The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1888-02-16
METHODS or sHoPLlrTEas.
Stealing as a Means of Livelihood-Th
Amateur KIeptcmanIac-

NOT One-tentn III the people CdugHs
surreptitiously appropriating our goods
are ever brought TO justice. said the
superintendent of large dry goods es-
Enlistment 1--WE have our own private
detectives, some of whom are women, to
protect our property, but shoplifting Is so
prevalent that not day passes without
the detection of one or more thieves. The
professional thieves, adroit as they are,
give us less trouble than the new hands.
All the notorious shoplifters are well
known to our detectives, and the mo-
ment one shows her face in the doorway
she is warned away. As soon as a pro-
fessional finds herself spotted she takes to
the road and works the principal cities in
regular order 1t takes her several
months to work the circuit, at the end of
which time she can start all over again
without much fear of being recognized.
The expert shoplifter doesn resort to dis
guises as much as the uninitiated would
suppose. She takes a pride in her pro-
iession and looks upon stealing merely as
q means of livelihood. She is courageous
to the extreme and steals with an audaci-
ty that is startling. When detected she
becomes dogged, Gets with the indiffer-
ence of woman of the world, looks
upon the UfatttT as one VI Tie lOitufitS VI
war and never tries to crawl out of the
hole by adding lie to her other crime.
There is some satisfaction in outwitting
foe like this, whose life is tinged with ro-
nance, and who will wage as fair war;
fare against you as the dishonesty OF her
practices will admit.
.'On the other hand. the amateur thief
or kleptomaniac. or whatever you like to
II . A-k ,,,1
most contemplate plans to steal your
goods If detected in the act, she will
yilify yon say she is insulted.:. threaten
to sue. and lie ike Digger Indian.
There is not person on earth so dear-a
father, mother, brother or a sister
whom she would not betray in order to
secure immunity for herself Often these
new hands travel in pairs. When caught
they disgust you with human nature by
their mutual determinations.
..As for the excuses offered by shop
lifters when brought to bay most Of them
have become SO threadbare as to be
known as chestnuts. Once in while an
ingenious crook will spring a new fake
story on us, some of which would be
convincing enough if it wasn't for the
tangible evidence. l have kept a record
of all these excuses, and will enumerate
few of the common and curious ones.
First there is the fashionably dressed
woman, well connected and of undoubted
responsibility. Pilfering with her is, no
doubt, more of o disease than a crime.
She never steals anything very valuable,
but picks up little odds and ends that take
her fancy, such as tape measure,
spool of cotton, a match safe, an odd
| glove, single garter, etc. You will
notice that some of these things are of no
possible use or value to her. As far as
| possible we avoid bringing her failing to
| her notice The trifles she has stolen are
added to her bill and she pays it without
being conscious of having been detected.
| Sometimes the friends of this class of
shopIfters will find out where she has
been shopping and return all the things
| she brought home to see if they have all
been paid for.
The richly dressed woman, who passes
as respectable, is the one who gives us
| the most trouble. She always goes in
for big haul, and haunts the lace and
| silk counters. Her stealngs are of such
| magnitude, and her work is done in such
| bungling manner, that she is sure to
| be detected almost at once. When caught
and requested to step into the examining
room she bursts out in loud and vulgar
| remonstrance. After getting our goods
| rack we generally have her locked up.
| Then there is sure to be a hue and cry
| about an outrage and that sort of thing
| until she is tried and heavily fined.
There are always plenty of shyster law
| yers to induce her to bring suit for
| damages against us on the whack up
| plan. These vampires try to blackman
US into compromising the suit, but we
| know enough to remain firm.
"A very common type of the shop
litter comes from the middle walk of
life. She is generally a foolish woman
| whose husbands salary is not large
enough to supply her with the finery she
longs for, so she determines to steal it.
AT first her pilferings are very small, but
| in time she becomes emboldened by sue
| cess and there is nothing too rich for her
/ to slip under her dress. When discov-
cred she is full of excuses She was just
taking the article over to the light, or
she wanted to buy something at another
counter and unconsciously kept it in her
hand, or she wished to obtain the opin-
ion of friend whom she thought she
saw at the other end of the store, or the
thing got caught in her dress in some
unaccountable manner. A woman of
| this kind is anxious to avoid publicity,
and as she is ready enough to pay the
full value OF the article, we let her go
scot free, after the detectives have scru-
tinted her so that she would be readily
recognized again.
| THE child shoplifters are hard to de-
tect. They are precious little tots, and
become wonderfully proficient in short
! time. As they are unable to secrete
many articles ON their persons, they en-
| ploy most of their time in picking the
sachels of the shoppers. You would
think that little 10-year- girl would
break down and confess everything upon
being arrested, but they remain perfectly
self possessed and go through the trying
| ordeal of a searching examination with
the easy indifference of a professional
| These children are taught to steal by fe-
| male Fagins, who confiscate everything
and whip them numerically when they
| are unsuccessful.
ssMost of these children are visions of
| loveliness and innocence. A woman once
told me that she saw little girl deliber-
| ately steal her pocketbook. but there was
| such an imploring look in the little ones
| marvellous eyes that she had not the heart
| to accuse her.
1.-The contrivances for carrying stolen
| goods on the person are models of inge-
| nuity. A long bag sewed to the inside of
| the dress, with pocket two feet wide, is
| the most common receptacle, but large
| hollow hustle. easy of access, is much
| used. / don't know how women can
store things in such out of the way
! places in public store, but valuables
| have been found stuffed away in their
| hats. cersets, shoes and stockings. -