The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1892-05-12
SANDBACS NOT IN VOGUE JUST NOW.
The Modern Methods Used by Highway
men in Robbing Victims.

"You hear great deal about sand
bagging' just now. said Il central sta
tion detective. The sandbag is no
longer used by a professional criminal;
there are better WAYS of robbing man
than by knocking him over the head
with a weapon which. if found on the
possessor, would make it pretty hard
for him to escape the rough hand of
the law.
The sandbag. anyhow, is All ancient
weapon. If the pounding into insen-
sibility of a victim is desired billy
is far handler than a sandbag. Nova
days the crooks carry as few evidences
of their calling as possible. A vast
number of them 90 entirely unarmed.
As for highwaymen. many of them
have neither revolver nor billy when
pursuing their peculiar business.
The old, old system of garroting is
the favorite method in vogue, and this
is invested with certain modern de-
tails. The victim, instead of being
pounded into insensibility and hurt so
as to be permanently disabled, is left
with temporary feeling of distress,
while the safety of the highwaymen is
assured as it was under the old plan.
The modern highwaymen travel in
twoS, threes or fours. Usually they
90 in pairs. 1t is late at night, we'll
say. A street is almost deserted.
pedestrian hurries along. He sees
ahead of him two men walking slowly,
almost side by side. Perhaps they
sta@ger a little, as if intoxicated. As
the fellow III hurry nears them they
separate to let him pass between.
When YOU see this move made you can
gamble the fellows are highwaymeh.
As our friend passes between them
the man nearest him throws an arm
deftly under his chin and the grip on
his throat prevents any outcry. The
other fellow punches him in the bread
basket. You know how a man feels
when he's hit in the stomach. In a
minute they have ritied his pockets,
have disappeared, and the victim,
dazed and diStressed,' is lying on the
ground recovering from the shock.
with an occasional variation to suit
circumstances this is the fayorite
method of the highwaymen. y few
try the plan of holding revolver un-
der mans nose. Some still use the
billy sneaking up to their victim
from behind. But they are bunglers.
If two men are walking ahead of you,
or are coming towards you, and sepa-
rate to let you pass between them
don't pass. Take the middle of the
street and be prepared to run.
when highwaymen travel in fours
they work this way: The quartet
stands at a corner waiting for vic
tim. They see him in the distance
approaching. Two of the crooks walk
ahead. The pedestrian, unconscious
of danger, walks after them. Behind
him fall in the other two robbers. The
man is surrounded-tw crooks half a
block ahead of him. two half block
behind. This procession is kept up
till favorable spot is reached. The
men ahead slacken their pace. The
men behind hasten. The victim is
hemmcd in. The chances are that he
will meet with violence. for these fel-
lows are desperate. They use a revol-
yer or billy and drag their victim in
to an alley if one is near. 1t is bad
trap to fall into.
a man who is held up generally
doesn't care about the valuables he
loses so much as about the s.ugging.
Some highWaymon are unnecessarily
brutal; bat the expert resorts to no
needless violence. Chtcago Tribune.