St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-12-27


must have been mad must have BEEN
inSanei"
Then she slips from beneath her long
| glove the lost lace and hands tito MIR. p
For Cots sake. Mr. p. she pleads.
"Wla5 PREPARATION can make? Q, this
will ruin me-"
You have made all necessary repara-
ton, Mrs. X, Ly returning the article.
! which we are willing TO believe you
| took in fit of Observation-Disclosures and
| only ask that YOU will not let this little
matter interfere with your patronage of
our establishment. When you are COM
| posed / shall be glad TO escort you to
! your carriage"
The lady, after using the toilet con-
veEienceS of the Office, walks to the
| door; at her side the dignified and
worthy senior partner. AS they step on
TO the sidewalk they are barred by a
motley crowd of men anu boys, in
whose midst walks policeman holding
by the arm woman clad III poor gar
ments, whom he has, as is evident, ar
| rested.
What's up?' cries an Acquaintance of
4 the policeman, as tine crowd SurgeS
| past.
"Nothin' much.'' answers the blue
| coat. This here lady's been a layin'
in her stock of footgear for tie winter"
and the speaker. with grin, mods at
his captive and hold alOft a pair of
shoes.
The lady shudders slightly as she
hears this passage, but, with head high
In air. enters her carriage and is rapidly
| driven away.
Poor Mrs. y. is kleptomaniac.
Poor Mrs. M0riarity is a thiefi,.
But 1t must take one who could di-
vide hair 'twiXt north and northwest
side" to tell the difference between
them, morally and mentally.
There lived for many years on Mount
| Auburn most respected lady who
never went on a shopping expedition
without returning home laden with the
| spOlS of her kleptOmaniacal tendencies.
| Her husband was an honorable and up
| right man. prominent in business, and
respected by all. When he found the
evil impulse of his wife seemingly in
durable he made the best OF bad mat
| ter by making an arrangement with
| prominent merchants whom his wife
| despoiled by which he was either to
| pay for or return such goods as she
| distracted, and it was no uncom-
mon thing for the poor woman
| to carry home, with the giee of
| vicious success. a fine piece of
goods or costly article, which was soon
either paid for by her husband or KEEP
| tOmanically Slipped back to its owner.
! Many will remember the case of Rev.
! Mr.. Morgan in this city. 1t occurred
about fifteen or twenty years ago. He
was bright and
Rising Young MAN,
who was much admired not only for his
ability. but for the fact that he had made
his own way against poverty and many
| other obstacles. In an evil hour he be-
| no. to I.rrif loAnr
| of the librariaa) books from the public
| library, and soon he borrowed from the
! bookstores. lIis detection and fall are
sad commentary on the frallty Of
| humanity even when hedged by the
| powerful influence of a holy calling.
The writer remembers oyerhearing
| the orders given TO the librarian by the
| custodian of library ON the occasion of
| the visit OF a prominent citizen to look
over the books: Mr.. B., yOn will be
visited to-day by Mr.. Y, whom you
know 70 be very extensive collector of
books in our department. Show Mr.. Y.
! every courtesy, give him every Oppor-
! tunity to see our books. Show him our
| treasures, for he is capable of judging
and approaching them as they should
| be, but you will please not let him out
| of your sight for one moment Do not
! misunderstood me! He is an honor
| able gentleman; indeed, / would
| trust him with all | have except
books in our line. He would not
take book, no. no! no! but he is very
absent-ninded, and might drop vol
| ume into his pocket and forget 10 restore
! it, or he might borrow volume. with
out mentioning the matter to u.s. and
not think to return it. Mere forgetful-
ness, you Will understand! But this
! library cannot stand the inroadS of
| persons of short memory. no matter
! how wealthy and prominent they may
| be-"
| Only few DAYS ago the readers of
| this paper were shocked by the account
of repeated thefts on the part of a lady
| moving i'll the best circles of society
The press has been kind to this class of
persons. and where one is heard of
! hundred are charitably passed over
without notice.
Now, what is it that prompts one who
is able to acquire, by purchase or other
wise, what lie or she desires, to steal?
The cynic would answer because he or
she is thief and has the nature of a
thief, TO matter what his or her station.
The religious man might say, 1.-The de-
| sire enters into him or her. and for the
time being ruins mind and soul" The
materialiSt or neceSsitarian would say
| (and without slang), HE or she was
built So Look at the past record of
the family and you will find
slip or. moral hiatus-it may be
generations back-tO account for
the present so-called sin" A
legal logcian might answer, There is
a lack of perception which causes a
| blurred or, at least. not clearly-detined
| appreciation of the limit or line divid-
ing the domain of King Meum from
King ruum, hence the trespass.'
The modern optimistic Sybarite would
say: ''Sin there is no sin-but that
which Is so called is relative. and could
we know all the past and ALI the hidden
| factors in the case we should probably
| find that the merchant or person who is
! robbed is the true kieptomaniac, in that
| he Is keeping from the appropriation
what is or at least may he his.
SO from every point of view opinion
as to the cause, responsibility. ETC.,
might be multiplied. What is klepto-
mania? We all know what "mania'
means. and knowledge of the Greek
| alphabet will enable us to find in Lid
dell and Scott that "klepto" means ito
steal, spirit away, cheat, beguile. to
| conceal" etc. Kleptomania has been
defined as an irresistible impulse to
steal. Is it disease in itself? Here
Medical Authorities Differ
some regar ding it as disease per Sc,
others as symptoms of insanity in one
form or another. One of the first
writer's on insanity, Esquirol, was in
clined to believe that there is such a
| disease. but his observed cases have
been relegated to other forms of mental
disease, especially general paralysis,
which in his day was not well under
stood.
A propensity to steel is often a symp-
tom in advanced insanity AID imbeciI-
| Ity. a poor, demented creature will be
found gathering boards of gold in the
shape of yellow, glittering stones or
| jewels in the guise of bits of broken
glass. Yet it is related that persons
who otherwise exhibit no signs of men,
| tai failure may be afflicted with this