The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-10-22
"CHECK CHARMERs."
Railroad Thieves Who Make a spc-
ciaIty of stealing Luggage.

h0tlrOAu lnteNes ~ no NAHe Spc-
ciaIty of stealing Luggage.
From the Springfield Mass) Republican.
Just as the train pulled out of the Grand
Central station on Forty-seoond street. IN
New York city, and those who were bound
for New Haven, Hartford OF Springfield
had settled themselves comfortably in their
~eats, a tall, swarthy man entered the
smoking car, where a jolly party of tray
cling merchants were chatting over their
individual affairs. Passing up the aisle 90
the front right" seats, he tapped a rough
addressed man, who occupied one of these
seats, upon the shoulder, and without as
much as by your leave or excuse me.
motioned toward the end Of the car ana
was followed into the baggage car by he
of the boots, ''oVeralls'' and jean coat"
When the tan man again emel ged rom the
baggage car he carried q handsome Glad
stone bag in his hand, and. seating him
self in the, self-same seat as that formerly
occupied by the. man he had led away, he
lit a cigar and casually remarked 10 the
man in the seat beside him. Il followed
that fellow over seven lines of railroad to
get this grip. and feel well satisfied | got
it al that"
OF course, he was unaware that the fell
vSrsing with was a reporter, or else this
story would never have been written.
Some one else's luggage queried the re-
porter. oh yes, he is one of the smart
est, the slickest of the Slick among the
baggage thieves-'check charmers, and
transfer men who infest the mig cities or
this country, and even in Europe. Their
principal stamping ground is about the
neighborhood of the great railroad stations
the landings of steamboat lines, and the
piers of ocean steamers as well as tho
baggage entrances of the big hotels and
theaters.
There are three kinds of workers in
this branch of criminals craft The first
and most troublesome of those we have
to deal with is the so-called check charm
err He is usually man well versed in
the ways of the transfer men and the
baggage agents of the big railroad or
steamboat lines. and has at his finger tips
every connection made by the mail rail
road systems of trunk lines of this coun-
try. His usual method of operation is to
hire an ordinary baggage wagon or buck
ster's vehicle, and after purchasing q
cheap trunk and filling it with paper and
bricks, the one for weight and the other
as a noise breaker, he gets 1t down to
the steamboat landing or railroad sta
ton in the very hight of the rush time
and, hustling his bogus trunk off and into
the baggage room, he loudly clamors for
a check. This obtained, he returns to his
wagon for moment, and then, as If
searching for baggage to be delivered, he
re-enters the baggage room and while the
baggagemaster's attention Is engaged
with the crush of outward bound passen-
gers, who are loudly ciamoring for recog-
milton, he quickly slips the check from
his old cheap trunk to a fine Saratoga
or a big steamer or sample trunk filed
with In md MA re
on the bogus piece.
"a few miles out upon the road he
drops off and meets the big trunk. This
he secures with his check and 1t Is taken
to some out of the way place-an old sta
Bile most likely-and broken open; its con-
tents are stolen and sold to the dealers in
stolen goods in one of the big cities, while
the bogus trunk full of bricks, paper, and
straw reaches a much surprised party at
a distant station on the line.
This man L have just arrested and
placed under guard of my assistant in the
baggage car is a 'drop-bag thief He usu-
ally enters station in the garb OF coun-
tryman or laborer carrying a big old
fashioned black valise. The bottom of this
has been cut out and tissue paper of a
dark color pasted In its place. AS he
wanders along the aisles of the station he
spots a fine Gladstone or telescope
bag filled with valuable matter upon a
seat where It's owner has left ii for a mo-
ment while purchasing his tickets. These
thieves are quick. and it is but the fash
of an eye and the big old-fashioned' va
Use has been dropped over the handsome
bag; the tissue-paper bottom parts cas-
lily; there are spring catches inside to hold
1t, and off goes the bogus countryman
with bit of 'swag.
In answer 10 a question put just as the
train pulled into Hartford, he stated that
the big trunk lines of this country and
the great steamer lines all employ special
secret agents, known as lost baggage
men," whose duty it is 10 look up all com|
plants of stray baggage and trace the
thieves if it requires a trip clear across
the continent to accomplish their cap
ture. Frequently, he said, the big rail-
roads were imposed upon and one case he
came into the New York, New Haven
and Hartford office. and after presenting
his check for a satchel, stated that It
had not been delivered, and, as it was
lost, he demanded $3.50 for it's contents, a
valuable piece of mechanism. he said. The
claim was paid because the lost piece
could not be traced. Six months after
ward 1t turned up in the Springfield sta
ton, and was found to contain nothing
more valuable than a masons trowel, an
old pair of shoes and overalls. It hangs
to-day in the lost baggage mans Office
with this placard above il: This valua-
BILE piece of mechanism cost the company
just $3.50"