
concerned comes in the end. Friends
who knew of my inRoeent connection
with the criminal clasSes have asked
me to get pack their stolen property for
them II | had a personal a~cquaiEt-
nee wiihthe thieves there Was no diff
cGity. and in three noteworthy cases /
succeeded. and that. too. without max
ing any compensation to the criminals
Visiting thieves hoHses ras always a
hszardejs thing. and ouee certainly /
was in great danger. bat I terrif d my
foe By giving him To understand that l
knew all about his last Burglary:
wherenpon he collapsed in the most alb
iect style. ana vanished. He was a vio-
lent sooundrel aud best in prson-PaH
Nall Ga=ettc.
On Molly GrOunl.
O ours the cave of AacnDelah is