The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-01-18
SH0PLIFTERS.
sHREWD THIEVES sTHATINFEsT
METROPOLITAN STORES.
Watching the Movements Of the
Shoplifters-How Professionals
Are Observation-Disclosures
Who PiIfer-A Mistake.

A New York Commercial Adrertis|r
reporter recent y had an interesting con-
versation with policeman who had been
detailed to special duty in one of the big
Sixth avenue shops as q detective. u
suppose" said he, "that the cost to the
retail merchants in th city for prctec-
tion against shoplifting, by the employ
ment Of floor walkers and special officers
amounts to fully 100000 year. 1t is
interesting to watch the flo king Of shop
lifters to new stores or to the Older estab-
lishments which open new departments.
The ground is usually studied by these
persons on opening day. They generally
come in pairs and pay particular attcn-
t on to the younger of the shop people.
Most of them show an astonish ng knowl-
edge of fabrics, and in this way, as well
as in more obvious cases, become very
friendly with the girls whom they pro-
pose to victimi.e. A thorough paced
shoplifter is nevera stranger in a store.
As rule she makes frequent purchases
as cover for her thefts. lspeak, as you
see, only of women shoplifters but there
are, perhaps, dozen men we'll known to
the police who make good living at
this kind of larceny. They confine them
selves, however, to fields lying out of the
domain of retail dry goods stores.
"One can almost invariably distin-
guish a professional shoplifter. She is
usually between thirty and forty years of
age, emnently respel table in app, arance,
dressing quietly and moving about in
such manner as to attract the least at
tention to herself. She carries loosely
wrapped paper parcel or wide.
mouthed handbag, and wears either a
shawl or dolman. The use of the wrap
is evident. The paper parcel comes in
handy in many ways. Into the folds of
the paper, VIII le the parcel is resting upon
the counter, the shopllfter can tuck away
more things than al unskillcd person can
get in Gladstone bag. Vt course, all
the articles So stolen must lie small.
When she desires to get away with
quantity of silk, bund of gloves or
box OF handkerchiets, she uses her con-
venient wrap. 1t is not often that o
woman of this kind does not increase
considerably in size from the time she
enters the store until she leavesit, and an
observation of this change in her; ;ppear-
ance is, after all, the surest way OF de-
tecting the crooks
81 he special officers who are detailt q
to these big stores make, as matter OF
course, a special study OF these women.
l have often lost three days out Of aweek
by trotting around the Police Courts
getting acquainted with the faces OF
shopliiters who have been arrested.
Most of the large stores have rogues
galleries of their own, the pictures IN
which consist almost exclusively of shop
lfters. In a special division Ct the books
in which the names and edigrees OF the
professional shopl fters are ke..t, appear
the names and addresses Of women who
are otherwise reputable, but who have
been detected at shoIlift ng. Upon the
return Of or payment for the articles
stolen they have not been prosecuted.
Queer rs it may seem, the shops suffer
more from this class OF amateur thieves
than from even the professionals. Some
women are ilicted with such lust for
possession of articles which they cannot
afford to buy that they a'e willing to
sacrifice their own and their families
regulations by q systematic course of
stealing. know OF one Lady living IN
West forty-third street, whose. name was
on our books, and whose husband had
made an agreement with the firm to pay
for anything his wife m ght steal. In
one year his bill amounted to within a
few dollars of,$7, 600. This lady waa a
patroness of several charitable institu.
tions and q member of one OF the most
prom ncnt Presbyterian churches on
Murray Hill. -
"It Is >ery rare. that mistakes are made
in arresting women for shoplifting who
are not actually guilty of it. 1t is al
torether too dangerous. The most
notable ca>e I remember occurred IN
Brooklyn some years ago. The wife OF
the District Attorney of Kings County
bought q quantity of goods in the store
of one of The leading d y-goods firms
across the river. An oiiicious floor
walker thought that she had taken some;
thing which she had not paid for, and
he directed her to 20 to the office. She
Indignantly refused. Thereul'on the
man obtained assistance and carried her
there, where she was searched by three
female attendants. Nothing was found
upon her for VIII ch she had not re-
ceipted memorandum. Then she was
told that she could 20. She positively
refused But she said, i desire to
have my husband sent for, and
he will inquire more particularly
into this outrage She wrote a note
and directed it to her husband in his Of
ticial capacity. A member Of the firm,
who by this time had appreciated the
gravity of the mistake, begged that the
lady would say no more about the matter.
declaring that he would indemnify her
for the Outrage viii h he acknowledged
had been perpctratcd. This the lady also
refused to 90. When her husband ar'
rived The overtures for settlement were
renewed, but we aga;n rejected. The
floor wa kcr. the man who assisted him.
and the three women who made the
search. were arrested for assault. The
matter was given .he widest pub icity in
the newspapers, and 'he re ult OF 1t all
WAS that so strong was feeIlng against
the firm because OF the outrage that 1t
was ob.ige to retire frum business
This was q salutary warning which dry
,,,,ds rnon in ynurrni have not forgot