The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1899-11-17
sHoPLIFTINc.
ways That Are Dark And Tricks That
Are Vain.

Are vain.
mere Is no section Of criminals that
atsplays such varied ingenuity as
oIopillters, said a clever detective
s mno mas had a long experience of the
naternlty; and | can assure you that
mahy OF them might give lessons In
Sutt,llg 10 the most artful Chinee.
oHopllItlng Is science that appeals
largely to women. Their sex. to a
oeItalh extent, disarms suspicion.
especially when, as is usual, they are
elegantly dressed, and do their shon.
ping IN a well-appointed brougham
lhef dress gives them unlimited
scope for the concealment of small
arlcies; and again, the game is so
comparatively free from risk, for if
.heE are caught red-handed as a rule
1t simply means an awkward inter.
view with the proprietor. and nav
ment for the goods annropriated
You see, it does not pay a fashion
aole Shopkeeper to give his house a
pdu reputation as haunt of thieves;
anu Iurther many of the lady-lifters
az women with some standing in so
Clety' VINO are either kleptomaniacs.
OF VINO cannot resist the sudden TENN
tatloh OF anneNing a pretty thing with
out payment.
Ladies of this class are novices in
the art and are readily detected A
+ common practice with them is to slim
/ any small article from the counter in.
/ TO thelr umbrellas when the assist
ant back is turned If detected if
Is the simplest of accidents, and the
! culprit apologies prettily, and re-
/ stores the article.
one lady, who had quite long and
successful career at counter-stealing.
was always accompanied by little
girl, ostensiDly her daughter, carving
a large doll. The mother. who was
4 youH$ and pretty, and fautlessIv
{ dressed, would hol6 the doll while she
/ Vas being served Ca very natural and
/ prudent act with Il valuable doll which
/ the child might drop at any mOmenD:
ana when the assistants attention was
I WIthdraWn she would slip into the bol-
! low interior of the doll any small
i article, from a bottle of scent to an
article of jewelry, that might be ly,
ing near her.
OF course, nearly all city firms EN-.
/ ploy women detectives. smaltly dress
ed and Of lady!ike appearance. VINO
mix with the crowd of purchasers. and
/ nave very keen eve indeed for these
4 peculaGons.
The tricks OF the male shoplifter are
much more varied and subtle than
/ those Of his female rival. A very
/ con mon practice is to carry sticl. or
1 umbrella with a hollow receptacle at
/ the top a spring releases the silver
/ or sold mounted top; the stolen
| article, which must naturally be small
as it is valuable, is slipped into the
I padded hollow, and the top sprung
back again into position
A very sldlful thief made a hiding,
| place Of the hollow part of an artificial
forearm into which he could palm an
article with lightning rapidity One
of the latest devices is to wear a glove
with a pocket or Il series of pockets in
the palm; and while examining small
| articles of jewelry, rings, brooches.
gold pendants. and so on. to slip one
or more into the concealed pocket by
practised movement of the fingers.
Another trick is to carry some adj
hesive substance in the palm of the
gloves, and by carelessly resting the
palm on an article OF JeWelry to re-
move it. The opportunities for eX-
ercising these tricks while the assist
ants back is turned, or while he is
attending to another customer, are
many.
But much shoplifting is done with
the help of a confederate, who strolls
in casually while number one is max
ing his purchases. One or two valu-
able articles are handed to the second
customer, who is apparently quite a
| stranger to number one; and if the
latter is suspected and searched, of
course nothing is found in his pos
session. OF till robberies, with smear
ed and hook-ended sticks, of false
alarms which draw the shopkeeper in
pursuit of imaginary thieves, leaving
the real pilferer free to do his work,
and of the hundred and one other arti-
fees it would require almost a volume
| to speak.