Huntsville gazette., 1885-05-02


she made trifling purchase, and
turned to leave. noticed that as she
came down the store she walked with
hurried step that seemed unnatural,
and her cheeks were highly flushed,
while she kept her eyes fixed on the
door as If she was measuring the dis
tance, inch by inch, that lay between
her and the sidewalk. at once felt
assured that she had been doing some
thing that made her uneasy, and when
/ laid my hand on her arm she started
as if she were stung, while look of
fright came into her face. On my in
vitation she reluctantly followed me
into the Office, where told her that she
must give up the articles she had stolen.
At first she showed signs of Indignation
and accused me of insulting her; but
was sure I was right, and told her if
she did not do as requested l should
get an officer to search her. This
threat had the desired effect, and in the
midst of hysterical sobbing she took
several valuable pairs of silk hose from
beneath her cloak. The sorrow of the
girl was painful to behold, and on her
knees she begged me not to make her
guilt public. Of course promised.
The strangest part of the story, how
ever, is that two years later the same
girl was married to a well-known busi-
ness man, and the secret of her first
and only attempt at shoplifting lies
between her and myself. We some
times make mistakes and suspect per-
sons who prove to be innocent. In a
case like this there is always more or
less music in the atmosphere, and
when the matter gets to the ears of the
firm we are set upon so hard that it
makes our bones ache. According to
the law of human nature we get no
credit for the good work we do, but
when we make a blunder we never
hear the last of it. You often read
nowadays of kleptomaniacs, and they
seem to be increasing yearly. Why,
there are ladies in this city who move
in the best society and possess
all the money necessary to
meet their demands, but they can
hardly enter dry goods store without
appropriating some article, and,
strange as it may seem, they very sell
dom take anything of material value;
they don't seem to choose anything be-
cause of its worth, but mechanically
pick up the first article they can ap-
propriate when they think no one is
looking. We have to watch them from
the moment they enter the store until
they leave.
professional shoplifters are hard to
catch; they are as cool, calm and col
looted when 'nipping' roll of lace or
silk as corpse, and they do it SO
deftly it is seldom they are detected.
A shoplifter rarely enters store alone,
but brings an accomplice with her,
who engages the clerk in conversation
and diverts his attention while she gets
away with whatever she can conven-
iently stow away. She always dresses
elegantly to disarm suspicion, and the
various plaits and trimmings on her
skirt conceal the openings of large
pockets into which the 'swag' is deity
slipped. Shop-lifters are more COM
mon in New York and Boston than in
Chicago, as they easily find receivers
for their stolen goods who pay them
such a price as makes their vocation
profitable. Of course we are not free
from shoplifters by any means, but the
Eastern cities seem to be headquarters
for them. 1t is not seldom that clerks
are in league with these thieves.
While l was in Boston house we had
a saleslady who had been with the
firm two years, and was one of
the best clerks they had in the
establishment. One day new
floor-walker made his appear
ance. A sober, sharp-looking fellow,
who had little to do with his associates,
but attended strictly to business. He
seemed to be very solid with the pro-
prietors from the start, and often held
protracted private consultation with
them. This surprised the other boys,
but they were completely torn up when
about six months after his appearance
he had found the trusted saleslady
guilty of taking goods from the store.
As the matter developed it was found
that she was in league with one of the
worst gang of shop-lifters in the city,
and was confederate of theirs when
she first entered the employ of the
house. It had been discovered that
valuable goods were disappearing,
and the new flOor-walker was detec-
tive employed to discover the guilty
party. 1t took him six months, but he
got there at last. When we found that
goods had been taken from under our
very noses and we had not suspected
it, we felt that we were more orna-
mental that useful. Floor-walkers, as
a class, are well paid; many of the
shrewdest men in the New York and
Boston houses get as high as six thous-
and dollars ayear, but the majority get
from five hundred to twenty-five hum
dred dollars. Yes, we are well paid,
but our work is tedious and our re-
sponsibility heavy" Chicago Herald.
CHRISTIAN NAMES,