The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-08-14
THE STEALING OF PIANOS
HOW 1T Is DONE AND HOW THIEVES
ARE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE.
A Rascal Gets an Instrument on In
staIIment Plan, Skips with liz, and
Tracker Is Put on His Trail.
New York Press.

used to steal red hot kitchen stove and
with wink of triumph to the audience dis
appear with it through the wings. 1t was
a ludicrously extravagant bit of stage
business, but there are Just as eXtravagant
bits being perpetrated in real life right in
New York city. A kitchen stove-especially
when it is red bots more or less of
clumsy bit of "swag" to make off with
but il is not much more awkward or I'M
wieldy than a grand piano and there are
persons here in the metropolis who make a
living stealing pianos.
Naturally they do not break into a music
room IT. dead of night and make off with
rarlor grand or an upright tucked under
their arms. but their system is Just as
much a theft, both morally and in the eyes
OF the law. and if they are caught they re-
ceive just as severe punishment The
scheme of selling pianos on the installment
was primarily responsible for the piano.
stealing business. AS soon as it was intro
duced that class of keen-wltted rascals
who are simply known as slick" saw a
magnificent opening for their talents
chance to get something for nothing, and
they went right after it.
Nearly all the big piano firms were offer
ing their best wares to customers on easy
payments" The slick people came: gave
the best of references. paid the first INSTALL
ment. had the instrument delivered to some
address which best suited their convenience
ana that was the last seen of the piano.
the payments or the Slick people For a
long time they carried on their business
without the slightest difficulty; nearly every
dealer in town was made a victim and some
of the holder rascals even victimzed four
n
week. Finally. however, the piano men be-
came tired of giving away their instru-
ments. They hired men who were just as
sharp in their way as the crooks and the
result is that piano tracking has now be-
come legitimate and paying business
Each piano house nowadays employs from
three 10 ten trackers, according to the
amount OF InStallment plan business it is
doing.
DUTIES OF TRACKERS.
The duties of the crackers are to keep an
eye out for all bunko games that may be
attempted on their houses; to follow what
looks like a suspicious buyer as he or she
mlgrates through the lat-house district and
to hunt down pianos that have mysterious
~ disappeared. 1t keeps the tracker busy
the year around, and he earns every cent
OF the thousand or fifteen hundred dollars
salary that is paid to him. you would be
surprised said one OF the Oldest crackers
IN the business the other day, mot only TO
know the number of persons, but the quail
lty of persons, that try to do us. Women
come into our place looking as innocent and
honest as nuns. They want a piano. not
Tor themselves, but for their daughters or
nleces who are taking lessons. They can
not afford to pay cash for the instrument
time " "
We tell them our terms. We will either
rent them piano and let the rental go
toward paying Tor it should they wish to
own II, or they can pay a certain amount
gown and so much monthly until il is paid
Tor Ihey generally prefer this scheme. and
upon our our asking for references they pro-
ahothN pretty game they work The ref
erenceS are always genuine. They go to
some business or professional man whom
prove tell him a straight story about the
daughters or nieces they are educating and
practice on. They need some responsible
WeI-knoWn person TO whom to refer the
dealers, and they inquire timidly if they
may use thelr names. In most cases they
can: Sometimes they even use their land
lord name, and when we go to him he
says it's all right in order that ne may not
lose what he thinks is good tenant
So they get the pianos and then our
work begins. The first month the demure
hef lnstallment, and sometimes even orders
a man sent around to tunA the piano The
and [
niue woman The firm WAITS two three
days. and then sends me to look her up
In the vestibule of the fat house where
she was supposed to live / generally find
the tracer for an installment plan furni-
ture house the butcher. the baker and the
grocer. They are al on the same mission
all looking FOR the demure little woman.
Whom the Jamtor, standing half way up the
basement stairs. calmly and coldly an
nounces has lit out
" Did he see her when she LIT ont asks
the furniture tracker.
OF course he did; what business was If
of his 10 stop her.?
Did you know what van comnany she
used inquiries another creditor If he does
Know the janttor may or may not tell. ac-
he has received from the woman and the
one he figures on getting from us
II our h!d is satisfactory he gives us the.
stand committee Of the creditors adiourns
to go through he same operation The off,
GERS will not divulge names and addresses
of their customers. but oftentimes the
drivers. by the same formula used on the
l]anitor: can be influenced and then we
learn where the woman has flown
MOVE TO OTHER FLATS
Mine times in ten it is to some other
apartment house in a different section of
the city. She has changed her name en-
route, and when we get there we are no
nearer our money or wares than we were
before. All we can do then is to take I'D
our stand outside and wait for her or else
resort to strategy.
Il remember a game 1 played once. and
for which l have never quite forgiven my
self. "A woman came to the Warerooms
with the same stereotyped old story We
gave her the instrument, received one in
stallment and heard nothing more from her.
After a long hunt l found the woman's
aunt and told her / was a cloak manufac-
turer. and wanted to engage her at a good
salary. The big aunt with tears in her
eyes, hurried away to get the piece, and in
an hour brought her back with her The
self with eagerness.
If you only can give me something to
DO she begged; just enough so l can pay
for that awful piano. 1t has broken up
cause we were afraid they would come, and
we haven't any of us any work
Il never said a word about the blamed
old piano, only cursed it under my breath,
and told the poor little thing l would get
her something to do and / did 1t wasn't
in the piano business, either.
She paid for the piano finally, but she
was one of the exceptions. When the FER
sons are found they always have some glib
excuse ready, either had not received their
moving had forgotten all about it, When
get them we keep at them without let
up until the last installment is paid.
"A great many times. however, they elude
piano all over the States of New York
and Pennsylvania, and before recovering It
spent almost all il was worth in car
fare. We have an instrument now over in
Germany. We will get il back some day.
but the piano can never be charged TO any,
thing but the debit side Of the ledger
I'm a great many cases. on the other hand.
where our services are needed there is no