The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1920-02-13
AUTO THIEyERY AND
A SUGGESTED REMEDY

Hdy-SIdCh Hldue up VI uoJHillp DuJ
needles. The hopelessness of the
task is practically no greater, recent
investigator of the o-stealing in
dustry reports, than that of recovering
stolen car. Partly for this reason,
it seems, the stealing Of motor-cars
has developed into regular industry
in which fortunes are made and large
number Of persons engaged. Thus, we
the told, man died in New York re-
Gently, who had made half a million
dollars in this line of endeavor. He
is said to have been the first to apply
business principles to the industry,
and tho he reaped his reward, his
death is supposed to have been caused
by the nervous strain incident to his
nefarious calling. No other product
Of human industry has ever been 50
promiscuously stolen, it is said, the
records showing that fully a tenth o.
the cars manufactured annually fall
prey to thieves. Locks and other
devices don't help. The car-stealing
gentry seem to get away with it" in
spite Of all obstacles. In a recent ar
ticle in Munsey's Magazine New
York;, Alexander C. Johnson, editor
Of Motor, discusses at some length the
problem presented by the auto theft.
First, he describes this form Of Grim
inal and his methods:
The modern professional automobile
thife is the most thoroughly compe-
tent practitioner on earth. You may
lock your car with all the locks you
can find; you may chain il with nickel
steel chains; you may burden it down
with the thief proof devices, but you
may make up your mind that if
bOna-fde automobile thife has deter
mined to have you car, you are going
to lose it. Don't imagine, however,
that | mean to imply that all automo-
!Ile locks are worthless, for they are
not-but we shat! come to that a
little later on.
The professional automobile thief
has usually been a chauffeur. lie has
probably worked in a garage, repair
shop, service-station, or even in an au-
mobile factory. He is a master me-
chanic, and knows every nut and bolt
on the car, every Nlc"e Of equipment
that may or may not ue installed, ev-
cry device that has beel designed for
preventing Christening, better than
the men who design cars, equipment,
and devices.
This master amGDg thieves has q
method of overcoming every impedi-
ment that is placed in his way, and as
fast as new ones are invented he finds
way to meet them. II conditions
are not proptious for working at the
mechanism of the car, in order to
crcumvent the owners precautions,
the light-fngered gentleman is no whit
disconnected. He has only to bring
upon the scene his ervice-car-strang-
ely named for such work-and tow
away the prize to a more convenient
location, where he completes at leis-
ure the task of restoring his loot to
running condition.
Anto thieves work in gangs and OPP
crate well-equipped garages, to which
all stolen care are taken for altera-'
tions. The business is said to have
developed the latest wrinkle in special
ization. Each gang devotes itself
solely to one make, and its garage be-
comes sort Of clearinghouse for
cars of that kind. Just as in other
lines of business, some men in the
auto-stealing industry rise above their
fellows and conduct operations on that
elaborate scale. An example Of such
an operator is given:
This man was wholesaler in stolen
machines. He had many gangs and
innumerable single operators working
for him. He rebuilt cars, and on oc-
casions actually sold back to the orig
inal owner vehicle that had passed
through his factory. He shipped his
loot to all parts of the country, as the
market varied or the chase became
hot. He was arrested scores of times,
but in spite of the fact that the police
knew that he was the man higher up
in the game, they never were able to
secure a conviction. This individ-
ual was the first large-scale operator
in stolen automobiles, but he has many
imitators to-day.
The great majority of stolen cars,
however, are not taken by the profess
ional thief, but fall into the hands of
youth with taste for motoring, but
destitute of the wherewithal required
for the purchase Of car and with
but hazy ideas regarding the exact
meaning of meum and tuum. We
read:
The thief of this class-for he is a
thief in spite of the fact that he may
not intend to turn the stolen car into
cash-will probably resent having the
name applied to him. 1t would be
hard to guess just what the joy-rider
terms his act when he drives away a
car that does not belong to him; but
Judging from the excuses he offers in
court, when he is caught, it is safe to
say that he displays an extraordinary
degree of mental obliquity.
In many cases, no doubt, the joy
ried acts more or less upon impulse.
He appropriates car when he finds
one unguarded and unprotected. He
is probably not a finished mechanic;
he would be unable to solve any intri-
cate puzzles, or to locate such things
as hidden switches. 1t is against this
class of thief that the various types of
misunderstanding devices and hidden
puzzles are effective Since the joy
rider does more than half the stealing,
it follows that car-locks are more than
so per cent effective in protecting a
car. Indeed, this fact is established
on the highest authority-that Of the
insurance companies that accent