The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1905-04-20

Clever Woman Thieves outwit petee-
tives in the slo Stores.

n ten you some Of the women custom
eis down here are The smoothesr svoposi-
uoes when So comes 20 rUnding
things thai YOU could pictuse in hur-
w. remarked "a pretty little dark eyed
shupgu IN a big downtown store sne
was sorting dainty lace stocks as she
spoke. and used them ln her gcsttcula-
ting for the better emphasis of he riRhte-
Gus Indignation. why, some Of mem.
She went on earnestly would freeze
sou simply freeze you They look an
rght. style and an the rest OF it. and
tl bet They have money n their pock-
cts but they steali Oh my. how they
steal Anything they can lay their
hands on, whether they want il or not.
'Of course the old dodge OF putting
on gloves and taxing up handkcrchiefs
and walking of with them is played
out; 50 it the care.Css dropping Of
nad on counter and then carrying or
more than the mun rhey don't do those
old fashioned taants' much nowadays.
ou.t detectives have arrested too many
of them. See, there's cur head detoc-
uve, nowt" She pointed out stout.
middle aged woman dressed IN neat
liack, wao was examining colored em-
troideries at an adjoining counter with
ar attention whach sctmed complete.
she's great" ratified on the pretty
shop girl. Spots them every time
that is whenever it's possible to spot
them. But. say How would you spot "a
woman who hauled things of the coun-
tors and dropped them in little heap
on the foor hidden 10y skirt ana
l1ckod them up under the pretonse OF
tying her shoc? And sometimes when
you do spot them YOU can't arrest them
and half the time you can't get the
things back ! saw woman take
fifteen dollar lace collar the other day,
Iclc it up nicely inside hcr coat and go
oF with It. Wen, that lace we got back
Tor We sent a detcctige out to the front
OF The store and when my lady sailed
oGt DE walked up as polite as you please
end requested .her 20 forward the lace'
But the case that got me was the
ostrich boa affair we had here had
a gretty LOT of boas tied on show
stand, with tags attached. wen. this
fine lady strolled Up and examined them
cont know how she managed it-they
geing tied on and ail-bu, she certainly
Sct enc Of The ostrich boas of that stand
end round her neck without soul spot
ting her. Then out she marched. if you
rlease. and The boa cooked mighty be-
ooming-an bul the tag hagging down
hu back,
she had block dress on. and the
little square Of cardboard did look so
cuer and white hanging down behind.
Two Of oilr men detectives followed her
down The street You could track that
white tag a mile and three-quarters
away. She vent into restaurant. But,
DO YOU know. they couldn't arrest that
creature, They nothing but our word
Ia 80 on md they don't accept sales
ladies' testimony against customers,
apparently, in ihe law" The pretty shop
girl shipped and pushed a tray Of gay
reolowear under the glass top Of the
counter And though they could see
the boa and see the tag. they couldn't
h,ve her mp, and we never saw that
feather boa agair.
/ don't believe any one has any idea
OF how much shoplifting goes on In the
blk houses. 1t simply jars you silly But,
ats / say what geats me is that half the
time they get OF scot free, and keep the
things. Yes. mann, diG you say you
wanted a feather boa?" and she turned
to smile, with a certlin veied suspicion,
upon an innocent looking customer.