El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-07-21

OF the New YORK police QepartmenG, W
Tribune representative, las well as
in the medical or legal profession; and
criminal specialists are usually well
fitted for their particular line OF bust
ness OF course, the commercial, In
surance, criminal, marine or divorce
lawyer must in the first instance be q
lawyer, and the specialist in surgery,
diseases of children or pulmonary dis
eases must be a physician: just 80 the
man who has a special line OF tnleVlng
must be thief to begin with.
Take, for instance, the man whom
we caught few days ago with S!O, OOO
which be had stolen in Boston. He is
fair sample of the specialist. In ad-
dition to being a thief he is cat-lfke,
quick of eye, observing, cunning and
we'll qualified by instinct and inclina-
ton ~ take pace in the higher cir
cles OF his calling. He and men like
him know that they are we'll qualified
to become high-class sneak thieves and
they usually work in pairs or groups OF
three. The slickest does'the lifting
while the others attract the attention
Of the man who is being robbed. A
thief who has had one success in this
station in the estimation OF the crooked
world. Patsy Flanagan, who robbed
the old teller in the Yonkers bank, is
fine specimen of this class.
1.-The bank sneak does not enter into
business as such. He usually advances
from the pickpooket grade. There he
has ample opportunity to develop. A
pickpocket. must be sharp observer
and y keen student of human nature;
and when he has gone up the ladder
from the novice, 'swiping' an apple or
candy from a street vendors wagon,
or hooking handkerchief, to reliev-
ing a man of diamond pin or stud,
then he Is open for engagements In the
sneak line. You couldn't get him into
q burglary or robbery job. but he will
stick right to his specially until he
gets behind the bars.
"'Laying down checks or passing
worthless checks, is side occupation
with many of the expert sneaks; and
some of them become so handy at 1t
that they give up their regular work
and make the check business special
ty."
That there is fascination about the
check business was demonstrated some
time ago at Sing Sing. Three prisoners
were received from New York and
were being examined in the receiving
Office before taking their first degree.
One of them WAS man about fifty
years old whose appearance suggested
easy living and refined tastes. he
had passed q worthless check. When
the question was asked: when and
where in prison before?" he hesitated
and the question was asked again.
NFive years sgo-here," the man ans
wered. The question records show II
the facts, but the question was asked,
"Wnst for?''
He smiled grimly, and answered,
'sThe same.''
s'Ever in prison before that?'
''Yes-two years before"
''What for?'
"rne same"
State Detective jackson stood near
by and when the man was marched
away to the state shop, where he was
to receive his convict garb and he
Otherwise prepared for ms 7,vs olS' Inc me
enough he'll do more time for the
same"
SIN contrast with the high-class
sneak thief" said Captain McClusky,
sis the low till Taper. His work
never brings him much gain; he runs
big chances but he keeps right at 1t.
He has no ambition higher than do
shop and never leaves the
narrow sphere where he
lives and works. He knows all the |
peculiarities of the East Side shops, |
how to enter and how to leave them.
but even If he made rich strike he
could not advance in the profession,
because he has neither polish nor
adaptabillty and must remain low
bred thief. He is not even taken as q
helper by men who stand higher in
the profession, for he would not know
what to do with q big haul If he made
it.
"There are highclsss tilltappers
also, but they go into the shoplifting
branch and make jewelry stores their
field of operation. There are men and
women whose hands are quicker than
the shopkeeper's eyes. The women
are cleverest. because they combine
with their dexterity their powers of
nation. The 'pennyweight work,
by which the job of substituting q
bogus or 'foney' ring for a good one is
accom- plished. is usually a woman's
specially. A ring tray is put on the
counter, the clerk releases the fas-
tening bar with a slight pressure of the
finger. and a valuable ring is selected
for examination. Then the woman
10 skes eyes at the clerk and when she
has gone he discovers q foney' ring
work in this line could not pick a pock-
ct, would not if they could, and they
never think OF stealing from ordinary
shop counters,
1.-The hotel thief is a specialist who
clings strictly to his line of work. He
belongs to the sneak thief class, but
operates only in hotels, of which he
usually has an intimate knowledge.
He takes room, from which he makes
trips into other parts of the building,
taking note of the doors which are
open, of rooms which are occupied by