The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1888-07-27
Thieves at Weddings.

Thieves are not up to the tricks
here that they are in the East" re-
marked a Central Station detective in
the course of a conversation last eve
nlng.
''How's thatP" inquired a Daily NewS
reporter.
why they are not so fly and
there are many tricks they do there
that | have never heard of being done
here, notably the sneak-act at big we'd
dings, when valuable presents are on
exhibition"
That's where you are wrong"
interrupted a grizzled policeman, who
has, since his first connection with the
force, acted as patrolman, detective
lieutenant, and patrollman, again.
That games an old 'un here; and
many's the good time I've had a
watchin' EN-. Why, ten years ago
there were two or three clever conf
dence men and sn~eaK-thieves who
worked that game pretty successfully,
but they were compelled to abandon
it and leave re city, as they knew we
got onto 'em. They came here from
the East; had travelled extensively;
| lived in London a number of years and
knew many of the ~notables; had gam
bled at Monaco, rested in The Champs
Elysees at Paris, and, in fact, were
men who had blood in their veins
and had seer the world. They soon
became favorites and mingled in the
best of society. American society is
manufactured anyhow, you know, and
not very hard to get along with, so
that a man can be a mechanic the first
few years of his life and end it up a'sas-
siety man" Well, these young ~fellers,
as l said, got into society, and when
ever there was a swell wedding they
always managed to get an invitation.
1t also got to be a regular thing for
some of the most valuable of the pers-
ents to 10 stolen or 'sneaked' during
the evee1ing, but no one could inn
agine WHO were the thieves. The thing
became 10 regular, however, that an
other officer and myself were detailed
to work 1t up. We had to 90 to the
weddings and veal swallow-tails, Just
like the rest of 'em. We spotted thes e
foreign ligh-flyers the first night, but
did not catch 'em taking any jewelry,
although some was missed. We spent
the next few days in finding out who
they were, and the next wedding had
the table holding the gifts placed in
front of q closet door. This door we
left open just vide enough to see the
table. My partner worked on the out
side and / did che closet business. At
a certain time two of the foreigners
approached the table. There was q
nrnuUH Of orraaufg ornVnn1 - h,,k . N ~
n OF EN- pick up diamond solitaire.
| gave the signal and both of 'em were
nabbed. We searched them catefully,
but 1t could not be found, and we
were compelled to let 'em go. The
lady of the house was very indignant
and did not believe that they were
guilty but l was sure of it. The next
day they skipped, and a week later
l received a short note. 1t was signed
by a noted New YORK thief and said:
You dashed fool, ! am the foreigner
you searched the other night. Had
you examined a small pocket in one
Of my socks you would have found
your precious bauble. sold it yerster-
day for $500, Many thanks. The last
time / heard of him he was in London.
"At another time, on Wabash ave-
nue., caught a young a~ristoerat who
had always borne a good reputation
and whose father was wealthy. He
had succeeded IN 'nipping' a valuable
bracelet. The matter was hushed up,
though, by the property being return
ed, and the young man was sent away
from town..
do you have many requests for de-
tectives at big weddingsph was asked
one Of the heads of the detective de-
partment.
Very rarely, Z he responded. "A
policeman generally does the work BY
watching on the outside, and sneaks
have no chance Of getting in. / have
not heard Of a loss at a wedding since
| have been in the detective depart
ment.- Chicago NeWs.