The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-07-15
DEVELOPMENT OF UNIQUE ROGUE.
system of Taking Back in Big
Stores Responsible for New Kfnd
of Thief.

Stores Responsible for New Kind
of Thief.
From the Chicago Tribune.
"The extent to which the system of
taking back merchandise is carried
in Chicago stores has been the means
of developing a new class of shop
thieves" said the head of the retail
goods department in one of the large
stories. These are woman who care
fully price and select goods and steal
them with the direct intention of bring
ing them back and demanding the
money.
"Of course the professional shop
litter who returns goods to a store
which has a duplicate article, or even
sometimes to the store from which she
took it, is not new. The temptation
is great, as it is the only place where
100 per cent. can be obtained on the
goods. But there is also a class of
women who. far from having any sus-
picion attached to them, have instead
the prestige of general good APP
pearance, responsibility and perhaps
a long shopping career in their favor
Perhaps from long practice they
have developed a faculty of unload
ing merchandise which from having
become stale or damaged upon their
hands might reasonably be refused.
They have also become adopts in all
the little tricks of the trade, such as
buying two articles of the same kind
in which there is some difference in
cost, exchanging the checks and price
marks, and then returning the cheaper
of the two and getting the money back
through the Carelessness of the person
in charge on the best one. Success
in these smaller lines of thieving proves
too much for some of them, and the
next step is to make a small purchase
and purloin two or three duplicates at
the same time. Then the whole lot
is returned sometimes with an alter
ed check and sometimes with the story
that the check has been lost
The first plan is almost sure to lead
to exposure, for the alteration is sell
dom cleverly made but in the latter
case it may go through without sus-
picion. If this happens, it is not long
before the shoplifter is getting the
money on things of value and though
she may manage it cleverly she is even
more apt to be caught when returning
the goods than when she takes them.
There is usually some little weak point
i'll her story, or nervousness in the
manner of telling it, which at first
arouses suspicion. If this is the case,
steps are taken to see if the address
which is given TO get the onset CnecR
is the right one. If it is not then, of
course, the person is watched, and it
is only a question of time until she is
found out.
IF she is smooth enough to give her
own address the exposure is put off a
little longer. 1t is bound to come, how
ever, from the fact that when she has
| succeeded once, this class of theft loses
all caution and thinks she has easy
money. 1t is usually something i'm
possible to guard against which be-
trays her as, for instance, a case which
was prosecuted not long ago. The
theft was of something of which there
did not happen to be duplicate in the
stock.
"A noticeable thing is the disappear
ance of the old and rich 'kleptomanlac,'
who has a husband or relatives that
pay for what she may take. Those
whom we have most to fear nowadays
also belong to a respectable class, but
they are stealing simply for the money
they can get out of it. The woman who
steals what she wants for herself is ex-
tremely rare"