Los Angeles herald., 1891-07-25
CLEVER PARIS ROGUES.
METHODS ADOPTED BY FRENCH
THIEVES TO SECURE BOOTY.


tends Their Efforts Is Due to Their
Wonderful Tact-Some Examples.
Unless some means can be found for
counteracting the ingenuity of the Paris
swindler it seems clear that the French
capital will quite outdo London and
New York as the favorite home of the
chevalier d'industrie.
That the Paris thieves have earned
their reputation may be inferred from
the fact that their slang is among the
most rich in words and phraseology.
LIE bonjourier, for instance, is the man
who knocks at your door early in the
morning, and if he hears no reply will
come in and take the toquante, or stick
err" or whatever else he can find upon
your table and mantelshelf. Watches.
however, may be stolen at all hours by
the bonjourier. and this is only one of
his devices to gain possession of your
property A very good story is told at
his own expense by one of our judges.
He was trying case in which a witness
swore that he could not fix the exact
time of particular event because he
had left his watch at home accidentally.
The counsel was rather skeptical about
this, whereupon the judge said: "There
is nothing unusual in that. Why, only
this morning left my watch on the
dressing table and did not recollect it
till, before entering the court, wanted
to find out the time" When the judge
got home he found that messenger had
visited the house, mentioned the judges
forgetfulness, described where the watch
was and asked for it to take to the own
er. Then the judge remembered what
he had said in open court.
THE sNUFFBox TRICK.
The sans chagrin, or ''griefess one"
goes into shop and has brought out be-
fore him a quantity of different articles
He then feigns epilepsy. and with the
aid of a bit of soap he foams at the
mouth. He has for accomplices a learned
Esculapius. who comes in, accompanied
by friend During the fit of epilepsy
the friend and the Esculapius are ran
sacking the till or otherwise earning
their livelihood
The coup de la tabatiere, or snuffbox
trick, is still occasionally resorted to,
but that ingenious race of traders, the
French female shopkeepers, are exceed
ingly suspicious of gentlemen who are
addicted to the practice Of "taking
pinch" in their presence. One of them
has recently been victimized in an ar
tistic style by swindler of this sort. He
was accoutered in garments suitable to
the age and character of a person devot-
ed to snufing, and had all the appear
ance of having attained at least his six
tieth year. He called for watches and
chains and spoke incidentally Of his
granddaughter, for whom he purposed
on future occasion to buy wedding
present at the same shop. He then Sc
lected one of the watches and one of the
chains-not very costly one-put them
on and inspected himself in the looking
glass at the other end Of the shop.
Returning to the counter he expressed
his satisfaction to the merchande, and
taking out his snuffbox further testified
to his feelings of qualification by indulg-
ing in good pinch. While the box was
in his hands it seemed polite to offer it
to the lady, who did not, however, hap
pen to be an admirer of the brown dust.
She had hardly declined the offer when
the whole contents of the box were
thrown in her eyes, and before she could
recover from the shock the would be sex
agenarian was careering along the street
at a pace which would have done honor
to Paris gamin or street boy.
TRULY FRIEND IN NEED.
The following is true story which
happened to me and an artist friend Of
mine. At II o'clock p. m. we were
about leaving small house in one of
the avenues radiating from the Arc-de-
Triomphe, where we had spent the even
ing. Unfortunately, however, the con-
cierge Gordon was broken and he could
not find the key. It was impossible for
us to get out by the door or for those of
the tenants of the house who were
abroad to get in. The concierge begged
a tenant on the ground floor to let us
get out by one of his windows and we
promised to go after locksmith.
All the shops were shut, however, and
none of the locksmiths in the quarter
would take the trouble to answer when
we rang the bell Under the circum-
stances the proper thing to do was to
hail policeman, but never sergeant
de vile could we find, though we went
a long way down each of the avenues in
turn. Failing to find an officer we asked
where was the nearest police station
The one in the Tornes quarter had been
shut up for couple of hours, the one at
b$tignolles the same, and at a third we
were simply sent about our business.
r. wasNpow o'clock in the morning,
and a lon. line of benighted tenants was
drawn mn ,sfore the fast closed door.
We-their won.,d be deliverers-were be-
ginning to lose COZ, wage when a very sus-
picious looking indiv.s .sdual-there were
good many of that sort a>oout-stumbied
against u.s. My friend the artist' VINO
had all his wits about him, sScpped tne
man quietly. and taking off ishat saad,
IL beg your pardon, sir, but you don /.
happen to have jimmy and SET OF
skeleton keys in your pocketT Theman
looked at both of us suspiciously for
moment and then whispered, sis it TO
crack crib? The painter briefly ex-
planned the difficulty and the service re-
quired.
..All right" said the mysterious one,
.sbut clear off the crowd. don't want