Morning journal and courier., 1890-11-04
THE PICKPOCKET,s ART.
A Devotee OF is Dilates Upon the
Beauties He Secs I'm It.
from the Kansas City Starl


Beauties He Secs I'm 1t.
[From the Kansas City Star.l
s'There is no class of artists" said a re-
nowned thief, ''who in their calling are as
dexterous as pickpockets. This is due to
double incentive. Not only does your
pickpocket find a bait for effort and exer-
ton in success, but has the added spur of
fear of failure. Success means as much
to pickpocket " to any man, and failure
means a great deal more. A vocation in
which the slightest slip means loss of lib
erty, and perhaps of life, will ever be apt
to have a degree of expertness in its fol-
lowers not present in more reputable and
safer avenues of trade.
''Pickpockets, like poets, are born, not
made. Their nerves must be iron and yet
as sensitive as instinct. Their hands
must be as complete in make up and ac-
| complishment rs Herrmann,s, and strong
| as steel while light as down. Out of the
vast army of humanity who are soldiers
of the shadows only one-fourth of one per
cent. can OF do become pickpockets," he
| continued ''These form the nobility of
thieves, and are revercnced by the burglar,
the footpad, the sneak and the cop man
as of a higher class than they. The prac-
tice of pickpocket while not really at
| work is as constant as that of some famed
professor of the viol or harp. BE keeps
pace with the professor. No sooner does
some jeweler invent y new fastening for
diamond pins or studs than these men of
finest touch devise the motion which
evades its purpose.
s'The chief object of pickpocket, after
certainty, is speed. He cannot daily with
his victim by the hour. Whist he does ID
to be over in fash. Speaking of pins
and studs, there has never been a fasten-
ing so complex but the expert thieves
could defeat it in a motion. They do In
their business as fine work az any Houdin,
and the thief himself could not analyze or
explain its detail. His powers of execu,
tion have gone far beyond his power OF
| perception or relation
ga pickpocket consults his own nervous
condition constantly. No fine lady evel
has such q time with her nerves as this
| aristocrat of the outlaws. If he does moi
feel right he won't work When he doe
I've known one on the impulse to take 4
car ON some well dressed and wealthy
street, and seating himself side to the win
dow, survey the shirt front of ever,
would-be passenger as the car came up
The moment one showed diamond in hi.
linen or crayat the thief would hurry Il
the platform to get off. He would tim,
: his maneuvers so as to meet his man or
/ the steps of the car. They would collide
The thief's hat-a silk hat or Derby-is ir
his left hand, and covers his dexteroui
| right, which is put forward to protect it,
owner in the collision. 1t touches tn,
} new conner right where the diamond spar
! kles, and is still covered by the hat in tn
, other hand With an apology, the THE
. steps out of the way. The whole affair
: the tenth part of second, but as he bow
| his regrets he has the diamond in tina
: mysterious hand of his, and, as 1 hay
D said, he could not detail the moves b
. which he attained it, even if he shoul
, try"