The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1892-05-07
How yrtIIcAGoANs s ARE FLEEcEo

Rob Street Car Passengers.
Hang on to your pocket books! # you
don't YOU may miss 'em The city is
flooded with ght-hngered gentry, and
they will get your purse if you don't
watch out. This hackneyed injunction
is applicable at all times, but never be-
fore was the advice so good as just
now.
Pocket-picking, of course, says the
Tribune, is one of the co1nmonest OF
crimes. Pickpockets abound IN all
large cities, and Chicago has proved an
attractive field for these most ingenious
and shrewd criminals. While the city
has been plagued in the past, previous
wears cannot compare with the present.
The growth of the city and the fact that
Chicago is naturally the Mecca Tor trav-
elers bound in every direction have at
tracted criminals from all quarters OF
the country. Just now, however, the
advertising the worlds fair has received
has attracted criminals from all parts
of the world. This makes formidable
addition to the usual quota OF law
breakers. 1t is the slxir1nish line only,
however, for the vast army that Wa
follow. The early arrival Of these Grim
inals is due in a large measure TO the
coming political convention
The more violent classes of CRIMINALS
are not arriving. Those coming are the
insinuating, the better dressed, the
brainv fellowship confidence men, the
card slarpers of all classes, and, the
most dangerous of all, the pickpocket.
Against this last there is no protection.
If the pickpocket is persistent he Will
get your pocl1etbook. ALI that the
average person can do IS to minimize
the chances of success of this species OF
crime.
Chicago is now suffering from this
class of criminal. The city offers q
splendid field for him--crowds are ever
present, and q crowd is necessity to
him. The packed street cars give ex"
cellent opportunity to the thief, and
every evening, when the great throngs
of workers are homeward bound or
when the shoppers are returning after
their days forage, these pickpockets DO
their greatest work. They seem to
work the city in pairs and appear to
have an understanding with each other
SO that one set does not encroach on the
territory of another. They board
crowded car. There is pushing and. d
Juggling and {; little confusion. and they
Jump off, while moment later the pas
senger finds q purse missing. Women
are the easiest victilns-their purses are
SO exposed and the chances Of detection
are SO slight.
These pickpockets work from cars to
cars and their depredations are some
thing enormous. They are strangers to
the local police and in consequence run
little if amy risk. The only protector,
so far, has been the vigilance of street.
car conductors. The passengers, not
being warned by the police, are careless
and need to be urged to exercise eau
complaints lately that the police now
watch the street cars at all the down
town corners in hopes OF capturing the
many pickpockets.
''There is only one word Of advice
would give Chicagoan,'' said a central
station detective: Hang on to your
pocketboolzs, +"
NATURES INVISIBLE FAIRIES.
Wonderful Work Accomplished by 1nfin-
itesiinal Living Creatures
Prof j G. Arthur, of Purdue university,
delivered a very interesting lecture the
other night at the Athenntlm before the
Chicago Microscopical society His sub
ject was ';Bacilli and Eacteriology."
Prof. Arthur did not go into the
4 L,
a general way gave some facts about
the intinitesin1al world which lives and
moves and has being co-ordinately
with that world of greater living mani
festations. He said the beings of this
infnitesinal world, of which nothing
was known until the invention Of the
microscope, presented almost as much
of interest to the student of life in it's
broad sense as was to be found in the
study Of human life itself. 1t was a.
common error to think of bacteria only
in connection with disease, but in point
of fact that view of bacterial life was as
much at fault as to look upon all men
as anarchists There are forms Of
bacterial life which contribute as much
to the we'll being of the higher forms
above them as the good citizen con-
tributes to the maintenance OF the So
ciety in which he lives, Much of
the disintegrating processes of ma
ture by which it's elementary
forms are combined SO as to
make them adaptable to the uses of
higher life is accomplished by the I'M
tagging energy Of this world OF living
atoms AS illustrating the good work
accomplished by bacteria he mentioned
the Tightening of wheat bread and the
favoring of cheese and butter, which
latter work was sometimes rather over
done in the zeal of these small workers.
The speaker then gave his audience an
idea Of the rate at which these micro
scopic beings multiply. 1t takes FROM
one-half to an hour for one bacterium
to become twain. These two then set
ting up in business ON their own &C.
count can duplicate themselves in the
same time. So that starting with JUST
one healthy bacterium on bright June
1.~~