St. Paul daily globe., 1885-06-21
PROFESSIONAL PICKPOOKETS.
Characteristics of the Lfght-Fin-
gered Gentry--Their Work.
Mainly Young Men Who Have a
Weakness For Fine Clothes.

he comes upon you III such unexpected
| places, under such pleasant guise, and
has such insinuating ways, that you fall a
victim to his artistic skill while admiring
| the beauty of his face and figure, or admir-
| ing the elegant twirl of his jet-dyed mus
tache. AS they are the most dangerous, SO
are they the most numerous OF our public
| depredatOrS, and although we have done,
| and are doing, our best to drive them out.
yet they increase almost as fast as we catch
| them and send them off. They are mostly
young men, their ages. varying from Is to
| 25 years; many of them have been street
yagrants from their infancy, uncared for by
parent or friend, forced from babyhoOd to
supply their own wants, early acquire
knowledge of the world of men and things,
and degree of 'ssmartness'' and dexterity
| which renders them expert thieves and dam
gerous neighbors in mixed assembly. They
are by nature and education opposed to hon
! est labor, and would
REJECT WITH sCoRN
any offer calculated to subject them to toll.
| There are others who, well educated and
reared, have become tempted beyond their
strength. But, having once become mem
bers of the profession, they sink to the level
OF their companions, adopting their man
ners and habits, their superior advantages
having no other effect upon them than to
make them more hardened and depraved
than their fellows. / knew of remark
| able instance of this once. 1t was in the
person OF son Of respectable, well-to-do
parents, and eight years ago he was book
keeper in this,city. He was a handsome
young man, OF good address, and enjoyed
the utmost confidence of his employer. Fast
companions by degrees introduced him to
nd hQ fron nTlfn
of billiard saloons, gambling houses and
places where he was required to spend more
money than his salary warranted. Then
came the old. old story. Getting into debt
| he yielded to temptation and stole 81 900
from his employer. He was detected, but,
in consideration of his parents and his evi-
IDENTIFY sincere repentance, he was not prose-
cuted. He went to New Orleans and OBJ
tanned an excellent situation, and had re-
solved to lead an honest life in future. One
day he met on the street an acquaintance
| who
| KNEW OF HIS FALL.
He was one of those internal busybodies
who are never happy unless they are inter-
ferlng with other peoples business, so he
Immediately informed the employer of the
young man of the affair, and the conse-
| quence was that he was discharged. Turned
friendless into the street. his reputation
blasted, he became reckless, and immed-
ately adopted the profession of pick
pocket, and is now known as one of the
most expert. He speaks with great bitter
ness of the acquaintance who gave him
away in New Orleans, and SAYS that but
for him he would have redeemed himself
and lived an honest life, instead of being
candidate for state prison." professional
pickpOckets," continued the detective,
''have a weakness for fine Clothes but their
| taste leads them to adopt rather the loud
and flash styles of dress than the quiet and
respectable. They rejoice in neatly fitting
suits of varied hues. spotless linen. gaudy
neck-ties, sparkling pins and ornaments,
and often wear plug hats. Numbers of
them may be seen any day gathered in little
knots at their fayorite corners, 'mashng'
| The external appearance of the professional
pickpocket is similar to that of the
PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER,
and they are often seen together in familiar
conversation. Time was when our most
skillful pickpockets were Englishmen: and
those individuals, fresh from European
cities, used to look with scorn and contempt
on our native-born bunglers; but it is diff
ferent now. Pickpockets usually work
in gangs Of three or four, although few of
the most expert usually prefer to work
without partner. These gangs operate in
crowds, assisting one another in such man
her as circumstances may require. Where
people congregate in large numbers, there
look out for pickpockets. A procession is
their delight, large fire thing of joy.
popular wedding or funeral god-send.
| No place or occasion is so sacred as to in-
| Spire them with reverence. At camp
meeting near here, once a reverend gentle
man, while on his knees eXhorting sinners
to repent was robbed of his wallet by an
| irreverent professional, while weeping
sister on the anxious seat was deprived of
the means of drying her eyes by felonious
scoffer. At diamond wedding two of the
bridesmaids and many of the spectators
were relieved of their watches and orna-
| mentS by ladies as faShiOnably dressed as
| were the bridal party. The various railway
depots, where crowds of strangers are con-
stantly arriving and departing are fine
fields for pickpockets to work, and abundant
are the harvests they gather therein. The
| felonious gang joins the bustling crowd,
pushing, jostling, jammng, one covering the
movements of the other and all
BENT ON PLUNDER.
& victim once selected, he is pushed and
annoyed by two or three of the gang,
lightly into his pockets and secure the
coveted wallet. Instantly it is passed by
the pickpocket to his cover, and before the
victim has recovered his equanimity his
| treasure has flown. Should he become i'm
mediately conscious of his loss he would not
have the hardihood to suspect the we'll
dressed, 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 amusement, pub
| lie 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 mist success
| fully 1t is in accordance with our repub-
lican 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 thief
while engaged in private conversation with
him will rush headlong into a bustlng
! and hustling crowd without thought of
pickpocket or watch. He sometimes trusts
too much to the integrity of the masses, and
returns from his encounter with them shorn
! of his treasures and also of his confidence
| The individual pickpocket who conducts his
operations without the aid of confederate
is similar in manner and appearance to those
| who constitute
| THE GANGS.
Instead of working in crowds, however,
and under cover of a rush and jam, ha
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 produces morning paper
and appears to be engrossed in its perusal.