Sharp County record., 1885-06-11

ate in crowds, assisting one another IN
such manner as circumstances may re-
quire.. Where people cOngregate IN
large numbers, there look out for plcN-
pockets. A procession is their delight
large fire thing of Joy, popular
wedding or a funeral godsend. Ne
place or occasion is so sacred as TO IN
spire them with reverence AT a camp
meeting near here, once, reverend
gentleman, while on his knees eXhorting
sinners to repent, was robbed OF MS
wallet BY an irreverent professional,
while a weeping sister on the anxious
seat was deprived of the means OF dry
ing her eyes by a felonious scctfer AT
diamond wedding two OF the brides
maids and many of the spectators wera
elieved of their watches and ornaments
| bv ladies as fashionably dressed as were
the bridal party. The various railway
depots, where crowds of strangers are
constantly arriving and departing, ar
fine fields for pckpockets to work, and
abundant are the harvests they gather
therein. The felonious gang joins the
bustling crowd, pushing, jostling, jam
ming, one covering the movements OF
the other, and all bent on plunder. A
victim once selected, he is pushed and
annoved by two or three of the gang,
while the deXterous fingers of another
dip lightly into his pockets and secure
the coveted wallet. Instantly it is pass
ed by the pickpocket to his cover, and
before the victim has recovered his
equanimity his treasure has flown.
Should he become Immediately con-
scious of his loss, he would not have
the hardihood to suspect the well-dreSs-
ed, highly perfumed gentleman by his
side of having robbed him. 1t is weak
ness of humanity to look for crime only
in rags. All places of public amuse-
ment, public meetings, street cars, or
wherever crowds of people collect,
there is where pickpockets most abound.
1t is in hustle and confusion that they
are enabled to work most successfully.
1t is in accordance with our republican
ideas to put our trust in the masses of
the people. And hence, an individual
whose suspicious nature would cause
him to watch you as closely as if you
were a thief while engaged in private
consultation with him will rush headlong
into a bustling and hustling crowd with
out thought of pickpOcket or watch. He
sometimes trusts too much to the integ-
rity of the masses, and returns from his
encounter with them Shorn of his treas
ures and also of his confidence. The
individual pickpocket who conducts his
operations without the aid Of cOnfed-
crate is similar in manner and appear
ance to those who constitute the gang.
Instead of workingin crowds, however,
and under cover of a rush and jam, he
adopts a more quiet and reserved mode
of accomplishing the same object. He
it is who insinuates himself into the seat
next to you in the street car or the
stage, and with much ostentation pro-
duces a morning paper and appears to
be engrosSed in its perusal. At the
same time the cloak or linen duster he
carries, or even the paper he holds,
serves as a cover to hide the manipula-
tons of his agile fingers Very often
he is provided with a delicate little
knife with a razor-lke blade. with
which he quietly Sits your garments,
until, having reached the desired wal
let, he quietly withdraws it The knife
blade is occasionally concealed in
a fnger-ring, and pickpocket,
we'll dressed and gentlemanly, once
called at manufacturing jew
eler's store and ordered one
of these ring-knives made, after
a pattern furnished by himself. The
ring was made according to order, and
when the thief called for it the proprie-
tor of the establishment had the curl
osity to asks it use. The thief candid
lv explained to the astoniShed ieweler,
at the same time practically demon
strating how delicate an operation it
was to use the instrument successfully,
for shortly afterward he discovered a
clean, neat slit in his pants pocket, and
further investigation showed him that
his pocket book had been abstracted.
While explaining the use of the ring the
thief adroitly executed the robbery,
thereby ahording convincing proof that
the ring had been satisfactorily made.
The female pickpocket is the coun-
terpart of the male of the same species
loud in her dress, in her manners
and conversation. She is opposed to
living a life of single blessedness, and
usually takes to her heart an expert
thief or shrewd gambler, regardless
of priest Or parson. Her mode of con-
Quoting operations is similar to that
adopted by the male pickpocket-al-
ways seeking a crowd, and always
pushing and intruding. She haunts
the fashionable stores, and, being a
woman, she knows whereabouts in u
lady's dress the pocket should be.
"There are many young girls in the
business, but they can scarcely be
called professional, as they have other
means of obtaining a livelihood, and