'WARE, PICKPOCKETS!

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2121, 13 April 1914, Page 8

'WARE, PICKPOCKETS!

A CLERGYMAN LOSES £ty the easy wmst Oα Friday evening whilst' in the- press of a crowd struggling to get up to' the Union S.S. Company's ticket office on tho wharfj a clergyman had his pocket ■picked' of £10, and eo far no one Jiaa been apprehended for the theft.. The accompanying letters, on the subject speak for themselves: —• Sir, —I am enclosing copies of letters which I have forwarded to tho Welling- -- ton manager of the TJ.S.S. Co., and to ■ the chairman, of tho "Wellington Harbour Board, in,consequence of a consid/erable loss which I have sustained owing to tho manlier in which tho public has to transact business with tho shipping companies on the Wellington wharves. 1 would urge that you should employ the powerful influence of your paper in order to bring about such reforms «s will ensure fair comfort, and, at least, safety to the public when getting steamer "tickets. , If you do this, and reforms are forthcoming, I will.feel that my loss has not quite been in vain.—l rani, etc., ■ ■ • : ' v - J. 'A. LOCHORE, ■' ■ : ' Methodist Minister*. Lower Riccarton, Christchurch, April 11, 1914. [Enclosure.] .Tho Manager, "Wellington Branch, TJ.S.S. Co. Dear Sir,—On arriving in Wellington by tho Manawatu train yesterday morning I learned that it was impossible to obtain tickets for Lyttelton till 7 p.m., and then only on the wharf. At that hour a considerable crowd had gathered before the ticket-box, and, in order to secure tickets for myself and family, 1 had to join it. The numbers rapidly increased, and a considerable crush ensued, tho one Harbour Board official present being unable to effect any order. In tho course of tho crush, I felt that my hip-pocket was entered, but had iio Toom to grab the hand. On making a statement that my pocket was rifted, tho pack slackened, and investigation proved that a pigskin wallet, containing a £10 note had been abstracted. ', This loss would never have been sustained but for the shocking circumstances under which the public'is mado to transact business with your company. JTho responsibility is fairly evonly apportioned between your company and the Harbour Board,, for allowing you to conduct business on its wharves under the circumstances in question. Every encouragement and opportunity is given to the tiiief and pickpocket by the lack of facilities for doing business under conditions' of tho smallest modicum of comfort and safety. I have not been the only victim, and it is high timo that a vital alteration and improvement was' effected.

In the interests of the public, I em BcridiiiK'a copy of this letter to The Dominion, anq,.l also intend writing by same mail to the chairman of the Harbour Board.—l am, Dear Sir, Yours faithfully J. A. LOCHORE, Methodist Minister. N.B.—My late address was Gisboriie, Jny present is as above till April 16, and afterwards Oamaru. —J.A.L. fA copy of a similar letter addressed to the. chairman of tho Harbour Board was also enclosed.] Tho conditions under which passoneers have, to book on tho wharves at rush times is a cause of frequent complaint. Under normal conditions tho arrangements made are sufficient, but on social occasions additional provision is -regarded as urgently necessary.

The case recorded above is unfortunately only one'of many such eases reported in. Wellington ana otner parts ot iNew Zealand. lb is pretty well known that there arc some very talented pickpockets, believed.' to hail irom America, moving round where the crowds are 'thickest. Most of tho men who hiive auilered losses have had their money extracted whilst in a crowd from their hip-pockets, which the police state is fiio very wofat pocket a man could Keep anytning ot vaiue, as it is out of ordinary sight and reach, and is ■liable to bo tampered with in a crowd without its'owner being any the wiser at the time. Mot until he- wishes to find what he haa placed tiier© doos ho 'become conscious of his loss, and then it is always for a hue and cry. The police have officers on the lookout for the strangers, but -without catching them in tne act it is difficult to get a conviction, however strong the suspicion may. bo. A member pF the detective force informed a. Dominion reporter that the modern manner of a man carrying his money in ij. small leather purse or wallet in his hippocket made pocket-picking easy. Tiie. job was usually worked by a couple—a man ami a woman. They got together in a crowd, and moving about felt for the, purse 1 , or wallet without arousing any suspicion by pretending to be crushed up by someone behind. Having located a "'lump" in a. man's hip-posket, the woman gets behind him, and with each bump works the wallet up and up until it is almost to the top opening or" the pocket. Then the male accomplice, receiving the wink, puts his arm under one oi the woman's, puts his hand ,under the victim's . coattails, and carefully lifts out the "wad," during a big puah from behind. The victim if he does fool anything looks round it he is able, and; seeing a woman, his suspicions are not moused. If it were a- man he would probably say. "Who are you shoving?" or, niako some such remark, but he, j naturally, has qualms about remonstrating with a woman in a crowd. Having lifted a wallet the two squeeze their way out of the crowd and vanish. They do not hang about as a rule. Any thick crowd of an evening serves as their happy hunting ground—theatre crowds in particular they appear to haunt fairly regularly to judge from the cases reported to the police. American pickpockets do not remain long in ono place. It is their wise policy to move on before any suspicion ai< to tlioir means of livelihood is aroused, but they are influenced always by current events likely to attract crowds of people. Tho thicker the crowd the better —a. dense pack' tho best! .When people are packed together like sardines tho action of the pickpockets' hands is hidden, and as a man's hands havo to be somewhere- in t a. crowd they cannot help being pushed against tho back of tho person in front. Then tho pickpocket's sense of touch, born of :lcng practice, guides him in the delicate art'of puree abstraction, a job that is made all tho easier by the co-opera-tion of a female assistant.

It is well that Wellington citizens should know that there are skilled pickpockets in town, and to remember it when entering a crowd. Tho warning should not be lost on to-day's holiday crowds.