The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-10-18


after the coin, Ell! pardy. but har-
pooned yer roll, Ell? You listen to
me, now. and don't faint. We'se yer
friends. Hear?"
And the trio vanished, the still
drunken Roman senator fakir fumb-
ling with his wad and the fat fakir
and the stick fakir winking at one an
other behind his back.
It's a great life, this fakir world.
The word fakir is large-embrac-
ing one 1t includes within its ranks
those who are destitute beyond the
ability to "get along in a crowd"
those who have the money and the
enterprise to procure and to pay for
a space within the fair grounds, and
those also, who i'm dress and manner
are gentlemen and are, therefore, the
most dangerous of their creed. These
latter are thev who pick pockets:
who come with ample funds; who
make a kind of special relation OF
thievery.
1t is against these gentry that the
public will mostly have to guard. They
are not suspicious looking in them
selves, unless one suspects them. A
good rule is this: Pass a suspicious
character on the street and not APP
parently notice him. Then, turn quick
ly and look after him as he goes
out of ten you will observe him re-
garding you out of the corner of an
alert eye. These crooks are the most
dangerous. Most of them are wanted
in the large cities Their habitual
nervousness is like that of the pro-
fessional gambler, who cannot keep
his eyes straight fixed except in his
chosen pos-time. Beware Of these well
dressed fakirs in q crowd. They're
after you" If a stranger has a roll
on his person, it is we'll to Shift it
from the locality in which it originally
reposed when he came in to the city.
In many cases it has already been
spotted The fallir does not work
with blind eyes. He wants to know
what he is getting and he is generally
accurate.
To illustrate this campaign of the
Fair, it need only to be stated the
thoroughness with which they pursue
their trade. A man approaches one
on the cars. He is well-dressed, pre-
sumably a drummer. He engages
the victim in conversation. requesting
a card, a match or what-not, anything
to get the man to go into his pocket
so as to show the compartment in
which he carries his wealth. Arrived
at Raleigh the spotter points out his
particular man with the roll, the pro-
fessionals take him in charge and he
is left desolate at the end with money
gone and no sense of where he lost 1T.
This is one branch of professional
pick pocketing. Another is the expert
manner in which the unwary are re-
lieved of rings and other matters Of
personal adornment. 1t may seem to
the f-satisfied that diamond stud,
securely affixed to his shirt-front is
a matter which would not appeal to
the pickpocket Scarcely so. The
expert sees the glimmer of the dia-
mond. follows it like sleuth hound
wherever it MAY lead. AT the proper
moment, he inserts around the wire on
which the gem is hooked pair of
specially prepared steel clippers, there
is an imperceptible snap and the dia-
mond which has been perhaps the de-
light of family is ready for a visit
to the pawnbroker's. AT the last Fair
there was fakir here who was rest
ing from his labors and not working.
He talked with the intimacy Of his
tribe to numbers of people in the city
and exhibited to them number of
diamonds which would have been
valued in the aggregate at more than
five thousand dollars, all "copped'
from a Fair which had only recently
closed.
This fakir was delighted TO give
vivid descriptions as to how he had
followed up and procured various
gems which were in his collection.
Besides the army of "short-change
artists" cangame men and other in
cidentals to a great gathering, there
are in Raleigh today not Jess than four
of what is the high society of pick
pockets. These are men who know
how to avoid the fakir look. They
c,;y a1x n
modest in demeanor. They are out af-
ter big stakes and they will not inn
peril their safety for a roll that would
not pan out handsomely, or a jewel
that could not be pawned for much
ready cash.
1t is a strange circumstance that the
four detectives employed by the city
and the seven plain clothes men are
known of the fakirs and they know
the fakirs. There is really no effort
of concealment The one is as well
known on the one part as the other.
1t is a battle of wits, with suggestion
of sport. The smart guy has the ad-
vantage of the crowds. He may loose
himself momentarilv from his sleuth.
At the same time, he is handicapped
by the necessity of the quick dlsposal
of his goods. He may be arrested as
a suspect and made to submit to a
search. Against all these contingencies
he is supposed to guard. If he loses
out. he rests in Jail with spirit OF
martyrdom worthy of better cause.
These parasites are of course in
separable from crowds. How to deal
with them is a matter beyond the au-
thorities. The solution lies with the
public. 1t is many folded. First
bring little money beyond expenses;
second-thiS may be to some hard
ship-keep sober; third, make no new
acquaintances not vouched for by
friends; fourth, remember the pocket
in which you carry your money and
keep your hand on it during crowd,
fifth, if you have any jewelry leave IL
at home. 1t will not cut much of a
shine at the State Fair anyway, and
it may remain to delight your declin-
ing years.
THE UNION is DISSOLVED.