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Show j t BK JOCK BELDAIRS. i What Is" tho most dangerous jf Criminal ?" . , I- If you were asked this question j off hand by any or the" 'detective , (?; chiefs In the country, your brain 1 ; ' would conjure up a dozen answers, and perhaps you would enumerate i ' what you considered the most dan- ', gerous crlmfnal In this .rotation: j rVain robber, highwayman, safe jg' blower, burglar, counterfeiter, and i I a great many Would head the list t B with the slayer of his fellow- man." ' JR The expert would smile at your jm - Innocence and then calmly tell you C the answers were ail wrong. .For, I S: In the opinion of the Bertiilon ex- f ?- pertseveo'whe'ro the last word In expert criminal talent . is. the pickpocket. pick-pocket. ; . ' This seems ridiculous. But nev- . ertheleas. It. is a fact. -TheplckT ppcke;.ls"the.Wpst dangerous of -all the crooks that preyron society, bo- 1 cause he roprcsents tho elect, the !! cult, the' brains of the criminal classes. It may be suggested -that the. safe . blower and the burglar have-shown greater talent In their work. In ovory police department, 'of the -world there will be found a collec- tlpn of tools taken from safe blow-ers blow-ers and burglars which are, so Ingenious In-genious that were the maker to .have applied the talent to the making of II legitimate tools he might perhaps have achieved fortune and fame. Tools for tho turning of a- key, left by a house holder In" the lock. termed "an outsider," for It 13 used 'L from" the outsldo of the door, ro- I f quired brains to Invent. Delicate j I tolts of mechanism called "skeleton It keys," designed to throw the dogs I I of the most intricate . locks ever made, originated with a "burglar. Wjj The safe blower has his "come- flt along," an unique bjt of mechanism W built on theHnes of Average;, which I grips and pulls out' the'corriblnatjon , knob of a safe as though l were j cheese. He albo has his "'soup, out- fit," consisting- of only1 soap and a tube a'nd'.hls drilling apparatus. Tho highwayman's, pistol; the shop-lifter's various artificer all pale away , i into nothingness against the- 'ont" i - and deft.Jfjrigc.rB of . tho pickpocket- j Tho pickpocket' Is a student. He has a9lah as closely knit as ever Ifi Tvas, clan 'in the old world. He. Is. 'as I proud of. 'h is profession as Is the 1 lawyer, the, 'do'cior, 1 tho newspaper u man. Hcspeaks of -a neat bl of , work as tho .'.lawyer does of wliw f ninga'blg case, the surgeon of Bome'-great operation- and-tho'news- jj paper man of his "scoopi" In fact, $ too wiU'etend his 'eorifld.en.ces even. to the arresting Vfflters when he "drope," and it la .not unusual- to -hear him reciting to a Bertiilon man, afterr having been "mugged," i measured and his finger tips taken for perhaps-thc fiftieth time: IBlg Mac got away with a'beaut. Ho nicked a thpueand-bone. leather and beat.it before the holler." "Where was this?" "In Cincinnati." , .' riOKPOCKET' HARDEST. : " OF AISL TO RECOGNIZE. (. ;,.0no wo,u think-that would be P enough for tho police. .Not so The pickpocket knows that ho 'u th? toar.dcst thing In the world to Si.lch..an1 e ha.rdest to recognize. I " wfc 'su5ker" rtay think ho knows IS him, hut an oath In a court is ro- m, quired to give the identification vmy i weig nt.and saying a man is the r ;h c and swearing to It. are two L. j tAi!l,v.andrt,hey Beldom adhere. m$ ,th Pfckpocket -is yet" to be j discovered who want into court. and ! testlfled againsrhis ilk. Rather he j Kill suffer hlmselfv than, betray an- f 1 thor of the -fraternity.- For he be. i In to a fraternity, as cohealve as , any secret society, i Tho burglar prowls along In ! Sn!dCOrnor8 doaEinf . every , police call and rap. hiding from i t'ely J,Eht widevjty sound. Tho j highwayman akulk's.in;darkcned al- t leyf Bhuddering and.Teady for flight b., tho, sight or sound of . a. ppllce- L ?n' yhBstraln-.rab'ber dares only f when In numbeis Alul ready with a surprise. Ho truuts to bravado and oaths. The "booster" preys on stores that are crowded. The counterfeiter coun-terfeiter sneaks. But the pickpocket . elects -crowds, worses under the nosps of the police, calmly aids, half the time, in chasing himself and Is ilrst. with ready advice and sympathy, sym-pathy, (o the victim. He works In "mobs," almost always three being a "niob." . Only the most vigilant police