Omaha daily bee., 1898-01-22
LARCENY FROM THE PERSON
JTi
Something About a Glass Of Crime that is
Alarminglys Fssquent.
UNWILLING VICTIMS uF2WIcKEO WOMEN
How Countrymen who Seek the
scnmy side of >Iafe In Omaha
Are Robbed aud Then
worsted ihIuourt.

my son, If sinners ehtice thee, consent
thou not" This advice1ls as good now as
1t was in the days of Kihg Solomon.
Joe Rogers, a colored amazon Of the Third
ward who was arrested for larceny from
the person of Robert Hunter of 500, was ar
raigned in police court yesterday morning.
She pleaded not guilty to the charge pre-
ferred and the case was set for hearing
Tuesday afternoon, January 25, at o'clock
OF all the class of thieves in the city
which give the police the most trouble, the
one represented by the Rogers woman is
perhaps the worst. Among these notorious
women may be mentioned Klttie ovens
who lives at 224 North Twelfth street; Stella
Green. who makes her headquarters at this
dive; Savannah Reed, 1119 Davenport street,
and Ida Mitchell, who lived for years in the
wounded Kneo" section of the bad lands
located north of Capitol avenue on Ninth
street
The methods used by these women are all
practically the same. With few exceptions
unsophisticated countryfnen who visit the
city on sightseeing tours are their victims.
Tho women as a rule meet the lambs whom
they fay upon the street Wine rooms are
visited and by means of liquor the lamb
soon parts with his senses and is then led
to the dive where the actual act of robbery
takes place. On reaching the homes of
these women several systems are used to
relieve him of his money. The most popu-
lar one is to crowd the room in which he
is being entertained with other women and
while he is engaged in conversation with
one the others go down into his pockets and
get his coin.
PUNK HENDERsON'S PLAN.
Another system which is known as the
panel trick was used successfully for a
long time by "Plunk" Henderson and his
mistress, Pearl Henderson, who lived in
cottage almost beneath the shadow of the
police station at Fourteenth and Howard
streets. This nest of thieves was at length
broken up by the police and the Hender-
sons were banished. The system in vogue
by them was very simple. When a victim
had been landed in the little cottage Pearl
Henderson would seat him upon the sofa
and herself in close proximity. At this
juncture of the proceedings "Plunk' would
sneak up from behind and would "frisk"
the clothing of the unsuSpecting farmer.
Another method was for "Plunll' to act the
part of the outraged husband and eXtort
hush" money from the farmer. Several
hundred dollars were stolen from country
visitors in this way, until the thieves were
finally run to earth
The men wno get in the tolls of these
women as rule are strangers in the city
and as q consequencelare locked up to make
sure of their appearance at the trial. 1t
has been the practice Of certain police at
torneys, who handle this class of cases, to
get professional >bondsmen to go bail for
their clients. In each instance, where they
do so their services are paid for according
to the amount of surety given. Thus the
victim is locked uo while the thief goes out
to steal again. la3 'g
When the cases come to trial in the police
court large number of witnesses, who will
swear to anything or go to almost any length
for q small consideration are brought into
court and in this manner an alibi is ire
quently proven, where the guilt of the prls-
oner can hardly be questioned by those who
are acquainted with the facts in the case.
In case q conviction should be made in
spite of the testimony of witnesses for the
defense, the attorney having the case IN
hand usually files a couSter action against
the complaining witness, alleging that he is
either an inmate or has contributed to the
support of the dive where he was robbed.
In this manner a number of men have been
fined in police court of late and the attor-
eeys who appear for the criminals have
things there own way.
HISTORY OF A RECENT CASE.
II is frequently recorded that a case OF
larceny from the person is continued at the
request of the defense for several weeks. by
so doing the punishment of the complaining
witness is made two-fold few weeks ago
a Young farmer from Madison, Neb., visited
the house of Essie Allen and Gertie Brown
near Niath and Capitol avenue and while
there he was robbed of $45. The women
we're arrested and he was thrown into jail
with them. When the case came to trial no
conviction was made but the police AFTER
wards arrested the women cn charges Oh
vagrancy and each was fined small sum
and costs. In order to even matters a well
known Dolice court attorney, VINO appeared
for the women. lodged a complaint against
Meyers, charging him with contributing to
the support of house OF ill-tnme. He was
rearrested and fined $40 and costs, which
he was obliged to serve out In the county
Jail. In several cases which have come up ol
late these practices have been allowed by
Judge Gordon and in every instance the
prosecuting witness is worsted.
Probably the most notorious thief VINO re-
mains in the city and with whom the au-
thorities appear unable to cope Is hittio
owens. This woman has been arrested so
many times that she regards RIDE IN the
patrol wagon rather in the light OF morn
ing airing than otherwise. In each instance
in which she has been arrested the police
have been unable to gather sufficient evil
dence to send her over the road, athough