Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-05-31
New York Produces All Types
of Thieves.
SOME VERY INGENIOUS
UGLY FEATURE OF THE BROOK
LYN HANDICAP.
Belief That There Was Some Crooked
Work at the Track That
Day.
speciaI Correspondence Of The Evening Star

Special Correspondence OF The Evening star.
NEW YORK, May 80. 1902
This town. ever in the van in the matter
of novelties in crime, has developed quite
number of newStypes of pickpockets during
the past year or so. The chappie in the
evening suit and Inverness coat. who de-
voted himself exclusively to the surface
electric cars: chiefly those of Broadway. at
night, was the first of the new breed to
come to the front. The nature of his ma
nipulations was described in this CORE
spondence at the time he was corralled, after
he had been operating for a, couple of
months and had relieved a great many be-
jeweled car passengers of their ornaments
He was considerably more averse to being
rounded up than the two detectives who
nailed him in the act of pulling the scarfpin
from the tie of a car passenger ever
thought he would be. They had to chase
him for several squares before they. finally
got him penned up in a doorway. and when
they approached him upon his announcing
his submission in an exceedingly welI-bred
tone of voice he suddenly tackled them
both with a blackjack and very nearly put
them out of business as the saving is
They cOntrived to hang on to him. however
and the suit that he's now wearing is or
nately appiqued with stripes. They found a
little matter of $1,000 in cash on him before
they sent him over the road. SO that he
will be in shape to provide himself with an
other evening suit and renew operations
when he energies from his involuntary re-
treat.
A Woman Pickpocket.
The next novelty in the pickpocket line
to be projected under the calcium light
over here was woman. and mighty pref
ty, refined-looking woman, too The women
guests last winter at swagger readings
euchre parties. ping pong soirees and such
at the Waldorf and other notable hotels
began TO miss their pocket books and Jew
eled trinkets with alarming frequency A
pair of female detectives were set at work
ana II was several weeks before they were
able 10 arrive at any sort of a determine
ton as to where the missing articles went
although the thefts continued at an amaZ-
ing rate at the very functions which the
Il male detectives attended in the guise of
guests Then the detectives observed that
a certain handsome and beautifully gown
ed woman of thirty or so appeared to be
attending the hotel functions with great
regularity, although she didn't seem to
know any of the other guests on these oc-
caSlonS. nor did she appear to want to
know any of them. The detectives kept
their eyes on the gentle-looking woman
and when they caught her in the act of
going through the pockets of sealskin coats
hanging in the wrap room of one of the big
hotels during the progress of a euchre
party comprising about a thousand players
Jected so strenuously to being estopped in
her scientific operations that she removed
more hair from the heads of those two fe-
male detectives than they'll be able to grow
for long time. and when the pair of male
house detectives appeared to help out their
sisters in the profession the party pick
pocket clawed them up in manner that
was something weird to see. They had to
load her into a wagon and when they
searched her rooms they found many va
rieties OF plumber and several hundred
pawn tickets. The female pickpocket is
now wearing a Mother Hubbard of gunny
sack material. but she, too. has enough
cash tucked away with the prison property
clerk 10 guarantee her many days of salts
factory shopping when she energies from
her enforced retirement.
Juvenile Variety of Pickpockets.
Then the police began to nab in consider
able numbers another and extremely juven-
lie variety Of pickpocket. These were pre-
tended newsboys. and the majority of them
Were of incOnceivably tender years Sew
eral Of the shrewd-eyed shavers weren't
more than six or seven years old, and yet
they Were marvelOusly adept in the execu-
ton of their lifting" stunt. Their favorite
scheme was to range alongside some ample
prospefous-loOking man--one slightly to the
bad from stimulants preferred-and beg him
10 buy a newspaper, holding the bundle of
papers close to him while making their D: til
fUl appeals-'Iley- boss I'm stuck wit me
pdpe s-and using the bundle of news
papers as a sort of shield wherewith to
screen from his view their little act of
sliding their small hands into his trousers
pockets or loosening his watch from its
CHAIN After gathering in many of these
skillful little whelps and slowing them
away in the reform school, the police final
~ rounded up the Fagin who had taught
them the business. and he won't be back on
the Bowery for some ten winters to come
But the most unique of the up-to-date
plckpockets was cOrralled on the club house