Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-02-15
TRICKS OF THIEVES.
The Light-Fingered Portion Of
Washington's Population.
BUT FEW PROFESSIONALS.
How the Confidence OF Old PcnsiOners
II Abused-The Despoilers OF Hen
ROOsts-FOIks Who Get Others Drunk
To Rob Them.

HE Washington ''crook" is an indi.
- 0aAjvidual peculiar to himself. He i,
Hall kW not as fly" as his brethren in the
E crowded and cosmopolitan metropo-
q lis, nor is he as glib as those in Bos-
| ton, but. in the language of the small boy, he
generally manages to 'get there just the
same" I learned these and other interesting
facts by frequenting the haunts OF the ioca
confidence men and thieves for over a week
during which time mingled with them freely
assumed their swagger and style and play ed
the role of good fellow" Among crooked
people you must be either chump or a good
fellow. If the former, you are regarded with
suspicion and distrust, but if you are esteemed
as being in the latter category your light.
fingered companions take you promptly into
their confidence and relate their past expert
ences and plans for the future. The expert
ence had among these people forced the con-
cIusion upon me that the best way for the
ponce authorities to get down to the crooks
and their crookedness is by the employment of
dummies similar to the old London system.
WATCHING THE DETECTIVES.
A well-known local confidence man. speaking
on this subject, said that when a professional
worker" reaches this or any other strange
city he at once sets to work to ''plpe off" the
my cops or detectives by photographing them
on his memory and studying their ways and
movements This is called getting them down
fine or ''gilling the fiys," and it is usually ac-
compllshed through the aid of some local
friend. After the detectives have been well
and truly "gilled' then the visiting crook is
ready to commence operations.
lhe Hght-hngered contingency of Washing
ton can be divided into several classes. FIRST
there are The professionals, and it can be said
that but few of this class abound here. Then
81 n1f.lf IL.
sneak thieves. pocket-book snatchers, till tap
pers. &c. This class is legion. Next are the
drunk workers" and last but not least the
confidence men. The petty thieves mingle to-
gether by common consent apparently and are
mostly men who have done time" either in
the District Jail or at Albany. / found them
principally in the sin-swept alleys of certain
sections of the city, i'll the slums and in the low
groggeries.
THE FENCES.
Many of the latter places are fences where
much of the :'swag' is disposed of for either
money or liquor. The favorite fence of the
Washington crooks is in Baltimore. the stolen
property being taken thence by agents. who
keep themselves without the atmosphere of
police suspicion. These agents do not frequent
the stamping ground of their customers. but
hold forth III remote localities where the latter
can go with IMMUNITY to dispose of their swag
thief who would carry his stuff to a city pawn
shop would be considered very green and
giddy indeed. One of the Baltimore agents is
said to be located near the Long bridge and
another on the commons east of Lincoln park
III the Washington people (police) could
only get down to the Baltimore fences" said a
weil-known crook who has thrice been lover
the road" to Albany, they could uncover
much of the property that has been touched
here of late. The Baltimore fences are jim
dandes. They will buy anything from snide
or forney ring to horse and carriage, and you
needn't go out oftown to get them of, either."
RoBBING PENSIONERS.
Catching pensionec or touching drunk
are favorite games of those crooks and conf
dence men who frequent the resorts contiguou;
to the great stretch OF parks extending from
LIST street east to 18th street west pensioner
Is caught on pay day or on the few DAYS sue
ceedln:; and the hook that catches him is
usually baited with rum and fattery. The
fellow wh) Is going to work the game usually
has one or more confederates. He meets the
old pensioner in bar room or some other
resort where liquor can be obtained and enters
into conversation with him. The old soldier is
praised to the skies. This game of talk as
it is termed in the language of the crook. is
thickly punctuated with large drinks of
whisky. The fellows who are working the
game, however, are careful to indulge
III moderate doses and many of these
are adroitly thrown into the spittoon.
The pensloner has in most cases been with
out money for some time-he is only paid
once every three months-and he is therefore
anxious to have good time. His friends, the
crooks, are willing to assist him in this. The
old fellow sings with fervor Marching Through
Georgia and other army tunes and his new
found friends join Justify in the chorus. If it
Is falr day the latter propose a trip to one of
the parks. where. unmOiested, they can occupy
bench and talk and sing galore. In most
cases the pensloner accepts the invitation and.
with pint bottle OF whisky they proceed to
some secluded spot. and there are many of
these in the city parks Now the game is work
ing In good shape. The next move, III the Ian
guage of the pensiOner catcher, is to make
the old man dead to the world" This is &C
compllshed with but little difficulty, for the
old soldier Is already pretty well saturated, and
/ few more swlgs from the bottle fixes him.
Then he is promptly relieved OF his pension
money and whatever else of value he may have
Oh his person, and the game is ended SO far as
the crooks are concerned. They disappear
silently like phantoms while their victim is
stretched out OH the bench to take an aco-
hoiic siumber. The old pensioner is found by
ark watchman or some passer-by and turned
over to the police. III the morning he awakes
in station house cell, shaky and moneyless.
and nine times out of ten is taken to the Police
Court and sent down for vaGrancy.
This game of catching "a pensoner. and he is
generally severely caught, is practiced every
pension day, as the number of unfortunate old
vets" in the aims house and work house will
attest. Many of the city crooks and confidence
men look forward with as happy anticipation
to pension day as the average child does TO the
coming OF Christmas.
RELIEVING DRUNKEN MEN.
Touching a drunk is worked by the same
men who bait their hooks for pensioners, the
only difference being that they are on the alert
every night to do the touching" This game
is worked in several ways. drunken man
found lying or sitting asleep in one of the
parks is approached by the crook, who gives
him a shake and in an imperative tone says:
Get up out of this or will arrest you
If the Intoxicated individual does not re-
spond at all or only answers with a grunt or
groan he is said to be ripe and the quasi
watchmau gives a signal for ,hs friends to be
on the lookout while he goes through his vic
tim. Ii the latter does not happen to have
much cash or many vaiuables about him he is
often robbed OF his entire wardrobe, from sole
10 crown.
If man is not quite drunk enough to be
touched the crook proceeds to supply him
with more liquor until he is drunk enough to be
steered into park or alley and relieved of his
money, &C. The confidence men are, as a rule.
we'll dressed. They are good takers and prey
principally upon strangers, rural ones pre-
TERED. They hang around hotels and bar
rooms and are ever ready to escort visitors to
the several poiuts of interest III and about the
city. They rarely touch" victim. but work
him for borrow" after he is feeling pretty
good under the influence OF his drinks. 1t fire.
quently happens that they succeed in borrow
ing" all the money the stranger has about him.
There are great many of these well-dressed
confidence workers in this city and they carry
on their business with reckless openness