El Paso herald., February 14, 1914, HOME EDITION, COMIC SECTION, Image 22

About El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931

Image provided by: University of North Texas; Denton, TX

                
NEW YORK IN THROES OF PICKPOCKETS
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Ingenious Methods Employed by
FROM OC WtW TCWK OOiUUSSPONDBNT
THE hungriest thief in New
York city is the pickpocket
Hi greed is insatiable and,
when he wedges himself into a
crowd and begins to gather in
wallets, bank soils and the con
tents of women's carelessly earned
handbags, he never quits until he has
grabbed almost every dollar in sight
He. will start to work in the early
hours of the morning, and, if not ap
prehended, he may still be found busily
on the job when the after-theatre
crowds Are surging into restaurants, or
crowding platforms of the subway, or (
congregating at the various transfer
points preparatory to starting home
In the eyes of the pickpocket a dollar j
is a dollar, and, as the majority of them '
momentarily expect to be "collared ' I
while plying their trade, they firmly j
believe in making hay while the sun
shines, because they must lay by a eer .
tain sum for "fall money," a fund to J
defend them If arrested. .
There is no class of thief hereabouts ,
that Police Commissioner McKay is
more anxious to rid the city of. Chances j
are this herculean task is beyond the
range of human possibility, but, if he
continues as be has begun, the time is
not far distant) when the pickpocket's
life will be a burden to him and he will
either seek new fields or else become
more circumspect in his methods.
There are hundreds of these light fin
gered and strong armed criminals oper
ating in every section of the city. They
work singly and in "mobs." There arc
scores of women who are just as pro
ficient as the men, but the lines are
so sharply drawn that a woman never
Invades the fields selected by the men
operators', and vice versa. While the
men are just as deft with their fingers
as die women, they frequently report to
far rougher tactics to "slip the leather "
The women almost invariably prey upon
those of their sex, and handbags are
their specialty. Handbags, long, lean
wallets, such as men bf to-day affect,
and pay-as-yon-enter. street cars, seem
ingly, were Invented to aid the cause of
pickpockets, for they have enabled these
thieves to .reap the richest of harvests
since they came into vogue.
There is no man in New York who
knows more about pickpockets than De
tective Frank D. Casassa. He and his
partner. Detective Richard McKenca,
have specialized on this brand of crim
inal for many years, and there is not a
"dip" of prominence in the country they
don't know. Like their quarry, they
work early and late, and, as the clever
est pickpocket in the city told the writer
a day or two ago, "Life here would he
one pocketbook after another, if it was
not for this fellow Oasassa. He bobs up
at the most inopportune and unexpected
moments." .
Not a day passes but scores of re
ports are made to the police of lost
wallets, watches and jewelry of all sorts,
to say nothing of the almost countless
handbags that have been rifled. The
method of the pickpocket is simplicity
itself, and, when one has bad an oppor
tunity to see these thieves at work he
is almost prone to believe that nine out
of every ten persons robbed deserve their
fate. Wallets carried in hip pockets of
trousers, watches slipped carelessly into
vest pockets 'with .chain stretching across
the vest without the precaution of run
ning it through a buttonhole, or else
worn on a fob, and handbags carelessly
slung over the arms of women either
engrossed in conversation or absorbed in
their hunt for bargains offer such ab
surdly easy opportunities that the pick
pocket finds them irresistible. As a
shrewd deter-tave puts it, these men and
-women extend a cordial invitation to
every pickpocket within sight to come
and rob them, yet they "squeal" the
loudest when this happens.
There are several of the more expert
pickpockets in New York who work
alone. Others prefer to work in squads
of three or five. These are called
"mobs." The man who does the actual
work is the "tool." Then there is the
"stall," the "strong arm gay" ad the
"lookouts," all of whom are essential to
the success of a well -planted jdb.
A few days ago a detective wsb de
scending the stairway to the subway at
Ferty-second street A line had formed
leading to the ticket booth and at a
glance he saw there was a suspicious bit
of jostling going on ahead of lim. He
fell out of line, and secreting himself1 be
hind a pillar, awaited developments.
Sure enough a pickpocket "mob" was at
work.
A man in the line was being violently
pushed by the man directly behind him. I
Upon remonstrating with the impatient
one the latter apologized, saying the
crash was due to the impatience of the
crowd behind Kim. The man directly in
front of die complaining ciriaen suddenly
determined to squirm his way out of line.
