The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 12, 1901, Page 10

THE SUNDAY CALL. EWARE of pickpockets!™ It is an oid legend, but it would perhaps be well to hang it up some- where and let yourself into the habit of remembering your pocket book whenever you are in a crowd for taoe next few weeks. Human coyotes, they are, who live by sneaking about and thieving their living from the unsuspecting. “They do not com- mit capital offenses, so there is no excuss for hanging them; they confine them- selves to “stone getting” and pocket pil- fering, trusting to the comparative small- ness of the offense and to their wits to get them off with light sentences in case they are discovered and captured. And really they have all the advantage over th victim, as well as over the de- tective who does not know them person- ally. They have all their plans carefully laid, while the subject upon whom they have determined to operate has not the remotest idea he is going to be robbed. The detective, also, is but human: One cannot expect him to read minds or anti- clpate actions that are but little short of legerdemain. However, two of the gentry were picked up a few days ago. This is in itself a first-class commentary on the watchful- ness and efficiency of our police service. It will also act as a damper upon the en- thusiasm of the other enterprising gen- tlemen of light fingers who are at pres- ent casting wistful eyes toward the Pa- cific coast. “We're going to give it to them good and strong,” sald Captain Seymour. “We intend to make an example of them that will have & tendency to lessen the amount of pocket-picking materially during the President’s stay. “But I don’t believe there will be many here,” continued the captain optimisti- cally. “It has been reported that there are hundreds here and more ars coming. “Now that's all foolishness! To be sur there are doubtless a few here; but we are going to exercise all the vigilance of which we are capable. Still, I see no reason for alarming the people when we don’t even know whether more are com- ing at all or not.” “But in case they really come?’ was suggested. “We shall take care of them, all right! ‘We handled them on the occasion of Mr. Harrison's visit and we will handle them this time.” It is evident, however, that the captain is taking no chances, for he presently took up the subject egain. “We'll get them, all right,” said he, “and we'll give them a good start out of town, too—a good start; but before they go they shall have their pictures taken! They shall also trot before every officer on the force and have their pictures taken agein mentally—pictures that will make it excesdingly dangerous for them ever to wisit this city again as long as the pres- ent officers are walking their beats.” ‘When crowds are in town and thousands throng the streets then fourishes the bunko man like the green bay tres. Thus he is described by one who has met him: “When he approaches you with his glib tongJe, inquiring the location of a certain street or asking the time of day, his mind is formulating the plaus for your financial depredation. In a few seconds he has read your temperament, learned of your susceptibilities, and knows more of your affairs than could be written on ten pages of paper. “If a Goubt should cross your mind as to the proper intentions of the well- dressed, educated individual, whose con- versation, though loquacious, becomes in- teresting almost as quickly as it is begun, and whose cordiality relieves the monot- ony of staring into unfamiliar faces, you cast it aside. His offer to render you as- sistance makes you eager for a better ac- quaintance; and if he says that he, like yourself, is a. wanderer in a strange land, you feel that touch of sympathy arising out of loneliness. But you afterward hear the old, old story of the ‘sucker’ and the bait when the police explain, in a matter-of-fact way, that he was only the ‘steerer’ and you a victim.” A horde of bunko and confidence men and professional “grafters” infest San Francisco. They thrive pn the credulity of people, and the extent of their harvest has never been told. Only at times when the police capture their outfits and secure the receipts of victims who accept the re- turn of a petty portion of their losses rather than expose their folly by report- ing the matter, is an idea gained of the vast army of men in the world whose lack of common sense, coupled with a greed of gain, makes them easy prey to be duped or 1mposed upon. Standing side by side in the ranks of the “‘sure thing” man’s victims are the farm hand and the metropolitan capital- ist. Not only does Silas Perkins cart away his gold brick to find that it can only be disposed of at a foundry, but the gentleman who has listened to the rumble of streetcars his entire lifetime and whose wit and shrewdness have won him plaudits in both social and business circles discovers