eye may detect this "mob" at. wpik. and so seldom - does the uniformed rank Interfere with tho pickpocket tha nine times out of ten, a pickpocket will riot turn back from contemplated prey at sight of a'pollceman In uniform, unless un-less he' happens to know that policeman po-liceman Is watchful and knows tho tricks of the trade. ' The pickpocket has rnanj- names. He Is known as a "dip," as a "poke getter," "leather nicker" arid various vari-ous other choice cognomens, including includ-ing thesomowhat strange term, "a cannon." ' . "Being . "on the cannon", is in tho lingo, of thieves, equivalent to -being - a "high gun" or in the -hjgherVrealnis of thievery. The' estimation es-timation in which the pickpocket 1b held by the great thief takers of the world may bo best expressed- In the language of Al G. Ray, chief special spe-cial agent of tho Great Northern Railway, ,ln-hls book of "Crime, Crlm(nals?a'nd.. Reform." Mr. -Ray has the reputation of being nbt'only a' great detective but also ' the possessor pos-sessor ot the greatest vocabulary of criminal slang In the world. In his book he. th'us describes n "dip." "For. running and audacity, tho picltpock'et occupies a pre-eminent position -among his fellows In crime. To' work under the very eyes of officers clad in citizens' habiliments, in the bright rays of the sun or tho glare of the arc light and successfully success-fully withdraw from their recesses', well filled pocketbooks; to 'nip' from necktie and shirt front. Innumerable In-numerable and costly gems, with a flexibility and grace which evades detection, demands splendid norVe, a cool head and nimble fingers, indispensable, in-dispensable, requisites, attained only through years of dangerous .practice .prac-tice "and" rigid training. It Is quite erroneous to suppose that the expert ex-pert -'dip Is a hasty creation ""and while It imay occasion surprise to assort that ho is subjected to a, Ihreo-y'oars' tutelage before being allowed tho privilege of thrusting his hands Into another's pockets, such 13 the case. There are Instances In-stances where novices have tieen assigned as-signed the hazardous work ot the 'tool' "within a les8 -period, but the exceptions are rare. The aspirant usually begins his career between tho ages of lg and 2i,- remains in the background a few weeks, observing ob-serving the-movements of his tutors tu-tors .and then essays the role of a tall.' If -considered-promising and capable enough tp work-as" a 'tool' he selects as a 'mark' an aged and bucolic traveler clad in loose trous- ers with capacious pdekbts into which tho hand can glide with oase. If the tool succeeds in 'lifting,' he is advanced in the work until proficiency pro-ficiency is assured and it becomes a matter of Indifference whether the- sufferer boars the 'impress of groen lanes and country fields or has a good line on tho town." EAGIN CHOOSES, FROM VOLtTXTEERS. Charles Dickens did not create Fagin, tho professor of puree filching filch-ing in Oliver Twist. -Fagin. existed then as-he does toda He was merely listed into the novel as ho may be listed in every novel of today. to-day. 'Tho Fagin of today solects hiB subjects from volunteer material mate-rial Tou cannot make a man a thief unless ho wants, to bo one. He must bo at heart yearning for tho must be able to give both inclination and application to tne work before .he can" become a geat pickpocket and great plck-fhfi plck-fhfi 113 wel1 teemed in nrflfiJ craft,aa 81,0 Sreat men in honorable hon-orable walks of Hfo. Fagin tried r?nmaakf a thleC oC 01lver Tw'8t d 2i-5iCaV8th0 lad dId'not: have S bS'i InClmat,on or adaptabll-inMT- !" ev51 .sroat-clty of the entire world, thieves aro bfline Se-l.Ut r?Su-arIy. .through the agency-of'Eomo Fagin,: who. may be V 1 -. A - i i ' i ii ... more aptly described as "an oldr crook." Association does it. "Love of ease and lack' of '.triule readily urge a young man. down, the grades of life. Nor rtre tho grcnt thief lakers of tile world ready to aroe with Mr. Ray that three years elapse in this training. A week ITPPER left Showing u how' piekp.ockets work in a cro,wd.; .