Pickpockets

Becanse a man is a pickpocket it does oot necessarily follow that he is not well educated nor a close observer of his ellow mortals. The latter trait might e said to be au absolute requirement to a successfnl purloiner of pocketbooks. One of the gentry who possessed both haracteristics expressed himself the othsr day to au Enquirer reporter at pólice ieadquarters : "There is no class of artists who in heir calling are as dexterous as pickiockets. This is due to a doublé incen;ive. Not only do we find a bait for effort and exertion in snccess, but have ;he uded spur of a fear of failure. Success rneaus a.= -unen to a pickpocket as to any man, and failnre means a jreat deal more. "A vocation in which the slightest slip rneans a loss of liberty and perhaps of life will e-ver be apt to have a degree af expertness in its followers not present n more reputable and safer avenues of trade. "Pickpockets, like poets and other jeople, are born, not made. Theirnerves nnst be iron and yet as sensitiva as instinct. Their hands must be as comDlete in make up and accomplishment asHerrmann's, the magician, andstrong as steel, while light as down. Out of the vast army of humanity v?ho are soldiers of the shadows only one-fourth of 1 per cent can or do become pickpockets. "These form the nobility of thieves and are reverenced by the burglar as of a higher class than they. The practico of a pickpocket while not really at work is as constant as that of sorae famed professor of the violin or harp. He keeps pace with the profession. No sooner does some jeweler invent a new fastening for diamond pins or stnds than these men of flnest touch devise the motion whioh evades its pnrpose. "The chief object of a picpkocket, after certainty, is speed. He cannot dally with his victira by the hcur. What he does is to be over in a flash. Speaking of pins and studs, tbere has never been a fastening so complex but the expert thieves could defeat it in a rnotion. Tbey do in their business as fine work as any Hindoo, and the thief himself could not analyze or esplain its detail. His powers of execution have gone far beyond his powers of reception or relation. "A pickpocket consnlts his own nervobs condition constantly. Xo fine lady ever has such a time with her nerves as this aEJstpcrat of the outlavrs. If he does not feel richt, he won't 'vrork. ' "