The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1904-07-22
A SCHOOL FOR THIEVES.
soYs AND GIRLS TAUGHT TO
STEAL BY MODERN FAGlNS.

IN WHaL iHSy ESaA ~
misunderstanding Boy Burglars
Daring crimes are often committed |
by children in London, and only Scot
land Yard is aware OF the fact.
Youthful offenders are rarely caught |
+ in the act of committing even snsht !
offences, or if they are a tolerant
policeman is moro often than not IN
clined to look with lenient eyes on a
misdemeapSr that in an older person
would mean immediate arrest, by box
ing the ears Of the tiny culprit ana
letting him go.
The recent remarkable series OF
housebreaking cases in the I'm
field district, in which the father OF
an GRAND boy was sentenced 10 SIX
years penal servitude for teaching MS
14-year-old son to commit burglarles
shows conclusivelv that the crlmlnal
classes do not hesitate to teach cllll-
dren to do what they fear to practlse
themselves
The Scotland Yard authorities know
that many criminals, too old now 10
commit various crimes with impunlty'
to all intents and purposes REFORM
and become respectable members OF
the community They open small SHOPS
and then in q very quiet way hold
classes of pupils eager to pay for
learning the secrets - the craft,
The first thing the master does is
to examine the would-be probatloners
hands. The "thief's mark must show
up strongly upon both. or the boy or
girl is not worth the risk OF tram
ing Even if the child has clever light
fingered parents, and the "thlefs
mark" is absent from its hands, the
trainer will have nothing to do with
the case He does not believe IN
child inheriting it's parents evil pro-
pensities.
Girls are mostly taught pocket-pick-
ing and how to steal A'ifes from shop
show cases. Members of both sexes
are well drilled in the art OF unblush-
ingly telling lies. They daily rehearse
''hold-ups" by imaginary policemen.
The trainer, of course, acts the latter
role, and instructs the young idea how
to invent plausible excuses at a sec
Onds notice
The girls are lie sharpest at this
game, and very sell' m get caught
trainer will never have anything
more to do with I chi!d that has once
entered a reformatory. The clergy
man there has generally worked on th'
Youthful conscience, and ever after
fits of repentance must be counted OF
to occur at inoppOrtune moments.
Boy burglars are trained in yer!
simple manner. 1t is argued that mos
people living in villas pay grea
, deal of attention to the bolts and par
, on their ground floors, but very l1ttl
if any to those on the first
Accordingly the juvenile Bill Slke
is provided in the early days of hi
training with q IQ-foot s1lken rop
= tied in knots foot apart. Fastene
at the end is a strong but light stee
hook. The boy is required to practls
), with this rope, throwing it in niue
= the same way as lasso would be IL
>, to a window sill six or more feet aboV
= him. so that the hook holds to tn
,, stone.
Il When the lassoing is acquired
n the trainers satisfaction, the lad
~ next required to shin up the rope wit
out dislodging the hook from the sll
This requires a great deal of practlc
and many are the falls endured. 4
the height is seldom more than
30 h; Of
- has been taught how to fall, on
- slight brdises result.
- The children in their first eXpet
- lions are always taken and shown Il
house that is To be entered in thsela
% time, and instructed as to the be
methods Of entry to the back.
~ Then late at night the instruct
or takes the little lad to the crib" al
u from a convenient spot watches Il
AZ pupil disappear according to instru
H. tons. The presence Of an adult Wi
~ q hoy of tender years late at mig
IS disarms any suspicion an alert polk
- man might have if the boy were sc
Isl WALKING through a street alone.
Once at the back of the house t
- DCy, qullS dC MS lel9't'o' Ni'iAN' on
'U' spection of every window on t
ier ground floor. If ore opens read
Use he enters by it, if not he surveys ne
er' tier. and in nine cases out of ten q
7aC covers that the bathroom window
lu- partly open. That is sufficient FRI
ap' a side pocket he draws the coil
IN silken rope, and I couple of mimi
later is standing inside the little roc
The juvenile burglar is INSTRUCT