The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1880-07-08
THE WAX YOF8HOELTFTE

} edo you canse the arrest of man,
shoplifters" New York tradestnai
! wae asked.
eyes, good many. but not all, b,
any means. We don't disturb persons
unless we have the most positive proot
Of their guilt. When the article stoler
is a tritle we watch tho woman so as tc
remember her face, but usually do
nothing more. Not unircqucntly we
see theils committed by women that
we believe are not babiiually trespass-
crs, but were urged on by too strong
temptation and poverty. Such wo.
men wo take to u private room. We
tell them our suspicion. Ifthey con.
tess and give lis what prove to be thcf
right names and addresses we lot them
20. But all this is q very delicate mat
ter, and to make mistake is very
| dangerous. Tou must know that
shoplittcrs are generally among the
best dressed and most respectable
looking women that come in our store
l stood ut the second story skylght
one day looking aimlcssly down on the
first floor. ] saw two elegantly dress
ed women putting away rolls of silk
ribbon. l watched them, and there
wasn't any doubt about it. l hasten
cd down and told the floor walker.
Tic was astounCnd. Ipcrsistcd and he
spoke to- the women. They were vio-
lently indignant. AS they walked TO-
ward tho door VIC saw them throw
the rolls of ribbon among some boxes
between the two counters. We had
them followed. They lived in an clc-
CANT brown stone house in Forty
eighth street.
professional shoplifters," continu-
ed the speaker, every often wear
great clouks. Jhey can put away Il
good deal under them. BY raising
their folded arms under their cloaks
they conceal the added size the stolen
articles give them. They have Il pocE-
ct made in the front Of their dresses
big enough to hold'a number Of large
packages. Why, when VIC unloadcd II
woman here one day we took out of
il'at pocket all that a good sized boy
could carry on his outstretched arms.
| remember how Indignant that wo-
man was when accused.
81 was walking through the store
one day when Il clerk told me he
thought a woman he was serving had
stolen some Lc@horn hats. | walked
up to her and raised one Of her arms
suddenly. Twenty-Five hats fell TO the
floor. Iov Know what Lcghorn hats
are. They are made Of a kind Of
grass and folded close together. She
said that she had picked t.cm up on
the floor and was going to put them
where tho rest OF The hats were kept
We arrested her.
'Ihe hands of an experienced shop
litter work faster than the eyes of an
observer. n central office detective
standing in the store one :lNv saw Il
woman putting away silk handllcr-
chiefs. She'd held one up rs If to ex-
anime it, and then she'd suddenly pass
it into her other hand and thcn into a
big front pocket with such lightning
like rapidity that the detective couldn't
tell what she was doing, but he
thought she was putting them back on
the counter. llc made Il study of the
subject and caught her. ShopliIters
often steal our valiscs and baskets. and
then go round the store filling them up
Wckn good many in tho prolcs-
sion.
"The worst thing shopliftcrs do
lie said III conclusion, sis to steal from
our customers. They are very fond of
taking pockct-books and valiscs. We
would great deal rather they would
steal from us, for their victims are
sure to give store where they are
Il bad reputation. Not long ago Il lady
who had S,l2S in silver in vnlisc rest
Ell it on the counter moment and il
disappeared. She found an old one in
its place. We believe that the thieves
who took it knew that she had money,
and followed her a long distance"