The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-02-16
PlCKP0CKET PEDIGREE.
DESCENDED FROM THE CUT-PuRsE
OF MEDIAEVAL TIMES.

Art of the Modern Thieves-The
American riclpoeI<ets said TO he
Masters in Their Line-somc of the
Tricks Practiced in PARISH Nom
tana Sheri6r's Goodness when At
tackled by City Thieves-A wedding
Party's Experience.
From the New York Times
"Pickpocket" is but a modern word.
with no respectable antiquity about it. 1t
could only have been used when pockets
were invented, and when mans ingenui-
ty made the pocket the record Of that
though lost cannot be so ancient. Cut
purse" antedates pickpocket by untold
centuries. In the mediavel period and be-
fore it. valuabes were carried either in
a wallet suspended at the girdle or in a
leather purse. To steal a mans wallet
meant to sever either the attachments of
the wallet or to cut the girdle or belt We
can fancy that a vigorous snatch on the
part of the thief might have at times
been successful. or that a sharp knife
neatly introduced might have cut purse.
Nevertheless, studying the art of the
thief Of the Middle Ages. and granting
him certain amount of neatness of fin
fairly difficult one-that is, for a cut
purse to have tried it alone. But Just as
happens to-day, so it must have been in
the past. The cut-purse did not work sin
gle-handed. The thieves carried on bus
mess in companies. 1t must have taken
several thieves to cut a purse Unless
it was absolutely necessary to silence a
victim, the act of cutting was not car
Tod tlo lTo+
cerned, but the point or the edge of the
dagger or whittle might have been given
to the person did he offer any resistance
Those large outside pockets in fashion in
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
must have allowed great development and
scope to the pickpockets art In the ear
lier time of doubets and tight-htting jus
te-aucorps, these habiliments rather de-
fed the light-tingered gentry. Neverthe-
less, human ingenuity always knows how
to Surmount difficulties, and SO if pock-
cts could not be rifled there was rich spoil
for thieves in filching mantles or capes
from off the shoulders of gentlemen, and
in the time of wigs, to l fit one off a man S
head, with his three-corlered hat besides
and to scamper off with them. which was
not uncommon on the part of nimble-leg-
ged thieves of old London and Paris. A
good deal of notOriety and even of ele-
gance has been given by NJ. Pierre Del
court to the French piCkpOcket. but giving
due justice TO NJ Delcourt's patriotism it
is questionable whether the Partisan cir
eur 10 be literally translated a puller
lis a whit more clever that the past mas
ters of the best English. or American
schools In fact, NJ. Delcourt in perfect
justice, acknowledges this, for he says:
There exists in Paris an exclusive cir
Gle of artists whose most shining lights
come from across the channel, and even
from the other side of the Atlantic, and /
am forced TO acknowledge, even with a
sentiment of regret, that these gentlemen
are very much more perfect than ours and
that Notwithstanding my amour propre
my be wounded, am forced to express my
convictions
Such advantages as the perfect AmerI-
can pickpOcket transplanted in Paris
might derive from an elegant get-up are
Observation-Disclosures to ply his caIhne
with any success he must be well dressed
Who would suspect a dandified man. neat
ly booted, hated cravatted, even gloved
American pickpocket often takes a steam
er. Sometimes he is badly wanted in New
y ork, and he goes abroad for his health
He is perfectly well behaved on shipboard
because should he be suspected caDtains
take the law in their hands and have
less mercy than judges of police courts
Occasionally an over-bold pickpocket has
ventured TO ply his trade on a passenger
and the detection and punishment have
been as summary as immediate. SVery
wisely all the facts have been supnressed
Ii is rather the cheat at cards who is 10
be dreaded on shipboard If the officers
interfere 1t is with reluctance. The cap
tain will say: Gentlemen, / do not uues-
ton but that you have been fleeced. Bur
why will you play poker with an entire
stranger"
When you put aside a great deal Of the
humbug regarding the dexterity of the
ptckpocket-in delicacy of fingering-sroh
matters of manipulation having been very
much exaggerated, your pocket is picked
or your portemonnaie is extracted bv
means of a combination of circum stances.
For the pickpoCket to work inteliigently
when alone there must be crowd. 1t