St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-12-25


| er all. he takes
very few chances. He usually sees the
woman in the act of stealing, or maybe
the clerk will mis- something and tell
him Just in time-if he is lucky enough
| to be passing.
Another way of catching the shop
litter is by the tell-tale silk or cloth
wrapper left empty on the counter
where the theft has taken place.
All ladies who patrOnize the dry
goods stores know that cloth and silks
| are usually put up with all outer cover
| ing for protection. This paper wrapper
is unfolded as the clerk shows the
| goods. When piece of silk or cloth Is
sold the wrapper Is retained by the
! clerk, as there are certain private marks
on it, These are used in checking up
| the sales. Now, then, when shop
| litter nps piece of silk or cloth she
| invariably leaves the wrapper on the
! counter. She cannot make away with
| it, as it would expose her. 1t would
| take too long to publicly wrap it about
| the silk. Lying half in the silk and
/ half out of it. the easiest way for the
| ShOplifter to do is to tug away at the
cloth. and, securing the prize, leave the
| paper shell behind on the counter.
AS soon as the clerk sees the empty
papers before him, perhaps partly con-
cealed in mass of odds and ends, he
says
"Helloo. what's this? Is it sale or a
theft?'
1t does not take him long to discover
the true state of affairs. The alarm is
given; the woman Is Swallowed, per-
haps spotted. detained and searched.
The goods are recovered and the
woman is arrested.
The POcketbOok Trick.
There is little game that the store
detectives will be looking out for these
days, known professionally among
thieves as nipping pocketbooks-and
very clever thing it is, too. In some
respects it is better than shOplifting.
It is easier to work, the profits are usu-
ally large, and, all in all, it is good
game TO try.
A woman goes into big bazaar and
begins pricing articles. She lays her
purse down on the COULTER. Thousands
and thousands of women do this. 1t is
very careless. but there is no remedy
for it; 1t is one of the peculiarities of
the shopper, this laying down of pocket
books.
The women next to the owner of the
purse is thief.
AS SOON as Jn0 real owner HeHu Is
turned nip" and the pocketbook is
gone The other woman-the thief,
the one on the "make"-simply picks
up the pocketbook and walks off. There
is not one chance in dozen that she
will be caught. The crowds in the big
stores are very large. A step or two
and she is lost to view. Then the other
woman turns around.
"Where is my purse?" she says.
Not knowing exactly where she
placed it-her mind is distracted by the
show of pretty things on the counters
and OH the shelYes-she is undecided
for moment or two. She fumbles
through her pockets, in her wrap,in her
skirt. She, good, honest soul, never
dreams that she has been robbed. Then
she looks under the heaps of articles
jumbled together on the counters near
where she was standing. Or, perhaps,
she has taken step or two, and really
doesn't recall where she placed the
book, when it finally dawns on her that
she did not put it on the counter.
The search lasts several minutes.
In the meantime the thief has es-
capped.