Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1884-04-23

| Illicit traihc lar less prof table than IL
used to be. During the evil war in the
States the suffers were forbidden To- in
troduce spirits into some of the camps,
but preserved fruits" were allowed,
until these delicacies assumed the form
of one small peach in II quart bottle of
whisky, when all such luXurics were
prohibited. Looking nearer home per-
haps cherry does not always
contain so large proportion of garden
produce as the harmless reputation
which that liquor popularity enjoys
would imply.
An artful dodge came to the knowl-
edge of the assay authorities a short
time ago, and has caused them TO mod
| ify TO n great extent the indulgence
hitherto shown to manufacturing jewel
crs in assaying the quality of and stamp
ing unfinished articles. Chains with
hollow links, and brooches or bracelets
consisting of mere shell of gold-such
as are often honestly sold for what they
are would be sent in, the purity of the
metal ascertained, and the component
parts of the ornament hall-marked ac-
cordingly. But before exposing them
for sale, the worthy makers hit upon
the plan of filling these golden cases
with lead, thereby increasing their
weight hundred-fold, and the profit re-
allied upon them proportionately, max
| ing due deduction for the value Of the
workmanship, which of course remains
unaltcred. Though this is just as in
| defensible as any other form of adulter-
alton or imposturc, il is attended with
the unusual feature, that in all probable
| Al .Itenn.rn,. Al
fraud or be mentally the worse for it!
Some of the eXpcdients which profess
sional thieves adopt compel something
very nearly akin to admiration by the
mixture of cunning, daring and close
observance of human nature which they
manifest-at all events, they appear alb
solutely respectable beside the brutal
robberies with violence which so fire.
quently occur. A gentleman with a
valuable watch or well-filled purse or
pocket-book is marked and followed.
Very likely he has himself bespoken
the attention of the light-lingered fra
ternity to the fact of his possession by
the nervous care with which his hand
protects it as he hur'ries along. He stops
| to look into shop-window; n persist
ent fly attached to a loop of silk
seems to tickle his ear; he raises his
hand once or twice TO brush it away,
and watch, purse or pockct-book is
gone, even though the coat be slit to OBJ
tain it, ''Stop, THEIR he shrieks. So
does that quiet young man who hap
pened to be gazing into the same shop,
giving energetic chase TO some wholly
unconscious individual quarter of q
mile ofl'-very likely holding him until
the bcreft one arrives, "'to see if he can
identify him. and perhaps getting n
small reward for his trouble, Should
he he collared on suspicion by some
ruthless policeman who chances to
have enjoyed the honor of his acquaint-
ance previously, he stands in but little
danger, unless any bystander has actu-
ally seen him do the deed, for no trace
of the stolen property is found upon
him. What has become of it, them 1t
was dropped, three seconds after its alb
struction, into the umbrella of guile
leSs-looking individual with the aspect
and attire of n country person, up in
town for weeks sightseeing and
roaming in an unaccustomed manner
through the crowded streets. But thieves,
when pursued, have before now escaped
with their booty upon them by the cool
adroitness with which they themselves
joined in the chase.
That laudanum and other soporilic
drugs should be administered for the
purposes of robbery, one can understand
readily enough, though, in all probable
ity, the frequency and facility with
which this is done have been greatly eX-
aggerated. The quantity which is nee
essary to produce the complete and i'm
mediate insensibility we read about
would render Il cup or glass of any
liquid with the natural flavor of which
the imbiber was familiar extremely
nauseous; while the only substances
which can really represent the white
tasteless powders which figure so
prominently in these tales, are intensely
powerful alkalcids, used with great
caution even by physicians, and not
likely to be within the reach of ordinary
pickpockets. OF course it sounds much
better for the man who has had the mis-
fortune to lose his watch and chain to
say that his liquor was drugged, than
TO be obliged to recount the fact of his
having casually met two or three iovial
fellows, who piled him until he lapsed
simple. Granting, however, that opium
or choral may sometimes be employed
i'm this way, what are we TO
say to those cases where the
victim smells some queer odor emanating
from pocket-handkerchief and
remembers nothing moreP Medical
men do not find the administration of
chloroform, ether, bichloride of mcthy-
lcnc, or any other an@sthetic by any
means so easy, where all the conditions
are favorable and the patient voluntar-
lily submits to the inhalation; violent de-
lirium and excitement very frequently
precede Inconsistencies, rendering il
necessary to restrain the limbs by ply
steal force. Those instances in which
mesmeric influence is alleged TO have
been brought to bear on unwilling sub
jccts by thieves are still less compre-
hensible.
There are certain churches i'm London
where the body of the ediiice is allotted
to the pew-holders who constitute the
regular congregation; while the CALLER
les are free, and are generally occupied
by chance corners, attracted by particu-
lar services or preachers. The collec-
ton bag or plate is passed around in
the usual manner among the sitters be-
low; but church-warden stands ut
each exit TO the gallery, as the people
are leaving, to receive such offerings as
the occasional worshipers may be
pleased to give. In one of these
churches-situated at no great distance
from the three railway termini which
communicate with the North--an awk-
ward man stumbled in descending the
stairs, and falling against the plate
holder, scattered the collection already
received-for the clumsy individual was
one of the last to depart--over the floor.
He was profuse in his apologies, trusted
that he had not hurt the church-warden,
explained show it was" that he hap
pened to slip, jumped about with a
great show of alacrty in as
sisting to pick up the coins,
and finally, with renewed excuses
| | an1 81, f,. ,,,a1yn rood ~