Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-06-04
lFomaIo sh0pIIiIers In Nem York CIlr

WE estimate our losses from shop
lifting at $4,000 a year." said one of
the proprietors of u large east side dry
goods and fancy goods store yesterday.
/" In the busy hours you can not esti-
mate the number of people that come
to this store. If you watch them from
the galleries, they swarm like ants To
serve them we employ between 900 and
1000 persons. We have TO watch them
all, customers and clerks alike Onthe
other hand, it is a prime necessity to
display our goods, and to display them
in such a way as will tempt the dishon-
est"
"Do you cause the arrest of many
shopliftersP" the tradesman was
asked. -.-
Yes, good many, but not all by
any means. We don't disturb persons
unless we have the most positive proof
of their guilt. When the article stolen
is a trifle, we watch the woman so as to
remember her face, but usually do
nothing more. Not infrequently we see
thefts committed by women that we be-
lieve are not habitually trespassers;
but were urged on by too strong tempta-
ton and poverty. Such women we take
TO private room. We tell them our
suspicion. II they confess and give us
what prove to be their right names and
addresses we let them go. But all this
is very delicate matter, and TO make
a mistake is very dangerous. You
must know that shoplifters are
generally among the best dressed
and most respectable looking wom-
en- that come in our store. l stood
at the second-stoFy skylight one day
looking aimlessly down on the first floor.
/ saw two elegantly dressed women put
ting away rolls Of silk ribbon. watched
them, and there WASH U any doubt about
1t. l hastened down and told the floor
walker. He was astounded. / persisted
and he spoke 10 the women They were
acknowledgement, AS they walked to-
ward the door we saw them throw the
rolls of ribbon among some boxes be-
tween two counters. We had them fol-
lowed They lived In an elegant brown
stone house in Forty-eighth Street.
Professional shoplifters,n y continued
the speaker" very often wear great
cloaks. They can put away good deal
under them. By raising their folded
arms under their cloaks they conceal
the added size the stolen articles give
them. They have pocket made In the
front of their dresses big enough TO hold
number of large packages. Why,
when we unloaded o woman here one
day we took out of that pocket all that
good sized boy could carry on his out
stretched arms / remember how in
dignant that woman was when accused
al was walking through the store one
day when a clerk told me he thought a
woman he was serving had stolen some
Leghorn hats. walked up TO her and
raised one. Of her arms suddenly
Twenty-two hats fell to the floor. You
know What Leghorn hats are, They are
made 81 a kind of grass and fold close
together She had concealed S37
worth. She said that she had picked
them up on the door and was going 10
put them where the rest of the hats were
kept. We arrested her.
"The hands of an experienced shop
litter work faster than the eyes of an
observer. A Central Oiice detective
standing in the store one day saw a
woman putting away silk handkerchiefs.
She'd hold one up as II to examine It,
and then she'd suddenly pass it into her
other hand and then into big front
pocket with such lightning-like rapidity
that the detective couldn't tell what she
was doing, but he thought she was put
ting them back on the counter. He
made study of the subject and caught
her. Shoplifters often steal our valises
and baskets, and then go around the
store filling them up. We know good
many Of the profession.
" "The worst thing shoplifters do,n he
said, in conclusion, "is TO steal from
our customers. They are very fond O
taking pocketbooks and valises. w,
would great deal rather they woulC
steal from us, for their victims are sur,
to give a store where they are robbed
bad reputation. Not long ago lad,
who had S12S in silver in yalise restei
II on the counter moment and it dis
appeared. She found an old one in Il
place. We believed that the thieve
who took Il knew that she had tn
money, and had followed her for Ion,
distance. IN. Y. Sun.