The Durham recorder. [volume] (Durham, N.C.) 1879-19??, 1910-05-05
THE THIEVES or JAPAN.

Ingenious Rascah, Among the Clever
81 II the World.
i An EngIishmak entered flrstclass
car Of one * the railroad trains that
/ RIM between Tokyo and Yokohama.
He was 1 little red In the face and
apparently rufled In temper. He had
lust discovered that his pocket had
been picked In the station. and he ex
claimed b.t,ery against thieves In gen.
1.erai and Japanese thieves In particu'
lar.
| An American who had been engaged
in Yokohama for number Of years
noticed the Engiishman's quandary
Turning round to me. he said: "Our
English friend seems a bit excited II
he growls at having his pocket picked,
what would he say II he had the shoes
stolen on his feet?"
THAT is clearly an imposs.bility,"
laughed.
II don't know about that" he re-
turned. 1T may not happen with our
western style of shoes, button and
lace; but, all the same, l have heard
and | know 1t to be fact that the
sandals Of Japanese have been stolen
of their feet"
"well, how is II done?' asked.
Very simple" he answered. Sup
pose japanese woman who has q
particularly fine pair Of lacquered
clogs is one OF q great crowd that is
watching a passing procession or re
lig,ous celebration OF priests In front
Of temple. Along comes an expert
pickpocket-or pickfoot, don't know
which you want to cal him HIS
keen eyes, fastened on the ground. dis
cover those desirable clogs. There
upon he makes up his mind that he
wants them.
The first thing she knows the own
er OF the clogs feels an unpleasant
sensation In her left foot. Naturally
she wants to stop II. and quite me-
chemically and almost absently she
slips her right foot out OF Its cog
and begins to scratch that uncomfor'.
able spot in her let foot with her toes
She feels relieved. Forgetting nj
about the incident. she becomes alb
sorbed In the spectacle again. Soon
the irritation crosses over to sim
liar spot In her right foot. Absently.
once more. she sides her left foot out
OF its clog and begins to soothe ths
troub' esome spot with her toes"
The thief was responsible for the
irritation and walked on with the
clogs" said.
Certainly. The rascal caused the
trouble with bit OF straw or wire. .
he returned.
But one would think that the mo.
ment the foot Of the victim touched
the ground It's clog would be missed
and the thief would run the chance
Of being caught before the second
could be stolen"
"0h. that Is one Of the c'eyeresi
parts Of the trick. explained my
friend. "The. thief comes supplied
with . pair OF cheap wooden cioxs
costing but few sen. and the owner
OF the lacquered footwear goes away
with them and never notices the ar
ference. at least not until II Is tor
late TO profit from the knowledge"
Are Japanese thieves 10 very clev
er. thenf" I asked.
"oh. very" he returned. .soms
time ago I heard OF one OF them whr
used TO carry q handful OF watch ring.
to AZ into che stems OF all sorts ol
watches that he might come by dis
honestly. Once he lifted . watch IN
a train. and the owner. missing II, bu'
not knowing who the thief was. Sc
up shout and had a policeman sum
moned. The polIce. TO satisfy the viz
tim. insisted that every one In ths
train show his watch. When the turr
Of the thi.f came he drew out Of hI.
pocket the stolen timepiece. and II,
original possessor, not recognizing 4
on account Of the changed rings. miss
ed an easy chance to regain his prop
i erty."
IT was the same fellow. I believe.
he continued. awho managed by ths
expenditure OF little money 10 hsv,
himself enrolled under different namr,
In the various lists Of different towns
When arrested he gave one Of thes.
various names TO the authorities. Tn.
police. on looking up the record Of IN,
name given. were unable 10 ind an,
black marks against II. Thus he al
ways managed to escape with a igh
punishment for his FIRST ofYense. com
mftted don't know how many tims >
/ But don't know that any OF the-l
fellows were as clever a. another IA 2
heard about. You know many OF IN,
Japanese sleep on sort Of bed mad
up on the floor. called a feu,on. Well
an old Japanese mIser kept his none,
In the house. concealed in a small
chest OF drawers. In the daytime h
never took his eyes on his treasure
and n night he had his feuton pushe,
tightly against Il. 70 no robbtr couii
get at his money without awakenini
J him.
For a long time a gang OF thicyei
had been pulling their brains 10 IN,
a way OF stealing the hoard withou
being detected. Well. on a eerta',
night one Of them entered the hour'
and gently. little by little. pulled ,hl