He fell back a step, and facing about
twisted himself in such a way that he
completely turned around the man di
rectly behind Mm. The one next in
line, tie "tool" who does ths lifting, was
prepared for the move, and as the still
protesting victim was whirled violently
about, he, the "tool," had slipped from
the pocket of the victim's inner coat a
long wallet, and in a flash slipped it to
the "stall" who was behind him, and
with outstretched hand he received the
wallet and quickly made a break for the
exit
He was seised, wallet in band, by the
watching detective, who, dragging him
along by the collar, leaped upon the
"tool" aiod grabbed him. Calling to a
bv-stander he ordered him to seize the
third man in the '"mob," whom he
rumueti out. and by this means the en-
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ifeffilSfi ' matter on which side of him his victims of Judge Rosalsky. Annie, the police pockets. There is a department at jr. f -XMwI ,Y
WBmM stand "Sammy" will get their wallet or say, Is an artist and makes anywhere down that way which operate an om- JTO;
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tire crew ws rounded up by a kme
detective. AM three were convicted and
sent away.
This proves the advantage of the
"mob" system and shows how guarded
UMWcents should be when they get in a
-crowd. Any man violently jostled in a
crowd, the detectives say, nine times out
of ten has been marked for plucking by
pickpockets who are close by. His cue
in such emergencies should be to forci
bly extricate himself from such a crush,
at the same time keeping a close watch
that no one gets too close to him until the
jam has been relieved. Fight himself
clear and look about him, and it is an
even chance he will see two or three men
eyeing him suspiciously, and he should
take care that these watchful ones do
net get in touching distance of him again
until he has freed himself from the
crowd.
In the opinion of the detectives the
cleverest of all pickpockets working here
is "Sammy" Shore, or Shaw. He fa so
"smooth" that he rarely is apprehended J
and in consequence nas served only a
short term or two behind the bars. He
always works alone, preferring to run
the chances of slipping a wallet from a
rear or inside pocket of a man or rifling
a handbag without assistance. This
minimises his chances of arrest, he ar
gues, and, further, whatever loot he lifts
is all his own and there is no "split" to
foHow. Shaw, according to the police,
has stolen thousands of dollars and he is
still going strong. In order to convict a
pickpocket he must be caught redhanded
and "Sammy" has always jjroved so
slippery that this accounts for the many
times he has escaped through the loop
hole of reasonable doubt when haled be
fore a court of justice. He is ambidex
trous, working as well with one hand as
the other, the detectives' saying that no
TANGOISTS,
.-i , -. ,. ..
ii r J-0" ccuw conserve au me energy
I that ia -eing expended in learning
1 the tanco and emend it m acouirinc
some of the more useful arts of life, what
a very worthy thing you might do!" re
marked the ancient and honorable ex
ponent of the art of practicality.
The youthful and light hearted expo-
nent of the art of having a good time
thought it over for a minute and then re
plied
Bjt how about tne jlly good time
taLSj:yjK.
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Light Fingered
matter on which side of him his victims
stand "Sammy" will get their walkt or
purse unless they are sewn to their pock
ets. Sometimes he gets pocket and all,
for it is easy to cut a pocket out of a coat
these days.
The pickpocket of to-day is very wary
about lifting jewelry.. The danger in
stealing watches and other baubles lies
in the ease with which' these articles can
be identified. It is always difficult or 1
next to impossible to identify money,
and that is why a thief would rather
steal a five-dollar bill than a watch or
jewel worth hundreds unless the circum
stances surrounding the taking of the
latter insure a safe get-away. Shore and
men of his calibre prefer to work quietly,
steadily picking upa few dollars hew
and there'until at tSe end of their day
labor they are far better rewarded than
if they had lifted a valuable watch with
the dread possibility of being arrested
before it can be disposed of, for such evi
dence is irreiuiaoie.
While Sammy Shaw stands at the
hea'd of his class as a lone works worker,
Otto Bennett is head and shoulders at i
the top of the heap of "tools. When
he and his "mob" get into a crowd they ;
rarely emerge until they have reaped
their harvest They go through it witn
a fine tooth comb, and when they knock
off for the day they have a tidy little
fortune in bills of all denominations.
