Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-04-12
THE FLOOR WALKER.
)NE OF THE RESPONSIBLE POSITIONS
IN A RETAIL STORE.
The Man Who Meets You at the Door OF n
Dry Goods Establishment-Shop-
litter. the Bane of His Ex-
istence.
[Chicago Herald

| In conversation with a reporter floor
7, walker in one Of the largest retail houses in
his city said: The responsibility that rests
| lpon our shoulders is by no means light
\ We have to keep our eyes open and be on
| ;he qui vivs every minute of the day. We
| must be on duty as scon as trade opens in
;he morning and remain until the doJrs are
| .lossd at night and we get no rest We are
obliged to be on the move constantly, keep
| ne as far as possible every customer under
our eye just SO long as he or she is within
| our range of vision, Floor-walkers are
nothing more nor less than detect
ves but, of course, it wouldn't do
| Tor us to be looked upon by
she public in that light. as the majority Of
| people who come here - do their trading are
| honest, and to give them to understand that
| hey are doing business under the eye of
| suspicion would no doubt ruffie the dignity
IF many of tlem and drive them away, SO
| We call ourselves fioor-walkers, and the peo-
Die are satisfied"
In answer to the reporters query, if peo-
Ole We're often detected in the act OF taking
goods, he replied: "Oh, yes, there is hardly
lay passes that We don't discover somebody
slowing away laces or remnants of silk and
velvets, when the attention of the clerk is
attracted in some other direction. More Of
his business is done in winter than in summer,
Is the heavy cloaks Of the ladies enable them
20 conceal articles which it would be i'm
possible for them to get out Of sight when
dressed in summer apparel speak Of
women exclusively, as it is them We have to
fear l have been employed in several large
establishments in various cities and never
knew of man being detected in getting
-.tl, L.
purchaser. The majority Of men are too
clumsy in handling dry goods to attempt to
filch them in broad daylight The people We
catch stealing are hardly ever prosecuted
unless they are found to be professional
counter workers in which case they are
summarily dealt with.
"You will be surprised when tell You the
class Of people we have to watch closest are
shop girls and ladies in the intermediate
grade Of society. Some women no matter
where you find them within the pale Of civil
zation, have an unconquerable passion for
iress, and though they may enter dry
good store with absolutely honest intentions
their conscientious scruples are often over
come by the fascinating array Of rich goods
AMI their attempts to gain by stealth
that which they have not the money to
SotdLi- w NduSh III tHc oSb VI P4iAch-
ing you can hardly imagine the contrition
Of these poor creatures. They don't seem to
realize what they have done until they arc
found out. There would be no satisfaction
TO the house prosecuting such girls 1t il
more than likely that they have never been
guilty OF a crime Of this nature before, sni
to bring them into open court and disgrace
them before the eyes of the public would, in
,,t - tar hor that,
ces, and they would drift into current that
would carry them t. ultimate ruin.
Il remember, while in New York house
q few years ago. . singularly pretty girl
came into the store one afternoon and, going
to the hosiery department had the clerk lay
before her fine display of footwear After
looking the stock over she made trihing
purchase, and turned to leave. / noticed
that she came down the store she walked
with a 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 distance, 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
l laid my hand on her arm she startsl as if
she were stuny, while look OF fright
invitation she reluctantly followed me
me into the managers office, where 1 told
her that she must give up the articles she
had stolen. At first she showed signs of in
dignation, and accused me of insulting her;
but l was sure l was right. and told her if
she did not do as requested should get an
officer to search her. This threat had the de-
sired effect and In the midst of hysterical
o,i sha fo,i- tla nf
silk hose from beneath her cloak. The sor-
row of the girl was painful to behold, and
on her KNEES she begged me not to
make her guilt public or course promised.
The strangest part of the story, however, is
that two years later the same girl was mar
ried to well-known business man, and the
secret of her first and only attempt at shop
lifting lies between her and myself.
professional shoplifters are hard to catch;
they are cool, calm and collected when
'nipping' roll of lace or silk as q corpse, and
they do it so deftly it is seldom they are de-
tected. A shoplifter rarely enters a store
alone, but brings an accomplice with her,
who engages the clerk in conversation and
averts his attention while she gets away with
whatever she can conveniently stow away
She always dresses elegantly to dis
arm suspicion and the various plaits and
trimmings on her skirt conceal the opsningS
of large pockets into which the 'swag' s
deftly slipped. Shop-lifters are more
common in New York and Boston than in
Chicago, as they easily eau find receivers
for their stolen goods who pay them such
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.
Floor walkers as a class are well paid
many of the shrewdest men in the New
York and Boston houses get as high as $6, 00G
year, but the majority get from $500 to
$4,000. Yes, We are well paid, but our work
Is faiiors and our resnon sihilifv haaxyr