December 29, 1934 THE STATE
Роде
Twenty-five
The Invasion of Pickpockets
★ \LO\G with other pestilences that ★
have visited North Carolina in the
past, was the invasion of piek-
poekets. who flooded the state dur¬
ing' t he ‘90's. They made some rieli
hauls until finally eonipelled to {Jo
elsewhere.
N OUT 1 1 Carolinians
li n v e <1
о
c l—
о
n t-
«•«I pride : I ln\y do not
like t<>
1и>
considered suck¬
er*. I (ill. ill till* good "I'i
days, lieforc automobiles,
telephone-, all-day suckers,
sundaes and other diverting
creations came to interest
them they bought spectacles,
soaps run I like necessities from court
house barkers. However, they never
yielded much to professional rr«*>ks.
There were chieken, watermelon and
sundry other petty thieves, hut big-shot
gangster-, and racketeer* were unknown
until alsmt the middle of the nineties
will'll a hand of expert pickpockets
-warmed into the state to lake advan¬
tage of the crowd- that (locked to rail¬
way station- to hear William Jennings
Bryan, brilliant orator, free-silver ad¬
vocate, and commoner, speak. Xo such
gatherings, as those neensioned by the
Hryilll visit, were ever witnessed before.
All sorts of men drove for miles to get
to n stopping point t«> lii'ii r a few word»
from this great orator.
Mysterious Disappearances
After the Bryan meetings a few
citizens complained that their money
had niy-tcriously disappeared. Some
of the more optimistie advertised for
lost purses. Three or four days after
the Bryan swing was over, it became
known that hundreds "f |*eoplc had
“lost" money. Efforts to interview
thos.' who had whis|M>r>sl to neighbors
that in some unaccountable way their
pockets had I— 41 entered at one of the
Bryan pushes failed to produce any
result*. Holiest persons, who attended
church regularly once or twice a week,
would evade the question by saying they
thought they had “dropped" their poek-
etlnioks somewhere about the place.
Finally, n group of losers admitted their
pockets had been picked. This admis¬
sion was supported by the finding "f
hundreds of empty purses in vacant lots,
back yard*, and other out-of-the-way
places. Once* the victims commenced
to open lip there were wholesale confes¬
sions, and it soon became apparent that
a small army of the slippery lingered
gentry had followed Mr. Bryan into. and
through the State, reaping a great har¬
vest, including amount- ranging from
a few dollar- to several hundred. One
Chapel Hill man, who weal to a near-
By II. K. €’. BUY ANT
by town to bear i lie Democratic leader,
was relieved of
All efforts to run down the guilty
men and women came to naught. Police
officers re|«ortrd that the invaders earn*-
. . cities north of the Mnson-Dixon
line, hut they were Unable to follow the
thieves to their dens. They met with
difficulties in their efforts to ascertain
the names of those robbed, and the stun*
they lost. An astounding number of
men refused to talk about it, feeling that
their neighbors might laugh at them.
A Compliment to the State
The coming of the pickpockets was
a compliment to the state. It indicated
that the people, poverty stricken after
the War Between The States, had
staged a come-back, and were worth
while cultivating. But the visitation,
which, of course was altogether aside
from the Brvau tour, caught the
пют>у-
toters unprepared.
Having met with great success on
their lir*« visit the pickpockets came
hack. Their second drive was on a
Twcnticth-of-May celebration at Char¬
lotte. It was really pathetic the way
they robbed innocent people there.
Л
wheat harvester found 7<* |toeketbooks
in one pile on his place the day after.
But, the thieves overstep|H'd I heinselves.
A daring fellow, working the parade,
undertook to twist a diamond pin out
of the shin of a visiting South Caro¬
linian. Standing Isdiiud the mail lie
lingered gently at tin . veted decora
tion, hut was discovered in the act,
grnblied and turned over to the police.
The following morning two suspicious
looking fellows were ffilshi-d in a rear
lot by ticct-footcd policemen, cluued
through the old Central I lotcl, and over¬
taken. As they entered a rest room
they tossed thirty-mid empty pockct-
l>ooks under a sofa. That day eight
others were arrested. The eleven wen-
taken before the recorder.
Testimony indicated guilt,
hut the police department
had not had time to round
up the evidci . . Tile chief
of police was asked if any of
the defendants had cash for
Imnds. A search of the nine
men and two women hud re¬
vealed empty pockets. The
judge then said: "Well, since they have
no funds I will hind each over under a
bond of *200 ami let all of them go t..
court." Grateful look* passed over the
face* of the strangers. Just as they
started to leave the room a well dn-**cd
man stepped forward, pulled out of hi-
coat a roll of hill- a* big a* a back log.
skinned off the required amount, and
told the crooks to go. 1 1 was so sudden,
and so astounding that all the court
officers did was to gasp. That night
the gang took a train for Baltimore.
Undesirable Visitors at the Fair
In the fall the pickpocket* reap
| «eared, that time at the . .
fair. They robbed at the fair grounds
and in the saloons and hotel- down town.
One or two pocket searchers were beaten
up by mobs.
Л
party of well-to-do
Winston men were taking a drink in
a popular bar; they «food in the middle
of the room, with glass--- tinkling a
toast to a race horse, when an old
!«•-
whiskered chap, dressed like a farmer,
reeled among them, spilling their liquor.
He was excused, but not satisfied, he
turned and jo-th-l them again. That
lino- a free-for-all scuffle followed,
several outsiders participating. The
barkeepers ran the be whiskered man out
of the place, and others followed him.
The drinkers, when ready to pay, dis¬
covered that all their money was gone.
The fnnner-likc man and his pal- had
picked every pocket clean.
The hewhisknred man left Winston-
Salem that night for Burlington. lie
was recognized on the train, and the
conductor had to hold hack a group of
passengers who wanted to clean him
up. By that time he had I . omc known
as "Old Cye." When tin- train stopped
at Burlington the old chap hurried t"
the leading hotel, and went to a room.
I heard the next day that a delegation
waited on him there, and literally strung
him up. but did not kill him. lb- did
/