CRIMINALS’ WHIMS

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 March 1922, Page 7

CRIMINALS’ WHIMS

—— c A prisoner with a stubbly beard r asked a magistrate recently for tho 1 return of money found upon him so t that he could get a The rc- , quest was, of course, granted. Every man, whether innocent or s guilty, likes to look his brightest and best when he enters the dock, writes 31 r. G. T. Crook in the “Daily News.” I This desire for sartorial correctness is - especially strong among hardened cri- - minais, many of whom have some ' ipiaint whims and fancies. > One of the cleverest cardsharpers in • the country always had his nails manicured before making his bow io the . court. He had such delicately sensi- . five fingers—thin and tapering —that • if you placed a pencil mark on a blank piece of paper he would find it with his fingers without looking for it. Seaman, the Stepney murderer, who was hanged between Millsom and Fowler, the Muswell Hill murdei’ers, refused to dress until he was supplied with a fashionably cut suit of clothes. Three suits were taken to him by the police, but he scorned them all and remained almost naked in his cell until th© police handed him a suit cut by a West End tailor. That satisfied him. “Now’ I am ready to appear before the magistrate,” he said. Women frequently carry mascots into court. A woman jewel thief placed her wedding ring on the third finger of her right hand for luck. Professional criminals are not as a rule superstitious; they come too much “up against” tho realities of life. Friday, regarded in some professions as a day of ill-omen, is the pickpockets’ best day, because most people get their wages on that day. Hence it is that detectives are more active on a Friday than on any other day of the week. A burglar with a string of convictions against him is always very eager to know' the name of the magistrate or jmlge before whom he is to appear. There, are certain occupants of tho bench who are notorious for the leniency of their sentences, and, of course, they are held in high veneration by hardened criminals. “I’m in luck,” many an old “lag” has been heard to remark. “Old So-and-So is on the bench to-day, and it’s easy to talk him over.” One woman who had several previous convictions against her was charged with picking pockets. Sho had flitted from one omnibus to another ami was caught red-handed. As she- stepped into the dock she pulled a very pitiful face and cried. The magistrate discharged her with a caution. “Told you I should twist the dear old blighter,” she whispered gleefully to her captor as he stepped from tho dock.