Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1906-07-28


die of blank paper so familiar in d.
mansions to the money they have abb
stracted that he cannot tell the differ
ence by touching the spurious roll
from the outside. There are both
white and black women in this branch
of thieving, and they are a busy lot.
When one q them has landed the
prize she has been after she makes
a sign-usually in the form of a
cough-and a man or another wom-
an steps smartly up and splits her
out" from her prey.
A Pinkerton man, who has spent
most of his life in finding out the
habits of criminals, says of the new
generation of pickpockets: In Chi
cago there are several classes of
pickpockets, the newest of which,
perhaps, is made up of the boys who
operate in State street and in the
theater districts when audiences are
leaving the various playhouses.
These are ostensibly newsboys, cry
ing the hardy serial with Haunting
red headlines. Their scheme is to
push the papers up into the faces Of
pedestrians, and, while under cover
of the ruse, they get off the fronts
of the dupes, who either stop to buy
the paper or who cannot escape the
onslaughts of the persistent young
sters.
For instance "a we'll -dressed man
with a woman companion may be
emerging from a theater slowly fas-
tening his coat. A boy rushes up to
him and posters him with a paper,
SO that he becomes irritable and
angry. He growls at the lad, but
that does not bother his tormentor.
Having centered the attention of the
gentleman upon the newspaper in
his left hand, the boy slips his right
hand underneath the extra and in
an instant is in possession of a watch
and sometimes a chain. These young
sters go mainly for fobs, which are
more easily acquired than the other
sort, but they are sufficiently skill
full to take watch, chain and all when
it is convenient or necessary.
''This line of thieving has been de-
veloped mainly during the last IS
months, and it has been carried to
such a pass that the public ought to
be warned to keep a sharp vigil when
unduly pressed to buy a paper.
I'm the street cars there are varj-
Gus methods of working, and it is
seldom that less than three or four
operators ply their trade together.
If there is a mob of four only one of
them engages in the actual work of
depriving the mark of his or her
valuables. The thief is called the
TOOL and the others are known. as
STALL Quite often a woman is en-
ployed as a STALL By some secret
code of signals the mark is de-
cided upon and the woman picks a
fuss with him, either accusing him
of trying to f1irt with her or exclaim-
ing that he has clumsily stepped upon
her foot. Then, when he is busy with
his expostulations, the others crowd
about him menacingly and the tool
takes his money and jewelry-
THE best pickpockets do not work
as a rule in what are known as the
rush hours on the elevated and sur
face lines-the hours, that is to say,
when workingmen, clerks and sales
women are going to and from their
homes. 1t is the theater crowd or
the crowd going to the races that at
tracts the pickpockets, who are after
the people that have money, not those
of slender incomes
Pickpockets, like other criminals,
rarely have any money when they
come to lay down the cares of a
busy life. The only noteworthy in
stance to the contrary was that of a
famous pickpocket known as Gold
Tooth Kid" who died five years ago.
and whose efforts for the relief" of
humanity were largely confined to
New York, although he had graced
Chicago and other large cities with
his presence at various periods of his