St. Paul daily globe., 1889-01-13

under her sealskin dolman. The candy
was worth less than 10 cents, and while
it did't amount to anything Thought |
would teach her lesson. l called
my female assistant, and after explain
ing the circumstance to her | said ln a
loud tone of voice to her, so that the
lady could near Il: Ms .afs. NJ, that
woman has it under her cloak; follow
her wherever she goes, and don't let
her pass out of your. sight L shall
never forgot the look that woman gave
me. Her face turned scarlet, and she
trembled like leaf. Mrs. NJ took
position beside her, and presently the
fun began. The lady glanced nervously
about for place to drop the candy. but
the watchful eyes of my assistant were
on her all the time, and she saw no
escape.
''ln her agony she hugged the slab Of
sticky mOlasSes to her bosom and started
on tour around the store. She stopped
at almost every counter and made pur-
chaSeS till she spent over 500 or more,
but she couldn't shake off my assistant,
who followed her like a shadow. At
last she gave up in despair and sat
down. The cold perspiratiOn started on
her brow, and she was evidently trying
to cOncOct some plan to put an end to:
her misery. Suddenly she arose and
made dash for the retiring-room, and
Mrs. NJ. after her. Here's where the
fun came in. In her excitement she
forgot that she could have thrown away
the stuff. so she sat down and began to
chew the candy. Piece after piece dis
appeared. and she didn't stop working
her jaws until the last particle was
gone. l wouldn't for fortune eat
pound and half such trash, but my
lady hid every trace OF her crime III this
heroic fashion. and she felt relieved
when she emerged from the place and
saw that her shadow had gone. She
hurried out of the store, and l haven't
seen her since.
''The coolest. or. you might say, the
checklist, kleptomaniac l ever saw was
the wife of hardware merchant, who
came under my observation only yestcr-
day. Right here. in the presence. OF
half a dozen clerks who observed her
actions, saw her walk deliberately up
to one of the figures, calmly unbutton
gOsSamer cloak hat hung upon 1t and
throw it over her shoulders. Then She
moved over to the lOOking-glasS III the
millinery department and arranged the
folds of the garment to suit her taste
and, for over an hour, she remained III
the store purchas ng Christmas pres
entS, with the tag of that gOSSamer still
sticking to it, When took her in she
burst into tears, confessed all, and on
her knees begged me not to let her peo-
pie know of her disgrace.
1--WE make from three to six catches
day in holiday week, but we seldom AZ
rest any of the holsters as we call
them.
"The members of our firm do not like
to appear Before the public as complain
ants in the police court, so we gener-
ally frighten them a bit and. after we
have recovered the stuff, let them go.
''Early this morning caught pretty
little girl, only fourteen years old, steal
ing book slate from the toy counter.
She was au innocent little thing, and
told me that one of her companions had
taught her to steal. She confessed that
she had stolen before, and when | took
her home she led me to. her room and
opened her trunk. where she kept the
proceeds of her stealing. | recovered
three dozen states, dozen packages OF
fine lead pencils and few expensive
mechanical toys, about $40 worth, which
she had taken in three days.
lit is the easiest thing i'll the world
to steal about Christmas time. Every
thing, as you see, is displayed on the
counters, and it doesn't require much
sleight of hand to abstract an article
while the clerks are busy. 1t is a great
temptation, and many person sue
cumbS to it,"