that he has yet things to learn. Both the rural and the city man are handed their “bricks,” only they are often passed out in different packages. The devices to trap the unwary are as numercus as reeds in a marsh, and each is adapted to a certain case, usually at the discretion of the man who, to u his own vernacular, first “picks up the hooster. The personalities of the sharpers afford an interesting study in criminology. Un- like the burglar or the footpad, their countenances seldom betray their wicked wiles. Well cppearing and conversant on diverse subjects, they command the atten- tion of the learned as well as the fllit- erate. Should the tople of conversation be upon foreign lands, the information they vouchsafe at once marks them as men of travel; and their knowledge of men and events in interior towns and other large cities is their stock in trade, Harry \vaiters, who has veen given the sobriquet of “king” among his asso- ciates, is a graduate of Oxford. He is a talented musician and a distinguished lin- guist, speaking seVeral tongues fluently. ‘While many of the others have never passed the portals of Oxford, the experi- ence gained by shuffling about the world and comng in contact with all sorts and ‘escriptions of human beings makes them equal to any emergency. If they wowd apply their talents in legitimate channels instead of to the art of fleecing t would be huge successes. Their gener: make-up leaves small wonder that t are able to suc ully act the cha ters of business and professional men. The bunko man has no home. He must be a nomad in habits, and on the Pacific slope ““works” a territory extending fron. San Diego to Seattle. Occasionally a “jump” is made to Denver, but only when the detectives have been prodded into action. When a haul is made and the case given publicity, and the victim re- fuses to listen to a compromise, the per- petrator of the job passes along to another station on the circuit. As quickly as the matter has passed out of mind he returns to resume operations. While in a town his residence is uncertain. A room may be rented for a month, but it may only be occupied for a day. The victim is always certain that he remembers the place where he parted with his coin, but when he returns with the officers the “ticket office,” “tailor shop” or ‘“assay office” has been blotted from the map of the city, and the key left, without explana- tion, with the landlord. The paraphernalia used in the thieving games is simple and is packed, as a rule, by the itinerant tricksters in small hang satchels. Cards, pieces of quartz, blank checkbooks and other articles of corre- spending bulk often comprise the: entire outfit, so that the bunko man may always make a hasty departure. Sometimes, how- ever, his flight is interrupted, and Cap- tain’ Fred Esola, property clerk for the Police Department, shows visitors a sec- tion of his office that resembles a baggage room in a passenger depot. The bunko business in San Francisco is carried on almost exclusively by men. Few women have ever been implicated in lcts of plunder. In the Eastern cities, however, it is different, and females play prominent parts in games of deception and blackmail. Victims are picked up on the streets or in the corridors of prominent hotels. As a stranzer registers an inkling is gained as to his business or his place of resi- dence and his mission to the city. Ac- costing the unsuspecting stranger. the “steerer’”” draws him into conversation and by one of many means gains his con- fidence. A trip may be proposed or the bunko man volunteers to direct him to any given location with which he is un- familiar. Before the destination is reached an excuse is made by which he is drawn into the ‘joint,” which may be fitted up as a clubroom, office or shop. The guide leaves his guest seated, and after inquiring if the “captain” or some other distinguished personage is present repairs to a rear room and his return is delayed. Then the “inside workers” take the victim in hand. If cards are to be employed in the pro- cess of robbery three men are usually seated at a table enjoying what they term ‘on the quiet.” ger’s restlessness, and s that he join in the game to while away the time. Immedi- ately the other two object and a discus- sion ensues. The proposed victim is not always inclined to play at first, but he finally accepts the invitation out of cour- tesy.” He is allowed to win a few small bets, and soon the ‘‘steerer,” reappearing on the scene, stands behind him. At length a good hand is dealt the guest and he is ur; v the man who_brought him in to make a heavy stake. When he is raised and his pockets are empty he is permitted to go to his hotel in company witih one of the players to get more cash with which to “see’” the raise. The hands have been sealed in_envelopes, and when they are opened the bunko ' gentlemen rane in the pot and console the loser. i