The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1888-06-07
|NIMBLE FINGERED MEN
How the Artful Dodgers Get Their
Start in Life.
A talk With Detective About Profess
sionaI Pickpockets-The Various De-
srees of Expertness - Tricks to
Which They Resort.

How do professional pickpockets
make a start?" asked a Star reporter
/ Of a detective the other day.
'he begins" answered the detective,
"by robbing small stores or candy
shops; by sneaking into the stores and
|robbing. or attempting to rob. the till.
Before he becomes an expert he is
lsually picked up by the officers for
,etty oTenses The first time he is ar
nsted he probably gets off by paying
mall fine. The next time he is sent to
|hil. and then he becomes hardened,
While in prison his associates, or many
| Of them. are old offenders, and from
Them he receives advice and learns
great deal about professional work.
When he is released from Jail he thinks
k knows as much as any of the older
members of the profession, and he then
makes start toward the penitentiarv.
Then he will follow ladies about. He
will pick out those who carelessly carry
their purses in their outer pockets or
on their arms.
"In short time" the detective went
on ''he joins gang or mob Those
gangs usually are composed of four
or FIVE men known as stalls and
wires or tools The 'stalp is the
nan who gets the mark or victim in
position, He is usually the heaviest
nan in the gang When his work is
fnished and the victim is in position
tle wire comes along and works from
behind the victim or the STALL In
hlnety-nine cases out of every hundred
where the victim discovers that he has
been robbed he seizes the stall and
hands him over to the police. OF course
when the stall is searched nothing is
ionnd on him. for he has never had the
swag in his possession. The victim
grabs the STALL because he can not
lee the wire After the robbery is
committed the proceeds are turned over
confederate, who goes to conven-
lent place. cleans or empties the purse
and then disposes of it, keeping only
sacn portions of its contents as can not
o easily identified. A favorite thing
win the pickpockets is to take gang
9! nve or six and start out on the day
VI some celebration to 60 through street
ears Two of them will enter a car at
: designated point and pick out a
marx. Then as the car passes along
.ne street the others enter it, and the
INST two give the signal and step off the
car When the mark attempts to get
w the car he is hustled at the door by
members of the gang while the wire
cues through him. If they have a
.aance several pocket-books are secured
0elore they leave the car, and in this
way tney frequently make a good haul.
another favorite place for mob to
1prk. continued the detective, .'is at
raiiroad junction. A swell mob of
a's.-elass men will meet. lay their plans
saa .nen go to the junction. Each will
s. alone and take his position. When
'As car arrives rush is made, and pas
sasers are prevented for a minute or
~ rom getting off the car. While
s.lng past each other the wire gets
ns work, and when the car on the
.,.Osslng !. road moves off one or more of
y Passengers discover the loss of a
Fcket-book. The man who got it is on
s1 going in another direction. and
NJ ~ eaanees for catching him are very
1 Some first-class workers prefer
%aasei alone, and work with news
espsl Or light overcoat They will
an overcoat on their left arm,
a' Wnen doing a job. will throw it
aOss their right arm, hiding their
ssuu These fellows can easily take a
srop' as pin is sometimes called.
sasa JOB takes but an instant, and in
~ "a !ew cases are the thieves caught.
Inc pickpocket," continued the de-
e ''is in his glory at the country
NJ NJ There is usually large crowd a,
- places. A member of the MOB