The times., 1901-04-07
PROTECTION FOR SHOPPERS
Detectives Necessary in the Large
Department Stores.
Customers From the Country Care
less About Their Purses-The Eas-
ter Season the Harvest Time for
Crooks-shoplifting as n Fine Art

During the Faster shopping time the
mana gers of the big department stores
| in the city take precautionary measures
| for the protection of themselves and their
customers No time of the year is 50
good for sneak thieves and pickpOckets as
the season of spring openings The
managers of great stores take pride in
the large crowds they manage TO bring
into their shops by their advertisements,
but in the size of the crowds there lies a
danger.
The people who throng about the dis
plays Of hats, iaces, silks, and the like
are apt to be vicuimized by the light
fingered gentry, and the counters. too,
are likely to be depleted by the profes-
sional shoplifters. During the spring
opening season the small crook and the
pickpocket work overtime in the big
cities They come in from the little coun-
try towns to the centres Of population,
and make hay while the sun shines.
1t is because of this fact that the man
ager Of a great department store feels
called upon to take preventive steps. All
during the year the stores have detec-
tives of some sort employed, and have
also their regular policemen. But ct this
! time the conditions demand an increase
| in the force. In the matter of male de-
| tectives that is easy enough, but it is
the women detectives that are hard to
| secure.
The woman detective in department
stores has become recognized institu-
ton She is valuable for many reasons.
! She is less likely to be noticed during days
of bargain-counter rushes for one thing,
and hence is far more effective than a
man. She has the knowledge of the fe-
male mind and the intuition which en-
ables her to keep her faculties on the alert
at the proper time. She can more easily
address woman who has stolen some
thing and get her to surrender it, and
she can lead her suspect to the office with
| less disturbance than could man.
The main duty OF the woman detective
is to protect shoppers from thieves. The
crush of spring opening is by all odds
the most advantageous field in which
pfcIlpockets could work The sharp eyes
Of the female detective save many a
womans pocket from being picked, and
keep the store clear of the local crooks
who are known to belong 70 the profess
sion The interesting part of a woman de-
tective's career comes in handling the
seni-professional and the amateur sneak
thieves.
1t Is not AT ali Il lllEdSdlll blSiilcSSs an
assure you" said an old woman with a
big bag of an umbrella, brown misfitting
clothes. and an oId-fashioned bonnet, who
stood in the aisle of an uptown depart
ment store yesterday afternoon. She was
one of the Washington female detectives,
and looked gaping surprised. and coun-
tritied enough in her disguise TO have
fooled the most experienced crook.
sometimes a word is sufficient to cor
rect the mistake as we usually call 1t.
which a shopper has made in carrying of
q small article but sometimes our sugSes-
rion that there is something wrong meets
with an indignant denial, and then there
| is a scene Often we find that our suspect
is a woman of position, perhaps KEEP
tomaniac, which makes it doubly difficult
for us The green women who are real
crooks as a rule hold out for a while, and
then admit their guilt. 1t is seldom that
people who steal or attempt to steal here
| do it from any but a criminal impulse.
No woman ever steals lace or soap be-