What is known as three-card ‘‘monte’ may be worked in a saloon as well as a “joint.” The steerer meets another of the gang apparently by chance, who is shuf- fling three cards, two of which are blank on both sides. The game is to point to the other card marked on the reverse side. While the man who is conducting the game turns his head for an instant the ‘“‘steerer” picks up the desired piece of cardboard, and winking his eye turns up one edge Slightly. The farmer intends to bet on the card thus mutilated, but when the swindler shuffles the three again he deftly straightens out the corner of the winning card and turns up another one. In this manner the ‘“hoosier” is hoodwinked. The “shell” game, in which bets are made that a bean is under a cer- tain shell, is operated in much the same manner. "I'he selling of gold bricks is an old story and is usuaiy worked on strangers in the city. A favorite means employed by the butko men is to meet the victim in 4 ho- tel and engage him in conversation. While thus engaged a bearded and rough-look- ing individual enters loaded with blan- kets and baggage. He greets the “steerer and is then introduced to the man who has been selected to purchase his brick. The late comer announces that he has just arrived from some mining region and would like to see the sights. He is in- vited to “do the line,” but objects, after hesitation, because, although he has plenty of gold bars in his luggage, his purse is slim and he dislikes imposing on the hospitality of his friends. All banks and the mint being closed, he is unable to convert the bullion into coin until the fol- lowing day. The “steerer’ suggests that he sell one of his bars at a liberal dis- count immediately, and he consents to do 0. The farmer offers to accommodate him with money, and sometimes has to mortgage the farm when he goes back to the country. One of the shrewdest gold brick cases on the records of the Police Department was worked on a Stockton-street sausage dealer named Ludwig i_n.IB%. A stranger who had visited Ludwig's store on many occasions told of his experfence one morning of meeting an old Indian called Pedro in a secluded portion of Golden Gate Park. The redskin, he claimed, had on one occasion exhibited a large bar of gold and offered it for sale. Ludwig’s curiosity was aroused and he accompanied the stranger to the spot and saw for himself. Before recommending a purchase the stranger drilled into the bar in the pres. enee of the sausage man and had the drillings assayed. They proved to be fine gold. When Ludwig gave the Indian $5000 and took the brick to an assay office he was informed that the bulk of his article was bell metal and that holes had been drilled and tamped with gold from which the bunko man obtained his sample for assay purposes. The “green goods’ men dispose of their Wares by representing that the counterfeit bills ofiered for saie by them are exact counterparts of the geiuine articles. In Proof of this they give the intended buyer a good bill purporung to be bogus, with a request that ne get it changea in some store or saloon. When the business man to whom 1t 1s presented makes no protest the victim is convinced and a boxful of bills at % cents on the doliar is wrapped up for him. Before the package is deiv- ered, however, another box filled with sawdust is substituted for it. The victim fears to report the case to the police, thinking tnat he may pe liable for deai- ing with counterfeiters. _ Bpurious coin is oiiered to a farmer at 50 cents on the dollar. The victim is led into the headquarters, where several men are at work with a smail machine. He at once inquires what they are doing and is informed that they are manufacturing ¥ Bold pieces from a substance so closely Tesembling gold that the sutstitution of it for the genuine articie could not be de- tected even by experts. A crucible filled with perhaps amalgam to resemble moiten metal 1s in position, and each time the lever is worked a shin- ing goid piece drops out of the machine. One of these is given to the would-be pur- chaser, and when he becomes satisfied that it can be used as a circulating me- divm he agrees to take a quantity of them. When he opens the bag supposed to contain his treasure he finds in his RScsesslon a cumber of copper cent pieces. ie coins dropped out of the machine were genuine and were released by a lit- tle contrivance one at a time. number of swindling devices are manipulated by the force of electricity. The “plate” game, by which a man was recently victimized at the Cliff House, is controlled by a series of magnets. The player casts plates and tries to land them on "the surface of others some distance away. Magnetism causes the metal disks to fall wide of the mark at which they arz aimed, and hundreds of dollar ciegned up by the operators. A T baseball table that occupied space Dupont-street “joint” was recently fiscated