Show NEW YORK NEW EW Rubber Nose Hy- Hy mie has joined the vast army of oddly Individuals whose fame Is carefully preserved in the police records I IThe Blond Slim The same goes goos for Whitey Joe and a big parade of others In ther day they were among the lightest of the light light- fingered gentry Dy By wor worl ing in the bar barrooms barrooms rooms it was even possible to be 00 and get away with It Such agile pickpockets however sE sc soiled theIr hands on the indelicate indelicate in- in delicate practice ot of frIsking drunks Their camping ground was the corner cor- cor ncr ner just outside Grand Central station eta sta- tion where crowds hurried back and forth Corth to trains or at the old Four Four- and Broadway subway change point The pickpocket profession had degenerated to a sort of petty larceny larceny lar- lar ceny status I am told Skilled hands ma may not have lost their cunning conning con cun- ning but they have changed their occupation And Manhattan which I was once the camping ground for purse snatchers with visiting I strangers as their chief victims hears but few reports except in I those holiday s seasons sons when subways are overcrowded and stores are Jammed surgIng hUmans If Uncle Josh arrives to see the Ig city his attention should be entered less upon his wallet than upon the brand of bootleg recommended mended by the hotel bell boy or orthe orthe I the casual taxi driver S S Things were In the days when a a. pick pickpocket was a sort ot of aristocrat and artist in the world of Ire He was Vas often a colorful colorful color color- ful and Bohemian character given to spending'S and grand gee gee- tures lIe He prided himself upon skill and would often tackle the most moat difficult task when challenged Wilmot was a fellow they still talk about when veteran police reporters reporters re- re porters gather in Manhattan to 10 swap yarns Wilmot was an artist In mOTe more ways waS than one He had haden been en a stage comedian and injected a certain Strain of comedy Into his light fingered occupation atlon The tale goes that lie he had been finally placed under arrest after evading e the police police po- po lice for some time It was just before before be- be fore Christmas A plain clothes detective hal had caught him in a a. subway and was taking him to the station Suddenly Wilmot began to smile The det detective tive noticed no- no heed that one of hIs lean agUe agile I I hands was opening a an temptation detective e asked wha rr amusing him There an anlow low with long whiskers a aisle and hes he's got a swell on hIs tIe Id I'd like to get out from under his whIs give it to you OU for It was obviously a atO ato even for a a. skill er yet et before the Ule def det tI stop him the a ato to work He of stopped The det admitted that he didn ability to S S S SAnd I And there was who Flanagan-who one day wallet containing I few minutes he had flashe i his pals that he had a I haul hadima Before nIght he h ha e I great tall tally tally-ho ho and fo I and was driving his light brethren from one be tr spending sPendin his mend mone Ti cavorted to Brooklyn 0 christening bite And In tho those ol old da s toms tonis regulations ru was a wise nob hiob th v immigration knew that moSt igra in this country countr with upon their person so w that those who were g home generally carrI carried dJ much hundreds ls such found themselves years rears of saving in and Copyright NEA Ser |