Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1898-07-09
Gizes are In the trav.


A customer steps up to make an In
quiry. The clerk turns her eyes for al
instant toward her questioner. One O,
the largest OF the diamond earrings
gives flash and is gone. The little girl
comes between her mother and the
counter. When the customer is gone,
the little girl has two small earrings in
her hand and says:
Won't you get mamma to buy me
this pair?'
While the clerk smiles and the moth.
er is saying they will call again in a
day or two the large diamond earring
is being fastened inside the cape. Thu
mother thanks the clerk, then they
hurry from the store.
They are scarcely out on the sidewalk
before a command is whispered in the
woman's ear:
Return that stolen property"
The girl takes to her heels. A man
follows and catches her.
The woman calls it an outrage. She
protests; says she'll make them nav for
the insult. She grows hysterical. The
lead the two back to side door. They
take them into the searcher's room;
Then the woman detective carefully ex.
amines all their clothing. The child
cries. The woman becomes silent. She
sees it's all up. What's the use of 60
ing to the trouble of making another
scene? The child is 10 years old and has
been but week under instruction, Be-
ing arrested is new to her.
A society takes the child. Her teacher
in crime, the woman who posed as her
mother, is held for trial.
This is but a sample case. In the
same store last week there We're Is ar
rests for shoplifting. Those of the pris.
oners who had never been in such
scrapes before were released. This par
ticular store tries to avoid the courts as
much as possible.
One woman who was arrested wore a
shoplifter's skirt. This skirt consists
chiefly of pockets. There are pockets of
all widths and depths. This skirt is
usually worn as an underskirt. An
opening is provided in the overskirt,
through which the pocket filled skirt is
easily accessible.
In the concealed pockets of the wom-
an mentioned were found two pieces of
embroidery, several rolls of silk braid
six remnants of silk, several pieces of
jewelry and pair of shoes. Two of the
store detectives, man and woman,
had watched the purloining of all these
articles.
1t is the rule Of most stores that no
shoplifters are to be arrested until they
reach the street. Scenes caused by ar
rests are very undesirable in place of
business. Besides this, those placed un-
der arrest in stores often make the de-
tense that they did not intend to take
the goods away-they simply desired to
examine them in good light.
One shoplifter, arrested last week,
and one on whom the stolen goods were
found, had six children at home. The
youngest was months old. The wom-
ans husband has a good business. He
furnished bail for her. When the pro-
prietors of the store learned that the
woman had a 6-months-old child at
home they withdrew the complaint
against her. The woman's husband said
he could not understand why she should
wish to steal
Store detectives deny that there is
any such thing as kleptomania.
"Kleptomania is mistaken notion
that some women have that stores are
easily victimized, is the definition that
the detectives give.-New York Tele-
gram.