by the police. con- ated Its surface was an incline plane dotted with metal pegs. A Lall started rolling at the head of the table would deposit itself in a pocket at the lower end. The line of pegs just above the pockets was on a movable strip and could be worked from side to side, so that the rolling ball would be under the control of the manipulator. The cash box was fixed on the side of the table and the lever operating the portable section of the table was inside of it. \When the game- keeper had occasion to steer the ball lest it fall into high-priced pockets he pre- tended to be counting money in the cash drawer. The movement of the pegs was so slight that the player could not per- ceive it, and he scarcely divined the ac- tion of the bunko man in placing his hand in the box. The “smooth” dice box, con- structed with a glazed interior, is_ the means of robbing men at dice, and its use is not confined to the ring of bunko men alone. Faro and draw poker layouts are also arranged at a disadvantage to the players. Roulette wheels are controlled either by the use of brakes or air. If the former is employed the .operator presses a section of the floor or table to which a lever is attached and the slight pressure makes the revolving wheel stop at a desired point. Some gamblers’ machines are so constructed that airholes guard each of the colors on which big prizes are pald. A small rubber bulb is used by the opera- tor In forcing air when he finds that the little ball is inclined to bounce on an ob- Jectionable color or number. The “lock” trick, worked on the streets, is one of the least troublesome to the sharpers. The victim is walking with the ‘steerer” when a confederate of the lat- ter drops two locks, clasped together, di- rectly in front of tnem. The ‘‘steerer” picks up the articles and, with a remark about their peculiarity, passes them to h companion. The victim readily opens the locks by pressing a spring on the side. At this stage of the gume the man Who 4ropped the locks comes up and, whea his property is returned to him, bets that neither of the finders can disjoint the two. “I'll take you up,” says the steerer. “My friend here opened them the first time he tried.” The friend believes he has found the goose that lays the golden eggs, but when he loses his wager discovers that the bun- ko men used to sets of locks, one of whica it was impossible to open. A bunko man, attired as a beggar, walks along in front of a bevy of fashionably dressed women and picks up a ring whica he himself has dropped. Inside the band are the characters 18K, and he at once stops the women and asks them what the numbers and letter indicate. When told that the ring is valuable he makes reply something like this: “Well, ladies, a cup of warm coffes would do me mors good than a chest full of geld ju=. now. I have not eaten a bite for two ys, and as I need money for food you may have this article for halt its value.” The ring, or whatever the plece of jew- elry may be, is found to be spurious. “Ringing the boodie” is a game that brings many complaints to police head- quarters. The victiia is induced to invest a certain amount of coin in some proposi- tion with the ‘“steerer” %nd the joint ap- propriation is placed In a valise. A plan is adopted by which neither partner can rob the other by loot:ng the treasury. The vietim is permitted to retain the valise in his possession, and the bunko men take the key. When the latter fails to keep an appointment on the following day the victim becomes alarmed and cuts open the valise. He finds that it contains a number of iron washers or something that will make a jingle. The valises were switched while he was dreaming of wealth. 3 The most criminal and despicable trick employed by bunko men is the swindling of sick persons by bogus physicians. Men who come from the country in search of medical treatment are approached by “‘steerers” who claim that they have suf- d from exactly the same ailment as icts them. The name of a physician is mentioned by the bunko men and the suf- ferer is finally induced to consult him. “physician” lightens the patient’s purse, often taking his last dollar, without bringing him relief. In many cases lives are endangered by the neglect of proper treatment. When the stranger realizes that he has fallen among thieves his mal- ady has often reached an advanced stage impossible of cure. The prisons confine a varied host of law- breakers, but there is one class of crimi- rals that seldom is forced under their shelter. The bunko men are often arrest- ed: occasionally arraigned on a felony charge, but seldom convicted. The set- tlement of cases out of court Is responsi- ble for the immunity these felons seem to enjoy. One of the accomplishmeénts of the craft is the ying of the victim should he be inclinea (o invoke the assist- ance of the police in securing retribution. This aftermath ritended