Reverend M. Holland

“ It is in this kind of work that men who have fallen from respectability, such as clerks and tradesmen, are of most use to the thieves. They can never become so clever as the born-and-bred thieves, but they make the best of stalls. Their business air puts the victim off his guard, whereas the uneasy and furtive restlessness of an habitual thief attempting to stall would at once put a man who knew the world upon his guard. “Stiff-dropping” is another mode of pocket-picking, and is practised both in the streets and in conveyances. ”

“ A gentleman, probably in the police-force and not unlikely a detective, was listening one Sunday afternoon to a Hyde Park preacher. A suspicious-looking man with a well-dressed lady on each arm walked towards the gentleman as if by accident, poked the first finger of each hand under the gentleman’s coat-laps and lifted them up, no doubt to give the ladies on his arms the opportunity of picking both pockets. But the gentleman, who told us the circumstance in the Victoria Hotel, was too quick for the thieves, and they had to retire, covering their confusion as they best could. ”

“ So well are the manufacturers of base coin known to the regular members of the criminal profession, that there is not a thoroughbred thief in England who could not obtain for himself any amount of base coin in a fortnight or three weeks. The manufacturer of bad money generally considers himself a wholesale merchant, and seldom cares to engage in the retail trade of passing the goods. The base coin manufacturer never lives in the thieves’ quarter, but in some quiet and respectable neighbourhood. He always has some one on the alert, and his instruments are broken up on the slightest alarm. ”

“ That so many people can earn their living by thieving proves, at least, that there must be method in their crime, and a considerable amount of ingenuity in carrying out their fraudulent plans. Were thieves to go about their work at haphazard they would soon be driven out of the field: they would neither be able to outwit their victims nor elude the police. Thieves contending with the public have greatly the advantage in some respects. Long practice makes the thief perfect in arts of which the public know comparatively nothing. ”

“ The thieves know already what will be here revealed, and far more. All who are inclined to enlist in the ranks of professional thieves can readily do so, and by such association and a few years’ imprisonment they will soon graduate in the whole art of stealing. We can teach the habitual thief nothing on this subject. Here and there one naturally inclined to evil may take a hint from what is written; but we cannot refrain from informing the public because one or two may make an improper use of the information. ”

“ They go into some quiet street in a quiet hour of the day. A man enters the shop alone and makes a trifling purchase, which he pays for with such a coin as will compel the shopkeeper to open the drawer for change; this move enables him to see where the till is, and something of what it contains. The man then leaves the shop, goes to the boy and gives him his instructions. The boy waits about until there is no one in the shop; he then tosses his worthless cap behind the counter and goes stealthily in, stopping the bell from ringing if he can. ”

“ It becomes every citizen to know something of the tricks of thieves, in order that he may know his danger and secure his own safety. Whatever objections may be urged against such knowledge, the fact is certain that thieves mainly live upon the ignorance and carelessness of the public. A danger cannot be guarded against until it is known; and before the public can provide for their own protection against thieves, they must acquaint themselves with the snares which are spread for them. ”

“ When a returned convict wishes to enter the smashing line, he knows where he can lay out his Government gratuity money to the greatest advantage. He makes no experiments, and runs no risk with moulds, and stamps, and melted metals. Every trade has its emporium, and when a thief wants a stock of base coin, he has only to send his orders to Birmingham. ”

“ The information which is needed by the multitude to save them, as far as may be, from being robbed and plundered is very difficult to obtain. It cannot be had by merely reading police reports. Only fragments of the art come out there—now and then a burglar’s ingenious instrument, now and then a flash-letter, and now and then a note on the Bank of Elegance. Thieves in general cling to their secrets with the most desperate tenacity. They are unwilling to endanger their craft by too much publicity. A few of them, however, are very communicative when they meet with persons whom they can trust. ”

“ The man-thief seeks his victims in all sorts of places and circumstances, anywhere the world over. The public are greatly mistaken in thinking that the thieves work at random. They often know their mark, both of time, person, and place. Thieves are full of schemes, subtlety, plans, and methods, and if they could observe their own rules they would very seldom be detected. The following kind of robberies are looked upon by the thieves as their most lucrative methods:—Burglary, hotel-jilting, garroting, and pocket-picking. ”

