The sun., 1908-05-24

perscn comes, alongl uad, soeing rthe,vala,
able lying loose, picks It up and walks away
, Bss go%sn % gicspoGS,s,sss S,,s, are few wa and ..
advertise the fact widely that they have beer
robbed, but investigation proves that thsy
never had tho money that they pretend 70
have lost and that &c is q gag 70 work on
the SYMPATHY OF the firm where tho theft
Is s alleged to hsys Mss cScuTrsd.' ..,,.,.n. -.
comoBorsisd by By 6anisl B. f kssS. chief De de.
tective Of one Of the largest depar tment
stores tn New York, Kash got his early
training In the. detective force Of the Police
Department. He has q complete secret
service organization q his own, including
with tho description and history Of every
person that has been arrested since no
has been connected with the firm.
His staff numbers five persons, three
,,n women and two men, one on each Moor prae.
is pressed into service at the jewelry counter.
During tho holidays the detective force
is increased materially and the city Detec-
tive Bureau lends aid.
The average number Of arrests In big
department stere is about twenty-five a
month. In rush seasons, especially at
Christmas time. this number 10 trebled.
About 75 per cent. OF those suspected are
arrested. A conservative estimate Is that
nearly $4,000 worth Of goods are stolen
from each Of the large department stores
each year. but at least half the goods stolen
are recovered.
The millinery department is where the
feminine customers suffer losses oftenest.
II there Is anything q woman is fastidious
about 1t Is her hat. and where there are
many to be tried on this is an absorbing
task. woman must take both hands to
adjust the bonnet, and that's whore the
DOcketbOOk In fOrRott0n
The number OF purses taken from the
millinery counters OF large store recently
caused the firm to station several woS on
there to warn patrons II they saw them lay
II was that many women were not at all
grateful for the suggestion:
IL guess | am old enough to look out for
my purse" is the snappy reply received
many times each day.
But notwithstanding the ~atchfulness Of
the detectives In that particular department
they turn In to the Office from twelve to
fifteen purses each day that have been left
behind. The chances are that when the
losers miss their pocketbooks they are In a
different store and think that that Ia the
place where they lost them. A detective
shopper has besr in the afternoon. and
while she is telling her troubles he has an
assistant telephoping to the other stores
to see Y the pocketbook is there,
Another common cause OF the loss or
money and valuables by women ie the
habit Of letting a bag dangle from the
wrist suspended by the handle: slight
Jar NAV spring the lock and there is the
bag wide open for anv unscrIpul lous person
to extract the contents while the shopper
is absorbed in pricing some article,
A full account Of every arrest made
in any department store Is sent to the de-
tective bureau of the Retail Merchants
Association, accompanied by picture of
the prisoner. These records reach the de-
tective bureau Of every department store
the day after the arrest.
the detectives are the so-called klep-
tonaniacs. They are always a source OF
wonder. A woman of good family was
caught shoplifting. and red handed. very
recently. and to the astonishment Of all