Waterbury evening Democrat., 1891-08-24

stealing. To fill one OF these bags re-
quires very little practice, but as women
carrying them are closely watched,
they do not prove dangerous to shop
keepers.
Much more ingenious and successful
are the women who steal jewelry and
laces and manage to hitch them to their
carriers. To do this requires rapidity
and grace of movement and remark
able self possession. The carriers are sup
piled with hooks, strong enough to hold
a pair of shoes If necessary, although
they are used principally for jewelry.
Women who employ this device are
always professionals who In most cases
have served an apprenticeship at pock-
etpicking and other criminal callings
requiring great dexterity.
Jerrold In st. James and st. Giles
says that what the poor call shoplifting
the rich and learned call kleptomania.
1t must not for q moment be supposed
that the crime of purloining merchan-
disc Is confined to the poor and Grim
inal. Every day the store detectives
catch women belonging to the best
families of this great city in the act of
appropriating goods
yer has, become so notorious that as soon
as she enters store she is followed by q
confidential clerk who watches her
movements. Her husband has spent
thousands of dollars to have her cured,
but without effect. To avoid scandal,
he finally went to the manager of every
leading store in the city and made an
agreement to return all the goods pur-
Joined by his wife or to pay for them.
In the case Of this woman insanity real
ly seems to be the cause of her failing,
as she makes no attempt to conceal the
stolen articles and throws them down
on her dressing case or bed as soon as
she reaches home.
Another interesting case to which at
tention has recently been called is that
of the charming daughter of an ex-
judge who was attending an education
al institution. For weeks she stole the
purses and small jewelry of her class
mates and destroyed valuable drawings
by running her fingers through the
canvas. No one suspected her, and
when she was finally caught while Sc
creting some trife the establishment of
her associates and teachers was great.
Eminent physicians who were consult
ciousness to nervous disorder and eX-
essed the opinion that complete rest
from study and labor would effect a
complete cure.
Kleptomania has been recognized by
the foremost alienists of the world as a
form of insanity; but, inasmuch as
every wealthy shoplifter caught within
memory of mankind has escaped pun
ishment by pleading a natural propen-
sity for theft and every poor woman has
been sentenced to imprisonment, the
idea has taken hold of the public mind
that this form of lunacy Is confined to
the rich, and Jerrold's quotation has a
tendency to show that this opinion is
old enough to be entitled to some credit.
Occasionally store detectives put
their foot IN it, )" to use slang phrase.
Some women naturally look timid and
when approached by gruf man lose
their presence of mind, failing which
the average sleuth considers a confess
sion Of guilt. A short time ago the
wife of prominent business man was
taken In custody on the charge of shop
lifting. The proprietor of the store
swore that the parasol carried by the
lady came from his establishment and
as the woman had not bought it he con-
Guided that she must have stolen it. At
the trial the lady proved that the par