, 1886-11-13
HARVEST TIME FOR THIEVES.
Pickpockets Find business Profitable Mt
This Period of the Year.

fickpockets FIND business ffohthoiN nj
This Period of the Year.
"This is the season in which the pro-
fessional pickpocket begins his profess
sional operations in earnest" said one of
the police officers at the Central office
the other evening. "Of course, " said he,
"they are generally on the alert at all
times for business, but Just now oppor-
tunitics present themselves on all sides.
l had an interesting chat with one Of
our best officers only a few days ago,
and he gave me enough information
about the fraternity of pickpockets to
fill a book. You see he is detailed to
stroll up and down Broadway during the
busy hours of the morning and afternoon
for no other purpose than to keep an eye
upon these individuals. He takes in
Fourteenth street, from Broadway to
Sixth avenue, and nearly every day he
scoops in two or three young gentlemen
who like to abstract watches, money, or
anything of value from the person of
others.
AT this time the New Workers who
left the city during the summer months
have nearly all returned. The dry goods
stores and fancy goods %emporiums have
their fall stock in. The windows are
filed with attractive articles, and
crowds of shoppers stop to admire or
c%riticise what they see. Many ladies
are careful enough to carry their purses
inside the bosom of their dress, but the
majority have it held in their hand or
dangling from their wrist by n silk cord
or piece of ribbon. Not a few have
their watch-pockets made on the out
side of their walking jackets. While
the ladies are crowding in front of the
windows it is a simple and easy thing
for the pickpocket who knows his bust
ness and can size up his victim to push
me crowd in too rs if he was fairly
crazy to see some particular object dis
played. But all the while he is watch
ing for an opportunity to work his
fingers into some ones pocket, or snap
n watch-chain and quietly slip through
the GROVE and away before the person
who has been relieved is aware of the
loss. 1t is a singular thing, too, that
but few visitors to the city are preyed
upon by this class of criminals. The
bunco steerer attends to them, but the
New Workers who think they can take
care of whatever they have about them
are invariably the victims. The coun-
try people, and even residents of Jersey
City, Staten island and Brooklyn are ex-
ira vigilant when they shop in New
York. They seldom lose anything.
The professional pickpocket is gener-
ally between II and 90 years of age. He
always looks shabby, and a hang-dog
expression his c%ountenance.
His clothing is bought second hand, or
stolen from some one. All these stories
about well-dressed, gentlemanly-looking
~pickpockets are nonsense. You may &C
c%asionally come across IN isolated case,
but the pickpocket is generally a dirty,
shiftless fellow, whose capital is his cum
ming coupled with the dexterity with
which he can slip his fingers in some
one clse's pocket and abstract therefrom n
watch or pocketbook without attracting
the attention of the rightful owner.
They travel in gangs of three or four
and some times as many as six or seven
work together. When any one of the
gang swipes Il timepiece or piece of Jew
elry it is taken to the first place where
they know questions are not asked and
disposed of for several times less its
value. Then there is a division of the
spoils and fresh ~onslaughts are made.
These criminals generally wind up with
a short turn before they nave been many
years in the business. They live in the
slums OF the city, ave no ambition ex-
cept to collar something, and they sell
dom reform. New York Mail and Ex-
press.