St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-07-05
Does the Accomplished Pilferer Evade the
Eye Of the Wary Floor
Walker.
Shoplifters are Rare in st. Paul and
Detective Work Little
Needed.
An Experienced Floor Walker Ex-
presses Himself Upon His
Many Duties.

SOOU-HdluICNl,
affable and pleasant; at least such is the
case with the gentlemen in st. Paul Ell
gagged at that work. But st. Paul men
have what are commonly and vulgarly called
snaps" That is, in comparison
with the gentlemen holding similar posi-
tons in New York, Boston, Chicago OIL
any city where shoplifting is regular bust
ness. In the latter places the work of the
hoor-walker is doubled by the detective
work he is made to perform and his life is
often made miserable by the anxiety which
arises over the feeling that perhaps some
nlmDle-fingered thief Is slowing away val
uables within few feet of him. while he
Is unable TO detect it. On the other hand
comes the unpleasant consequences Incl
dent on the naturalization of mistaken sus-
piciOns.
In st. Paul, however, the qualities of a
detective are not needed. or rather not re-
qulred of the fOOr-walkerS, for they are
needed everywhere more or less. But here
the desire for obtaining goods unIawfully
IS carried into effect less than in most cities.
1t Is evident that there is more or less going
on, however, as occasionally a particularly
large stroke is made. and the wOuld-be
thief is captured. An instance of that kind
occurred on Seventh street not long ago,
when policeman on the street saw q lady
customer in dry goods store secrete whole
piece of cotton under a suitable cloak. She
was not permitted in that case to cross the
threshold with the cotton. Another evil
dence that some light-ingered work is
liable to be done is the fact that most all the
st. Padl establishments have a private de-
tective who keeps his weather eye lifted for
anything of the shOp-lifting nature.
A FLooR-wALKER TALKS.
Speaking of the duties of position. a
floor manager in leading retail establish
ment, who has had some Eastern experience,
recently remarked: 1--WE always have
plenty of work to keep us on the Jump
Now l am on hand as soon as the store
opens in the morning and remain until the
last customer receives attention at night
have general and complete control of all
the clerks in the departments, but pay less
attention to them than to customers. |
have to keep sharp lookout to see that
every lady entering the store finds the de-
partment she requires, and is waited on as
quickly as possible. In addition to this
kind of work l have to do more or less of
the buying, which increases my labor con-
siderably. Oh, tell you, man in this
position has lots to do"
There is a vast difference i'm our work
here and in Boston," continued the gentle
man between the time of disposing of one
customer and the entrance of another in the
store. There a man is not only supposed to
see that every person receives attention but
to keep a sharp watch on every person who
enters the store. While this is unjust to
many of the best customers it is impossible
to tell whether they are not wolves in
aba aIo e
protection every person is regarded with an
eye of suspicion.
ETERNAL VIGILANCE.
And the need of such vigilance is exem-
plified every day. In plenty of large
houses not a day passes but some person
is caught In the act of Secreting about their
person some article of value. No public
mention is ever made of it, but when a
lady is caught in the act of lifting some
thing. she is invited to the managers rooms
and then made to give up what she may
have attempted to steal. The winter sea-
son is always found to be the worst, as the
apparel worn at that time affords extra IA
cilities for cOncealing plumber.
what class of people do we find most
susceptible to the fascination of goods
which don't belong to them? That's pretty
hard to tell. There are some people in
every grade of society who cannot resist
the temptation to pilfer if they get the
chance; but L think that women in the in
termediate class and shop girls are usually
regarded with the keeneSt eye of suspicion.
L speak of women exclusively because L
never knew of but one successful non
professional male shOplifter, and he was
a clergyman with a mania for books. He
would buy twenty-fve-cent magazine and
steal So volume. The man thus accumu-
lated a good library before he was de-
tected. But L was speaking of shop
girls. There are many of them
who work on salaries too small
in fact to allow them TO buy everything they
wish. They will enter a store with most
honest intentions, but, being seized with an
mconQuerable desire for some object of
which the price will not allow the purchase,
they pilfer it, They never realize what
they have done until caught and then their
cOntritIon is unbounded, their shame COM
plete. They are usually given a little sane
advice and allowed to go.
professional shOplifters are particularly
puZZling to retail establishments. They are
as cool as cowboys and so deucedly clever
as to almost defy detection. They are
always dressed in the finest material, which,
with their manners, makes discrimination
\ companion always accom-
panieS them and occupies the attention of
the clerk while the party with
THE LIGHT FINGERS
doubles on the goods at hand, and slows
them away in capaciOus inner pockets or ar
of some kind made expressly
for that purpose. In st. Paul we are not
troubled much with this class of people, but
in the Eastern cities there are many of
them. AS they are able to sell their goods
without fear of detection, it becomes a
profitable business to the person skilled in
it. and many are engaged in it that per-
son would hardly dream of.
"a few years ago flOOr-walker in JOr-
dan, Marsh " Co.'s establishment, Boston,
previous to the time, lady had
visited the establishment regularly to do
shopping. She was known as a fashion
able widow with two young manageable
one of whom, at the time, was
engaged to a prominent physician of Bos-
ton. The lady was so well known that it
was never thought necessary to watch her
One day she entered the store
with one of the daughters, presumably to
do some shopping. After remaining some
time the mother and daughter started
towards the door, in doing which
they passed the flOor-walker. The latter
glanced at the fashionable lady, when his
eye detected about
SIX INCHES OF LACE
hanging from an inner pocket of her coat.
On the spur of the moment he politely
stopped the lady and said he wished to
speak to her privately. The lady showed
little embarrassment at first, but presently
bowed and stepped one side with the gen
tleman. She at once looked frightened and
began to color up, an action which en-
bOldened the fiOOr-waIker to make the
of theft. At first she grew ter
ribly INDIGNANT. but the threat of heino