Show REGULAR c The Pickpocket Game r nr I rnO e oatA hea i q HUe le Gold wife o of f fI I i as was wearing 10 sio- English Joe Ih fh 1000 worth of dla- dla She forfeited 2000 1000 e rib th monds mends when ar- ar bail bait as many o of Or 01 tested rested for stealing her kind do to p twenty cents from escape the i a poor woman workhouse r u Tho The robbed one was Mas IT l II 11 B. B a I lIell tenant of that en 1 Jen v c York police and antI tho thing tiling that ho mi missed the tho most vas ras Ills his is go gold d shield Ho lie had been robbed robbe in tho Criminal i l Courts Building too ff iI h rion had TV f only been 1 relieved of f Lb his m money and 1 jewelry to lie uld id d have has had a deal Of f sympathy at York City Pollee Tolice leu where where-ho where Jio reported loss loss tn i t n i 11 i In order to Jet get another anotle shield Dui But with II a a tt Weld Shinto it ties as its it's against tho the rules to lose loso i It 55 J J i If f even eTch I U U it Its i ig S Stolen and so O ho g got t hal was vas coming g to LInK him g ii And Casas Casassa Casassa- a. a laughed s l By BROOKS RANK D D. CASASSA police deW de de- W JT on the tho force for almost twenty years and bright particular called so-called Pickpocket id star etar of the Squad is one of the seven men whoso solo eolo job it is to round up the nimble nimble- fingered specialists of the wallet lift lug world His mates are Richard M. M McKenna and Detectives henry enry John Gaynor John Finn James Harvey and for kowski Ever since Commissioner Ii Woods swore a solemn oath to break breakup d up the tho pickpocket business in NewYork Newa New I a Stork York City as an organized typo type of I every day endeavor they have been 1 after fter thee tho species and with much measure meas- meas ure uro of success too As for tor Casassa heIs heis he lie Is on on terms tenus of intimacy inti- inti ha macy with such maga magnates magnates mag- mag a nates of the picka pick pick- a a pocket industry as English Joe Feltenberg Feltenberg Felten- Felten berg the man with r the mysterious pull pull and Pinochle Dave U Wolf and Otto BenA Bennett Ben Ben- A nett th the fingered airy-fingered one and Sammy Simon Si Simon SI- SI mon who has done time more times than ao even Casassa can remember remember re re- 1 member likewise hahe has ha he be bowing acquaintance acquaint acquaint- b i ance nee with hundreds of at e other dips who have been In the Gallery a but a s short ort time or not not at all thanks all thanks to advocates and blundering blundering blun blun- blundering dering policemen anda and a sympathetic victims 1 who fall for a lot lotas 1 as Casassa will tell you If only they can get their money back from rom the talk smooth ing crook The bunch of at thief thief- takers are scattered i about the city where crowds are apt to congregate a a at t the th e railway stations when thousands are makIng malting I they thet know how to reef eef a a fat at man as well as Max Berm Herman Berman an record mana manat man manat a at that that light fingered f gat game Why Casassa in the tha course course explanations to me picked my my pocket as ho he accidentally jostled d he mc-he gotan got gotan t an envelope out of ot m my my inside pocket when my Y coat was buttoned up and and I was none the wiser o rid the sense of getting a gentle gentle knock with his his his' elbow But It was th the fingers of t the other arm that did the lifting The Th They pickpocket game gam game Casassa aM ex x pained to me is far aI ahead ad adof of what it was twenty years yearn ago ago Now It it is I a regular business business Th There's Theres r sno nothing hing hit h hit t or miss about it A A. boy starts in hi hiat at ata at ata ata a a receptive age just as a kid goes into a firm as an office boy boyto ItO to- to work his way up up Finally i the l boy oy becomes e omes amana a a aman man man man-a graduate pickpocket Ket who o can Can an I lift anything that can be lifted One of t the l knob bag workers They specialize in handbags that close with knobs The Tho women 1 leaders of the pocket picking profession are are said each aeh to steal from OO to 1000 a week for a big football game at the ballparks b ball ballparks ll parks on a a. a big day in the department department department depart depart- ment stores dur during ng holiday season on tho the s subway platforms platforms at rush hours along long Broadway after the theatres have belched d their audiences out on the narrow v pavements in in English h Joe Iel Id Pinochle Dave tenberg Wolf street here every cars on rah rainy y da days very every everywhere where that a dip din might seek and find find profitable prey prcy They can make a thief as quickly as he can make them which means that liat they can pick him out by his actions actions ac ac- even if jf they dont don't know V his face I They rhey know a Up tip when whim they see one onea a a crowd which might prove a fertile I Ia field for a fat yield of pocketbooks JU A Yes les the elevator was vas crowded The 1110 squirming jam eager to get upstairs made r room fo for one one more But Dut some some- body bod i pushed ed and pushed hard bard The Thel l shee goo good natu edlY shoved In a lit Bt- little tie tle further and laughed it off when wIlen the tIte pusher apologized for his Ills seeming