“ Two or three well-dressed women will enter a shop, but not together. It is a frequent practice for thieves working together to appear to be the greatest strangers to one another: they neither by sign nor look recognise each other, but are as cold and distant as if they had never seen one another in their lives before. When the “bouncers” are all in the shop the game begins. One of them will make a costly purchase, spend a long time in looking at something else, and then prepare to leave. ”

“ Shop-thieves are mostly women: they are well dressed, very civil in their manner, generally have a shawl on their arm and an umbrella in their hand, and go two together, or sometimes in threes. Their purloining spreads or divides itself into three leading branches—robbing the customer, stealing shop-goods, and cheating in money affairs. If a customer is looking at anything, the thief will ask to look at the same; this gives an opportunity for pressing against the lady and picking her pocket. Should they see a lady lay a parcel or a good parasol upon the counter the thief will take it up ”

“ The Exchange-men never work in towns where they are well known to the police. Moreover, they dress exceedingly well, so that if on a sudden outcry of something gone the doors are closed at once, it is next to impossible for the police to detect the culprit—first, because they do not know him, and secondly, because of the thief’s unsuspicious appearance and manner. An Exchange thief watches until he sees a gentleman with a purse or a roll of notes. This man he marks, and follows him wherever he goes; and the moment the thief has picked the merchant’s pocket he is off. ”

“ Well, my friend, a Peter-ringer is one who tries to get his living by stealing carpet-bags. He takes a carpet-bag of the usual size and appearance with him to the railway-station, and when he sees one loose and somewhat similar to his own, he effects an exchange and quietly makes off, leaving for the traveller some hay or rags, or perhaps a few stones. ”

“ Auctions and sales are favourite resorts of thieves. They will travel as much as fifty or sixty miles to a good sale, and always make sure of clearing their travelling expenses by pocket-picking. Should they steal any goods or plate of any kind, they take the stolen property to the nearest “fence town,” and dispose of it at once. There is a great deal of carelessness with purses at sales. Some persons are fond of showing their money, and others delight to be in liquor; so between the two a clever wire is sure of his harvest. “Working on the stop” is done in the streets. ”

“ Under the influence of remorse, aggravated by the treachery of their companions,—proud and vain of an opportunity of showing the amount of their criminal knowledge and dishonest skill, or sincerely and even affectionately grateful for some signal act of unmerited kindness,—they will freely disclose the most startling things, and explain with eagerness their most successful methods of preying upon the public and evading the law. ”

“ Moreover, they watch people in public places paying or receiving money, and they will follow them very long distances. If the victim wears a gold watch-guard, then the thieves are reconciled to the risk at once; money or no money, they make sure of a watch. Absence of mind makes many a victim for the pickpocket. And when the person is not preoccupied and absorbed in his own thoughts, the stalls always divert the victim’s attention from the wire by running against the victim, as if by accident, asking him the way to somewhere, or the hour of the day, or by creating some disturbance. ”

“ The merest prig could cheat many of them without the least difficulty. While this ignorance lasts the thieves will continue to reap their unhallowed harvests, and shopkeepers will continue to say, “We are constantly being robbed, but we cannot find out how they do it, and therefore we are unable to prevent them.” Until the multitude will do something to dispel this ignorance, they will continue to be the easy prey of the trained marauder, and perfectly helpless whenever the trammels of thieving are thrown about them. ”

“ Thus equipped, the magsman is ready for any customer that comes to hand.
A gang of three or four magsmen generally work together. They will enter a railway train from different stations, dress in different characters, and keep up the pretence of being unknown to each other. They soon get into conversation and begin to gamble among themselves; winning, losing, and gaily paying the stakes in flash money. The strangers in the carriage get excited, and begin to make small bets over “cutting the cards.” I once asked a magsman how they contrived to induce strangers to play with them. ”