Their average' haul ranges from ten to
twenty dollars, although once in a while
tney get a wallet that holds several hun
dred dollars and sometimes more. These
are the big hauls they are constantly
longing for, and they apparently can
spot a man carrying such a bank roll
a block off. Then they set patiently to
work to corner him and rarely does he
escape. Bennett recently was canaht at
i work in Brooklyn. He was held for
trial, and promptly jumped his bail, as
do the majority of pickpockets when re
leased under bonds.
Nearly all the women pickpockets are
married to thieves, yet seldom do hus
band and wife wort together. Bach has
his own lay, and they never cross each
other's paths while in the field. The
smartest woman thief now in New York,
according to the police, is Annie Harris,
who boasts of half a dozen aliases. She
is the wife of "English Joey," who is in
for a four year "stretch" at the hands
HERE'S A
:. !.. thoir hlnnrl pirrnlntA finiT tnLpa
il iuu w...... .
their thoughts off their troubles? After
all, you know, learning useful things
wouldn't have that effect. A place for
everythmg and everything in its place, I
say."
"And is the tango's place in a skating
rink," demanded the exponent of the
ancient and honorable art of practicality,
in an injured voice.
"Why, of course," replied the apostle
of joy "It's awfully behind the times to
S3. -s S. -f- iir
and Strong Armed
say, Is an artist and makes anywhere
from $500 to $1,500 every week she
works. Her territory lies in the better
class of shops and thoroughfares, and
when she emerges from a crowd of
women shoppers there are few handbags
that have escaped her clutches. She is
frequently seen in Fifth avenue and its
shops, but as she is so well known to
store detectives she is warned away
every time she attempts to enter one of
these stores. At that she frequently
slips in, but she doesn't tarry long. She
makes a quick clean-up and flees to the
street where chances of detection are
materially lessened.
Anttie. not so long ago, followed
mat nave LSL-aui iiu. .iu..iJCi3. w- e,.Mj wt. , DF - ju. -r- ,j-'i,' -jt--
womjui in Fifth -avenue for four blocks j bargain counter where remnants of silk
before she could get close enough to her ! ir doth, especially tfce, former, are being
to rifle her handbag. One of the two displayed. Women herd about these little
detectives assigned to pickpockets saw stands like flies about a sugar barrel,
her and followed at close range, well Every woman is intent upon pulling,
knowing a trick was, soon to be pulled j hauling and examining every remnant on
off. Annie followed the woman into a j the counter. The clever pickpocket sidles
fashionable confectionery in Fifth ave- up to the woman she wants to rob, picks
nue, and while there was so attracted up a piece of silk amU adroitly manipu
by a number of little chocolate inkstands lacing it, gets it so that she obscures the
displayed that she stole several of these j downward viskra of her victim and then,
before following the woman to the street unobserved, opens her handbag and her
again
Finally her opportunity came.
As the
woman with the handbag became en
tangled in a crowd of shoppers peering
into a window Annie sidled up to her
and as quick as a flash the handbag was
opened and a roll of bills amounting to
$21 was removed.
This time, however, Annie had not
taken the precaution to look about her.
The detective seeing her closing in on
her victim sped to her side, and as she
withdrew her hand from the handbag
and plunged it into her muff he envel
oped her in a. bear-like hug and held her
until she" dropped the muff, and the
stolen bills. Annie had been caught like
a rat in a trap, and her whines and cries
were of no avail. She had no difficulty
In providing bail, however, and her case
Annie hr a friend with" whom she
.. . - ,
works at times, xnis woman is &uvu
as Fannie Franklin, and her husband,
also a thief, is known as th "Canto
Kid." Fannie has been picked up a
number of times, and her husband is wjll
known as a successful "stall" for sev
eral "mobs" in which he works. SiTth
avenue is a fertile field for women pick-
CHANCE TO
Tango on Roller States.
room. The real up to date place to dance
it is in a skating rink and on skates, pref
erably on roller skates, because that's
harder than dancing it on ice skates."
Dancing the tango on roller skates has,
in fact come to be the ambition of ex
pert tangoists who have Mastered the
art of the ballroom so completely that
it has ceased to be exciting. Longing for
new worlds to conquer, some of the
ZTZ. ZZ'
Criminals Who Prey on Unsuspecting TraveHers
pockets. There is a department stJr
down that way which operates an om
nibus line across town, and these con
veyances apparently were made to or
der to suit the purposes of thieves. They
crowd their way into the vehicle, and
in the jam that always follows they fla
grantly open handbags, abstract what
of value lies within, and then, complain
ing of faintness, leave the bus to return
end wait for the next one. Unless driven
away by a vigilant detective, they will
work every omnibus that leaves the
store, each trip netting them handsome
dividends.
