THIEVES' TALISMANS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXIX, Issue 9654, 10 July 1919, Page 7

THIEVES' TALISMANS.

Some of the most notorious criminals, who ,it might have been thought, would not pay the slightest attention to omens, good or bad, have a profound, belief in superstitions. ■ ' Curiously enough, the , burglar will often relinquish a big burgling feat if a dream the night before has warned him that he will be in danger. But should it happen that he sees a rainbow during the day he will consider it to portend that, however reckless he may be, he is not likely to fall into the hands of the police for a space of three months. i

Many burglars carry a donkey's shoe in their pockets before setting out, believing that this Swill protect them from danger, while others pin their faith to a piece of coal, which they will carry in their pockets throughout their career.

The pickpocket is. equally superßtitious. Ho will not rob a person who squints, this being accounted a certain sign of disaster, and if it happens that the purse he steals contains foreign money it is believed to augur that he will travel in the immediate future.

"Weddings and funerals are pregnant with meaning for the professional thief. To pick a pocket at a funeral would be to court immediate disaster, whereas if a purse stolen at a wedding contains gold it portends the best of luck for the thief.

Some pickpockets have a favourite pair of boots that they wear as long as they can keep them on their feet, and if they are not arrested while wearing them they cut the boots up into little square pieces and give them away as "lucky tokens" to .confederates.