St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1893-11-25

LoNooN'S DOG THIEVES.
0aoAQuastses e which Thsse 0satry
Nightly Cssgrsssss.
Once ii my life consorted with pro
|. wish It 70 Be distinctly understood that
] never stole dog, although am fres
q cuaIess that have been tempted,
and l have told the story Of how on one
occasion . dog stole me-. But TO ~
turn 70 my thieves In the northern
part, Of London, which you will reach
BY passing through Fetter and Leatb sr
lanea continuing past the quaint Itafian
quarter with its cathedral, the interior
Of which i beautiful. although the
building u but crude externally, you
will And yourself in close proximity TO
the rendexvous Of the London dog
thieveA Near BY is . place called
Hoclkingsin-the-Holc. Il Is we'll named,
being situated in decided hollow in
one Of the worst quarters Of the great
city. Those in-search of fine, creepy
feeling should visit IL after nightfall. -
did I then found myself in the bar
Of . small, old-stylc public house Of
very doubtful character, or perhaps
shall express myself better IL say that
its character was not At all doubted.
was eyed curiously by the loungers ~
! took some refreshment st the bar.
then quietly gave the countersign in
accordance with the instructions with
which had armed myself The pow
full and heavy-necked publican changed
his demeanor 1t once, and ushered mo
through . side door and mp . cresly,
tortuous and dark staircase. At this
period the creepy feeling was At its
best-or worst A door opened and we
entered . long room, the ceiling Of
which WAS very low. Yellow gas jets
1ickered here and there. -...
A curious sight met my gaze. The
room was full of men, three -fourths Of
whom held dogs Of every degree. The
men were mostly of an unc0uth descrip-
tioa. clothed in great part In corduroy.
surmounted with the conventional caps
that are worn by the London ecster-
monger. They resemble in general ap-
peaxance the touts and welchers of the
English race tracks Most of them
smoked short pipes The dogs yelped
and whined amid the general hum Of
conversation that came through the
amber haze. Ny appearance excited
NO comment, and for this reason: 1t u
quite . common thing for ''swells with
sporting blood in them" to drop in upon
these gentry and pick up . good dog st
. nominal price. The morality of the
proceeding is very questionable. bat
the fact remainA Gin, the favorite
drink with the low class Of London, |
was brought in . jug and served in
small wine glassea / accepted the hos
pitality Of my friends. the thieves. q
l saw at once that it was expected
Then I convsrsed with various mem-
bers Of the party concerning the points
Of the CANNES in their possession.
They took my presence there n . mat
ter of course and talked with perfect
candoc. Had been able to forget the
company was in, might truthfully
record that I spent . pleasant half
hour at Hockings-in-the.Hole. f,r.4
These men are not all thieves Some
Of them are dog brokers, who sell dogs
for others or pick mp bargain to sell
again. None Of them openly admit
that they are professional thieves. al
though, Of course. Il Is understood per-
fectly. They ''6nd'' lost dogs or else
they are commissioned 70 sell , dog
that belongs to . friend" Not . small
part Of their income II obtained throqRh
rewards offered for lost dogs
which they have been fortunate enough
to find" During my visit to them
their .demeanor was perfect. They
might have been an assemblage o6
farmers At . cattle show.-Donahoe's