St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1891-08-29

ratsos fetrA 20 70 speak. and worked -
admirably. that Il was . long time bc.
fore the detectives ',cauRht on" and
many Thousand dollars worth Of art!-
cles w'cro stolen by shis means before
an arrest WINS made. Tho first capture
was caused by salcsgirl ut o laco
counter in Twcnty-third street ztorc.
She had not seen tho shoplifter put
anything In the bandbox, but had been
attracted by the singular manner in
which the cover was closed-apparent-
" Of itself. She notified . doOrwalker.
The woman was called into q private
room. accused and searched. and in the
bandbox were articles enough to start
. miniature country fancy goods store.
Among other things she had thirteen
scarfs, an inkstand, . cigar holder and
. dice box. stolen from different stores
which showed that her tastes ex-
tended over . wide field.
Well, the bandbox has had brilliant
but comparatively brief career, and
few arrests were caused by its use, but
those that were made occurred within
a few days, and the workers Of the con.
trivance saw that the game was up and
gave up the ghost There is no record
of any having been used recently.
This was in time succeeded by a
simpler trick, ono that has long been
worked with success, because itcrcates
no suspicion It is the satchcl game.
Although store detectives say it Is COM
paratively dormant just now. It was ex-
tensively worked during the holidays
These are used for stealing pocket
books as well rs eoodA
They are, In appearance. like ordi-
nary hand satchels, but they open and
close by means of . spring. The
thicfs right hand presses button, and
the left, which is always ungloved, does
the rest It is by this means that
pocketbooks are oftenest stolen in
crowded dry goods stores. and this has
served to make trouble for many sales
girls
The pickpocket (for such he or she
isl generally works with aconfedcratc.
She first espies a woman with pocket
book in her hand-and they are legion.
She will follow that woman in the gen.
orally gratified expectation that she
will ere long deposit It on tho counter
where she stops to examine goods
The thief will crowd near and snatch
the pockctbook In . twinkline at the
FIRST opportunity and pass It to the con-
federate. who disappears and has not
been noticed near. The real thief can
remain beside the victim with safety,
as, should she be arrested, nothing can
be found ON her.
As the best inventions arc generally
the simplest 50 are the latest and most
successful methods of shoplifting.
| These arc three. One is done by means
of the cloak known as the connemarA
This Is made somewhat like a circular.
It is q long, loose cloak. covering even
the hands. It enables the thief not only
to steal with greater degree Of safety
but also to conceal her booty.
All she has to do Is to get near n
crowded counter. throw the edge Of her
cloak partly over the article which she
covets, slip her hand underneath the
cloak. take the article. step beck and
hold il in her hand. Unless she Is
caught in the act she cannot be arrested
or even suspected.
Another il still simpler. The thief
lays her handkerchief carelessly on
some small article she wants to steal,
feigns desire to buy something else,
is not suited, and while the saleslady
replaces the goods on the shelf the thief
picks up her booty with her handkcr-
chief. II she should happen to be caught
she naturally claims that she did not
know that she had the stolen article in
her possession
The third ono is worked BY means of
. handbag containing twine and wrap
ping paper. This bag is carried in the
left hand and filed with whatever
goods the shoplifter can secure: then
she will GO into the toilet room or some
side street, take out tho goods. paper
and twine, wrap them up In neat par.
Gel and try again or 60 away unmo.
Tested.
But perhaps the clevercst of the shop
lifters' tricks II the ''pennyweighter"
game. Il is known to but few and
practised by still smaller number. for
II Is . difficult ono. It has been most
successfully worked by . pretty little
blonde. with . baby face, blue eyes,
curly hair and the general appearance
Of q bewitching soubrctte. Her profcs-
sional name il Little Scotty." She
came to grief In Boston and was given
three years
Her mode Of working d to 60 to .
jewclry store and ask to be shown
loose diamonds on . tray. She pre-.
tends to be very shortsighted and bends
over and very close to the tray, exam
lining the diamonds through an eye
glass. She exposes her left hand 30 as
not to be suspected. and ut propitious
moment drops . one-carat diamond into
the tray, and with her tongue. on the
point of which she has pulveriEcd alum,
she licks up two-carat diamond She
cannot find the exact counterpart Of
the one she wants to match (which she
has not with her) and goes into another
store where she exchanges her two
carat diamond in . similar manner for
. three-carat and 80 on ad infinitum-
When she was caught she had started
with . onc-carst diamond and had
reached six and half carats. making
three or four hundred dollars in . few
hours
Store detectives say that there are
comparatively few professional shop
liftcrs in the city now, and once they
are caught they disappear-as soon .
the law permits-and never return.
They 60 to other cities They say that
supposedly respectable women now