The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1898-10-29
BRIGHT GIRL DETECTIVES.
rhey Keep. Sharp Watch for Pllfererl
in Dry-Gonds Stores.
go after her! She's got stuff! Go
after her!" whispered the sa.eswoman,

$50 after her! She's got stuff! Go
after hertz whispered the sa.eswoman,
excitedly.
The girl detective took the alarm and
hurried to overtake a handsomely dress
ed young woman who was just leaving
the store. When she reached her side,
however, instcad of sternly demanding
the stolen goods the detective, like tho
detected. went into spasms of laughter.
Its too ridiculous" said the sup
posed thief. II looked right at Miss b..
spoke purposely to y woman next to me
that she might hear. and she never
knew me at al. Now. I'm certain that
No. 81 Won recognize me either when
she comes i n and I'll be abe to catch her
Mt some of her tricks"
we have to resort to all sorts ofdis-
guises to get even with the shoplitters."
the other girl detective said to the N.
y. San reporter. @They get SO that
they know us and are cureful7to be on
their good behavior when we're around.
so we change our dresses, hats and
costs and the way we Xix our hair in or
der to fool them. Often VIC stand right
close to them in the crowd and they
don't reconize us."
1--WE are always dressed as if we had
just come in from the street, /" said l.er
companion, "and no one ever takes us
to be connected with the store ut all. I
fixed myself Up rs an old woman once,
with s%pectacles. grizzly hair, a scoop
bonnet and an old shawl and hobbled
along fer several squares behind two
women whom we suspected of taking
b. thin rc Inf Vvyhosp1 vs,n r knl No vol All
dence against. Sure enough they took
the things to n certain fence in Ludlow
street. which some time after the police
raided. Several articles belonging to
the stock here were found among the
stolen goods that they hadn't been able
to sell.
We're instructed to be very particu-
lar about making arrests" she went on.
"The superintendent says he would
rather have u hundred guilty people go.
UNPUBLISHED than have one innocent per-
son accused; be sides, if falsely accused,
the parties could sue the house for heavy
damages. We accuse any one,
no matter how much we may suspect,
until we actually see something stolen.
I've been detective in this store nearly
ten years and I've got so that | can tell
a shoplifter almost at first glance. I
Judge from the uneasy way they roll
their eyes around, from the motion of
their fingers and the way they move
their hands. They assume various dis
guises. Nearly all the professionals
that We arrest have pawn tickets ON
where about them and they try to get
rid Of these in all sorts of ways so that
we won't get hold of them. One girl
chewed up a pawn ticket and swallowed
it and was chewing up another when we
found out what she was up to. Another
girl had two rings in her mouth which
she had taken from the jewelry coun-
ter.
There are lots of people who take
things without n good eScnse-women
ard men who want to dress up to the
mark and haven't got the money to
reach it. Two girls were caught here
not long ago just loaded up With rib
bons AM! lace, fancy pins. buckles,
gloves and such things. The way in
which they had slowed away stuff in
their stocking and various other hiding
places was a. caution. Among the odd
articles found in the stocking Of one girl
was a bottle of whisky. 1t was crammed
in and then tied tight to keep it from
slipping. A bottle Of cologne was fixed
in the same way. These girls said they
had stolen ribbon before aud promised
that if we would let them off they would
tell us of companions Of theirs who they
knew did the same thing. They said
that they belonged to respectable peo-
pie. l went to the address they gave
alfew days later and found that the
family was respectable