Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1890-01-23
RAGE FOR STEALING.
Ladies Of Standing in Society Vic.
TINS Of Kleptomania.
How Store-Keepers Got Even with So
Called Unconscious Pilferers-The Rea-
sons and Causes OF a Peculiar Dis
ease-A Detectives Talk.

81 beg your pardon, madam, this is
| clinging to the fringe of your wrap"
! The speaker was the fioor-walker in one
/ Of the large retail stores of the city, and
| the person he addressed was a fashion
! ably-dresscd lady. He had caught her
! in the act of secreting a cheap purse
! under her wrap, and only took this
! means of letting her know that he had
/ noticed her. The lady blushed, and
murmuring something walked to another
/ counter, but all the time she was in the
! store sharp eyes were watching her.
| When she secreted some lace in her
| pocket nothing was said about it, but
the amount was added to the bill her
| husband paid at the end of tho month.
Are there many kleptomaniacs in
this city?" asked an indianapolis News
reporter of detective.
about fifty" was the astonishing an
swer. "Thsy are well known to the
merchants, and as soon as they step
| into a store they arc watched, and no
matter how sly they work, they are
always detected. 1t is not very
often that they are called upon to dis
gorge. If their husbands are not able
to pay for the articles taken, the lady is
asked to step into q private room,
and there q female clerk relieves them
of the stolen goods. It is seldom that
any information concerning the theft is
lodged with the police or gets outside
the store. The merchant never prose-
cutes them. To do so would ruin his
business. The bill is always settled,
and that ends it. A fioor-walker told
me recently that when the theft of an
article is noticed q bill for double the
value OF the article is made out and all
above the selling price of the article
goes to the person who detects the theft.
IN some stores young ladies arc en-
ployed who are ready detectives, and
whose business is simply to watch for
pilfcrers.
There is a woman here who every
Wednesday puts on an old sun-bonnet,
and taking q basket goes out begging
for bread. If she can steal q loaf, or an
ear of corn, or any trivial thing, she will
do 50. Yet this woman is far above want
in a financial sense. Another recently
stole seventy-fve yards of silk. Another
took two hundred yards of lace. An
other Will pick up buttons and all sorts
OF insignificant articles. They do this
believing themselves unnoticed, and
take risks that 4 professional thief or
shop-lifter would not think of taking.
One lady has such Z penchant for pilfer-
ing that she has a companion with her
at all times. This companion sees that
stolen articles are either returned or
paid for. Whenever d new store strikes
town the 'kleps' all flock to it, but there
is generally sore one employed who
knows these people, and they do not get
away with very much before they are
caught"
Major Carter, of the Secret Service,
relates this instance: SAT a country
church down South a gourd was used at
the fountain. An old lady walked up to
the fountain, took a drink, and, in the
presence of the entire congregation. Sc
creted the gourd under her shawl and
walked back to her seat, fully satisfied
that no one had seen her take the
gourd. That is the worst case of klepto-
mania I ever heard Of"
Scientific research has as yet failed to
fully explain the reasons and causes of
this peculiar disease-for a disease it
surely is. 1t is one of the mysteries of
poor human nature. Every locality
has it's full share of kleptomaniacs,"
said DR.. carp. 1T is not infrequent
that some of them receive sentence in
police courts, while largo majority of
them in the higher walks of society are
protected by friends in order to
spare tho feelings of their rcla-
tivcs, and it is often understood that
a settlement will be made for goods
purlOined. These persons are more
often women than men, which is I'M
questionably due to the peculiarities of
the sex, prone to conditions that invite
strange demeanor. They are not gen.
orally known in 4 community as insane
persons, and yet there sometimes seems
that tendency. Insane persons have de-
fectivc power of tho will If it be
mental alteration in the same degree
OF morality, intense jealousy, suspicion
which may, if not at the time, eventual
ly lead to q disturbance of the intellect.
Yet it would be extremely unfortunate
if the kleptomaniac was considered ir-
responsible for all his acts, since it
would easily establish a precedent for
the protection of the criminal classes.
The morbid disposition which leads
the individual to the act ofincendiariSm
is akin to the same category, yet these
persons are of lower social standing
and the same clemency is seldom ex-
tended to them. These ardent morbid
desires which constantly battle control
surely furnish chain Of circumstances
that speak strongly in eXtenuation."
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