The Portland daily press., 1901-02-06

able 70 learn about the man. Then. ike
the hunco man the female thieves swoop
down upon their prey, armed with facts
and figures relating to the mans home.
occupation and business The girl thus
informed walks up to the merchant and
says In her sweetest tonss;-
Why. Mr.. so.and-so. what are you
doing in New York; How 10 everybody
In Such-and-such a plaosf naming the
town in which the merchant lives.
''She may follow this up By saying that
she was once employed In dry goods
store In the msrehant's native town, or
she may say shs Is the divorced wife OF
some OF the men lving.there. she may
saJ that she is the daughter of promi-
nent citizen or any othar thing that she
thinks will aid her In her scheme Then
she explains that sne is In New York on q
visit TO a friend, schoolmate who Is
married and living hsre. Generally she
pretends 20 be In a jolly mood, because,
as she explains, her lady friend had her
out all the afternoon drinking cocktails
while on q shopping tour. incidentally
she says that her frienu's husband has
just gone to Chicago, so they have the
mouse ali to themselves.
If you wish. you might call on me
before you go back home, she adds.
"As a rule the merchant invites her to
theater or to supper. Then thev have
some drinks and IL she finds that he has
a great deal Of money In his pockets sha
suggests that they drop ina some out-of-
| the-way place where no one Will Dot.cs
them. she generally says Il wouldn't
have any one see me with you for the
aa.faf ntI
your wife, and then there would be
trouble
'rhe merchant psrmits nimsslf TO he
| jolllsd and oosxed until the young
woman makes an excuse and leaves him
for q few minutes. When she fails to
return, be goes TO pay for the last ro1ad
OF drinks be has ordered, and tnsn hnds
that all his money is gone or course lie
explains matters, ana IL promptly told
that the girl who had been In mis- COM
pany Ia a thief, and that she would rot
have been served In the place had 1t not
bsen for the fact that the manager be-
lisvsd she was an oid-time acquaintance
of the merchant, having heard the mer-
chant discussing family affairs and Ros-
sip from his native town.
"Then for the first time the merchant
realizes that he had been fooled ana
robbed. Aftsr thinking over the mattsr.
be comes TO the conclusion that the girl
is nAt.vs or his town, and that 1t
would be tndiscreet on mis- part to try to
cause her arrest. Cases OF this sort are
SO common that / would be willing to
make wager-of 5000 to Slstbat Eat IL asst
| yl9, ,0O0 Is stolen in this way every night
That's large amount OF money co be
stolen In one night, but II you make 10
quiries of men about town they VIII tell
you that the amount averages SlO,uOO.
| It IL at least that sum, although tns ng-
urPs might startle the New Yorker who
4 - n IfrFar ftfnEI y
pool-roolna.
81 know of one case In which proml-
nent United States official Was robbed by
girl OF $500 this other night, and l
know of a case on that same night In
which another woman got $500 from
Massachusetts manufacturer Thsre were
many smallsr cases reported to the poli,e
but the big cases ara seldom reported.
Just ask any hotel clerk about it IL
you want some information that would
startle you. They will tell you that hun
dreds of men-remember, 1 said hun
dreds-are robtsd in tha Tendarloin every
night. some OF lhs robberles occur In
hotels of the medium class and others
occur in doorways, Railways, back rooms
OF saloons ana cabs. It Ia an easy matter
for one OF these female robbers to rob
nan after she has got him In cab.
Sometimes II the merchant is not tipsy
enough for her game she drugs him
Then she can leave him on the sidewalk
of any dark street for the cahman lie
ready to help her in TIE game. / don't
include all Tenderloin cabmen when 1
say this but a big percentage.
"ln conclusion, let me say that there
never were so many women thieves in
the Tenderloin district before as there
are today. Saloonkeepars, Dartenders and
the police know better than any one else
that this Is a fact. They don't bother
stealing anything 90 small as $40 note,
but they look for bigger -amounts. They
believe II Is easier TO get away with Sl0lO
than $40. Men who are robbed OF a FEW
dollars can't afford to lose the money, as
rule, so they squeaI, and in many caEes
get their money hack. Then they do not
care to make complaint ana the girl
who did the job gets away But II a man
Is robbed of few hundred dollars, he
will not, as a rule, report the matter.
There are two reasons for this, Men who
carry so much money loose In their pook-
cts are men who can afford to lose 1t
Then, again, the majority OF the men
who are robbed In the Tenderloin are
married and can not afford to go into
courtroom and admit that they have
been aroHnd town treating woman
whom they never met before. The result
Of this is that the women thieves become
bOlder and often grsb roll OF bills ont
OF a mans hand. pretending they sril
joking, and run away with it.