Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-12-10
DECLINE OF PICKPoCKETINC
A Trade Hard Hit by the War-Other Troubles
of the Nimblefngers.

OF the Nlmblehngers.
BOSTON reports an abnormally low sea-
- son for plckpockets. The visiting gentry
are alleged to be in desperate straits, facing
the alternative Of going to work or turning
gunmen. According to one active gatherer
of statistics Of crime, Glass A dips or first
grade nimblefngers, are unable to net s15
a week (in the course of siE-day week) by
picking an average of so pockets a day To
net SIS, a pickpocket must hch at least $3.50
in intrinsic value-that is, unless he has a
high run of cash. which is unusual. The
safe" pawnbrokers and both protected"
and unprotected" fences are not philan-
throplsts They consider 10 cents on the
dollar liberal allowance to the outlaw pro-
ducers They are the princes of middlemen
when 1t comes to shaving off the unearned
increment
Now, as for the gross earning of a weeks
arduous toll $3.50 dipped from $50 pockets
or snatched purses is slim pickings. II does
not average quite 40 cents per dip One
pickpocllet who is anonymously quoted, COM
plains bitterly that the dollar watch and
the near-gold chain are gaining tremendous
ly in popularity at the Hub. To lift such
dross is utterly wasted energy There is
no market for 1t. You cannot dispose of 1t
in small lots or by the drayload. Also it
is dangerous for the dip to clutter up his
pockets with such base utilities and orna-
ments, No matter how felt-footed you are,
a pocketful of such metal canks and brings
down upon you the suspicion of the plain
garbed manhunters.
Ponder the immense amount Of worry and
annoyance involved in this petty thieving
during periods of retrenchment and parsi-
mony Think of committing $50 distinct and
separate felonies, miserable 4O-cent felonies,
and yet so great offenses against society
that each one jeopardizes your liberty for
from five to ten years. If you are fond OF
running up totals, contemplate the cumu-
latiye sum of 5000 years In jail as penalty
for a net return of St5.
The romance oozes completely out Of this
fascinating calling when you bring it down
to hard-pan Sl5-a-week basis. No need to
moralize or Rolloize. 1t would only be rub
bing it in to remind these shabby foxes of
the underworld that their picayune dole is
evil-come and therefore likely to be evil
spent. Indeed, they have not the free spend
ing of It evilly or otherwise. Parasites them
selves, they are the prey OF stin meaner
parasites. At every turn they are hedged
about by spies and informers who blackmail
them for whatever may be sponged out OF
them
NN-NNAA
a $l5-a-week pickpocket surrendering tithe
of his earnings TO an organized system OF
gutter blaelmail? Hardly. unless we an
alyze the case Of the sub-parasite, and that
would be task for a superpsyohologist.
Even these masters OF intensive deduction
and induction would not so much farther
than making a blum of IL. To the whole
some mind such baseness is the profound
est OF mysteries.
The point of all this is that the coming
winter looks dubious TO the meaner tribes
OF thefdom The reports from Boston
are merely barometrlc OF general con-
ditions, Heavy demands for charity upon
the prosperous and well-to-do win cause
a general shrinkage in the amount OF cash
carried upon the person. Add to this the
fact that thrift is nightly upon the increase
throughout the United States with 100000
depositors tuczing away si75o.OOo.0OO OF saw
ings in tight vaults. Furthermore, jeWslry
for men has almost completely gone out Of
fashion. and stin furthermore the leading
tailors proclaim that buttons Tor hip poch-
cts are increasing in demand, and then there
Is that modern eontraption, the folding bill
wallet. which hts snugly in the buttoned
hip pocket Surely we may reason thai not
only does the pickpoeket face q haYa vim
ter but that there Is danger that bis caIl-
ing aia pass away altogether.
The apprehension q the Boston crime ex-
pert that the plckpoeket must either seek
honest drsdgery or turn gunmau Is laid upon
& very fran foundation He may b driven
10 honest drndgerx q some sort bat It l.
net "a - maks-up % turn sunman. The
sunmen q today are q hoidar sort ard huHt
in packs nEe wolves 1hey are stFonE aFp
mea of 4 pecaiiaf senes. Thq pickpqezst =
s fortiye hsbad ntrf ferret rart fa1 and
naff ant He fafal5 deFs|eee violence
anIe sa4 4ha ea 81
50 eaf an sta1 IH