Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-12-08
In PETTICOATS.
The Female Detectives OF New York and
Their Methods of Detecting Crime.
Keen Students of Human Mountaineering
Out Crime in the Great Dry Goods
Stores Of the Metropolis.

copyrighted 1890, by the United Press.
One of the industries which would
seem 10 have been designed exclusively
for men and into which few Of the gen.
tier sex would care to intrude IS the de-
lection of crime. But the sex whose
versatility and love Of adventure have
led its mem bers to risk their lives on the
battle field and the ocean does not stop
at sentimental trifie; hence it is not
astonishing that there should be found
among the detectives of New York to-
day few bold, adventurous souls who
hide shrewd and daring spirit under
feminine garb.
The female Hawkshews OF the Metrop-
oils are distributed in variety of fields.
Some are in the custom house keeping
their eyes open for fair smugSlers
who bring over jewels and tinery
without the Formally of paying tribute
to Uncle Sam. Others are in various
private detective agencies like Pinker-
tons and Fuller's, and others, again,
are in the great dry goods stores keeping
the valuable stocks from the depredatorY
fingers of clever shoplifters. few are
''semI-detached,' aud do occasional
jobs for the police, working at other
times at some regular occupation for
livelihood. The experiences of those
plucky women would ill volumes, and
while they might not be so exciting or SO
full of hand to hand to- hand encounters
with criminals as those of the male de-
tectives, they would possess peculiar
interest and would illustrate the sterner
side of feminine nature in way hitherto
unsuspected.
ONE OF THE sATARTEsT
women detectives in town is employed in
an extensive dry goods establishment.
She is a blonde of fine presence, and
5with q pair of eyes as sharp as flash of
lightning. She walks about the store
mingling with the shoppers and making
purchases like the rest. When she sus-
poets anyone then her knowledge of hui
man nature comes into service. Taking
up piece of dry goods she asks ali
about ii of the clerk or saleswoman and
when she has the latter's attention di-
verted for moment from the suspected
shopper, she turns her own back TO her
and eXclaims: ION, ism I il lovely?'
meanwhile rustling the goods about all
over the counter. This is the thief's
opportunity. A moments pause and
then the detective wheels around and
clGtching the suspected shopper by the
arm Gsks: 'What do you think of It,
madam?' If the latter has indeed
fallen into the trap she is discovered on
the instant and marched off to the Office
and then to the station house. If inno-
cent, nobody is hurt, and the lady
fancies she has simply encountered q
rather eccentric shopper, who is asking
foolish questions when she might decide
Tor herself. Mics Fleshauer' cases are
generally admitted by the police to be
dead sure, and she has never made a
blunder in an arrest. Conviction is GER
tam to follow, unless the firm -elents
and permits the offender to go with a
warning, which is sometimes
done when the articles stolen are trivial
and il is first offense.
Two Of the cleverest women ever en-
ployed by the Pinkerton g were Kitty
Parker and Jennie Hughes. They as
sisted in tracking down some of the most
celebrated criminals, acting in copjunc-
ton with male detectives. One of the
girls, from much running after thieves
became a thief herself and is now, in the
language of the fraternity, "laid up for
repairs '-otherwise III prison. Together
they captured several substantial re-
wards for detective work.
In one of the large dry goods houses
there is
\ VERY INGENIOUS CONTINUANCE
for the detection of shoplifters. There
are TO doors in the ladies' toilet
room and in an adjoining room are sew
eral reflex mirrors with q small peep
ole opposite which may be adjusted so
70 10 command q full view of the toilet
'Oom and its occupant. The female de-
tective stations herself in this adjo lining
apartment and works the mirrors.
When she sees any woman slowing away
articles under her dress she quietly slips
Upstairs and overhauls her rs she is about
% depart, concluding the search by
turning her over to an officer 1t re-
Iutres nerve TO deal with women in such !
'ases. Very often they are caught at |
heir first attempt at pecuiation and their |
ears and pleadings would almost melt g. |
tone; but the female detective has little /,
mercy for her sex and, If permitted, she |!
would deal harder with q woman than a |
nan would under similar circumstances. |
one Of the women who made a fine re- |
'ord as detective is now the chief of a .
detective agency. She made SO many |
emarkable clever hits IN the way of re-
covering dresses and jewelry that had |
'een stolen from actresses that she was |
n almost constant demand by the the
.trical profession for such service. Moth
ne would annoy her more than to find |
hat she had been used as an advertise
nent by some speculative actress. cts |
she would say, chow
ften these people try the same old,
hreadbare device. 1t always fails, for
detective can tell invariably within an
our whether the case is a real one or q
fabrication.
An amateur detective, in petticoats,
ed certain agency q wild and weird
ance few years ago. A woman, who
to be detective, called at the
gency and said she had q clew to the
iding place of the body of the dead
a. 7. Stewart. This, If
rue. was a big piece of luck for the
gency, for half the clever detectives all
yer the country had been puzzling their
ra ms how they might get their fingers
n the $40 900 reward offered by Judge
Hilton and Mrs. Stewart. One sultry
AUGUST morning found the agency men
n Evergreen cemetery on Long Island,
sc1 h- ha in,