The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-09-25
Prominent Women Caught Steal.
ing From Local Stores,
MERCHANTS IN A CRUSADE
DETERMINE TO STOP EPIDEMIC
OF THEFT.


proportions of late, and the practice
! has spread to women in every walk OF
life, even TO those prominent in So
ciety, so that the dry goods houses
have been compelled 90 adopt stringent
measures to protect themselves. 1T Is
estimated that every year thousands Of
dollars worth OF goods are stolen from
/ the stores in this city BY light-hngered
/ women. Heretofore the merchants
have been lenient and this fact has had
a tendency TO spread the evil. but now
/ they have called i'm the police ami
every shoplifter caught viii be prose
/ cUted 90 the limit
In the ranks of tie shoplifters can
be found women from every class. from
the school girl TO women whose hus-
/ bands are wealthy. In almost every
instance the cause for the act can be
/ attributed to greed for gain. There
are some few kleptOmaniacs but aC-
cordiug to the statements of men who
are in position 10 know, they are
few.
Many Pretend KIeptomania.
Said a prominent merchant yesterday
afternoon when speaking Of the sub
| ject:
we have many women who pretend
to be victims Of kleptOmania to save
| themselves from arrest and exposure.
really afflicted that way Feigning
/ deptomania is favorite ruse of So
/ ciety women and others when caught
/ in the act of stealing. They do not
wish their crimes to be made public.
| as they would be If the women wera
/ arrested and prosecuted. so make that
/ excuse. Their husbands are always
I willing and anxious TO settle for the
stolen property, so the matter is usual
/ ly hUshed up.
zone Of the most persistent thieves
. we have is the wife of q prominent
man Of this city Every time she en-
! ters the store a clerk is detailed to
/ follow her about and keep track of the
| articles she appropriates. Every
month a bill is sent to her husband
/ that would make most men shudder.
/ but he understands and settles without
/ a murmur.
Many School Girls Are Thieves
school girls are another source Of
( trouble for us There are q large num-
\ Der of girls. ranging in years from
3 j. to 90, who make a regular practice
i of stealing. They are, as rule quite
! clever and often hard to aDprehend.
/ Most OF them, however, are known 60
/ us and we watch them so closely that
I they have little opportunity to steal
They usually operate i'm crowds or
group viii saunter into the store. and
/ while clerk is engaged i'm waiting
I upon one of them the others viii ap-
prOpriate goods. This custom is called
'sWfping.' and is not considered wrong
at all-in fact. the young women think
/ it a huge joke if they can set away
with some stolen goods without being
detected. If they are caught they viii
explain that they wished to purchase
the article.
Then we have professional shopjifU-
ers, who make a living by stealing
/ They become very clever and It is sell
dom that they are caught Some or
the means they have of carrying away
stolen articles from stores are very
original Hiding the goods under
. cloak or cape is one of the most COM
mon methods This however. has been
used so much that it is not employed
any longer by the professional shop
lifters.
Children Are Taught to Steal.
Children are quite often used as q
means of smuggling out stolen arti-
Cles. The women viii often pass the
property to a child brought i'm for the
purpose. and in this manner detection
is made more difficult, as children are
not watched nearly as closely as
women.
Less IMAM q week cl--N r. MNiilcN vas
caught walking out with valuable
shawl. She carried an infant in her arms
and had the shawl wrapped about the
baby Had Do not been that one Of the
clerks saw the woman take the article
she would have easily gotten away. as
the floorwalker naturally supposed that
she brought the shawl in with her.
'Shoppiug-bagG and hand-Erips are
also used quite extensively MANY dollars
worth of goods are lost each month thar
are carried AWAY i'm this manner. Unless
we are positive that the woman has been
stealing we dare not ask TO open her
Probably the most honest people we
have to deal with are the middle-clasS-
There are fewer shoplifters among this
class than any other. although ] do not
know of any particular reason why this
should be So.
Leniency to be Abandoned.
Until recently the merchants have been
lenient with the offenders that are
caught They have usually been made Co
pay for the goods and told to keep AWAY
from the store, but have seldom been ar
rested
Unless the merchants have been certain
that the woman has been stealing for
some time they have not prosecuted her.
After they are once caught stealing they
usually keep away from that store In the
future. and the place is rid of them with
out the expense or uupieasantness or
bringing them 90 Justice Now however.
some of the leading merchants have come
To tacit understanding TO spare no ef-
fort 60 punish All such offenders that mas
be caught The police department has
been called upon TO assist i'm checking this
evil and detectives have been at work Tor
several days I'm an effort to catch some
of the Cuiprirs.
Two arrests nave already been made
and considerable property recovered
Monday a woman living i'm The Sugar
House ward was caught and almost &luo
worth of silks and dress goods recovered
Police Arrest Woman.
Last night the police arrested Augusta
COttreu. a woman who. the police say,
is a self-cOnfessed -shopiiftcr and whose
operations i'm this city have covered q
period of several years. during which
time il IS said she has fairly filled her
house with stolen bric-a-brac- Accord
ing 90 the statement of an officer who
visited the house Yesterday, Miss Coz
treu had enough articles or this kind
iu one room at her home 20 adOm aQ
ordinary residence Two clothes BASKETS
ful were brought mp to police headOuar-
ters last night in addition GO Che brio
a-brac which the woman admits having
taken there were found enough books tl
nll small library. which she declares
were taken from Savage's Art store.
Most OF the other stuff was stolen from
the 4. o. N. J.. Johnson q Pratts drug
store and Margetts bookstore, according
70 the WOmans statement. Yesterday
afternoon a clerk at the = t.. H. T..
caught Miss COttrel in tho act Of walk
ing ont with "a silk skirt. Am officer was
called and the woman was taken fu unlira