Year: 1873

VI hOuSC IIlICNCS. DoSluCS ulll
there are three others who
"work" in houses-the scuttle
second story and basement thief


THE SCUTTLE THIEF


Is a dangerous one. He vii
enter at the top of the house, il
broad daylight, when the male
portion of the household are al
business, and the females busily
employed either in the parlor OF
the basement, will descend tc
the top story, and down unit
he gains the costly bed-cham-
bers or dainty boudoirs-fol
these thieves rarely go to even
second-rate houses, always fine
dwellings are selected-andthere
he will ransack drawer, burean,
desk and trunk, jewel cases will
be ruthlessly broken open, gold
watches seized upon, everything
Of value, and which is not of
too bulky a nature, will be pock-
eted, carried off, and sold fol
one-sixth its value, or find its
way to the smelling pot. They
go out as noiselessly as they en-
ter, and are truly a dangerous
class of thieves. To work the
scuttle-dodge successfully there
must be an empty house in the
block. The thieves will gain
access to the roof by means of
it, and if their booty is of a
bulky nature they can carry it
into some room in the unoccu-
pied or unfinished building and
there let it rest until nightfall,
when it will be taken away to
some "fush-ken," and there dis
posed of.


THE sECOND-STORY THIEF
is one who enters a house at the
second story, and this sort of
business is generally done by
climbing up grapevine trellis,
II there be one, or else by get
ting into some of the windows
after clambering upon the top of
the front porch. They general
ly work in twos or threes, one
standing outside the house to
keep watch. Unlike the scuttle
thieves, they can't 60 into a
house in daylight, because if
they did their mode of entrance
would be conspicuous and there
fore dangerous. Their time is
generally at dusk, after supper,
when the inmates are enjoying
themselves down stairs, and
when the upper part of the house
is most likely to be untenanted,
This class Of thieves is not a
very numerous one, but they
have frequently made very heavy
"stakes," for in the better class
OF houses jewelry, watches and
other valuables are generally
kept up stairs, and the robbers
know pretty we'll where to look
for it. The trouble is that if
one of them is caught they hav.
en't a very quick method of es.
Gaping, and consequently thu
second-story business is rarely
attempted unless as last re.
sort.


BASEMENT THIEVES


Are the men who play the front
door sneak dodge, with the ex.
ception that they work in the
basement instead of the front
Their dodge is to go to the base.
ment door and get the servant t.
go up stairs on some pretencC
or other, and while she is away
they Will sneak into the dining,
room and grab all the silver nap.
kin rings andsilver forks,spoons
or anything else of value they
can lay their hands on. The
great quantity and character
of the silver which has been re.
covered by Capt. Ferry of the
Third precinct, from the denl
of the New York silver thieves
proves how well this system OF
theft paid. These thieves have
been known to send notes anC
telegraphic messages up stairs
by the servant, whom they in
structed to wait for an answer
and while she was gone theil
work would be accomplished


SHOPLIFTERS.


Probably the most expert a
mong the different classes of
which thiefdom is composed are
shoplifterS and pickpockets.-
The former are male sometimes
but generally females, for theiI
dress is better adapted to con
ceal the various articles which
they make habit of lifting
Two of these will probably trav
el together, and as a rule dr.
goods stores are selected. On,