-.One; -.of the pickpockets crowds 'against the victim, 'as' - though he were trying . ,to break through the crowd The other quickly takes his purse. Upper right Showing Show-ing a common; method on a crowded carplatform. One pokes a newspaper in front of the victim face, so he cannot - see. the : removal of his watch. Center,-from left to right Charles Adams, John McGe'e,and-John Scul-len. Scul-len. Below Charles Burke and' Charles Fisher, -the boy pickpocket. " . ' " . . may suffice. The . first stago of the Pickpocket career, as;expfirr3 have tiaccd it, is practice and then "Moll buzzing." This latter trm . is . rather expressive. Tho "Moll-buzzer" "Moll-buzzer" preys on women. Hp. is taught to know, whore . a woman's . dress, pocket is located.. Rut batter he learns the art of opening a handbag hand-bag without effort, and to .lift, tho purse within without In anyway disturbing tho owner. He may b found in crowds around shopping Cfnters. at theater entrances, in3l3e odeons, even churches, at fairs, on trains and street cars, wharrwer there Is-congestion, of femininity. His work Is easy, after ho go'ts confidence in himself. Then he gradually works -up Into the ctonl-Ucrice ctonl-Ucrice of tho "clan"-until he is able to "fill in." That means to take the place of a "regular" in a "mob" at either stalling, which simply sim-ply means holding the attention or progress of tho "mark" or victim, while his two comrades crowd tho victim and "get his leather." In Plain language this means, robbing him. The great pickpocket-is the ono who has worked everywhere andx never "fallen." To "foil" means to be caught with the goods" and convicted. Bonnie Hayne3 Is an Instance of the greac "dip." He has been arrestod, mugged and measured so often that they, are tired of filing his record of arrepts at the National Bureau ' of Identification. Haynes is credited, credit-ed, in., his craft, with being about tho "hlgii notch-" But tho police never , caught him with the good.s and .he hag never beon convicted. Nor has, he ever donied his calling or been "ugly" when "pinched." Haynesi,can travel in. tho finest v 1 K company. He can dlno with bankers bank-ers and slip his .way into .church. Likewise, hundreds of the. "dip" family are able to pose as reputoblo" "and respectable citizens. Every move of the first-class . pickpocket is a science. He Is ail the class. He needs no tools. Just something to cover up with In case of sudden pursuit, a cap and pair of glasses in the pocket He may wear a low hat while working or a high soft hat. The cry of pickpocket pick-pocket is raised an'1 In a second the hat has disappeared and a man with glasses and cap is inquiring what happened. Tt is not on record that a "dip"' evor turned to any other class or kind of crime. It Is beneath him. He frowns on the . safe blower and the hlghwnyman as coarse and will help hunt down a burglar. He considers himself far superior tp any other criminal,' associates frequently, with the best people, is very - often married and raises a good family. HJls is a craft. And while there Is no record of a first-class pickpocket ever having hav-ing turned to other line of crime, there are plenty of instances of criminals In other lines, begging Instruction In-struction and attaining some perfection perfec-tion in tho art of picking pockets. Two Instances . are glaring ones, William, alias "Sklppy" Rohan, and "Bud" Fawcett. The former was a dangerous burglar, the latter a general crook. Neither was adopt In tho art and both "fell" sopn after taking up the game. DETECTIVES CATCH PICKPOCKET AT WORK. Men who have had the luck to see a "mob" of pickpockets at work have noVer censed narrating the experience. ex-perience. Once a gentleman of my - acquaintance, riding on the rear platform of an eastbound Elght-i Elght-i ecnth street car. was startled by the remark of two men on the car. These men were detectives. The car had stopped at-Grand nnd Ho-bert Ho-bert street to take on a crowd of passengers. One was an elderly German man. Tho "stall" boarded board-ed tho car and braced himself on the step. The "tool" was just behind be-hind tho victim and the third of 'the mob was herding the rest of tho crowd and pushing them forward that liis fellow "dips" mlgrit work. "The nervo of it," remarked one detective as he leaped over the rear platform of tho car, ran around and grabbed the herder. The second detectlvo reached down and grabbed a pair of hands which were neatly dipping into tho pockets of the old Gorman. "I novcr saw the like." said this acquaintance to me. "T could plainly plain-ly see the old German's hands, one on either handrail of the car, and yet I would have sworn I saw his hands fumbling into all his pockets, trousers, vest. Inside vest. coat. In-v side coat, nervously but swiftly, a3 though feeling for his carfare. Hl3 watch came out In one of these hands and a small wad of money In the other. The detectlvo grabbed these two hands. What followed was amusing. " 'Gedt oudt mine road. For why you stop mo sol' shouted the old gentleman at the detective. "He became more and more angered. an-gered. The . detective .told him to ,) koep cool, to step on. tho 'car and step to one side. 