Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1891-01-04


other circumstances would have been
great. Like some splendid breed oil
dogs. she could scent a pOcket-bOok ana
get possession of il, no matter where IL
was Her touch was so deft that she
could pass her hand up mans coat,
relieve him of his watch and chain ana
let the whole thing run down the sleeve
of her dress. Aside from the tleXibility
of her fingers, she had a taking way
with men, and nothing that ! have met
since equalled her system OF black
mailing. She would pose as an In
genue, ask man to show her
the way To her hotel, and, under
the ruSe of wishing TO Introduce MN 10
her family for his kindness, get really
gallant and respectable gentleman 10
her room. bang the door shut and de-
mand her price for his release. Her
last victim was a Boston gentleman,
who. i'm some such manner, was enticed
10 private apartment and made to give
her his check for $4,000. He signed 1t;
she had il caShed few moments later,
and by the time payment was stopped
she could not be found. She, too, Is
fugitive from justice, and well catch
her sure,
Il am repeatedly asked about success
full pickpocketS and 1 want to say right
here that don't know of any such per-
sons. No criminal is success who gets
arrested. The jail, the prison and the
gallowS are not the places TO look for
success. and il always enrageS me when
| see the word used in the newspapers
i'm connection with any criminal case.
In defense of young people, and old
people. too, for that matter, | consider
bad any word, sentence or illustration
that has a tendency TO ennoble or de-
fcnd wrong doing.
And SO | say thercdS no such person
As a successful pickpocket TO my knowl-
edge. Mary Mack and Nelly Bond, two
misguided women, worked together Tor
years. flching honest peoples money
from them. They travelled all over the
East together and are still at large, but
if they could write their knowledge OF
prison life il might be made interesting.
Ellen Derrigan and Mag Bell have lived
in vain. They consider themselves
above work. Study of people and local
tiles has made them bold, and don't
believe either knows what fear IS SO
adroit are they that if each were TO have
an arm amputated they could still steal
peoples watches and purses. These
girls have aS much originality in their
line aS anart designer. The first thing
they do is to locate the object Of inter-
est. BY mutual consent one IS right
and the other left-hander. If the
purse is in the left side of a shoppers
dress or cloak. it becomes the duty Of
the right-hander To direct the attention
of the victim to her side. Perhaps she
hooks the lady'S skirt with her UNI
brella handle, kindly StOopS TO help I'M
faSten it and offers pin, with her apol-
ogieS. TO repair the damage. In the
meantime her chum has disappeared
with the pocketboOk taken from the
woman.
Il don't pretend to know how many
haulS these girls have made but they are
botk on my books, and four Hoffman
women have their pictures in my collec-
ton of vicious celebrities. Two OF the
HOtTman'S are sisters, young and rather
pretty, but decidedly naughty. They
are expert thieves, known 10 every oifi-
Ger in the city and Just now are in or
about New York.
These thieving ladies are really quite
mannerly. If "A common female pick
pocket or a tyrO in the profession is
caught she is almost certain to raise Il
disturbance. Let an officer catch the
Misses Hoffman and they will come
along as quietly as lambs. Indeed, so
admirably do they play the comedy Of
injured innocence that repeatedly re-
spectacle and sympathetic citizens have
interfered in their behalf and more than
disturbed the equanimity OF the officer.
The notorious Kate Leary, whose huS-
band was killed recentlyat Sixth avenue
and Twenty-eighth streets, is an English
girl. good looking, smart in a crooked
way and quite ambideXtrOuS. She takes
the nighttime for emptying pockets
and during the shopping hours circu-
lateS through the dry goods stores.
Kate carries nickel-trmmed reticule
and silver-tipped pOcketbOOk, both OF
leatherette, the pretty name for paper.
II she sees a bag or wallet on coun-
ter she bravely walks up TO il, looks at
the stock in a perfectly natural and
most interesting way and, by mistake,
and without looking, picks up the other
woman'S bag and walks back in the
store looking as innocent as Ellie Shan
non i'm The Idler.' If detected Kate
will actually blush and Stammer, give Il
little gasp, say, oh. so l have, beg
your pardon exchange. and say with Il
bit Of a giggle, Thank you so much for
mine: | wouldn't have lost it for the
world, and goes away.
Then there is Mary BuSby, who
hasn't her peer among ShoplifterS. She
is lust out of Jail, and likely TO get
caught if she tries any more of her
slight-of-hand. She wears, like all of
her profession, dress made with an
open: lining and twelve-inch slit on
each side. II pair of silk stockings
tempt her, the hosiery is slipped into
the pocket most convenient and il drops
down to the hem at her feet. As you
may imagine, her receptacle is as ample
as her skirt. That girl would have
made a good musician, for her fingers
are as Supple-iointe as deaf mute'S.
Another extremely ambideXtrouS
woman Is Molly uOc4, d4idS hoioloNh'
whose worst offenSe is her blind love
for a worthless loafer whom she has
lived with and supported for the last
sixteen years. The unfortunate crea-
ture honestly loves the scamp. She is
not sufficiently skilled to do any class
of work that would give her the in
come he demands, aud so purSueS the
life that is certain TO complete her
ruin.
1T may interest you to know that
the greatest haulS are made by man
and woman, or team, as we say.
Under masculine protection and Stimu-
lated by his praise, female thief will
attempt anything. She is daring and
knows that if she is caught the man
will stand by her. She sees pocket
book. appropriateS il and walks away,
sometimes with her own i'm the other
hand. II she is caught she can say it
was a mistake and show her own in
.I.. of trnnhln har