Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-10-07
WITHNOWRONG INTENT
SOME EXPERIENCES OF AN IN.
VOLUNTARY sHoPLIFTER.

| What is an involuntary shoplifter?" re-
peated a Washington lady to a Star re.
| porter's query Il will tell you"
| Yes" she continued, the terms appear
| incongruous, but since l myself might have
! oeen placed In the exceedingly embarrass.
| ing position of being accused OF being an
| actual shoplifter, you will understand their
| momentous particulars of the position I
| found myself in when l involuuntarily as
sumed the role of the female Fagin.
Some time ago l returned from homo
| after an afternoons shopping downtown,
and when entered the sitting room where
| the rest of the family were assembled,
| there chorus OF feminine cries and
| masculine teers of: oh, what have you
| got on your hat?
| Somewhat startled at this reception 7
| made haste to remove my top-plece and
there, caught in the wings of its feather
| trimming, was an expensive real lace ladys
collar. For a few moments l was at a loss
| to account for its presence there, and then
l recalled that l had purchased a lace
handkerchief at the lace counter. Being
| tall woman, in rising from the counter stool
| the tips of the feathers on my hat had be-
| come entangled in the threads of the COLI
| lar, which was suspended with others over
| the counter. Its fastening had been de-
| tached and it remained securely attached
| to the top of my hat.
"Of course / returned the collar the next
| day with an explanation as to its being In
| my possession, which accepted by the
manager of the store. But suppose-and
my blood chils as | think of it-suppose
| some smart store detective had seen the
occurrence; to her eyes, ever on the look
out for tricks and subterfuges to accom-
plish thefts, it would have looked like a
clever shoplifting game skildully enacted.
My second experience placed me in even
a worse light, and had it been discovered In
the store l would surely have been accused
and detained, if not arrested.
Il was trying on some expensive cloth
walking skirts
similar material. AS L was about to leave
the floor of the department store where
these goods were sold. not finding one to
my satisfaction, the saleswoman approached
me with another skirt which she thought
might suit my taste, and requested me to
| try it on. l did SO, but was still not pleased.
and in a few moments removed II, returned
it to her. and left the store.
Upon my arrival home my daughters at
once made complimentary remarks upon
my new skirt Not having purchased
new skirt l was mystified until l glanced
down upon the garment l was wearing.
Then discovered to my horror that was
wearing a skirt belonging to the store. be-
ing the one which had tried on just be-
fore the saleswoman had handed me tha
skirt have referred to.
Ladies will appreciate my position more
keenly than men, as it is our practice to
try on skirts over our own very frequently.
had simply forgotten that had not taken
off the skirt wore home at the time had
tried on and afterward removed the skirt
removed the latter skirt 1 thought that
had on my own skirt only and walked out.
But had the saleswoman noticed it-unlese
she would have been kind enough to have
called my attention to 1t then and there
and followed me to the door OF the store,
where she would have called the store de4
tective, do not see how l could have es.
capped arrest.
when l returned the skirt to the saless
woman the next day she thanked me and
stated that had kept the skirt she would
have had to made the amount Geod upon
the discovery of its loss, and thar my in.
voluntary attempt at shoplifting was a IA
vorite method of professionals.
ION another occasion a silver comb drop.
ped out Of my umbrella when l opened It
on the sidewalk upon leaving one Of our
department stores. l could never account
for its presence there, though 1t probably
slipped out of q set or from the counter
into the open folds of my umbrella, as
had visited the counter where these articles
were displayed. These instances should
teach my sisters to be very careful in
handling goods and especially the smaller
articles, In stores where they are so pro-
fusely displayed upon the counters. as 10
the case nowadays.
my experience" she added, els by no
means unique. Several OF my friends have
related to me instances of involuntary
consciously retained articles until they
reached the door. when, having occasion
to raise an umbrella or pick up their skirts.
their attention was called to what they
had in their hands. Others have gone all
the way home without realizing that they
mad others goods in their possession