In discussing pickpockets and their
Laietbods a detective said there is no sight
nearer io ine man ui a uf
highly sensitive fingers go straight to the
mirse or loose bills therein. She moves
on to the next promising looking candi
date and repeats the performance. I
have known twenty handbags at a single
counter to be robbed in this way.
Not long ago, a richly gowned woman
stood before a lingerie counter in a fash
ionable shop. Many women were con
gregated there, but this woman was in
tent upon finding a garment of a special
design. A plainly dressed and soft voiced
little woman at her side suddenly reached
far across the pile of filmy garments,
jostling the eager seeker as she did so,
and, picking one' up, said : "I think this
is the piece you are looking for."
The well dressed woman graciously
thanked the woman who had aided her
and then concentrated her attention upon
' tb. garn ent handed The others
i an haH nniptlv moved away. 1 wonuei
an had quietly moved away. I wonder
how that woman knew wfiat I wanted?'
the shopper finally remarked to the sales
woman. Then she looked down at the handbag
dangling from her arm. It was open,
and from it a purse containing $450 in
bills had been abstracted. The kind lit
TEST YOUR PROWESS !
the roller rinks. In London tangoing on
rollers has been seen for some time in
the rinks. In the United States tangoing
on the ice has been taken- up more widely.
There is a grace of movement in going
through the dance on roller skates which
is not" to be obtained even by the most1
skilful dancers in the ballroom The
skaters glide through all the intricate
movements of the dance so smoothly that
to the onlooker who has not tried the
tansro even in the ballroom the feat
'""""
rS5fe?Kfe.
-4 - " ('vT " fi
&gr&Z?$P '
tle woman had covered the bag with the
garment she picked up, rifled it and then
faded from sight She- was never ar
rested, although her description minutely
fits that of a pickpocket of international
reputation. '
There are two women posint, as sisters
who are married to brother. Their hus--bands
are gamblers. The women are
known to the police as the "Boston Sis
ters," and they say there axe no more
dangerous thieves in the city than these
two. They work the shoppers in tne
streets and stores, and their pickings are
rich. They wear fine jewelry, although
in this respect Annie Harris seems to
carry off the palm, for a detective told
the writer he had seen Annie Harris with
jewelry worth at least $10,000 on her
fingers while she was out on one of her
thieving expeditions.
Pickpockets, especially those belonging
to "swell mobs," are provident They
know they are liable to arrest at any mo
ment Therefore they always keep a big
fund on hand which they designate "fall
money." This is needed to buy bail or
in case a compromise can be effected by
refunding the amount stolen. They are
arrested and bail is asked for. By turn
ing over to some professional bondsman
an amount in cash equivalent to the bond
asked they can effect their Bbertv Then
their comrades get busy. The victim is
approached and a harrowing tale is told
him of the poor family at home, tie thief
being tempted to steal in order to put
bread in their mouths. If convicted it
will mean starvation for the wife and
little ones at home. An immediate offer
is made to restore the amount stolen and
if the victim happens to be a person in
need of money he will accede to this lat-
l ter proposition, and upon receipt of his
stolen wallet refuse to appear against the
thief when the case comes to trial. In
with nothing more difficult about it than
, is comprised, for instance, in the gliding
grace of the swan or the easy sweeping
movements of the swallow.
There are two things necessary if one
is to master the art of tangoing on roller
skates easrly-expert acquaintance with
roller skates and all their possibilities and
expert acquaintance with the tango If
he who attempts to tango on skates falls
short in either of these requisites he will
find his experience at the rink not at all
satisfactorj
amount
of his latest theft and his cask bail is
refunded.
These tender hearted victims, moved
to pity by harrowing but false tales- of
poverty and suffering, are responsible
for more pickpockete escaping long
terms behind the bars than anything
else. No matter how bard the detec
tives work to round them op, their ef
forts are far more often bWked by
these tactics than by any failure to get
their quarry "with the goods dn them."
