TRICKS OF ROGUES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5835, 31 March 1897, Page 3

TRICKS OF ROGUES.

-^ A. CHAT WITH THE MAN' WHO FOILS THEM. {London S"in.) It ocCtat -d to a Sun reporter wtoe w a on d&ty ?)). Vow Street the other day tha. he might improve the Weary hour hp i [chat iviMi Mr Joseph BosJey, one of tlu '^principal oflSrers of the Mendicity Society liand learn fro*) thf-t well-known " Beggars 1 j Terror," aa h& is no-v called, a few facte the Strang."- fraternity whose jWOTate he so asr#ij.nously looks aftsr. Mr Bosley hi_r__e.f has played nisay parts i_2. life, and lie __a_.Pstiecee<-e<l to liis present pc-sftiieto after hav/j^f been a member' of the Beiifb 1 Constabulary,, a l , warder at JBreadmocwr Criminal L inlftr_ie A gylum, a_MJ_ a specM l Metropolitai? aonßtable. " Yeivhare done good! work in your tiara; Mr Bosley, and soiree.' curious custom-?!.-, have fe^ad through 'your hands. Jitstfgive me an instance or' _avo." (This in a> quiet, cc_?nifer»ational tonus:)) " Well, 1 think the timf^ae-t customer f ever had tb'deal with wus*— or is, because I'm sure to-'see Jaim again-^sJa-oies Hurley, the famous '"Soap-fits Kin*/.' A good many stories have-appeared abo.-itliirn, but some facts have Eever yet come o.it. He isan Irishman, hailing. I believfe;. from the County Fermgna^h ; but __#• mast, have kissed the Bl__tt_ey Stone, wftteh is farther south, judging-; Bjt the way life gets over people. He is i»>w in prison, and ■wS.en'he comes out he will 1 be at h»*Gl__ : t-.i(.ks again. "His dodge iVfcb- ikeepa bit ' of ' ; ''sjfttp.i_i. his month, cry ctifctftat boys laWfe-'Sit&len his.fewr coppers \valfc__i he -had plakte& srifctthebottom of his watercress basket.. fekjaiia® lie had .no pockets, _asd? _&en : fall"__ltt) »':____' He is .affrays vio?3ai; wheh'arresttld^aojii' #_s. convictions dafc.* ffcoin 1 .'IB7O. • He-Bate [sferved no fewer tliani seven fesrans- 'of |i twelve months eacS.;». £<_. say > ndtl-ing. '«!£ ! -xaiumerable small semteiaceS." " . j THE CANTING lttl*-yot.BITE. j "Next I must plaea-one 'Charler^Nasfl^ j'tle canting hypocr _!%'"• as "he •haiiH.efcm j rigiitly called. This f tt3fi_6 w ' is a great) (Scoundrel. Once, when iJbiought before' Mr.- --| Hopkins, at Lambeth, -Mlm. "rascal, iir'as. 'whining tone, said he 'one of ttieI Lord's lambs/ and complained bitterly of r j police interference. He -ras' then, Nfeshs i said, in communication with the editon. of. i a well-known religious jovornal, and, pending his reply, was obliged to go into ttie- j streets and preach the Gospel in a hymnal manner.'" The vagrant's gli Bis tongue availidl Jiini not. He was sent to hard labour fon j twenty-one days, and Mr Bosley has since- j rescued the little girl who used to accoin.- j pa-ay him, from the streets, and placed bw ! in a fair way of earning an honest -ivfcjfi.- I hood. j NOT HIM OF COVENT GAKI.EN. j " But bless you," continued the official 1 , 1 , j "I could keep you from now till to-morrow-' i night talking about these people. Did yow ' ever hear of John Jones, the garbage eater,, Maria Killet, the lady from Camberwell,.. and Homer, the broken-arm mendicant ? " Jones is known to be one of the most?; skilled mechanics in London, and nianyq firn_9 would be only too pleased to give himil regular employment at high wages, if they could trust him. But he prefers a vagrant^ life, and his dodge is to walk along the gutter in rags, and when pedestrians look at him, to stoop down with a hungry glance, and, picking up pieces of cabbagestalks, orange peel, and such like, devour the '.fragments ravenously. " Tlie pityi_ag passer-by would_. then place coppers, in his ready hand. One night, when we collared him, he had no less than eleven shillings in bronze in his possession, which he would probably have 3pent in drink and dissipation in Giffin Street, Deptford, the slums of Notting Hill, Whitechapel, or the New Cut, which are the favourite resorts of the brotherhood." HOMER ONCE NODDED. "I think the best 'catch 'l ever had," pursued Mr Bosley, pensively, " was when I fixed a fellow who bore the classical name of Homer. The first time I really made his acquaintance was in a certain publichouse in the Camberwell Road, when I was following another worthy. Homer came in, showed what seemed to be a broken arm to the public gaze, and asked for alms. I didn't like the look of the splints, and, amid some jeering about my want of humanity, I followed the joker to another publichouse, at tha door of which I saw him coolly rolling a cigarette with both hands. I called a constable, and Homer was taken to the quaint old station at the coiner of Camberwell New Road, facing the green. "He was asked if his arm was broken, . and, replying in the affirmative and raising the limb with a nervous twitch, he. invited examination. But the divisional surgeon was in waiting, and a professional twist soon proved the fraud Then thebandages were tenderly unrolled, the splints fell to the door, and the arm was found to be quite uninjured. In this worthy's pockets, lis — one day's takings — were discovered, besides fresh and sweet' food sufficient to last him at least three 1 days." Homer did his little "bit of time " theni. but some months afterwards the lynx-eyed Bosley again spied him near Camberwell Gate carrying on the same old game;. This time lie was unceremoniously marched 1 off to Carter Street station, and Bosley himself offered to take off the bandages. Homer broke away, and made a fierce onslaught on the official with both hands — result, a longer term thaa usual in. gaol. After this Homer turned over a new leaf, and, if rumours may be credited, he is now earning-: aon. honest livelihood, and it is said that- his greatest delight is to meet " the Beggat.s ? ' Terror" and contemptuously snap his fingers at him, a greeting which Boslfey returns with tho utmost good humour. Bosley has rendered conspicuous service in rescuing from the streets infantile waifs and strays, whose heartless parents have hired them out to vagrants in order that the latter might excite the momentary sympathy of passers-by ; and more- than one magistrate has complimented him for this excellent work.