Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1903-06-04
TRICKS Of KNAvEs.
Ingenious Methods by Which They
Evade Pursuing Officers.
Some Schemes of sharpers and Trick
sters which Have saved Them
from Terms of Penal "A
ssrvitude. .IAxsf

To the habitual criminal IL is Otter
Of vital Importance that he should b,
able TO communicate swiftly and Sc
cretly with an accOmplice, either to
elaborate a scheme Of rascality OF
send warning. Of imminent danger
from the police. Nobody knows bet
ter than he, however, by ayailing him
self Of the orthodox channels he runs
the risk Of discovery. Hence it il
! Lecoming common practice for cley-
er rogues never TO communicate in a
straightforward way II they can avoid
| If, but instead, to set up and use pc
| culiar post Offices, which are essen
TALLY their own, says Casselrs Sat
urday journal.
A typical case was that Of a man
| who was wanted" in connection with
certain notorious turf frauds. When
the warrant was issued he sought shell
ter in shabby lodging in a back
street "rt five miles from the Bank Of
Englan-. He had friends who strong
~ objected to his capture, mainly be-
cause his appearance in the dock
would have led TO unpleasant conse-
quences to themselves. But they
were all so well known TO the police
and detectives that It was impossible
for them 10 send message directly to
the fugitive, though he had adopted an
alias. much less to pay him a visit.
All Of them. however, agreed to keep
watch on his behalf and 10 send him
word Immediately they had reason to
fear his place Of refuge was la dan
ger Of discovery and the time come
for him 10 make final bolt.
One Of the watching gang learned Of
the coming danger to the fugitive by
methods he saw Gt not to talk about.
and carelessly sent the servant Of his
lodgings to dispatch wire 10 another
Of the allies in Edinburgh, to the ei-
feet that his aunt was dead. The be.
reayod nephew mastered his grief 80
far rs to in turn dispatch a wire ac-
companied by telegraph money or
der, to a hostler In the city Of Lon
don, desiring him a. send half dozen
black ties to Il given address without
delay. The articles were duly taken
10 the gentleman in retirement by an
unsuspecting erraud boy, and the
trick was done. Every apparently in
significant detail was part ~ pre-
arranged code. The firm sending the
ties, their number and color-all con
vcyed hint to the -erson most inter
ested as to the safest mode Of flight,
the best port at which to attempt en-
barkation, and the very street in
which he was to jostle against a sup
posed stranger who was to surrepti-
tiously transfer to him n store of
money and his passage counter-foils,
which had been taken under false
name.
Nothing is too elaborate or ingen-
iously audacious to men playing
game the loss Of which means penal
servitude TO them. In a midland town
lived in lordly style and the odor of
outer respectability a person who was
strongly suspected Of being in league
with a gang Of "smashers" rs"-that is,
coiuers- who also disposed Of sham
foreign notes and did quite brisk
business in worthless securities,
There wns no doubt that, while they
were all scattered about the country.
their operations were being directed
by master mind, whom the authuri-
ties had no moral doubt was identical
with the aforementioned gentleman,
who may be called Smith. Smith was
never to be seen in dubious company
and the poStman never brought him a
letter which he was not willing 10 uf-