rudeness I thought he ho was going to close the gate on OH me ho explained and Im I'm ina in inn a n hurry burry an hour IlOur later hi business r. r finIshed fin fin- the aforesaid came cam do doin n in an all empty tr elevator and antI put J Ills hand casually In his Ids hip pocket-it pocket was vas empty as the tho day it It came camo from tho ilio tailors tailor's His Ills pocketbook and money were gone The boy starts in as a pocket patch-pocket worker worker this this is the easiest Why only last week got two kid-beginners kid in i Fifth Avenue One was eleven and the theother theother I Iother other was wa thirteen h teen years old They hadon hadon badon had bad on roller skates and they'd bump into the women as if it it was an accident They skated clumsily into crowds and now and then got something Newsboys Newsboys News News- I I boys who shove hove their papers into a aman's amans amans aman's mans man's face and get his scarf scar pin or his I watch while working under the tr try y belong to this class too The second nd class are a little little bett better r they are knob bag workers These folks tackle only the handbags that close with knobs If It lIas has a a. a slide catch they wont won't touch it May Miller 1 Is a dandy at t that game she game she got got 2000 on her last haul was pin pinched hed and jumped her bail I Change pocket workers belong to the third class They work in tho the thoI I subway on street cars at parades and i in other crowds fake fike ike that Class Clas's Class No 4 are the pocket hip-pocket workers Now we we get to the real class Some of ot them can s slip lp a hand under your overcoat unbutton the hip pocket rocket worm the wallet out and get away away without you the victim knowing a athing athing athing I thing unless the thief Is rough which ho never is if it he can help heir it y Sammy Shore Herman Berman Samm Sammy Simon In the fifth class classa a arc l' l c the stars They can do anything anything anything any any- thing but their best lay is tho the inside pocket hardest of ot all to reach Once the they y can get aloan's a aman's amans amans aman's mans man's mind oft off his his' pocket tho the rest is easy For Instance they can s sense ens e where his money is by watching him a yF Rose Ros Hanson who Irene Schwartz chwartz deyot s two days who lifted lifted a a week a-week Yeek to pocket- pocket pocketT from T womans woman's s 's s purse urs d c t t and A d the om her under under- Plc picking a skirt where ot other er five to her t two safety ty pins children held it secure I I m iu iua a crowd If the sum the victim is c carrying is at all large ho hois is apt to keep his hand ha d on it when he ho pJ plunges int into a crow crowd l. l 1 That's ats at's enough They beat him to the elevator or to the car caro o or wherever he is going and then then when he has forgotten his money ho he gets a little 1 jostle from one ne side turns that way receives an apology and wh while le hes he's not thinking of the stall the the other dip docs does the trick So simple Why they can get a man to take his hand off oft his mon money y by Knocking knocking knocking knock Knock- ing his hat on the side on which the wallet is Instinctively up goes his hand the touch louch Is is' made before he gets his hat readjusted and his hand back Some of them lie in wait In b banks until they see a man put a fat roll in his inside pocket Then they follow him to some place where he Jets gets In I i I l III L a L 1 h c V rf af 1 V I If t g o. o a crowd Each one n of ot I Ithe the gang takes a a turn I at jostling him ever everso everso ever everso so little Each jostle means one more b button button but but- t- t ton unbuttoned and before he knows it the theman theman theman I man with the money I safe in m his ins inside 1 d e pocket has his whole coat open The rest is like taking candy from froma a baby Here Is a typical case of ot expert pick pick- pocketing pocketing pocketing-of 0 of f how w VI when h hen e n Greek meets meets' Greek sometimes the i Greek on the level beats the Greek who's I crooked At the opening o othe ot of the Federal League season Casassa and McKenna figured it oUt one that some of their old friends of ot t the e lifting I world would be there and 5 sure u r e enough I hardly had dead the pair pall taken their seats when I I they popped their eyes I on Sammy Shore a veteran at lifting It easy Then began a game of a seek hide seek d-seek the sleuths to keep Sammy and Goldberg his partner I from seeing them and Sammy and j jI Goldberg to scan the horizon In in order I to spot any stray member of f the Pickpocket Pickpocket Pick Pick- I pocket Squad Games Game's over Crowd starts home Sammy starts selecting a likely victim j. j c t I r x Otto Bennett Mary Becker I I I Casassa d ducks beneath the seats scats as ho beholds beholds' the two crooks signal to each other as they pick their q quarry quarry arry Goldberg Goldberg Goldberg Gold Gold- berg jostles Sammy lifts And from Casassa the next instant Beg pardon m mister st t. t bU but I yo youve you've ve T been robbed A Not on your life I saw this man here heie get It Impossible My try pocketbooks pocketbook's buttoned buttoned buttoned but but- toned up inside my mS' hip pocket Business of ot hasty searching Its gone gonel a Tillie Katz May Miller |