New-York tribune., 1896-06-21
THE BICYCLE THIEF AND HIS ART.
TIE STORY OF DETECTIVE "NO"
SPECIALITY IS THE RECON EkiNu
or STOLEN WHEELS.

'"1lerr Is something ABOUT Tue Itd I'"~
covering a stolen bicycle that might DE re''''.
u,i,h odvan,ope 70 the b,cycle-owner." said sue
cessfu bicycle detective In speaking or MS ca"'"s'
''The THE. is out on bail while awaiting ''''' ~
owner has the satisfaction OF knowing 'hat '''
guilty man will be brought 10 Justice D"t ''e
maybe new and expensive one IS re'aiied a' wv
dence and tho owner deprived Of its use for an III
definite time. About the middle OF June Iast !"al
arrested the man who stole a certain bicycle. the
trial mas been put off and put off. The case mas o'
come I'D vet and the wheel. kept in inc property
room OF Police Headquarters, VII hardy De li'-
provod during the year OF standing sun. Every
body knows how the tires get fat under such CIR
curnstances besides there ~ NJ proper place TOT
keeping these wheels while in charge OF the of''as'
the dampness will have seriously anected the ma
chine by the time it Is released: SJ VIII nave 10 DC
spent on the tires alone and in addition 10 all this
damage the owi.er has had TO do without his d.
cycle for months think some way should be con-
trIvcl TO guarantee the proper identification or
stolen wheel and then permit the owner TO nave
possession of II.
'T'nder the present circumstances inc OWN.
really has to suffer almost much as II he iaieu
10 recover his wheel at all. All bicycle men
realize that a wheel even II ridden steadily anu Kept
IN frst-class condition. is not considered quite aS
good the second year as the first. and after It mas
bean standing for weeks months In that property
room 1t is entirely out Of gear The man IN charge
there admits this himself
"Ricycle stealing is az much OF a craze Just now
among the crooks ia the fal for owning and rid
ing a wheel" he continued. you seldom hear
Of watches being stolen any more; there is too
much risk about taking watch from mans per-
SON A wheel Is Just as valuable as watch, and
SO much easier TO get hold OF and get RIA or we
got on to fellow not long since who mad made
off with 81. 100 worth Of wheels in three weeks, all
right here in the city,
.'Wha. did ne do with them
obo1v on the East Side
for yo and s5 apiece. He got them from
number Of prominent uptown dealers; went IN
and hired them; paid a small deposit ana
then never showed up again. He kept
little variety shop on the Bowery but he had
an nnocent-looking face and appeared to be 50 re-
spectacle that nobody dreamed of his being thef'
He always hired a laiy's wheel along with one for
himself and somehow the dealers never think that
a man is going TO rob them who processes to be
going to take a lady ont with him. In some cases
he got off without paying any deposit and the
wheels were fine ones. costing $50 apiece.
"a transaction like that we call getting In a con
that is. the crook gets into conversation with the
dealer or his employees and fools them into thinking
him honest Those who take wheels from the curb
we call snatchos.' and then there s the third class
who take them outright from private houses or tho
big dealers Most people who lose wheels appca!
first to tho police. but seldom got much satisfac-
ton In the first place. few policemen outside of
the bicycle squad know enough about wh"els 10 t,li
one from another: then there are many othe7 oH-
currences 70 take up the policcman's attention.
street fights, thefts. drunken cases and what no..
cases that he familiar with. that he lets tie
bicycle complaints slide.
Invariably when a case OF understanding IS
given into my hands hunt not much for the
wheel as for the thief having some description Of
him 10 aid me. and being pretty well acquainted
now with most Of the professionals In the wheel
stealing line who loaf about town. II you catch tho
thief YOU are 10 recover not one wh"c but
several There are regular bands o; bicycle thieves
who divide the work and the profits. There are
three or four that know Of in town now. Certain
members Of the band will DO all the securing OF the
wheels. certain others Will arrange for conceaing
them or carrying them off and yet others man.pu-
late the selling Of them. One young fellow Keeps
yacht for the express purpose OF receiving stolen
goods and bicycles In particular. and getting away
with them to other parts Of the coast
Some Of these rufiians very keen and hard
20 catch up with; very young. too. scarcely over
twenty but they know human nature like a book.
l keep In with all the men who have soda water,
beer and lemonade stands down at the Beach or al
any popuiar resort they are qrMk tx %iieI ana nir VIII
PAGES on Saturdays or Sundays. Since the better
into vogue We can identify machine far more
readily than when We had 10 turn the bicycle up
to the number. ! used to have small glass
which heI under ,he wheel after clearing away
the mud. and the figures would be reflected In II.
made me conspcuous and by the time had looked
under row Of bicycles standing In front OF some
the wheels are numberc,I non there Is not room to
put an additional figure or raise The number in
Some of the snatchers do their work smooth
ly and cleverly that 1t Is amusing" he added II
watched some manotuvres on the Boulc1ard the
other night that were very funny. There was
electric light ana over on the grass plot in the
middle Of the street was a professional whom
recognized at once. The professional had dismount-
cd ana MS machine leaning AGAINST "A He
watched the Young man wabbling and careening
quickly away down the street Presently he came
riding back toward his victim. and when he came
parently about cycling. He seemed be giving the
Sndner he p2b o b o4F 1T saas onsh n G % not b bPoRsy ad
me fix 1t for you. And the young fellow got on
The sidewalk and went to work tinkering at the bi
c!ss, .,,u a. 90,
right, he said Watch my wheel there by the
tree and off ne rode while the young man stood
called the Srook. as he came spinning back smiling
broadly: He rode on a couple Of yards past the
and Catching his own Wheel with one 'h hand as he
passed H. rode Off with i in tow You should have
perfectly STILL staring after the retrcatng wheels
s m2F"S he 5 HS to his my f ss9s n G his
because the crook was 100 valuable TO catch Just
to w@Sis to SSge s' qn ha haa dSa' Ss S
has ana an woa Say
Cd IN front OF drug store a certain evening and
walked Wake IN to get some soda water leaving her
wheel unguarded on the curb No one would dream
OF leaving ine watch out on the curb yet 90
many women riders, even II In party will all
enter store together instead OF or two waiting
outside TO watch the wheels This night 'snatcher
saw the chance rode up on his wheel right behind
the wonans. and. dismounting. entered the shop
by side entrance OH the other street 0t was on a
corner) He simply walked through the store " fh-
out stopping to buy ANYTHING came out Of the main
with the other | got that wheel back ana four
others from the same man"
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