St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-11-01
FAIR KLEPTOMANIACS.
Women Who Oovertly Steal More Than
They Buy While on Their Daily
Shopping Rounds.
A Lady With a Millionaire Husband and
Oceans Of Pin Money Who Was a
Thief by Nature.
Chicago's Ten-Story Buildings Not
Proving Very Profitable as In
Vestme nts.
A Chicago Journalists Ambition to
be Playwright and His Par
TALLY for Colonel.


Correspondence OF the Globe.
CHICAGO Oct. 29.-''Since the days Of
well since newspapers began printing Grim
inal items women have carried off the palm
as kleptomaniacs. Nine cases out OF ten
of alleged kleptomania are found in the
garb of woman. Occasionally man is dis
covered with penchant for appropriating
what does not belong to him, but he is
called burglar or thief and generally
gets off with a light fine on charge of
petty larceny. l am referring now to theftS
committed by the better classes, who are
well able to pay for what they steal. Ii
our customers We're all men we would be
thousands Il year in pocket in goods saved
and be able to dispense with the dozen pairs
of sharp eyes that walk our floors with no
other intent than to keep lookout for
fashionable thieves" This was the remark
OF the general manager of one of the largest
retail dry goods houses i'll Chicago, as L sat
with him in a State street grip-car last
Tuesday. There isn't day passes that
we do not miss valuable dress materials,
laces, ribbons, and even fancy goods and
bric-a-brac. We know our statesmen, or sales
ladies, if you please, are not responsible
for the losses. But somebody, we can'tsay
who, always
HAS DEITY CONCEALED SOME ARTICLE
of value about their person. and we are the
losers. | have known ten-cent purchase
to cost our house a $50 article. Lady slips
to fancy goods counter; buys cord case for
so cents; saleSlady makes out the check,
calls cash turns her back but an instant,
but in that brief interval S25 bronze was
slipped under the customers cloak. No
one witnessed the theft Lady gets her
change and goes out. The same day
maybe, or perhaps week later, the sales
lady discovers the bronze missing. She
knows it was in her care and that she did
not dispose of it. The firm is out" the
saleSlady reprmanded and the foor-walker
gets talking to that he doesn't forget in
hurry. But as rule we in some way de-
feet the customer almost in the act, and
then we are sure to lcSe customer. Let
me tell you of one instance. The wife OF a
millionaire was until a few months ago one
of our best customers. She bought Law
ishlv. | might say indiScriminately, moving
from counter to counter, paying for the
whole amount with blank check signed by
her husband. Such practice-that of
statesmen sending credit bills to cashier,
mean-iS not usual with Us. but IN this in
stance we knew the lady and her umdouoted
ability and willingness to pay, and permit
TED her to roam at will about the building,
making such selections of goods as she
chose, and accepted check in payment.
1t generally required a special trip of our
delivery wagon to remove her purchases.
One day one of the fioor-walkers came to
NE and intimated that Mrs s. had pur
Joined bolt of lace. The idea was prepos-
ferrous! l would not believe it. The wife
of a man whose income was certainly $780,
300 wear would not steal $50 worth of
lace. But as manager of the house l had
to cheek up the sales and goods on hand in
the lace department at the close of the days
business, and sure enough a bolt of lace was
missing. [ had no other recourse but to es-
tablish a system of espionage on a customer
who had spent on an average of SIS, 000 Iii
our house for many years.
THE RESULT WAS ASTOUNDING.
We let her purloin silk handkerchiefs, laces,