Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1896-10-17
THE ART BICYCLE
STEALING.


How 1t Is Practiced in Great Britain
BY Luke Sharp.
Every new craze brings in its train
number OF hitherto unknown trades and
professions, to which number Of en-
terprising persons are indebted for
more or less lavish livelihood. The BIZ
cycle boom has done much to stimulate
the industry of bicycle theft. A bicy-
Gle leads itself to stealing in a way
that no other object on earth does;
that is, no other inanimnte object, I'M
less 1t be a railway engine with steam
up. and even locomotive, although 1t
is n good runner, is restricted TO the
railway, which Is almost invariably
bordered by telegraph line, there
fore no man has yet risen to eminence
as an engine thief. Then locomotive
Is not a very salable article, even
though n man gets safely away with
It. Few OF us need n locomotive in our
daily life, and when we do, we are
content TO buy a railway ticket and
enjoy our engine with some one else
AZ n hDi DC bS Ht0iNAts anu
the aniaml win do it's best 10 aid the
thief in getting away, but although you
paint horse green or blue, IL is hard
10 disguise the animal so that the
owner won't know Ii, and thus diff
culties arise, 10 the discontinue of the
horsethief. leading TO prison In some
countries and TO hempen rope Ia
others.
But a bicycle is a different thing. II
Is speedler than the average horse, and
almost as speedy as a locomotive,
while II Is more salable, at the present
moment. than either. An energetic
man. with a paint brush. soldering
iron, and a file, can in ten minutes so
disguise a bike that Its next of kin
would not recognize II, and 1t does not
possess the faculty of the horse for
knowing its real master. A bicycle
has never been known TO neigh at the
wrong moment and thus betray hid
den thief, who trusted TO its good
sense. So, all in all, bike is simply
ideal subject for successful theft
Many OF us who have hitherto led
reasonably honest lives will. fear. be
led astray IL this bicycle boom con-
tInues.
The machine itself actually seems to
be an accessory both before and after
the act. The riding OF IL along dusty
road makes man thirstier than any
other occupation he can undertake.
He therefore adjourns frequently to
the wayside inn. there TO partake OF
cooling drinks; ginger beer and such.
There Is usually no one In sight, and
he leaves the machine resting against
the outside Of the pub. When he
comes out, wiplng his mouth, the ma
chine is gone. There is not the slight
| est use In asking the wayfarer IL he
has seen man passing that way on a
cycle, for the wayfarer has: dozens OF
him. Now. with horse, one can give
a rough description or the animal
stolen, but TO the ordinary man on n
country road all cycles are alike, and
once a thief gets away with q machine
| Il Is an impossible task 10 attempt TO
recover II.
There are In London at least three.
posslbly many more, receiving depots
| for stolen cycles. They bear the guise
OF repairing shops and salesrooms.
| They have most OF the paraphernalia
| for enameilng and plating, and once a
cycle spends few hours In the shop
its own maker would not recognize IL.
The first thing done Is to interchange
the parts Of the cycles as much as pos
klble Ffofn a dozen stolen cycles a
dozen others are made, one machine
being made up OF various parts OF vari-
Gus other machines. The handle bar
OF a pneumatic-tired machine changes
p,aces with the handle bar OF cush-
ion-tired cycle. and so on. Then no de-
scription n man can give 20 the police
regarding his machine Ats any particu.
lar cycle. The numbers are obliserated
by soldering and plating. and new
numbers are put on. IL machine Is
not interchangeable with any other
machine Il is painted up and sent
over TO France or Germany to be sold
nj the continental agencies The
others that have been made unrecog
nizable under any circumstances arc
easily sold ut the London depots or by
way OF an advertisement In the papers
The daily papers are full of advertise