Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-07-20
LIGHT-F1NGERED LADIES.
Kleptomania Among Women of Social
Standing at Washington.
Enahinrton lSfnr

Claiming a. ~ 2SAAAn hOAs
Washington Star.
"Lifters? Yes, there are lots Of them.
We can't tell how much we lose in a year
from shop-lifting,v said an avenue mer-
chant the other day. as he leaned care
lessly against the counter, his restless
black eyes watching everyone and every
thing in the store with the keenness of a
detective. tsKleptomania they call Ii
where fashionable women are caught
with bolts of lace, hankerchiefs, collars,
and the like Struggled under their wraps"
''DO you meet with cases of that kindF ?"
asked the Star, with establishment.
MANY was the reply. There are
women in the highest walks of life in this
city who are practical shoplifters. They
say it is a disease, when they are caught,
but don't believe that. One woman /
caught stealing some lace, however,
swore that it was an afflietion which she
could not control, and offered to bring her
family physician to prove it. But l don't
put any faith in it. They have a prOpen-
sity to steal, and do it rather than buy.
Some of these women are from the first
families in the city, have wealth, and
would pay out almost any amount Of
money to avoid exposure, yet they will
steal, and we have to forbid them the
store. Some of them are very clever
thieves"
show do you catch them?' asked The
Star.
eve are always on the lookout, and
most of the sales-girls are very sharp.
Then, too, we get to know their ways so
well that we recognize them very readily.
When a woman is very loquaciOus and
affable, and keeps her eyes watchfully on
yours while talking, averting them only
occasionally to take hasty glance at the
articles about her, she's person to be
watched. 1t doesn't make any difference
how handsomelysshe's dressed, or whose
wife she is, we have to keep an eye on her.
OF course, we never let them know we
suspect them, but it's seldom they get
away with anything when once we have
marked them thus. When we once catch
them we generally take them upstairs
and search them, and, having settled the
thing upon them, we make them pay for
what they took and warn them never to
come in the store again. l suppose there
are a great many whom we never
catch. But our girls are trained to be
quick and clever, and they are not apt to
let anyone get ahead of them. Some of
them it would be next to impossible for
any one TO steal from-they are always
watching and never seem to be. Girls Of
this kind are, of course, in great demand,
and their wages are regulated by their
cleverness. There's a girl" he added,
pointing to a strawberry blonde with a
pretty, bright face. 'FShe's the sharpest
girl in the store. She's always pleasant
with the customers, never appearing to be
suspicious or watchful, but there is very
little she does not see. A very stylishly
dressed lady-the wife Of a navy officer
came in here the other day. She had
every mark of lady about her, and was
the last person in the world you would
suspect of being a shoplifter. But she
had not been in the store long, look
ing over a pile of fine collars, when
that girl gave me sign and told me that
the customer had something in her pocket
that she had not bought. Before we could
secure her she got out of the store, but we
followed her closely without attracting
her attention, and she went into the store
next door, and taking the collar out of her
pocket, pretended she wanted to match it,
then asked the clerk to wrap it up. just
then she was told that she was wanted in
here, and she returned without protest,
but before doing so she slipped the collar
over to her maid, who was accompanying
her. They were both brought in here, and
she paid for the collar after receiving a
lecture and being warned not to come into
the store again. She is woman of high
social position, but is probably pretty
well known by the merchants in
the CITY bv this time. There are any
number of just such cases, though, Of
course, the majority of shoplifters are
professionals. One woman, who is pretty
well known to us now (she lives in a fine
house), stole a pair Of stockings. The
sales-girl saw her tuck them upunder her
basque, and invited her up stairs, and
on the way up she tried to throw them
away. There are lots of these cases, and
! it is hard to tell what to do. 1 suppose
we should expose them, but it's hard to
do, as many of them are from families
| who would be crushed by an exposure Of
anything of the kind. Then, too, the
articles are too small to prosecute for.
and we prefer to settle the matter at once
/ Whenever we catch anyone stealing, nc
matter who it is, we settle with her ant
| show her out.