to Jy the “shadow’ railer,” whose duty it is to dog the footsteps of the man who has lost his money and ascertain what action he contemplates taking. In some cases the victim never akes a complaint. He is willing to sacrifice the money for the experience and say nothing. When the “shadow’’ satisfies himself that no trou- ble is to be made he returns to the head- quarters and prepares for a more vindic- tive customer. Bogus policemen often frighten away the men who have been beaten at the game. Should the victim lose his money at cards he may be in the act of making demands for its restoration when the pro- prietor of the place enters without warn- ing. The latter’s ire is aroused when'he discovers that gambling has been ver- mitted {n his house, and going o an imita- tion telephone he pretends to summon the police. The ‘“steerer” makes an effort to escape, inducing the victim to come with him. Sometimes the escape is made be- fore the police arrive, and the fear of be- ing arrested for visiting a gambling house has the effect of closing the mouth of the man, who d otherwise have com~ lained, and the robbery iz never feported. p“ the bogus “‘policeman’” should break into the house and capiure the occupants he makes prisoners of them all and s about to lead the way to the nearest pa- trol box when the “steerer’” offers to “square” the case. The ‘“officer” fnally consents, and many times the victin is obliged to pay a bribe for each one of the party, his companions pieading poverty, Should the shadow be unabie to prevéms the victim from reporting his losses to the real police the bunko men pack their paraphernalia and remain in hiding for a tew days. S y by chance fail Into the clutches of the the energies of the other members of the gang are devot- ed to securing their release from jeopardy. “shadow’ keeps himself posted on the whereabouts of the victim so that he may be communicated with at any time. An appointment is made with the latter, and an “attorney’’ urges him to wiihdraw his prosecution or fail to appear in court on the date the case has been set for trial, The proposition is submitted in this light: “If you prosecuts you will only be de- talned in the city for a long time and re- ceive unpleasant notoriety. If you leave town we will furnish you with a ticket and return you a portion of the meney Yo Victim, usually a stranger, is glad his home and at once recog- nizes the bunko man's scheme as the more advantageous for him to adopt. When the case is called in court the eom- plaining witness has disappeared aad a dismissal follows. The recent escapades of the swindlery and the fact that thousands of strangers are about to visit the city during the period of time the President will remain on the coast have caused Chief of Police Sullivan and Captain Wittmen to adop! stringent measures for the protection oi the unwary. The officers realize that they are handicapped by the constan uare ing” of cases after arrests ha: on made, but their persecution of the croocks will be so severe that they will have but little opportunity to work their schemes Within the last month Wittman has driven nearly every ‘‘sure thing’”’ man un- der cover and few complaints have been made. Police officers will be relied upon te look out for strangers by warning them when they are in company with sharpers. For this purpose Wittman has every kmown bunko man arrested and brought to head- quarters. He first secures their protos graphs and then introduces them to svery policeman in the city. The form of intro= duction may be to a degree h'xml!llurg to the novices in the business, but the ol timers feel little embarrassment. The po- licemen are lined up and the bunko men marched up and down in front of them. The officers become familiar with their features, note deformities and prepare themselves to recognize them at any lace. PSfould a policeman ses a bunko man in company with a stranger it is his duty ta at once inform the stranger of his dan; If the bunko man tarries in any le for too long a time he is to be ar for vagrane A list of the well known characters in San Francisco and their allases, &8 pro- pared by Captain Wittman, is as follo 1 to return to Mike Gold: Gray: Harry Wi ters, C lams, Joe _Goiden, “Dutchy’ s, Jim Le Strange; John Donnolly, alias “The Rat”; James Brown, alias “‘Horse Fa Willfam Mo- gan, alias “Ratsy” vilson, alias Jackson, alias John Fitz- gerald: lexander anderse, alias “Scotch Alex”; Barney Goldstein, allas odgers, alias Jack Shay “The Poundmaster Meyers; John John_ Foster, Charles Stel Frank Lester, alla: “Denver Dope’ James Donolly Big’ Malonav. alias = “The Irish Farmer”; Yames Craig, allas “Deep Sea Jimmie™; Paddy Mies, Sam Nevius, John Long. Edwin Sheehan; Bob Evans, alias “Chip- ie Bob™; Peter Hastings, alias “The aluter Kid”; George Barrett, Doc” Seeley, Jack oLiwe? Campbel, “boe” Angerso Esham, “Lanc B and Tom Leahy, v