“ How seldom it is that women are garroted! One reason is, the female thieves are very much opposed to men garroting women, and hardly any female thief will consent to have a woman garroted; she will first try all other means of robbing her victim. The female thieves know, by bitter and personal experience, the terrors of the garrote. Their men not unfrequently garrote the female thieves by way of punishing them. If a female thief is very saucy, or in any way offends her man, he threatens to screw her up, and the threat is generally sufficient. ”

“ The only instruments used in pocket-picking are a sharp penknife or a pair of scissors, and a pair of pleirs—the former for ripping pockets and ladies’ dresses; the latter for cutting watch-guards. This instrument is generally like the one here illustrated. Watches are taken from the pocket much the same as purses. A thief will always make a venture or “throw a chance away,” as he calls it, when he sees a gold chain. No matter where the watch of the lady or gentleman is worn, the thief runs his finger along the guard, which at once guides him to the watch. ”

“ It’s human nature over again. They covet what is not their own. They look at our flash money, and stretch out their hand to gather the forbidden fruit, and we fleece them.” No stranger has the slightest chance of success with a mob of magsmen in a railway carriage. The flat can never win, though to his own eyes it may seem impossible for him to lose. The cards are “doctored,” and the magsman’s sleight-of-hand is wonderful. ”

“ They see the pigeon coming and begin to play; room is made for the flat and his friend. The decoy plays and wins, to excite the flat, who himself then begins to bet or play, and is soon eased of his cash. The gang always arrange their several parts, and the arrangements are strictly carried out. All sorts of artful dodges are used in what they call “right houses”—public-houses where their roguery is sanctioned. Dressed as a countryman, the decoy goes out in search of a victim, whom he leads at once to one of the thieves’ gambling dens. ”

“ The lady—as any lady would—kindly undertakes to help him, perhaps takes out her spectacles; and while she is doing this her purse is taken, it may be in the street or it may be in an omnibus. The party who picks the pocket while the “stiff-dropper” is attracting the victim’s attention is called “the hook.” Omnibuses are greatly patronised by the thieves, who insist upon it that some of the omnibus-conductors play into their hands. The greater part of this work is done by women, who, if possible, sit near the door and fan people’s pockets as they get in. ”

“ Wherever a man is detected passing spurious gold or silver, his pal, the “swagsman,” is always close by. He carries all the base money, together with the small purchases which the pitcher makes in order to get rid of the “snide.” A first-class “pitcher” will do nothing lower than half-a-crown, and generally prefers gold. There is one method of passing base gold which I think would deceive any person not in the secret. The thief enters the shop with the intention of passing a bad sovereign. He makes a small purchase amounting to about eighteenpence, and offers a good sovereign in payment. ”

“ One lends his companions money to play with,—he is called the banker; he stands in for equal shares of the gains, and systematically books every shilling that is won. The decoy walks about and picks up likely parties with money. ”

“ Sometimes he is a foolish and green young man from the country, sometimes he is a respectable gentleman with a small estate, but he always seems to have plenty of money, and to know or care very little about its value. A magsman’s outfit consists of plenty of dresses and artificial whiskers and wigs, so that he may be one character to-day, and a different one to-morrow. His purse is well stored with Californian sovereigns, and his pocket-book is lined with spurious bills and flash notes. We engrave specimens of the two most popular flash notes. ”

“ Sometimes they get half-caught, and put back that which they had nearly taken without the victim knowing what has happened; but they will follow up their prey, and try again and again as long as there is any chance of success. If the wire gets into trouble by being detected or suspected, then the stalls come forward, and, acting as if they did not know the thief, do their uttermost to get him out of the scrape, and clear off. When money is loose in the pocket the thieves call it “weeding:” people occasionally think that they have lost or mislaid their loose money in going from shop to shop ”

“ The kid or decoyer is, from long practice and experience, well up to his business. He knows a countryman as soon as he sees him. The “kid” gets into conversation by asking some question about the time of day or the road. He makes free with him, crams him with lies, professes to have been drawing a large sum of money, and shows his flash notes and Californian sovereigns. Of course the kid professes to be a stranger in the neighbourhood, and while talking to the flat he will ask the way to some place from some one who happens to be passing. ”