Middletown transcript., 1899-12-09
A THIEVES HARVEST.
The PIcKPockETc PLockED TO THE
MAeE-coBuRN FIGHT.

WASE-CObUhN Fight.
It Was Probably the Greatest GasA-
ering of Light Fingered Artists on
Record-some OF the Amusing Inef-
dents Of an Eventful Day.
"The greatest gathering Of pickpock.
cts that lever saw. and, dare say. the
greatest bunch that ever assembled,
was u the Mace-C Coburn fight at Long
Poinf Canada. on May II, 1s71," said
a detective who has been in the busi-
ness since 1866. sThe 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 /, 900 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.
"Two vessels. both loaded to their
fullest capacity. left Erie, Pa, and each
Of these carried number Of pickpock-
cts. There were about dozen detect
ives in the crowd, among them being
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 therewas no use in trying to
put check on the work Of the crooks,
because there were at least 800 profess
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:
"I wish to warn every one against
pickpocketa There are hundreds Of
them here
eThe 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 to 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
he had taken It just for joke.
'I 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-
cd and nipped. The most humorous In |
cident Of the day was the theft Of 5000
in bills from thief who hailed from |
st. Louis and was unknown to the New
York delegation. A New York man
named O 'Donohue had got the ST. Louis
thief's roll, and he returned it 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 small loan, as they termed
1.-THE referee Of the match was re-
lieved Of his diamond. His bills were in
m inside pocket and d,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
IF recovering the stolen property. The
detectives opposed this on the ground
hat the honest men and the pickpockets
we're mingled 60 closely as not to be dis
and, moreover, the thieves
,ould fight and would fight.
'tAll the thieves returned to Buffalo
lfter the fight, and word Of their COM
ng was sent to police headquarters
rom the first landing place. When the
boat tied up at the foot Of Main street,
/ hundred policemen and all the detect
We force were there to meet 1t. About
100 or $50 thieves were marched out
wo abreast and lined up on the wharf.
they were told that they were to be
scorted out Of town. and they made no
rotest. With the policemen and de-
ectives as herders and drivers, the
rocks were marched to the central sta
ion and corralled there under close
uard. When a train for New York
7as made up, the thieves were escorted
board it and were watched till 1t
cached the city line f
"a few years later big gang OF :
went to another fight at
ong Point, but In size and expertness
did not approach the gang that went
, the Mace Coburn fight. At the Ham /,
ln-C Courtney rowing match at Ohau- 4
auqua lake was another big gathering !,
{ pickpocketsL They had things their 4
wn way and reaped big harvest. For !
lstance, detectives pocket was pick :
I, but the thief who did the Job was !
lduced to return the property. Five
linutes later the detectives pocketw was
lcked a second time, and he was so
lagrined that he did not endeavor to
'cover the plumber. But, as ] said. the
reatest gathering was at the Mace
oburn fight II was the last great rally
the topnotch crooks, and If you ask
~ cid time crook he viii tell you how
} longs for another such expedition.
viii never be. There are too many
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