The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-12-13
.P|cKPGkETS ARE At WORK.
With the Approach of the Holt
days They Ply Their Trade.
WOMEN THE CHIEF VICTIMS
Two Clever ssDfps. Get In Their
Work ON Second Avenue by Rob-
bing Ladies' of Their Purses-How
the Thieves Go About Getting
In Necessary to Escape Detection.

With the approach OF the Christmas
trade pickpockets and shop lif.ers COM
menee 10 ply their art as they call X Up
10 the present tine business has beer dull
in these special lines OF criminal work fer
the reason that the weather mas been dis
agreeable enough to keep people ar home
II is when the streets are crowded AMI pet
pie are jostli1Deach other in the big stores
that pockeA and purses can be most
easily Many times the loser
does not What a slight pressure
means unxl ~ minutes later: then it
is too late - = The work has been dol e
and the purse d gone Women mo.e than
men fall Victims to this class o. thieves
Notwithstanding the bold burglar says he
had rather encounter three men than one
woman. A woman's yell is something 10
make the cold shivers run M ana down
the backbone OF a burglar who Is eauSht ii
the second story OF a residence. bu; when
he can easily pluck a purse from one OF
one of those shallow little pockets one sees
on the jackets worn by wonaa, the ycll
loses its force.
Some people imagine tina. II IS hard
thing to pick a pocket. II would be ander
some conditions. but ordinarily speaking
A clever dip viii remove pocket book
purse, handkerchief, watch or chain with
out alarming the victim in the least. In
addition TO crowded streets ami s3ores,.
street cars are favorite places for dip"
work. Take it any evening about 5 ociccS
when people are going home. Both the
front and rear ends of the cars are crowd
ed. Men elbow each other without thought
of the possibility of a pickpocSet being on
the car. Perhaps there is a man in the
crowd with a bundle or two IN his arms.
Necessarily his hands are or the bundles
and nine out OF ten times he is hoIhag the
bundles higher than his hips. The resua
is that his vest pockets are lef- 10 the
mercy of a thief.
Piekpocket work is usually done ii such
a way that unless the victim Is well up &c
the tricks of the trade he poil5s out the
right person and i'm so doing gives thu coll
federate an opportunity TO get away with
the money.
As rule one man does the picking and
another the get away" BY this is meant
that as soon a purse Is taken out Of
a pocket 1t is handed to a second man who
Immediately gets away as capidl2 as pos
sible. The chances are that the pass Is
done so cleverly that If the victim realizes
that he has been robbed he does mol sae
the purse as 1t is passed from the thief 10
the confederate. If an alarm is given and
the real thief Is arrested ne makes no al
tempt to get away. He simply plays the
injured innocent and asks TO tle searched.
There is no chance of finding any money
on MIN because ne ala not have IL IN ms
hands more than moment
Saturday afternoon was the first day
for a long time that the people had
chance to get out and take breath OF
fresh air. First and Second avenues were
crowded for blocks. Ii was essentially
window gazing crowd and there IS no bet
ter opportunity in the category for pick
pocket work than when a woman Is craning
her neck to see whether Browns Christ
mas goods are better and cheaper than
Smiths. Two clever dips took advant-
age of the holiday crowd late in tho after
noon and commenced operations N front OF
the Rialto. A Mrs. Johnson was lo king
into the window and before she knew what
had happened she had lost $40: While
she was figuring out what had happened
to her the thieves walked up the street 10
Fraser & Wilson's store where they re-
lieved-a woman named Ayers IF So En-
boldened by their success they got careless
while operating in front of the Bon Marche
near Pike street. The principal thief was
a tall man. and when he stole n poke book
from a woman and passed II 10 his confed-
crate, little fellow. a man who saw the
operation grabbed the little one who i'm
mediately dropped the purse. The man
released his hold on seeing the purse drol,
to the ground and in the confusion follow
hg both thieves got away.