The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-06-28
CLEVER PARIS ROGUE
METHODS ADOPTED BY FRENCH
THIEVES TO SECURE BOOTY.

Crooks That Act with Surprising skib
and Cunafng-The Saccess Which At
tends Their Efforts L. Due 20 Their
Wonderful Taet-Some Examples
Unless some means can be found for
eounteracting the ingenuity OF the Paris
swindler it seems clear that the French
capital viii quito Guido London and
New York as the favorite home OF the
chevalier dAindustrie.
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 st your door early IN the
morning, and if he hears no reply VIII
come IN and take the toquante, or tick
err" or whatever else he can find upon
your table and uantelshelf Watches,
however, may be stolen at al hours by
the bonjourier, aud this is only one OF
his devices 10 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 witness
swore that he could not tx the exact
time of q 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 il
till, before entering the court, / wanted
to find out the time When the judge
got home he found that a messenger had
visited the house, mentioned the judges
forgetfulness, described where the watch
was and asked for it 70 take TO the own
er. Then the judge remembered what
ne had said IN open court
THE sNUFFBox TRICK.
The sans chagrin, or ''griefiess one"
goes into shop and has brought out be
fore him quantity of different articles
He then feigns epilepsy. and with the
aid Of bit of soap he fosms At the
mouth. He has for accomplices a learned
Esculapius, who comes IN, accompanied
by friend. During the tit of epilepsy
the friend and the Asculapius are ran
hdChAhk NiC III Va NAAtNA NA1S NeaAAAN
their livelihood.
The coup de Ia 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 20 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. Ho
was accoutered in garments suitable TO
the age and character Of a person aevot-
ed To snuffing, 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 a future occasion TO buy a wedding
present at the same shop. He then Sc
lected one Of the watches and one Of the
chains-not a very costly one-put them
on and inspected himself in the looking
glass at the other end Of the shop.
Returning TO the counter be expressed
his satisfaction 10 the merchaRde. and
taking out his snnffbox further testified
10 his feelings Of qualification by indulg-
ing in a good pinch. While the box was
in his hands it seemed polite 90 offer IL
to the lady, who did not, however, hap
pen 10 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 tho would be sex
agenarian was careering along the street
pace which would have done honor
TO Paris gamin or street boy.
TRULY FRIEND IN NEED.
The following - q true story which
happened 20 me and an artist friend a
mine. At II o'clock p. N. we were
about leaving a small house in one 81
the avenues radiating from the Hvc-de~
Trlomphe, where we had spent the eyen-
ing Unfortunately. however. the con-
cierge Gordon was broken and he could
not find tins key. II was impossible for
rs 10 get out by tho door or for those OF
tho tenants Of the house who wers
abroad to get in The concierge begged
a tenant On the ground floor 10 bet us
get ont by one 81 his windows and We
promised 20 20 after a locksnlfh.
An the shops were shut. however. and
none Of the locksmiths Ia the quarter
would take the trouble 70 answer when
we rang the bell Under the cireurn-
stances the proper thing % do was 20
hail policeman. but never "A sergeant
de vile could we find. though ws went
a long way down each Of the avenues IN
turn Failing 70 and an officer we asked
where was ths nearest police station
The one Ia the Tonnes quarter bad bess
smut up for a couple Of hours. the ons 81
Batignolles the sane, and 20 third 80
were simply sent aDogt our busnezA
II was now o'clock IN the norping.
and a long lire q benighted tenants wa
drawn up befors ths fast clOassd door.
We-fhelr " 81 be dellvsTers--Esrs BE-
ginning 70 lose courage when very sEs-
picious looking individgai--there wers 3
good many q that sorf aooHt -atufabied
against "a Ny friend fhs artist. WIN
bad al hrs wits aoout him, stopped -
man quietly, and taking OF las hat sd.
Il DsE your pardon. ar. but you don't
happen % have a jimmy ana ~ q
skeleton keys IN your ppcketT- Iae tsan
looked AZ both q rs susyiclouAly for -
moment and then whiTsTsd, ''is i ID
crack = cTib>7 The painter br1efy *
piained the alfscnlty AID the ss-yiCs re-
quireA
'AIl right. said tbs mysterious cDs,
'.ons clear CT the crowd dga't wzst
10 give fres iessons-@
We retained 70 the hOuss, Announced
that 3 Iocksrulta had been found. and