The eye and ear of a squirrel at thirty 
. yards is mark enough for a good 
... .shot and a 
eatinslcme 
July io, 1909.J 
forest and stream 
Rifle Stealing in India. 
IN north of India one of the most lucrative 
.ranches ot the thieving profession is rifle stealing. To 
>e armed with a good rifle is the highest ambition of the 
urbulent hill tribesman, whose life may often depend 
ipon the possession of an accurate weapon in his con¬ 
stant raids, vendettas, taction fights and petty wars, 
hus a government Martini-Henry rifle is an invaluable 
rtielc to him, and he is prepared to pay heavily for it. 
herefore t/ie traffic in stolen rifles goes on steadily 
tough it is a dangerous trade for the thief, detection and 
apture ensuring penal servitude and a trip to the Ada- 
lan Islands at go\ernmcnt expense—than which a native 
ould far sooner sulTer the penalty of hanging, aS he 
patnes and dreads the Kala Pani or black water with a 
|radly fear. Hut, if the risks are great, so are the 
rofits, ami these knavish gentry can confidently reckon 
•at once safely outside the limits of British territory 
tey may ask and immediately obtain six or seven times 
e original price of the stolen rifle. 
11*tom about Rawul Pindi northward, rifle stealing be- 
uncs prevalent,_ and many are the shifts and expedients 
fed by (he thieves in order to get their loot safely 
ross t,:e frontier, as rigorous scrutiny is made on all 
III way, lines of the contents of any suspicious looking 
itives baggage, while on the roads, too, carts are liable 
be seized and examined, and wayfarers stopped, ques- 
med, compelled to give an account of themselves at any 
;e of the numerous police posts. Thus it is to be pre- 
■med that, even with the rifle safely stolen, the thief has 
ill the most difficult part of his work before him in 
itting it out of the country; and to conceal so lengthy 
.• article as a rifle must tax his skill to the utmost. 
Kifie thieves are often remarkably bold and clever in 
f. ,r operations. In nine cases out of ten the rifle is 
tilen from the middle of a barrack room, filled with 
leping soldiers; and generally, too, the arms are kept 
1 some kind of a rifle rack, which has to be opened 
lfore the coveted spoil can be got at. Yet so clever 
the thieves that it is very seldom that a capture is 
r de, for, even if seen (there is always a lamp burning 
1 barrack rooms at night), the intruder makes good his 
cape while the men are tumbling out of bed, putting 
c, boots etc. In one regiment, after several rifles had 
tin stolen some genius invented a splendid lock-up 
rk to hold ten, whence the rifles could not possibly 
t extracted by any one not in possession of a key 
Je thieves, however, proved equal to the occasion as 
inn their next visit they carried off rack and all. The 
u. ot the patent arrangement was thereupon discon- 
• ilied in that particular regiment, 
,'fles, after being stolen, are frequently buried in the 
;und close at hand until the thieves have a favorable 
aiiortunity for removing them. On one occasion a 
-me of this description was accidentally found just out- 
barrack 2,, at Lahore, and several stolen rifles 
f r ecover ed. The thieves must have been greatly dis¬ 
ced when they returned and found their cache empty 
3 before mentioned, the punishment of penal servi- 
J? ’ S ,■ . any one eaught stealing rifles; but 
t l,e • 15 furthe - r menace d by the presence 
■tiight of the various sentries, stationed in the camp or 
)c acks. armed with guns loaded with buckshot car- 
rges, under orders to shoot at all marauders 
,J? e be ,V de thf. unfortunate thief who falls into the 
, s of the . soldiers themselves. He will surely receive 
v. i a punishment as should make him swear off all 
i stealing in the future. An amusing example of 
N occurred in a British regiment, stationed near 
tiawar. Several rifles had been stolen, and the colonel 
a. received a memorandum from district headquarters 
H °n Ut - that m the general’s opinion sufficient care 
. not being exercised in guarding the arms. This 
a rally put the colonel on his mettle, and he issued a 
-menta 1 order to the effect that the company from 
hh tlm next rifle was stolen should, as a punishment 
lithe carelessness, furnish all the extra duties usually 
01 by, the regiment as a whole, such as “guards” 
pkets, and fatigues of various sorts, until further 
nother rifle mysteriously disappeared. The colonel 
ud S tl?em d 1 3S h,S W ° r i. Ci ’i an j unfortunate A Company 
id ,, emselves overwhelmed with extra duties, while 
• wen S t h on’Li 56 ' 1 WEre red " ced to 3 minimum. 
" , went . ? n and every now and again another rifle 
od vanish as mysteriously as before. The colonel 
a furious, but who shall describe the State of mind of 
enen of A Company? They were the laughing stock 
ae regiment, and they naturally enough "owed a 
& to en fa e t a ch Ce ° n 3ny ‘ hief ‘ hey might be ]ucky 
. n Lf ht a ? the . men wbo were n °t on guard were 
erato y Jv eeP ,n ‘heir beds, something caused one 
®,°* ake ( " p , wlth a start, to see, by the faint light 
e in<r s 1 j e f ° j m i ° f 3 burly Nathan noiselessly 
ecenter 3 u d kn ? es toward the arms racks in 
ecenter of the barracks room. The soldier was 
5 a J ed the thle / by tbe breadt h of a comrade’s 
dind 1 b Sta i rt i n ?- Up ’ir he vauIted over the intervening 
d nd hurled himself on the Pathan with a wild yell 
1 aroused all the other sleepers in the room A 
e-?x feet tr " g f, e - l nSUe l The Pathan ’ a hulking'saw 
rsf. f t 'a height and as strong as a bull, repeatedly 
L h n i as v ant fly ' n S. hut the plucky little Tommy 
kon to his man like a bulldog, and before long the 
• overwh elmed by numbers and marched off to 
uara room. 
f ,Ji? t ’ V i do ? s not confine himself to rifles He 
■ally skillful and adept at other kinds of burglary 
°b'-n bas h? ard °f the thieves of Southern India 
•JC0 S uch rfi SUC h h - l hat they ? an , strip of its bedding the 
lumbers c/th* I? 3n ' S f Iy,ngr ? i,bout disturbing 
lumbers of the victim—a feat which they perform 
the aid of a feather, with which they tickle the 
a- what tk ' S c ? uses h'” 1 to roll over in order to 
?• "bl 1 he imagines to be the attentions of a per- 
le of h change of position, the thieves slip 
e of the sheet from under him, till at length their 
tiaLn ne -ti, J hese gentry, before entering a house 
■. them W !“ h *t e exc u e Pt>°n of a loin cloth, and then 
•f themselves from head to foot with cccoanut oi” 
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