The Portland daily press., 1897-12-18

hand under her skirts, and deftly to stick
the cape over tho classics wbera they
cross. That is calltd clouti1e among
thieves and many profess. on SIS do IT that
way.
Amateurs wear those long Canes with
pockets in them, dress skirts with sllts
in them and shoplifters' bags but really
clever professionals never. Shon neople
often have their suspicious aroused be-
cause woman's garb looks as If 1t was
fixed for the shoplifting businesses. Big
Mary and Flossie Maitland were too sharp
to make such break as that. They wore
tight-ftting jackets and We're quietly
dressed. The matron who searched them
said that she had seen fine silk petticoats
but,she never saw any SO magnificent as
those that Big May had on the day she
was taken.
THE two women undeniably looked
above suspicion and when Flossie in her
modest almost ohildishly shy way turned
to Big May in these stores after trying
on many cloaks and capes and remarked
that she hated to buy a wrap without
feeling sure her husband would like it,
what was more natural than for Big
May to suggest that they go and bring
him around to see it. These two are now
in the Tombs and as their bond has been
fixed at $4,000 don't believe they'll get
out very soon. 1t is probable that they
will take their Christmas dinner in State
prison and guess the shopkeepers here
are resting little easier for that"
"What are pennyweighters?"
| "Pennyweighters," answered Capt.
McCIusky ARE the shoplifters who sub
stitute bogus articles for genuine ones
Men engage in this branch of shoplifting
to as great an extent as women and both
usually go in for jewelry. Nellie Scott
and Mamie Holmes were two of the clev-
crest pennyweighte ever caught. They
were two rs good as ever beat the patent
trade and that's what they did In Boston
and got $1,000 stone. You know if you
should go into Tiffany's and ask to see q
case of rings you couldn't remove one of
those rings from the case unless the sales
man worked the spring. Pennyweight-
ers sometimes can and that's what these
girls did. Pennyweighters visit shop
look 1t over, decide on what jewelry they
wish and go back with bogus substi-
tute
"We are very much bothered especially
at this season by large class of persons
who have a tendency to steal but are not
clever enough and get caught. 1t is a
case of first offence with many and 9th
CTS are not hardened criminals Only a
few minutes before you came here had a
woman in who was charged with being q
professional shoplifter. She wore a shop
lifters' pocket and those who had her ar
raigned conceded that she had never
taken anything but remnants which she
could pawn for dollar or may betwo.
She had boy five years old with her.
The poor creature pulled out bottle
half filled with mixture of alcohol and
cally i'll a year ago and acquired the
dope habit and didn't know when she
did steal.
"The truth is she couldn't do withc 1T
this stuff and lifted enough from the
stores to get money sufficient to buy it
every day or two. In her condition 1
could not send her up.
"This brings us to the question of what
proportion of professional shoplifters are
caught and convicted. My answer is
fully IS per cent. What is done with
p, them? Some are fined and some sent up
They are sentenced according to the
crime for which they are arraigned and
their past careers Two famous shoplift-
ers, Nettie Ford formerly of Baltimore
and man by the name of Hamburger
have just been set free; or, at least, she
has. He was sent up for seven years
and she for five. They were caught in
bric-a -brao store in Twenty eighth street,
and she had Hundreds Of dollars worth of
bric-a- brac under her long cape. Many
things Interfere with the conviction of
some shoplifters who ars caught who IN
doubtedly deserve severe sentence.
wealthy and influential persons are
sometimes hght-fngered, you lnow. Now
there is one shoplifter known to the DO
lice as the woman in black who has
given us no end of trouble. She is out
stealing all the time, but owing to her
connection with church il Harlem it is
impossible to convict her. The judg es
are loath to believe the officers when good
Christians go to the front and tell what
they don't know about this woman. She
was arrested in a big store on Broadway
last Christmas and got one day; that s
all she's ever had and yet she goes from
store to store helping herself.
1T seems sad," concluded the captain
"that at this particular season SO many
women should be tempted to steal. All
of the big dry goods stores in this city
have to employ detectives. The mana
gers Of some deny that they do, and 1t is
true that they allow no arrests to be
made except in cases of professional shop
1ifters but they do just the same Young
girls and middle-aged women and old
ones, too, for that matter go into the
stores and see something they long for for
their own use or for some one else, and