The sun., 1908-12-27
Observation-Disclosures
FIRST THE MILK THIEF. ,WHQ
PLUMBERS IN THE DAWN.

Laundry Makes Nest OF the TFsunle.
within the confines Of New YORK ei(
there are thieves and thieves. great assd
small. gentle and rough, eduoated azis
uncouth, nocturnal and daylight, f.als
and female. on them an the dufnbaalfez
thief is the special bane Of ths fat dweIlsf
and the abomination Of the metropolltan
housewife.
There is the milk thief He rissa viii
the rooster and plumbers in the daNz.
sneaking from area to area. grabbsR
milk and cream bottles or the silent a1d
dark dumbNaiters What he does NiIA
the fluid no one can tell. He csrtalnl4
can't drink It all.
In certain parts Of upper New YORK t.
milk thief abounds the year round. SonI8s
times he simply drinks the cFeAn non
the top of the bottle and sometimes s'F
takes the bottle away There is no vax.
to stop his depredations except 10 pull ~
the dumbwaiter as soon as the milkmen
delivers his wares.
The milk drivers hate thess thieves cor
daily because the milk companies III
Greater New York havo an agreemelst
with their men by which the drivers e
] CtlNe ht yedIft HhO0i NhtD . s1f t9=st
commission upon the business they tfans
act, and to oounterbalanoe this cor
cession the drivers agree to pay for e5 per
cent. Of all stolen milk and cream, ,fuitsli
or stolen bottles. Therefore the thieves.
are stealing from the drivers and the mill
companies. because no wss New YORK
woman will pay for stolen milk.
Another thieving device is to colIeet
money from unsuspicious fiat dweliers u
the name of the milk company. IL gocs
this way:
| The dumbwaiter buzzer raps out l;s
message. Mrs. B'Jones leans out int3
the murky shaft,
| "Hello!" says a voice from the depthe.
"This Mrs. B'Jones? Well. this Is Blanks
Your milk bill is $i.85.'
I If Mrs. B'Jones is simple she puts q fs
bill on the dumbwaiter. The dumhwaiter;
descends and Mrs. B'Jones waits for hpf
change. She waits and waits and wsits
and waits. That's the end of 1t.
| Bread thieves exist too. They no
into the rear of the big apartment houass.
snatch loaf from the dumbwaiter IN tke
early morning and disappear. Hismoze
than likely that bread thieves are h1nsfS,
and no humane housewife scoids niiich
over the loss Of five cent loaf Of br96ff
unless she suspects the folks on the ssconti
floor
Dumbwaiter thefts usually cause The
people in big building to hate one an
other cordially. One floor suspects fhb
next. Floor three believes that Floor one
is swiping the meat Floor. One fs pdbi@
tive that Floor Three has copped of TIE
aan al aft N ~ stas&s
terious disappearanos every woman HI
the building is willing to swear that the
house is tenanted with crooks.
The express thieves do a happy and
profitab Q business
The buzzer whirrs. Mrs. Smith repsfes
and a voice tells her she has an express
pa ckaee coming viii she kindly SS5}a
dow n the charges. 81 81? No wonail5ik
the word win let an express package Get
away from her and express thieves reay
upon this womanly curiosity. Mfs.
Smi tn sends down the 81 81 in change IL
she has IL. or large bill il she has It not
end the quiet thief In the basement grabs
the money and scurries away.
Sometimes this thievery in e1prk3,
paokagAs is carried to further extrenh8s
and cases are on record iii which. the bust
ness assumed dienified proportions. cal
ing for young man cad In a uniform
and wearing a reg u,ation express cap.
He rings, the doorbe!l and tells the lady
that he has an express bundle for her.
charges collect.
In her heart the lady of the house knows
that nobody in Savannah can be send
ing her something By express because
but she falls for the plant and handa over &
the good money. The fake expressfian
retreats hurriedly and the woman ubties
big box bound with rope to make 1t
difficult. When she reaches the interior
celsior or waste rags and she ohalks down
another mark on the experience bieck<
board. - .yG. sal. IS s5slS
The meat robber depends upon the sbs
sence OF the lady who has just been to the
butcher's . for a few pounds Of beef. He
waiter and sneaks OF the succulent eotlt, =
bone or the luscious lamb chop aud whea .
the purchaser comes home iater there Z.
is weeping and gnashing of teeth and b 4
few lines of feminine profanity, 81
Harlem ets drew as p0s the iumbsaitea u Us fai,d
over hand. so,emnly aud sucoessfuilE
On the machine were canned goods,
roast, bread and sweet bundle Of rhu5
barb Y
ha1 way up hanQ reacleQ out tDto =
the darkness, grasped the rhubafb and
switched it OFF the dumbwaiter TO the
dumb horror Of the woman above. What
could she do? She wasn't sure whether
the hand came from the second or the
third floor, and she couldn't accuse the
whole building Of swiping her rhubarbess
That night there was no pie In the
but there was a short, suttina
speech on the subject Of honesty and
what are we coming to when people In
yonr own house steal of your dumb
waiter while IL is in transit, "a 5afr
Every New York woman with dealings
among tradesmen learns quickly the
right way to pass ont money. When
strange voice shouts from below lhat
the bill for the oysters is 60 cents the
lady replies that she has nothing but
Ave dollar bill. III she is newly married
and knows not the wiles Of the citysh
striving youth she puts the five dollar bin
On the dunbwaiter in confidence and {
serenity. After she loses q few OF the4h 81
i've spots she learns to say:
"You put the change on the Dumb
waiter. RI haul 1t up and send down the
BILL Mentally she adds: -I'm zip here
N this fiat and ! can't scoot OF with your
money, but you're down there and y0it
sill probably beat 1t with my precious
,,- s4s'
But the Dick Tptpin that raises Ned e
worst Of all is the laundry thief. because z
ne not only shoots the gaff into the truss1
md ,,nananantin0 hn.taaxrf(A t~af