The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1895-12-31
Merry SHOPLIFTERS
ALL KINDS OF ODD DEVICES
One Man Pays Regularly for His
Wife's Thievery = One Woman
Stole a Banjo and Returned IL
for Repairs-Other Cases.

Missoula, Dec. 30.-Cases of shop
lifting have been unusually numerous
in local stores this season and the mer-
chants and clerks have been led many
a merry chase by acquisitive females
who have taken unto themselves goods
of all descriptions which have been
left within their reach. The holiday
season is a picnic for this class of wo-
men and they improve IL. The crowds
which fill the stores at this time make
ii well nigh impossible for the clerks
to keep watch upon all of the prospec-
tive purchasers and, when there are
no floor walkers and detectives, the
shoplifters find 1t not difficult to ply
their profession.
II believe that Missoula has a great
err number of this class Of women than
any other town of it's size I'm the coun-
try" said the manager of a large store
to Standard reporter the other day.
Some of them we know but there are
others who get in their work quite ex-
tensively before we detect them. There
have been more of them than ever this
season and we have lost lot OF stun
by their operations. They all work
differently, some of them crudely and
some with great skill. Once in while
we find a woman who boldly takes
some article from the counter ana
trusts to luck to escape detection. You
can put such a woman down as new
hand at the business. The experienced
shoplifter is always provided with
some means of concealing her pur-
Joined wares. These are, of course. the
ones who get away with the most stun.
Here in Missoula these women us
ually adopt the flowing cape or the
,shoplifter's skirt These devices have
been discarded as too crude In the
eastern stores where detectives are
employed but they work well here
when there is a crowd in the store. The
cape has capacious pockets inside ana
the skirt is one of large proportions
worn underneath the dress skirt. II Is
provided with a slit in one side. which
opens into a huge pocket. There are
two or three women in town who wear
such a continuance. They can, under
favorable conditions, get away with a
large quantity of goods.
I'VE have this season detected three
or four of these women In our store
and have in every instance confronted
them with the proofs of their pilfer-
ing. All but one of them surrendered
the stolen goods rather be searched but
one was a thoroughbred She huns
out and held strongly to her innocence
of the charge. We were so positive
that we insisted upon having her
searched and we found that we were
correct She had a goodly amount OF
plunder slowed away. No, we didn't
prosecute her. She surrendered the
goods and has not been inside the
store since. In so small a place as
this II Is comparatively easy to keep
watch of these people when once you
I'm the East the shoplifters are forced
to adopt more ingenious devices than
those 1 have mentioned; they are
watched so closely. After the floor
walkers had exposed the cloak and
shirt rackets, the baby scheme was
used for a long time. The litter car
ried upon her left arm baby wearing
a very long and handsome dress. Her
right arm would be full and the
amount of plumber that she would stow
away inside that baby's dress was sur
prfsing. For small articles, especially
jewelry, the garter trick was for long
time successfully worked. 1t was q
clever invention and IL was used for
months before IL was discovered.
garter made of strong elastic was
clasped below the knee and all around
Il were little hooks, upon which pill
fered articles were hung, while the
woman was apparently fixing her
stocking. OF course, IL was cumber-
some, but II worked well.
The glove trick is more convenient.
In this case, the litter carries a pair
of gauntlet gloves in her hand and
while examining small articles, usually
manages to drop something into the
gloves. In crowded stores the simple
umbrella trick is still very serviceable.
But the latest wrinkle of which have
heard is the new false bottomed shop
ping bag. 1t is the cleverest invention
of this tricky class of thieves. The
bottom is made of two flaps of stiff
leather, working on little hinges and
held together by stiff steel spring. A
skillful operator can get away with a
lot of stun by the aid of one of these
bags, held innocently enough in her
lap"
The queerest part OF this whole bust
ness Is that many of the women who
practice shoplifting do not do IL from
necessity. They are women who could
afford to buy the articles. One of the
best known of Missoula's shoplifters Is
a woman whose husband pays for all
that she steals. 1t is a form OF insan-
enter his store. he knows that she will
steal something. He watches her do II
and charges the stuff to her husband
She is well known in all local stores.
The boldest lifting that has come to
notice I'm this city was done last sum-
mer by a woman who stole a banjo
from a local dealer. The merchant
missed IL but could not imagine where
IL had gone TO. He did not suspect tina,
such a bulky article could be taker
before his eyes without detection. The
affair remained a mystery for three
months. when the woman sent the in
strument to be repaired. The nerve dis
played was so great that the merchant
expressed his admiration for IL by re.
pairing the banjo and returning IL free
Of charge"
INSTRUMENTS FILED.