The average man cries for "Justice,'
the police say, but if he has to choose
I between his stolen wallet and justice,
poor justice is left in the larch,
I Another dangerous woman thief is
j Hose Hanson, sometimes known .as
Lottie Gross, or Ethel Rmg. She was
recently caught as she was robbing a
Long Island woman at Fifth avenue
and Forty-second street She wag con
victed and sent away for a year. Trans
fer points, such as in front of the Graad
Central Station, Thirty-foTirti street
and Broadway, and Thirty-fourth street
and Fifth avenue, were attractive spots
for her operations and here she was
always well rewarded for her trouble.
Max Berman, sometimes called Ike
Goldstein, "the Shoemaker." s known
as the "meanest thief in New York. He
preys on working women and nothing is
too small to escape his itching fingers.
He starts out early in the morning and
robs young women on their way to work.
Their carfare and luncheon money is
never overlooked by this thief and he
has been knows t even steal their mid
day sandwiches. .When captured after
looting Miss GlME Fleischer's handbag
he was bronghtjfore Judge O'Sullivan
on the charge 4f- grand larceny. His
wife, then m a. .delicate condition and
with four children tugging at her skirts,
appeared in court and told such a piti
ful tale that Berman was permitted to
go under suspended sentence. Later he
was arrested and convicted, and a few
days ago he was sentenced to five years.
Henry Berry, alias Ed Jones, but
better known as "Coley" Young, is de
scribed as a "bad nigger" by every
policeman who ever had, to do with his
many arrests. He has served a number
of terms for larceny and prefers the
subways for his field of operations. He
was arrested here last November for
robbing a Brooklyn woman of a hand
some pair of opera glasses and her
change purse, which he slipped from
her handbag as she was returning from
die theatre. He was inducted for grand
'larceny in the first degree as a second
offence and h,e faces a long term in
State's prison. A
SftBny Simons, -alias Sam Jacobs, is
characterised by the police, as a thief
with the cleverness ftf a Sammy Shaw.
He generally works with James Turner.
!sb all around bad man and a product of
Chicago, who was Imported here by a
Uglily successful "mob" several years
ago. Sammyrasid Turner have made a
j number jf&rkft bafrfe, aad their pockets
are always wSH"Mse in the eTent of
trouble arising.
Not so long ago the detectives as
signed to keep an eye on pickpockets
were standing in Forty-second street
and noticed there was a. snepkaous jam
in the centre of aa approaching street
car. They leaped on thetr and stand
ing well back, v awaited developments.
Soon they happened. The "tool" lifted a
man's waHet, and as he did so the de
tectives sprang forward andv reaching
for the man to whom the wallet had
been passed, missed him. The thief
leaped through the car window, taking
the sash with him. A cituen seised the
thief, but by a dexteroas squirm he
slipped out of his coat and vest and fled.
In the pocket of the vest was a hand
some "watch, but the thief escaped and,
naturally, 'did not return to claim his
coat, vest and jewelry. Tie mas who
leaped through the window proved to
be Joseph Preise, who had previously
jumped his bail. He is regarded, in
police parlance, as "a good thief," and
when a policeman makes use of this
term he is paying his captive the highest
compliment
As long as men persist in carrying
their valuables in their hip pockets or
in wallets that stand high in the inside
pockets of , their coats, aad women
aimlessly roam the streets vgith hand
bags dangling, pickpockets will continue
to grow wealthy. The opportunity is
there, and those who live by their wits
are quick to seize it The city is full of
pickpockets and the street car lines are
alive with them. When entering a car,
especially those of the pay-a-yo-nter
type, due care should be exercised to
guard valuables. Any suspicions tug
should be met 'with prompt and decisive
action, for this is the only way a thief
can be thrown off his guard.
When asked where all the pickpockets
come from, a detective promptly re
plied "These two-and-a-half-ents-a-cue
poolrooms are incubators for thieves.
There boys congregate. They may be
honest when they start out but seeing
those who frequent these places sally
forth when out of funds and slip a
leather or a watch, and after pawning
the latter return to the poolroom with
ample cash to continue their play, or
rejoin the crap game that usually runs
in these places, it is small wonder that
they, too, adopt this method of acquir
ing easy money. They accompany the
'dips.' see them work and then take a
try at it themselves. If they- graduate
into the proficiency class they are soon
in demand as the 'tool' for a new mob
forming. In that way their graduation
into the criminal ranks is accomplished.
These poolrooms and cheap dance hails
are the enrse of 'young America. Clean
them out and a heavy blow will be
struck at the fountain head of thievery."
J-
s