The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-10-20
THE SPANISH THIEF.
Generally Dressed Neatly When
Going on a Raid.
STREET BANDITS OF MADRID.
Police and Magistrates Lenisns with
Pickpockets-A Bunko Game That
10 Practiced ON Foreigners.

mainly Is the Spanish thief. He is not a
bit like the dirty, ragged British pick
POCKET, nor like the French "filou" with
MS cunning look, nor is he like the italian
robDer with his .repulsive, unsteady eyes.
A Spanish thief is quite different indi-
vidual. He will never think of going on
his raids without clean shirt. and is
generally dressed with neatness. As for
his hair, the prison barber has cropped it
often enough for him to need no combing
OF bristiy locks. Madrid is the place
where you can hear most about these gen.
tlemen. They are never called thieves in
spain. Ladron is too hard q word, one
you might get stabbed for. Even the
press when speaking about a robbery will
use milder language, and call the actors
''timadores" or ''cacos," cheats and
rogues. No mean attic will do for these
''timadores," no dark, hidden dens. They
live with their families and associates in
comparatively comfortable quarters in the
popular suburbs of the city, 'los Barrus
bajos." They seldom go by their own
names, but all have nickname, such as
Eel Moreno" the dark man: Eel listo, the
smart fellow; eel cojo," the lame lad; tel
gltano," the gypsy, and so on. The fair
sex also have their dpodos, or nicknames,
such as ia boracha," the drunkard; the
hera, the wild beast; Ga pelona," the
bald girl, etc. The personal appearance of
these women thieves is more repugnant
and coarser than that of the men. They
are often more daring and skillful in pre-
pairing and executing crime and escaping
detection afterwards than the men.
In the Spanish thief there is curious
nf vii
OF their traits would seem almost in
credible to foreigner A short time ago
a lady friend of mine had her pocket
picked as she was entering q church in
Madrid. When / say her. pocket was
picked / mean her pocket was clearly cut
out of her dress and carried off without
her becoming aware of the loss until she
went home. Besided so pesetas in her
purse this lady lost several papers that
could only be of importance to herself
and photograph of her son. Great was
her surprise, not unmixed with pleasure,
on the following day, when she received in
side an envelope bearing the Madrid post
mark, the papers and the lost photograph.
1t Is almost unnecessary to add that she
never got her money back again. Another
curious case of the cool impudence of Mad
rid thieves occurred q short time ago,
when the papers had made great deal of
fuss about an important robbery that had
taken place in house during the absence
of its usual inhabitants. The case had
been placed in the hands of one of the
most clever magistrates and some Of the
sharpest detectives. A sensational ac-
count had been circulated Of the amount
of property the sufferers claimed to have
lost. Upon this, one of the journals of
widest daily circulation, Ell Imparcial, re
ceived an anonymous letter from the
thieves. In this letter it was stated
in most polite though slightly
ironical language. with indifferent SPELL
ing. that it was great shame to deceive
justice and the public by erroneous ac-
counts of the amounts stolen. The letter
then went on with q detailed description
of the almost worthless goods that had
been carried away. Finally the thieves
begged to hand over to the editor of Ell
Impartial the two pawn tickets which
would prove how untrue it was that the
poor thieves had also taken pawn tickets
of anything like the value falsely declared
by the owners thereof. In conclusion the
thieves apologized for troubling the I'm
parcial, with the request to place these
pawn tickets in the hands of the judges,
which the paper gravely informed its
readers had been done.
Pickpockets are as common in Spain as
in other countries. They operate in regu-
lar gangs, each member of whom has his
beat, often well known to the police and
very seldom interfered with, except when
caught in the act of stealing. Even then
| it is not always easy to convict the rogue
| in whose hand you have caught sight of
your stolen watch or purse, because it Is
either handed with the rapidity of light
| ming to an accomplice or deity dropped
| in the gutter, to be picked up by the COM
panion of the brazen-faced scoundrel, who
| denies all knowledge of the events. 1t
goes hard sometimes with the clumsy
pickpocket who allows himself to be
caught and is not always rescued with
facility from the wrathful crowd. On the
contrary the victim of the pickpocket not
infreauently finds himself in an unpleas-
ant position when he does not manage to
find the stolen property in the hands of
the pickpocket. as the Spanish judges are
alwaysdisposed to be lenient to this class
of criminals. What people do not always
know is that you can easily recover stolen
property if you only go about it the right
way. For instance, if you are unfortunate
enough to lose your watch in Madrid, do
not make fuss about it; above all do not
complain to o policeman nor to any person
in authority. The policeman would only
shrug his shoulders and say; 81 have seen
nothing" No he risto NADIA. And If you
persist in your statement he will take you
off TO the nearest station and you will be
locked ND for twenty-four hours before you
are taken to Judge to state your grew
ance. The way to get your watch back Is
very simple. Put the matter in the hands
of your hotel keeper and offer reward If
the watch is found which is nearly always
the case. and before twentytour hours
YOUR watch is in your pocket again, but
with the warning ''not to lose it second
time" Your hotel keeper merely goes TO
one of the senior officers OF the detectives
and tells him all the particulars of the
robbery, the street, spot, hour, when and
where you suppose the occurrence TOOK
place. The inspector sends for the police
who were on duty in that street and tells
them to find the lost article. The police
almost always recollect the pickpockets
likely to be at the place indicated and off
they go to find them. Directly they meet
Mr.. Rata. the slang word for these thieves,
they tell him: 'LooK here, my friend, We
must have that watch; it belongs to
distinguished foreigner, and If not found
YOU must really be locked up. Awfully
| sorry, but it is question of honor, and
YOU will not have us lose our places" In
general the thief, after a little grumbling,
| gives back what he has stolen and gets
little share in the blackmaii. As he Is not
| locked up. he is very soon again at his
post in the same street and when he meets
| Mr Policeman he gives him q knowing
| look as thew cross each other on their
respective beats. Should the thief not be
| willing or able to restore the stolen watch
| he is walked off to the police station,
IL