Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1892-04-23
SHIPPING DETECTIVES.
THE NOVEL DUTIES OF JOB
BERS' EMPLOYEES.
zen whose sole B~asiness Il Il to Pro-
.eht Thefts From Trucks aad Al
dresses From Pedagogical
New oecpp ttion.

.orney the other day the head Of .
Of the largest Wholesale dry goods
house%4n this city had occasion TO re.
fer casually TO the various classes OF
whom his firm found il necessary
10 employ, relates the Chicago Herald.
After citing statesmen. various kinds
Of clerks credit man. cashier book
keepers etc. the head OF tho firm
added and shipping detectives"
And WHAT asked the attorney,
as though he hal misunderstood the
term.
Shipping detectives replied the
client
.Ws.L that's "a new one on mct' 1t
was also new 10 the Herald representa-.
tive who was all attention
There's aothing strange about
that said the wholesaler. for the
shipping detective is quite Il new
thing. Few houses-only the larger
ones-have cause TO employ them
and the house that does usually keeps
the matter as much Of a secret as the
condition OF It's bank account
What are his duties
principally to shadow consign.
ments OF goods from the time they leave
the store until they reach the freight
depot and tho railway company be-
comes responsible for them by accept
ing and receiptlng for them
"A 7cct OF Watchdog on the team
sters'
Only in part. You 500 Wa ship d
great many small boxes which
frequently contain hundreds u dollars
worth Of goods such as tine silks
satins rich trimmings &c. Often the
wagon on which these boxes leave the
store passes through alleys or narrow
and untrequented sIde streets need
o remind you that there are scores
Of very bold d~exterous thieves IA
Chicago as well as other big cities
who are constantly on the lookout for
opportunities to nip any thing what
ever that "a be- turned INTO money.
Many expensive experiences with
these people have demonstrated that
they keep themselves remarkably we'll
informed as to the more valuable ship.
ments made by wholesale houses In
former years IL was an almost daily
occurrence for wholesale houses ar
ticulnrly those in our liuo-to have
small boxes u fine goods bodily
taken from the wagons IN broad da
light while going the comparatively
small distance necessary 20 10 covered
between store and freigh. depot Only
a few years ago our firm had three
such boxes stolen at a clip from one Oh
the wagons 1T ? o'clock IN the after.
noon, while they were being Cnrtsd
less than four squares. BY u descr.p.
ton which vas furnished OF the thieves
by q bootblack We caught one oy the
three bold ldddies. and sent him over
tho road. but we never recovered the
goods which were valued nj over
IS. 600. This was hut one OF several
such losses. Now we have men Who
DO little else than keep their eycs on
goods from the moment they are
placed on transfer wagons until they
are safe within the responsibility or
the railroad company. And frequent
" IL keeps them lodging pretty live.
ly. for they, Of course, follow tbs
wagons nfoot going along the side
walk. and keeping sufficient distance
in the rear as not to attract attention.
Another duty Of the shipping do.
tectiyo-for whom some houses have
a different name--is to prevent as far
as possible. the theft OF consignment
addresses. There are firms doing bus,
mess in this and, / suppose Other
cities, who employ mon to lilo In wait
at various times and places and COPY
the addresses on boxes OF goods which
other firms are sending out. The Oh
iect is plain-namely, TO have thell
statesmen call on the parties later or
and try TO got their trade. The shin
ping detectives employed BY as hay,
caught several such sneaks, but not
with5tanding they Hre guilty Of plain
unvarnished thieving. yet all we car
possibly hope TO do in the matter is Il
drive them away. or, when we catch
them at it. give them n sound basting
'Of course they will never reyea
the name of the firm they are stealing
the addresses for, and this makes /
impossible for the reputable houses I,
publicly expose their d%espicable mas.
ters. Such hirelings nre usual,
blacklisted clerks from other cities
and they hold their d~lshonorable lob
but a short time. Any one noticing
the loads Of boxed goods that arc I,
be seen upon the principal down tow
streets at any hour OF the day will OBJ
serve that as a rule the addresses ar
not exposed. n they are. the boxe
in all probability represent impoS
instead OF exports. A strict followin.
Of this rule regarding the placing q
boxes on wagons is enforced by near
ly all the houses and goes far towar
guarding against the class Of thieve
last mentioned