The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1895-11-30
ON KLEPT0MANIA.
The KIeptomanac and the Ordinary
ShopIifter
A Mania Almost Confined to Females
A Lady Who Stole Umbrellas
by the Score.

Shoplifting by women is practice that
prevails to a remarkable extent in the
great dry goods stores of New York. De-
tectives are employed to watch for this
class of offenders, and arrests are of daily
occurrence.
Some of the shoplifters are no doubt
thieves but others are so respectable, and
the things they take so worthless in pro-
portion to the risk they run, that it is
hard to believe them responsible for their
actions. Women OF the latter class are
commonly called kleptomaniacs.
1t would be interesting to know Just
what the kleptomaniac condition of mind
is. DR.. Forbes Winslow, the English in
sanity expert now visiting this country,
gave a Sunday World reporter an inter-
view that throws much light on this sub
ject
what do you understand by kIepto-
mania?" asked the reporter
Il have gone into the matter very fully
during late years." replied the specialist.
and L will gladly tell you all | know.
In the first place, kleptomania is we'll
recognized form OF moral insanity. Those
so afflicted are seized with d sudden inn
pulse TO steal and carefully conceal what
they steal from others. Such individuals
are found not only at large, but within
the precincts OF asyiums. Scores OF such
cases have come under my notice. KIepto-
maniacs in asylums steal from their fell
low victims things which they cannot
possibly make use OF from the very force
OF circumstances"
"lu which sex is the complaint usually
most comnonY
at Is tar more common among women
than among men. kIeptomania in males
is exceedingly rare 1t is often found in
schoolDoys; but no criminal charge is
formulated, Tor the simple reason that
upon examination the irresponslb ility Is
proved beyond doubt. L have been ex-
gagged professionally in more cases of
kleptomania than l can possibly count,
but l cannot recall a single occasion when
| have been called upon to defend a
man"
But why should the disease be more
prevalent III females than males? Aud,
by the way, how do you substantiate the
existence of kleptomania when 1t is only
disclosed years after the disease which
was supposed 10 have originated itY'
'kleptomenia is connected a great deal
with hysterla, which, or course, is more
frequent among women than among men.
AS regards the time during which the
complaint may remain dormant, that
varies. When the brain is deranged you
cam tell what kind OF insanity may arise.
Twenty years may elapse after the occur
renee of the primary complaint and yet d
new form OF lunacy break out. At one
period person with deranged mind
may be a homicidal lunatic, and years
after kleptomania may reveal itself"
"In what condition of life are klepto-
maniacs generally found?"
"As general rule they move In good
society, and at the time the crime was
committed they have sufficient means TO
purchase the articles they have appropri-
ated. With every luxury and plenty of
money 10 satisfy every fancy, the i'm
pulse 20 steal seizes them with such an
irresistible grasp that they find IL a
physical impossibility to withstand the
innate desire. 1t is quite impossible for
them 10 overcome the impulse which
eventually lands them In the dock. l
have known woman who put her
hands on every umbrella that came
within her reach. She had scores OF UNI
brellas in her house, which she never
used, Notwithstanding the vagaries of the
British climate"
"Excepting the one form of picking
and stealing, is the average kleptOmaniac
considered honest by her friends 2"
.'Emphatically so. Judging from my
experience the average kleptomaniac is
both intelligent and truthful. There is
simply the one failing; IN all other re-
spects she behaves a law biding citl-
zen. Moreover, l have found that this
kind of stealing is not usually premedI-
tated. 1t is purely impulslve, and the
crime and its consequences are never
realized Il the time, though strangely
enough, after stealing tie kieptomaniac