The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-03-11
GO WEST, YOUNG THIEF /!
EASTERN CITIES MADE TOO HOT
FOR PTCKPOCKETs AND SHOP
LETTERS.
watching the Thieves at Work.
Travelling in Parties That Would


Ordinarily Throw on Suspicion
Experiences Of store Detectives.
New York Letter ia Pittsburg Dispatch.
Westward the march Of thievery takes
its way, So says Supt. Byrnes. The
/ professional thieves find that there is
more profit TO be- made in western cities
than in the metropolis, and the further
west one goes the more plckpockets and
shop nfters are 10 be found in pro-
portion TO the population. The explana-
ton of this is that in the eastern cities
7 the newspapers have exposed the various
+ tricks Of crooked people so often and so
thoroughly that the field is not so profit
able as ia places far west of Pittsburg.
+ But there are plenty of pllferers in New
York even now. and detectives are kept
continually on the watch to reserve any
T thing at all for honest folk.
visited several of the largest dry goods
I stores in New York the other day, and
talked with the female detectives. whose
+ business it is to catch shop filters. At A.
r. Mays. whose immense establishment
at the corner Of Sixth avenue and Four
teenth street is familiar to great many
Pittsburgers, I had a great deal of diff
Guilty in finding the detective at all. I
had been waiting for some minutes while
my message to the superintendent, ask
ing for an Introduction to the detective,
should be answered, when 1 saw that
functionary step up quiet, unobstru-
siVe woman I'm black, with a street wrap
ana hat of the same hue, who mad been
leaning one arm on the jewelry showcase
in front Of me. apparently admiring the
contents Of the case.
Mrs. Plunkett. this is Miss Lucette
Lorne Of the Pittsburg Dispatch"
Mrs. Plunkett turned her calm grey
eyes upon me and smiled.
you want to know something about
shopnfting Well. l suppose l should be
able to tell you. 1 have been here 16 years
and regard myself as one Of the pillars of
the house. Just before you came in had
case A woman stole a pair Of shoes.
She dropped them into a black silk bag and
was walking off innocenuy when l fol
lowed her to the street and brought her
back. What did we do with her? Oh, We
let her go. She was not a professional,
and told a story of poverty that l dare say
was true. We do not arrest more than a
/ very small percentage Of those we catch.
/ If we did we should be in the police courts
1 all the time"
do you always follow them to the
/ street before you stop them?'
/ fuss in the store. and it is just as easy
+ to catch them outside"
What do you mean by professionally"
/ "A professional is a person that makes
his living by stealing, in contra-distinction
! to an ordinary pilferer. Professionals work
in twos and threes."
Mrs. Plunkett explained further that
women make much better pickpockets and
shofuifters than men. A woman can
worm her away about a crowded store,
minglng with other women, and do a
great deal of execution, where a man
would be too conspicuous. For the same
7 reason women are nearly always employed
as detectives in stores. Her innocent ex-
/ preston, as she appears TO be looking for
| bargains. Is calculated to throw thieves of
+ their guard and when some lady-like Wo-
/ man follows pilferer TO the street and
proves the theft there is much surprise
and chagrin to be seen in the face of the
culprit
When three thieves are working in a
store together 1t is generally two wo-
men and a man. The actual stealing
is done by a woman, who goes first and
/ is called the stall" She sees an oppor-
/ tunity to pick a pocket or a purse or,
in thieves parlance, she 'swipes a
leather" AS soon as the article is in her
hand she passes It to the gentlemanly
looking man behind her. and he in turn
gives it to the schoolgirl looking maiden
behind him. The man and the school girl
are the touches" or tools" A stranger
would never suspect the thieves from their
appearance. The stall" is a benevolent
looking elderly lady, or a richly attred
younger one, who might be the wife of
a millionaire merchant. The school girl
is strongly suggestive of Dickens
! young person" who is so timid that you
wonder she has been trusted to come
out alone even to shop in the afternoon
in Fourteenth street.
Picking pockets is a fine art and the
lady who steals the pocketbook is an
adept. First she places her hand cas-
ually upon the outside of her victim
dress over the pocket, and feels the
purse. Then, with dainty penknife
that she is carrying in her hand, open
she Sits the pocket a few inches. She
inserts two fingers into the opening, and
widens il slightly for the next part OF
the operation, which is to wet the two
fingers, that they may stick to the pocket
= book and give her a better hold. out
comes the purse, and the job is done
Sometimes, if the pocket is a deep one
she gently switches the lining so that the
purse comes out with it and enables hel
to reach it.
When the woman detective has con
trived to be near enough to see the rob.
berry land she must be very. very near
: to detect it, her trouble is not ended
( She has seen the purse passed to the
Z aristOCrauc gentleman, ana she charges
him with receiving stolen property.
The gentleman is virtuously indignant
z He adopts a lofty tone, and says: why
l never saw this lady before in m;ly life
pointing to the "stall.' You should b,
! more careful, madame, or you may ge
yourself into serious trouble"
If the detective had not actually seer
, him with the purse in his hand, sh,
, might be convinced by his indignant pro
tests. AS it is, she knows her customer
. too well, and he is handed over to tn,
, police as Quietly as possible, when tn,
) purse is found upon him.
Said Mrs Plunkett: Il can tell at {
2 glance when people come into the stor,
whether they are honest or not I car
not explain this power / only know tina
l have it. A detective cannot learn tn,
business. 1t must be born in her.
, have taken all the noted thieves In my
career. There was Nellie Murphy. Q
, years of age now. She is a remarkably
, pretty girl and one of the cleveres
, thieves in the country. She has been {
, thief since babyhood. Annie Camp dice
! in prison lately, where I sent her for three
: years for stealing a pocketbook in thi
ba Of g