Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-07-02
HOW NOT TO GET ROBBED

| AioaSy koE Ills Ie1t g0tuSET Coull0StdUto
when. upon taking the return train at Jer-
sey City. he fell in with q well-known
Washington detective with whom he Is on
friendly terms. The detective was bound
back for Washington. too. The man with
1.-The big money stuffed wallet isn't used
| to travelling with large amounts Of cur
| rency. and on the ride down on the train
| he kept carrying his hand to his breast
pocket to feel II the wallet still reposed
| there In safety.
| I'D stop that If 1 were YOU" said the
detective to him with a smile. You make
It too easy for the crafty-eyed ones to see
that you've got bundle. You never want
| to play pat-a-cake and bean-porrtdge-hot
with your roll while travelling, or you're
| liable to lose 1t. There's certain class
| OF tnfeVes who make good thing OF it fol-
lowing up on trains and steamers and street
| cars men and women who have that habit
| or paetfng and feeling where their bankroH
| Is. When one OF these thieves knows lust
where the money Is In the raiment of
chance Of snaggtng It sooner or later II
/ he Is patient and scientific and thieves
| or this class are the most persistent and
patnstaking criminals In the world. There
are rev persons who know how to travel
| with large sums Of money valuable
| Jewels without making that fact patent to
these smooth thieves. When a prosperous
| looking man on q railroad train takes a
furtive clutch at his breast pocket where
the big wallet bulges. every little while,
he makes himself the easiest kind of a
marx It's the same with a woman carry
ing hand satchel containing her Jewels
A Class A sneak on a train can fnfallihIv
TELL after about two minutes observation.
Whetner the hand satcheI contains any
vaioaoies or not. and he has all sorts of
ways or getting hold Of It, Only the other
DAY heard OF case in court The sneak
duplicate. e
I'll
started from New York last winter for
monterey, Cal The thief was one OF the
sWeh traHers, and before the two women
were out OF New York he knew that one
% the nand satchels contained jewellery that
II would be we'll worth his while to eet
90 ne was with them from the first iump
from New York jump
But neither mistress nor maid gave him
-H opening at any stage of the route One
or the other of them kept a constant eve
On the hand satchel containing the jewelry.
ana the thief made up his mind that he'd
| TO get the goods
"hen the mistress and her maid SION
peo e otx al salt Lake City to rest, the thief
gu on. 100. He went to bag shop in
pLcate OF the small alligator bap in I1hicb
ne aneW the Jewels were kept. He had the
litStiess initials stamped in the same kind
VI liz Jo'ers OF gilt on one side of the bag.
, lie got into the same parlor car ui,,
them when they left Salt Lake civ to ra
sumo their journey to San Francisco CON
I Ii the mate to their hand bag under
pulling MINIS tnto G coat When the train was
tons travelling coat. with the duplicate
nanooag concealed In it's folds His minnie
had arrived. A1''
themselves getting their travelling gear to-
gether and the handbag that the sneak
wanted IN his business was lying beside
Inc Inc mad chair AS he passed that chair
| on TOP OF their jewel handbag He stopped
" PICK the coat up-and the job was done
ne scientifically substituted his duplI-
cate bag for the one that he'd been chasing
dli the way from the Atlantic seaboard
ana the contents. $1,000 worth were his.
Nothlng is too risky for one of these
, !. travelling sneaks when he figures
IL out that he has at least an even-money
cnance to connect with the merchandise he
is after One Of them followed a wealthy
New York couple to Chicago about a year
ago Ihey went out to the windy town to
attend the horse show. They put I'D at one.
Of those very gilty Chicago hotels which.
OF course was good enough for the sneak,
| that the New Workers. deposited their lew
els with the hotel clerk. After a day or 80.
he took note of the fact that when thay
leit the hotel they always took their key
with them. On the third day after their
arrival. the sneak saw the New York cou-
pie leave the ladies' entrance to the hotel
IN walking dress. They took their key with
course. hadn't noticed their leaving the
hotel
The sneak went smack to the suite eff
the New York couple and let himself in
with one Of his handy skeleton keys. Then
he sat down at the escrItoire and scrawled
la line to the hotel clerk
Old chap the line read be good
enough to send up that packet Of mine
you've got in the safe and oblige, etc
THE thief signed the name Of the hus-.
band. He had practiced signing it. from
yrHnr ftat.c fiv,;r
great many times on the register. and he
was handy with his pen. He knew that
the guest was on chummy terms with the
head clerk and had heard him address the
head clerk as old chap.
THE bellboy he summoned took the note
down to the head clerk, who took the jew
elry packet called for out of the safe and
sent 1t up. telling the bellboy to be careful
with it. The sneak tossed the belIboy a dol
lar. closed the door for moment to let the
bellboy get out Of the way in the hall, and
then clapped on his hat and strolled out OF
the hotel, with a little package Of diamonds
worth many thousands of dollars in his
clothes. If the clerk had insisted, as some
hotel clerks do. that the guest receive the
packet himself over the counter and receipt
for 1t on the spot the thief would. of course,
have been unsuccessful. But the airy ia
miliarity and ease Of the note threw the
clerk OF his guard, and he took a chance.
These trailing sneaks will even take a
chance. occasionally. on getting into the
room of a heavy sleeper in hotel and an
nexing his valuables. A New York book
maker lost a 5000 bankroll down in New
Orleans last winter at the hands of one of
these Woodworking sneaks. The book
maker had his money in a tin box on his
dresser. The sneak had him spotted for
a heavy sleeper. and he didn't have much
bother in pushing out the key on the inside
of the door and getting into the booklets
room. He got the bundle out of the tin
box. slipping into its place a bogus bundle
which he had prepared to meet any contin-
gency. He accidentally allowed the lid of
the tin box to fall with a clank. however
and that woke the bookmaker up. Instant
ly the thief touched the button that switch
ed on the electric lights.
WHO the devil are you, and what are |
you doing In here? the bookmaker demand
ed. sitting up in bed.
" I'm the house detective snappfly re-
piled the sneak, flashing a badge that he |
carried for such uses, and some of these
mornings you'll be down at the desk and |
raising Cain because you'll find your wad |
missing. It's wonder you don't close and |
lock your door at night
why. wasn't 1t locked?' inquired the |
bookma ker. not remembering whether he
had locked it.
No, nor even fully closed growled the |
sneak. I noticed the open crack as 1 came /
prowling along on my tour, and your lay
IA