The Republican journal., 1885-08-13
Shoplifting as a Fine Art.

The wholesale storekeepers who suffer from
these petty thefts and the police or private de-
tectlves who are employed to catch offenders
of this kind are perhaps the only ones who
properly estimate the large number of people
that make practice of robbing the counters.
There is a splendid field for the shoplifters'
operations in the immense stores of the metro
polls. On a busy day the amount Of petty lar
ceny committed is enormous. The crowded
store, the hustle and confusion, the shop girl
with more customers than she can attend to
and score of other things. all aid in the sue
cessfu pilfering of small articles.
A WOMAN'S CRIME.
Shoplifting is crime to which women are
particularly addicted. 1t is very seldom that a
male shoplfter is arrested. Perhaps this is
due to the fact that women are more given to
shopping, and therefore "a female thief can
carry on her work with less fear of suspicion
and detection than man. All ages are in
cluded in the ranks of the shopifter. The
child as well as the gray haired Old woman is
found with this propensity to seize what is
another's property. Some are notoriOusly pro-
ncient iii the trade, are looked upon with ad-
mtrarion by the younger or less experienced
members of the fraternity, and are continually
falling into the clutches of the police. One of
the best known of the professionals is "Mag"
Little. She originally came from Maine, and
was the wife of sea captain. Over twenty
years ago she abandoned him and became init
mate with a well known confidence man.
Afterward She went to London with noted
English burglar, and the two were arrested
for picking pockets. Mag" got off with a
sentence of two years. She returned to this
country upon her release and lived with a re-
ceiver of stolen goods. Then she married /,
bank sneak thief. After going through some
exciting scenes with him here and in London
she associated herself with woman named
BurtiS and began to rob the dry goods stores of
this city. In one of their expeditions they
were caught, but escaped punishment by jump
ing their bail. She was afterward rearrested
and sent to prison.
PERSISTENT THIEvERY.
The shoplifter is often detected because she
is too persistent in her thefts. 1t is strange
what a lot of stolen goods she can get into her
satchel. One woman who was arrested in a
Sixth avenue store bad in her possession the
proceeds of over fifty larcenies. A woman who
had been robbed of ler pocketbook raised an
outcry Immediately upon discovering her loss.
The store was crowded at the time and great
excitement prevailed. The thief, in her haste
to get ont of the place, ran into the arms of IA
police detective, who, noticing ner condition,
detained her. At her feet the missing pocket
book was picked up, and she was taken forth
with to the station house and searched. Three
other pocketbooks ana fifty-one trnkets and
articles of millinery ana laces were found upon
her.
When a man is concerned in shoplifting it is
generally an outside partner who disposes of
the stolen articles. These partnerships gener-
ally exist between man ant wife. One of these
thieving couples was arrested in Brooklyn. The
wife Systematically robbed counters and the
husband paWned the proceeds of her robberies.
In one of her visits to a Fulton street dry goods
store she stole several pieces of flannel. The
proprietor rave the police Il description of the
party be suspected. The house where the
couple lived not known to .he detective
who WAS put on the case. but in hunting for it
he discovered thirty-fve pawn tickets. repre-
stntIng over $1,000 value, secreted under the
flooring of barn on Franklin avenue. Man
and wife We're subsequently found in building
adjoining.
TRAVELLING TOGETHER.
quite often women who are relatives go out
together on their shoplifting tours. A woman
was not long ago arrested in this city for TAX
ing pair of stockings from the counter and
conceaing them in her pocket. She had a
younger woman with her who. she admitted
was her daughter-n-law. When searched the
shoplifter was found to have in her possession
not only the stockings, but also comb, pair
of KID gloves and pocketbook containing $50.
The younger woman was next searched, and
two pocket books containing 5000 We're found
on her.
A >aleswoman in Bowery store suspected
two young women of shoplftng. Watching
them closely, she saw one OF them stun dress
lhto h'lse pochet, carried uhder her ufess
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VIZ eii'o'''''iS
HIDING THE BOOTY.
In all sorts of Ways the shoplifter fries TO
escape detection. Even when she is seen taking
articles from the counters the stolen things may
not be found upon her unless she is thoroughly
searched. Nearly every shoplifter has her false
pocket. where She secrets what is not hers by
purchase or right Besides this she does the
trick of putting small articles in the folds of her
shawl or dress A detective suspectlno a wO-
man of shoplif,ng in shoe store on Sixth
avenue arrested her after she had left the place
and took her back The storekeeper said that
he did not have any reason to suspect the prison
er. The detective insisted upon her being
searched BY the storekeeper-s wife. A pair of
shoes We're found hanging to hook attached
to the woman's garter.
With some women shOplifting l. Il mania
Although comfortably off thev will stead As
often as they get an opportunity The store
keepers do not arrest women of this class be-
cause thev have WAYS of recovering the value
of the stolen articles. The husband il made
aware of the facts in the case and he always
makes good the loss.
ASHAMED OF illElk CRIME
The most ptiful eases are those in which the
woman. otherwise respectable is caught in her
first offence. She cannot tell why She was
guilty of the crime; all that she can say is that
she was tempted and in a moment of weakness
committed the act. When these women are
arruigned in Court for trial they are overcome
with shame. This feeling of disgrace at being
publicly arrasned as thieves is so intense that
the Court, approaching the fact generally lets
them OIL with day or two's imprisonment
Some of these women resOlutev refuse to give
tiel own haines' No1 iolS since one OF them
Nineteenth street She confessed her guilt and
Il large crosswise pocket, concealed in the folds
of her dress, was found filled it'll stolen goods.
She said that she dared not bring disgrace upon
her family by letting her friends know of her
arrest. She had ample meals, she added. and
was tempted to steal upon the spur Of the mo-
ment. Another case was that of an old woman,
dressed in black. who was arrested in an Eighth
avenue dry goods store. She was accompanied
by her daughter, who was also arrested Two
manly looking young men next day called at
the prison and said they We're her sons. They
had been looking for her and her daughter all
night. In the possession of the prisoners We're
found eight pair of gloves and three handkcr-
chiefs, identtedb by the storekeeper bya private
mark. The women had given an assumed name
and wrong address
Poverty sometimes makes shopiifters out of
otherwise honest women. A woman was tried
in the Court Of Special Sessions short time
ago for stealing piece of cloth from Il Grand
street store. She was quiet and respectable in