Smyrna times., 1899-06-14
A THIEVES HARVEST.
THE PICkPOCKETI FLOCKEO TO THE
MACE-COBURN FIGHT.

OI tne Am using incl
dents of an EventfuI Day.
THE greatest gathering of pickpock-
cts that l ever saw, and. dare say, the
greatest bunch that ever assembled
was at the Mace-Coburn fight at Long
Point. Canada, ON May II. 1871" SAID
a detective who has been in the bust
ness since 1865. THE big fight was
held in the vicinity of the old light
house on Long Point. and the only way
TO get to the ground was by boat from
Erie or Buffalo or by walking a good
many miles through Canada. The boat
that left Buffalo carried in the neigh
borhoOd of 600 persons The fact that
there were large number of thieves on
the vessel was noised about. and the
gamest persons kept their hands on
their valuables all the time. Strange to
say. not touch was made on the way
over.
1.-Two vessels both loaded to their
fullest capacity. left Erie. Pa. and each
of these carried number cf pickpock
cts, There were about dozen detect
ives in the crowd. among them heing
Detective Patrick v Cusack of Buffalo,
Captain Rogers and Detective Sullivan
of Rochester and few detectives from
Erie, Pa. and Toronto. Ont. They
knew that there was no use in trying to
put check on the work of the crooks.
because there were at least 800 profes-
sional pickpockets in the crowd. just
after the spectators began taking their
places about the ringside the sheriff got
in the ring and made speech like this
81 wish to warn every one against
pickpockets There are hundreds of
them here.
The sheriff stepped out of the ring
and several men grouped about him.
The central figure Of the group was
crook known as Papes When the sher-
iff got out of the mix his diamond stud.
his roll of bills and his watch were
missing He made known his loss to
one of the detectives. and the detective
volunteered tc recover the property
The detective was Captain Rogers He
sought Papes. explained the situation
TO him. and Papes Immediately turned
over the sheriff's property, saying that
AlC udu bdhCh ~ just AOA q JIM
Il can't begin to tell You how many
pockets were picked this day The fight
waxed warm and every one was excit-
ed. so the crooks had fine field to work
in Pocketbooks were actually flying in
the air Men were accusing honest men
who sat beside them of touching them
Scores of diamond studs were unscrew-
ed and nipped. The most humorous in
cident of the day was the theft of 5000
in bills from a thief who hailed from
St Louis and was unknown to the New
York delegation A New York man
named o ODonohue had got the st. Louis
thief's roll, and he returned il when he
learned his mistake Some men were
stripped of everything they had and
were unable to buy meal or drink
In such cases the crooks helped them
along with a small loan, as they termed
it The referee of the match was re-
Iieved of his diamond His bills were in
an inside pocket and were not touched.
Business Jagged with the thieves
after the fight was over There were
but few pockets left to pick. Several
men who had been robbed insisted that
the honest men should band together
and attack the thieves for the purpose
of recovering the stolen property The
detectives opposed this on the ground
that the honest men and the pickpocket!
were mingled so closely as not to be dis
tinguishable and. moreover the thieves
could fight and would fight.
.'All the thieves returned to Buffalo
after the fight. and word. Of their com
ing was sent to police headquarter
from the first landing place. When tn
boat tied up at the foot of Main street
a hundred policemen and all the detect
i've force were there to meet it Abou
SEQ or $50 thieves were marched on
two abreast and lined up on the wharf
They were told that they were to b
escorted out of town. and they made n
protest With the policemen and de
tectives as herders and drivers. tn
crooks were marched to the central sta
tion and corralled there under clos
guard. When a train for New Yor
was made up, the thieves were escorte
aboard it and were watched till
reached the city line
"A few years later Dig gang {
pickpockets went to another fight &
Long Point. but in size and expertnei
it did not approach the gang that WEI
TO the Mace-Ccburn fight At the Han
Courtney rowing match at Chat
tauuua lake was another big gatheriE
of pickpockets They had things the
own way and reaped big harvest. F,
instance. a detectives pocket was pic
ed. but the thief who did the job WI
induced to return the property. FL
minutes later the detectives pocket W
picked a second time, and he was
chagrined that he did not endeavor
recover the plunder. But. as l said. &
greatest gathering was at the Mac
Coburn fight 1t was the last great raj
of the topnotch crooks, and if you a
any old time crook he will tell you nc
he longs for another such expeditio
1t will never be. There are too ma