Year: 1869

A Talk sCifh q Pick Pocket.


In the minds of the honest portion Of
the community, an ERRONEOUS notion pre-
walls that the taking Of valuables ormon.
ey from mans pocket approaches art;
in short, that picking pockets is skilled
department Of thicvery. -3 - !,


Not long ago I was brought into rcla-
tions with one of the most noted and ex-
pert pickpockets of the day, and form
than year, had daily opportunities OF
communicating with him. During this
time he explained to me the whole busi-
ness of stealing from the person, pnd
gave me practical illustrations of the
modus operandi in number of cases.


Our simplest mode Of taking a mans
money, he explained, is this: We 60 into
a crowd, single out man whose money
we want. One ofus works his way in
front Of him, another gets himself behind.
while the operator stands at his right,
partly back. When the proper time
comes, the man behind tips up or smash
es down the hat oI the ecountryman, whose
first impulse is to restore it, and as he
can't raise his left arm, he takes his hand
from his right pocket when the operator
dives and seizes the money. Then We
all rush through the crowd, and meet at
some appointed place TO divide the prof
its. Generally the man whose money we
have got has jaw" with the one hc
finds behind him, and by the time he has
missed his money We are dividing it.


Our operations on the railroad are
nothing more than forcible robberies.
Wc pick out man, and, at some stopping
place where he gets out for lunch or any
other purpose, one or two Of us manage
To get ahead of him. the other behind him.
and, by jostlins and causing confusion,
We have no difficulty. Why! alone
made $4,000 in following the Prince of
Wales when he was here, and could have
made more than that in following Lin
coin from Springfield to Washington, if
some one Of us hadn't been fools, and got
pulled while gambling.


When wish to pick woman's pocket.
sit along side of her, and slip my hand
or finger into her pocket--she can't feel it
as a man can-and get out her pocket
book then open and extract the money,
and then replace the pocket. book. That
is "weeding." If she discovers her loss.
she is almost certain to think she has lost
her money, or left it where she was shop
ping, and Sc we get of easy enough.


FIVE want mans watch, we manage
pretty much the same way Us ii we were
after his money. Weget the watch out
of bis pocket easy enough, and twist the
ring out it. Some of the old fashioned
ones have the ring riseted, and make
loud snap but the whole thing is easy.
Then we get new rings put in, and have
the numbers altered christening we
call it-and sell them 10 the licences"
For watch worth 5000, we get from
$40 to $50. Silver watches We don't
bother with. Chains we rarely get ex-
cept by force, and they ain'i worth much
unless solid then we have them melted
down, as we also sometimes have the ca
ses.


Stealing diamond pins and studs is
trick requiring great skill and boldness.
The usual manner of doing this is for the
operator, carrying cloak or coat upon
his arm, to meet the victim. behind whom
come the confederates. As if by accident
he runs plump against his man, and
thrusts the Goa: into his face with one arm,
while with the hand Of the other he snaich-
es the pin. If there is any row, the con.
federates pitch in, and all get away in
confusion.


In taking morey from mans inside
coat or vest pocket, the same way is
adopted as with the pin. We "spot'
man on the cars and watch him; | get
some distance forward of him and my two
pals behind; when he starts to leave the
car hurry forward and they hurry back
get ahead of him and turn back and
meet him while my confederates have
come out and got close hehind him; rush
against him in front and they do SO be-
hind: shove the coat in his face with one
hand and dive for his money with the 9TH
er. Sometimes We follow man two or
three days, and when We are sure he has
whole pile with him we are bound to
get it. and unless he is protected we gen.
orally get it in one way or another.


The average amount taken from mans
pocket isn't so very much. ! have fol-
lowed man two or three days. with my
pals. and only got s5 or S6 fromhim.be-
cause he kept the bulk of his money in
draft. We get "slipped" in that way
once in while. Then, again. we have
sraked i'm as much as $1,000. But a
good average is 500; and that is very
good in ordinary times. sII


u


A wife's Letter to Her Husband.