Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1888-01-06
PICKPOCKETS.

4 ANANl WIN u -
The Methods Pursued By These
Lightfngered individuals.
An Inmate of a Prison Cell
Loosens His Tongue.
A san Francisco Post reporter has
been interviewing an imprisoned pick
pocket "What is your Legitimate line
of work, as you call it 2 asked the re-
porter The prisoner replied:
Taking care Of purses and such
things for people who don't know how
TO take care Of them themselves. If
man studies his business he need never
get caught picking pockets. 1t is sim
pie and nice light work for gentlemen
who don't care about doing hard work.
You probably don't know it, but tho
professional dippcr studies his work just
the same as a lawyer studies law. Take
the Eastern safe crackers, Randall,
Thomas and Heinz, who were out here
a couple Of years ago Why, they've
got their business down to a science.
They know Just where to look for the
/ combination in a safe, and with one boro
they break the tumbler and lock into
pieces. 1t il part Of their business to
know these things, aud they never have
to pry the door off with crowbar.
That's not safe cracking, and fellows
who do bungling work ought to go to
prison.
people think that pickpocket
ru,hes up to a man, dives his hand into
his pocket and grabs the purse. That's
not So To do neat work, pickpocket
must have good stalls to do the crush,
and he must be able to tell what kind
Of a man he has selected to rob. The
stalls are helpers, and do the rough
work while the pickpocket is getting
the purse. When you work in crowd
there is not one chance in a thousand
that you will get caught if the stalls
understand their business. Now, when
worked the thcatcri or the ferry land
ing | Away, had two good helpers We
would 90 to the theater aud wait until
the end OF the first act. OF course, we
never noticed each other and when the
other gentlemen would 90 out to get
cloves we would 60 to. The stalls
then commenced their work, and l
would stand back and study They
would size up men who looked as if they
had more money than they needed, and
would brush up c,oss 70 them. While
they were working IN aud out ~
the bar l would be studying.
"The nervous man who is always on
guard against being robbed was the one
wanted. Now, the cautious fellow
who feels for his purse as soon as he had
been crowded, shows two things. First,
that he has got something worth steal
ing and then that he will 60 to pieces
and lose his head when jammed in
crowd. When l selected my man l
would give the stalls the sign and we
would go back to the show, When he
was leaving the theatre the stalls
would manage to get around him, one
ahead, and one behind. l would walk
by his side and knew Just what pocket
his purse was in for noticed that when
he felt for it at the bar. Then when he
got into the jam the stalls would com
mcncc the crush, that is, squeeze him
between them The man ahead would
accidentally push him back, while the
one behind would crush him ahead.
As soon as he felt the crush he would
get nervous and excited raise his hands
up to make his way through the crowd
and wriggle from one side to the other.
The stalls would only squeeze him
harder and then would slip my hand
into his pocket and get the purse. A
cough would be a signal to the stalls
that I was through, and then they
would stop squeezing him.
"As soon as we released him from the
crush it was funny to see how he would
wigglo to get out of the crowd, and when
he got there he found that his purse was
gone. OF course, you can work that way
in any crowd, but you must always take
a nervous man. Take one of these cool
fellows who doesn't think of getting
robbed, and who doesn't mind the crush,
and 80 times out of 100 he will catch
you"
( "But how is it that you manage to rob
ladies, when oftentimes their pockets are
covered by their skirts 2" asked the re-
porter.
Just the same as a man" answered
the prisoner. "The stalls give them
the crush and the one hind cuts the
dress at the same time. Why, it is ten
times easier to rob a woman than a man,
for they are all fdgety. When they get
into a crowd. and are jammed all they
think Of is their dress. They are afraid
that it is going to be torn and dragged
out of shape, and they get so angry and
excited that you could put your hand into
! the pOcket 80 times without heinz de-
tected."
A Big Ferry Boat.