The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1909-08-21
STEALING N STORES.
The Ingenuity That Is Shown By
the Woman Thief.
TRICKS OF THE SH0PLlFTER.
The Sstehei With False Bottom, and
tbs Slit In the Dress Near the Belt.
Some Schemes Successful Because Of
Their Very Simplicity.

some Schemes Successful oeeauso o.
Their Very Simplicity.
As numerous as they are ingenious
are the tricks NJ the modern shop'ift-
ers. declare store detectives II keeps
the detectives busy to get on" TO the
devices OF the men and women who
live by their wits IN stealing from
stores. For tricks that are canny few
classes OF criminals. IL ID said. ap-
preach them.
The method OF stealing by using the
satchcl with false bottom Il one OF
the cleverest Of the tricks.
Well disguised. the shopiifter enters
a store. Her eyes run over the coun-
tiers. She perceives the object she
wants-usuniiy something small and
valuable. sometimes a purse q custom
er has left lying on the counter.
Over the object the shoplifter places
her satchei. Pretending to delve into
the satchei to extract a purse or hand
kerchief. the thief lifts q false bottom
in the bag. reaches under II. draws In
side the desired article. adjusts the
false bottom. closes the satchel aud
walks away
''Rut this Is only one Of many clever
rusex employed" declared a detective
the other day. The women especially
are ingenious. Their dress, Of course.
helps them.
One Of the methods Of stealing b
for the shoplifter To have q slit In her
dress near the belt. As she stands near
the counter she can deftly seize the
toll I.., u nj. 80 1u<,x
or costly fabric or q bit OF jewelry.
and slip II into the skirt. The folds OF
the skirt are voluminous and conceal
the thing stolen.
Some tricks arc successful because
OF their simplicity. A fashionably
dressed woman may walk into the
clothing department. look over coat
suits, pick up one. fold IL neatly up.
place II under her coat and walk
away.
III she Is detected she win indig-
nautly declare that she bought the suit
some time before and that she has
brought II back to be altered.
'Or . woman. her hands giittertnG
with rings aud dressed In the latest
style. may walk into the store some
winter day. She wears only q rich
coat Of dark fabric.
I'm the coat department. she win ask
to see some fur lined coats. Oh, she .
very particular and tries on one after
another. Other customers come mp. and
the saieslady gets busy with them
while madam - trying TO suit hesself.
while the saleslady - turned she
puts ON one Of the richest sable trim
med coats. turns on her heel and
walks away. Perhaps the salesgiri
may not notice the loss until there =
IN account Of stock.
Each month from MY to sixty a.
rests are made in the average large
department store. The detectivss muse
b extremely careful. foe false charge
would precipitats . suit for damages.
which would mean many Thousands.
Certain departments hold especial
lures for shoplifters. The jewelry de-
partment II Invariably guarded When
the furs come In We have sleuths who
keep their eyes open for the woman
who likes to take fur to the window
to examine II. then running for The
door: the woman with the false skirt
and the woman who puts fur on and
audaciousiy walks away"
Although the sales departments and
the detective departments woek to-
gether. there exists between them q
spirit Of justinable rivalry. II q de-
tective perceives some one gott1nG
away with goods 1t casts discredit On
the person behind the counter from
which the goods wers stolen. There.
fore the sales folk keep IN alert watch
for shoplifters.
One might imagine that goods are
dumped pellmell on the counters Of
the big stores. Az . matter Of fact. the
efficient salesiady VIII have everything
30 arranged that she will notice the
disappearance Of an article almost im-
mediately.
II q saleswoman suspects q pefsoa
she Immediately notifies the head de-
tective. II II n q woman. . woman
detective II usually put on the Job. Il
II said store managers usually 6nd
women more e6acient than men,
Few arrests are ever made In tAo
stores. a. an arrest gives only unds-
sirable publicity. The detective usual
" follows suspected persons from the
store and arrests him or her outside.
1t In said that arrests for shoplift1ng
in New York exceed 5000 q year. In
that city . full description OF all shop
lifters caught are sent to the Rsta0
Dry Goods association. which In turn
distributes the Information to The W
rious members
Only by concerted action and With
highly organized STATS Of detectives
can the stores cope with the ingen1ooo
shoplifters.
The detective system Of the BIG
stores. however. II now % perfect
that II is dangerous to attempt shop
lifting. Even the cleverest shoplifts9
faces a long jail term In the pursuit e
her nefarious work.
More than that. II q shoplifter for
any reason should escape paying the
penalty OF crime IN one city she may
not be 40 fortunate In another. De-
scriptions OF all suspected persons are
sent out broadcast. and arrest IN an