The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1890-11-29
A THIEF's CONFESSION.
"Mollie Matches" Tells How Pock.
cts are Picked.

L OuCc hueW plChpOCkct VINO
would, on occasion, unbosom him
self as to his work.
II can," he said, "get a thousand
pocketbooks before | am detected
once, and then the discovery will
occur through the clumsiness of my
"stall." Yes, it would seem as
though my business would pay, but
you must recall the fact that most
pocketbooks do not contain much
money. We open them frequently
and find no money at all-nothing
but receipts and other papers. Those
we call readers We strike so
many readers that the money made
in pocketpicking is not so great as
one might think. Then, the expen-
ses are heavy. 1t takes at least
three men to do the work, and four
are better. In this mob as we
term it, is one pickpocket proper;
the rest are helpers. The expenses
of a mob of four are high. If you
are working on a train, and this
frequently happens, you have your
railway fare in addition to regular
expenses. These four men will
average in. their expenses about$5O
day, the best you can do. Then,
besides, there goes 20 per cent for
protection Thieves are great pro
tectionists, whether protectionists
are equally as great thieves or not.
If they can-and they can more
frequently than you would think
they fix things with police officials.
Many a time I've worked under the
actual eye of a detective. In event
of tumble and 'squeal' he
would in the hurry and hustle rush
in-and grab the man who was touch
ed and hold him until the boys and
got out of sight. Then, of course
he would apologize and deplore his
mistake in grabbing the wrong man.
The gang would be safe by then,
however. Well, as l say, that sort
of thing costs 20 per cent. Then,
another thing. Thieves lose vastly
on the stuff they take, unless it's
money. Watches, diamonds and
similar plunder we only get about
35 or 40 cents on dollar for. There
is another reason why profits in
thievery are not so large. One can
not work forever. A mans nerve
begins to shake after about two
weeks and then he has to lay off
until he is himself again. Of all
men on earth, a pickpocket has to
possess nerve and have it with him.
The man who takes as a rule,
passes the stuff out of his hands as
soon as he can. If a thief carries
shot leather that is, some pock-
etbook just taken, or that there is a
row about, he doesn't put it in his
pocket. He carries it under his
vest, so that by simply drawing in
his breath it will fall to the ground
He does this, of course, and lets the
leather go in event Of being taken
He will drop the wallet as he and
the officer are walking along. In
the dark it's easy. Just drop the
stuff and walk over it. I've walked
over hundreds in my time. Where
detectives make a mistake is in not
searching men as soon as they grab
'em.
CHOSEN SEASONS FOR WORK.
"Thieves don't work in the winter
if they can help it, either, as over
coats and that sort of cold weather
harness makes it very risky.
81 don't myself see any moral
wrong in robbery. It's like any
other business. A dry goods man
if he can, will make you pay a
thousand dollars for what costs him
one. He don't inquire what he
should get or what you should pay
The question never is what is right
and honest? His idea is to pay as
little and get as much as he can.
Sometimes thieves get reckless
and will turn a trick for fun ano
lust to demonstrate how smart they
are. | saw a man once in the sea-
ahead of me on the train who pu
his pocketbook in his hip pocke
! after he had paid his fare. Just tt
show what / could do waited unit
he sat doing in his seat. Then
began to push on the back of tn
) car seat with one knee, and as fas
as I raised the seat-back | held i
by wedging my other footi in betweel
it and the bottom of the seat. l la,
back and pretended to sleep all thu
time myself, and l worked so slowl.
and so steadily that my friend nevt
awoke at all. When l had the bacl
of the seat raised so high that
could make the trip l reached un
der and took the pocketbook. l
took forty-fve minutes to get thu
f pocketbook and there wasn't any
e thing in it then, but the people witt
i me thought it was a great feat.
4 "Thieves never take a sllve
/ watch. 1t is not valuable enough
0 In getting watches the man VIII
t does the real skillful work stand
}. still with his back to the part
wanted. This sort of work will oe
cur on race tracks where crowd
are standing. The 'stalls' get be