'I havo to drag a thief with you,' said the officer. Ho did so. The old gentlemaa was astounded as-tounded to find his watch and mon-' mon-' ey in tho thief's hand." ' '. The first class "dip" goes after , money and diamonds. He will not -touch a watch. First, ho does not care to touch watches because they may be easily Identified. Secondly, ihe pawnshops as a rule are overstocked over-stocked with watches and they are hard to pawn for any price. . . , ; Charles Wilcor. tvas an exception. In St. Louis he stoe a -watch from Rev... Father F. J. 'Rcuth3jVoj) a Grand avenue car In 1901." Ho stolo f other watches, also. Including one from H. C. Townsend, at that. time , general passenger agent of tho MIs-sourl MIs-sourl Pacific Railroad. He . was cauglit in Baltimore, Md.. and at the ( timo;'was wearing Mr. TownsendVi . watch;, The police brought him back ' here and he was. sentenced to five '. years In the Jefforson City prison, r St.. Louis also boasts of tho only , Instance where the entire "mob" fell. This was in the case of Mr. Harlow R. Spencer, ,who was robbed of a diamond stud-as ho got aboard a - sleeper- at Union Station one night fifteen years ago. Tho thieves remained re-mained on the train until it reached the East Side; Mr.. Harlow dlscov- . . erod, his loss. early. Hp got a good . look at the. men whom he suspected . and. aided the police in running . down. "Big Head" Thomas McGee, Edward "Butch" McGraw and John Taylor, alias Scullin. This whs a trio of first class thieves. McGe'e was imbued with the Damon arid Pythias spirit. Previously; when', he1 "fell" at Columbus. Ohio, with" "Bdr.ty" WHS son. an old man, he shouldered the ontlre burden, went to prison for five years and- got Wilson off with six months, because: - "Berty is an old man and has a family. I can stand on my head for the time." He tried that here. McGraw had a I wife and child. McGee offered to plead guilty and take all the blarna ; If the authorities would let McGraw i go. The police had too good a case, however, and wound up the trio. McGee got eve'n, McGraw and Tay- ; lor three years each. Taylor gave a j: S2.000 bond and skipped out. The I bond was paid, He is now in San Quentin, Cal., prison, doing a six- r year term. ' h "The pickpocket represents tha culture" of the criminal classes," says B John M. Shea. Bertiilon expert in the St. Louis Detective Bureau. "He 2 has his trade justa.s a carpenter has, f arid" seeks to excel in it. He has a f plant Iri every largo city and a law- " yer; known as a 'proper mouthpiece.' whom he can hire or who someone, f. representing the clan, will hire as f soon as he may be arrested. Tho ob- I: ject of tho pickpocket Is to get out 1 on bond as 'soon as possible, to pre- vent victims getting a' chance to see him. Ho is always in danger of f- 'getting a rap' (being identified), and hero he firids the common law bond Jj a great ally. The high class dip has a- circuit, Just as theatrical folks have. He nay be found following a' presidential party, In the wako q(a j: circus, 'attending great religious re- '. vivals. "wherever crowds congregate. ,i He has' no fear of the countj sheriff . or- his -.minions, for in ninoty-nlne but of a hundred cases, the wrons . man.; .Is suspected, ,4 ,Frqm Eddie Giierin down to JohiiNosy O'Brien, '. ' the oldest oT tho dips, system" "has a'l- f; ' ways been the -vogue-' of tlic pick- i ppokot.' He. Is an -.expert before ha takes .changes. -And when he operates oper-ates he knows, what he Is doing. Ho - knows what detectives to fear and which ones' do not know him. He j - coincs In -mobs,- makes a good haul and loaves town, to cprrie back in regular sequence.' 16rig after he be- lioves the 'mark' 'has departed or forgotten;- He is-the most difficult to catch and the hardest to-tfonvict. j! The brainiost'and most dangerous of all criminals'." ' ' I |