The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-07-03
MINNIE DAILY, %PlCKPOCKET.
rUyERAL IN CHICAGO At
Hb n M 1900 PBRSON6.

b. - a.RFIrnn oti WV -N1-
-, AGAINST Hcr-EIhIbitions or Her
s.SnNurr Trip to tho aueen's Jubilee.
.~d.vs AGO there WAS buried in Chicago q
-oman named Minnie DAILY. whose tunerel was
NU eud nv no fewer than 1000 persons. 1t
Sotberinr in which no mans watch was
v. Most of tho expert hold.up men, second
-. ~, thieves. plokpockets, confidence men,
snntsr,eiters, shoplitters, and general crooks
". ,n,.st Chicago were present at the final
U..monIes over ono who had been the peer of
..h,,,--or yorst-ofthem In crime. Not only the
III. hut the fraternity OF crooks themselves.
- hat Minnie DAILY had the liRhtest finger
"a the coolest nerve OF any man or woman who
-, aver made a living in this country by the
II a, tho gentle touch;" in other words, that
=, was tho most skiltul plckpocket in the
American annals OF crime.
r-or what circumstances Minnie DAILY de-
landed to her career Is not clearly known, for
M who was so ready to talk Of her exploits
.o.irtaIned an unbrokon silence as to her origin
and early life. 1t is said that she was the un-
acknowledged child OF n wcll-known gambler
and a still bettcr.known actress, and that her
,.rly childhood was carefully looked after until
,he developed evil traits, Certainly she had
,omc education and was moro delicate in her
taste, than those with whom she consorted, but
inst as CCTIhlUlN u WAC " uOEu lulluh IlFE
arst appearance upon the criminal records was
IN 1893, when she could not have been moro
than 10 years old. 1t was tho first and last time
IN career OF varied risks that she was SO fairly
caught at her business OF picking q pocket as to
make a conviction possible.
81 was young at 1t then" she used to say OF
this episode. Just rs I had the ticker out my
elbow turned and the guy had mo by tho wrist
with his chain hanging from my hand"
"The guy" was a merchant of whom she had
been asking directions at n railroad station.
One year in Joliet Penitentiary was her sem
tence for this Job and she came out eager to re-
,ume her shifty trade. Unfortunately Minnie
has left no autobiography. so details Of her rise
IN the profession are to be had only from the
GENERAL loro of crime, and 1t Is silent as to the
course OF her life during tho year follow
Ing. One thing is known: that she did
not Join a ''mob"-one OF those asso-
Citations OF pickpocksts who work from city to
city III some degree Of connivance, and in cases
Of arrest stand by to furnish bail, provide legal
old, or even corrupt q jury in the interests of
their companion. At that time women were not
highly thought OF as mob" members, and 1t is
more than likely that the girl. even with her
growing reputation. would have been unable to
,oin such an organization had she desired to do
20, and there Is no reason from her later course to
believe that she had.eanings in that direction.
Where she got the money to start In life anew
after her release from Joliet 10 another dark
point, though her name was connected with
that OF n Chicago politician Of evil repute. At
any rate, she returned to Chicago, set up a quiet
little establishment of her own, dressed well,
went to the theatres and other places of amuse-
ment, and carried herself so circumspectly that
her landlord supposed her to be q well-paid en-
plOyee Of a department store and a most respect
able young person. Some knowledge of the
great stores she had, for much Of her work was
done In them. and she was not above adding
TO her resources by an occasional dab
ct shoplifting. though she always said that
the returns in that line were Inadequate to the
risks. Every store detective in tho city came to
know her as a crook; not ono Of them ever sue
eeeded In catching her. 1t was . cash girl who
came nearest to getting her. but the plckpock-
cts ready wit saved her then as It did many
times thereafter. She had substituted her own
one on tho counter while making a purchase,
and the little cash girl saw her do II. All in ex-
element she ran forward: tho criminal saw her
Pardon me" she said calmly, y" think I took
your purse In mistake for my own
yehemently declared that 1t was a case OF
thelt. but there was no proof and nothing could
that store a detective followed her about every.
where, and this gave hor great delight, so much
80 that she made a PRACTICE of doing her shop
embarrassing situations was powerfully as:
sisted BY hor appearance. or her as she looked
at this time a Chicago police officer says:
Il have seldom seen q more frank expression
Or more honest face than hers. 1t was the
finest OUTFIT imaginable, for e crook. She had
light brown hair. wide. clear blue eyes. q rather
square but decidedly pretty face and a certain
etyle Of her own In dress and appearance. See
respectable girl OF good circumstances She
never looked fast, ana l guess for a woman who
was on the crook she kept herself pretty partlo-
rested her. but we never could Get evidence to
convict CT her and so we finally let her alone.",,
dances of a decent character, such as balls given
BY the political associations, and it was an OF
plight with her when she did not bring back with
her at least one diamond. usually a stud. It was
her boast that she could unscrew a stud from q
mans shirt front while she was talking to him
on literally under his very nose. A young sport
o. someWhat prominent family who, met her
None OF These dances and escorted her home
SuerwaTa mad her arrested on q charge OF steal
ING a gold watch and chain. iamon and ruby
r. and something more than 500 in cash. but
and N the SH"f accused wi' ws mf{'ffs srs ", T Nth
nat an eX-Alderman accused her of touching
him Tor some $400, but this also came to moth
ing. SO far as restitution or punishment is con-
cerned. She became a regular customer of the
n,Ice and Il Is said that she could get better
that line. By this time sho was we'll known and
could have gained entrance to any of the mobs.
n thet. when the big mob was organized to do
business at the Worlds Fair she was asked to
!Hin II, but she refused, ga ying that she could do
~ me work she wanted unaided. ubsec uentlY
iae Hoo scheme failed, beca use it's leRdinR snir-
"SWere deported by the police.
EhrIy IN 1898 Minnie did form a partnership
ppmn Barney Birch. No. 2l22 in the New York
cUgucs Gallery, and worked with him in Chi
SSs0. Milwaukee and other western cities. The
rrSrIaershlp was OF another kind, also. In the
EMMnh"t! records she appears as married to
~ NJ Whlch, nay mean little or nothing, but
~ frequently claimed that she was legally
m"rlleu' ana he has never denied It. so far as is
Shi1 They worked east as far as Philadei-
SS%nnG on one trip, but didn't get as far as Now
sNS lhey almost invariably worked together,
S NV u aAvorlte trick was to go to some concert
Rom ahu get into conversation with per
IUWsus mere. While one OF them was talk
XII. "the victim. the other would go through
n. n pc,R Usually 4 was the woman who did
Ss ot me most skilful pickDockets in the bust.
nerIIcc yneeriully admitted his Compa1ion's su-
ihs %UsaiIt.y a story Is still told in Chicago Of how
inp viii were standing on a street corner talk.
mar "mhh saloon keeper, who ia also a betting
"nnino mheh birch remarked that his wife could
Am m anything that was In plain sight, from
ptr%G,,, ne saloon man held that any man who
Srnnntt Us pockets 10 he picked was either
S.tt of SF = foo, and the controversy ended in a