THE FASHIONABLE " CROOK."

Auckland Star, Volume XXXV, Issue 202, 24 August 1904, Page 3

THE FASHIONABLE " CROOK."

During ihr hearing of the celebrated Siever slander Chief-Inspector Drew said that it was part of his duty to watch rni'n '"on the market." This phrase puzzled many people. It is used exclusively by the detectives attached ■to- -the Yine-kteert P.->Vic* Station, London, and describes a class of polished, well-groomed men who are nlways kept under surveillance by the West End detectives. The phrase used by Chief-Inspector Drew means a "crook." but it, means more than tbat. It means a. polished "crook,"' an officer in the vast army of swindlers. Delicate shades c?f meaning, difficult to define, play around the words "crook," "swell mobsman/' "head," and "man on the market." "Crook" usually means a man who in any sporting sphere does not run straight. "Swell mobsman" is a man who. though of polished exterior, will stoop to almost any subterfuge to do his victim oat of a large su m of money when he sees a chance. A

"head" is a person who, in the eye of Scotland Yard, seriously need* watching, especially at race meetings and card parties. A man who is "on the market" , is a sort of delicate combination of all these undesirables. Tie wears the ve.ry latest collar and the newest tie. He speaks perfect. English, he consorts with men who have come from the universities. H> haunts fashionable bars in the West End, and he dines with small select partips of young men at expensive dining places. His conversation is never vulsr'ir. His knowledge of men and his judgment, of character are two of his leading asseta. and may be bracketed second to his easy and affable manner. Oftm j after a jewel or bank robbery in England specinl detectives have to be sent to the Riviera and other resorts to keep an eye on the men "on the market." The detectives who watch the men "on the market" are as polished as the men they shadow, and far cleverer. These men "on the market," however, do not yield many wrists for the handcuffs. It is usually very difficult to get enough evidence of their doings to satisfy a jury. So Vine-street watches them to see that they do •&» little harm as possible. The origin of the phrase "on the market" would be difficult to give with any definiteness.