The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-06-12
HOW SHOPL|FTERS
DO THEIR WORK
Con Men and Crooks Use Many
Clever Schemes
TO DEFRAUD MERCHANTS
Some Instances of Clever Work Done
BY These Deft Artists Who Labor
Not, Neither Do They Sweat
for Their Bread
TO DEFRAUD MERCHANTS
From the Brooklyn Eagle.


Many and varied are the sorts of lar
ceny practiced upon department stores,
restaurants and the like. The larger
stores, as everybody knows, employ their
own special officers to look out for the
ordinary type of shoplifters, but in the
smaller establishments this is impossible
eternal vigilance on the part of sales
men and cashiers is the only safeguard
The management of a series of we'll
known restaurants recently issued to all
its cashiers a letter of warning, describ-
ing several well-known methods of beat
ing the money drawer on the part of I'M
scrupulous customers They represent
variations on the oldest forms of finn
fam game-and yet in the hands of a
skillful operator the old tricks seem just
as productive as the new ones.
A plausible fellow of good address and
possessed of what Sam Weller would call
the gift of CAB very gal1opin'," upon
paying his check tenders a twenty-dollar
bill to the cashier. At the same time he
makes some remark calculated to dis
tract her attention from the business in
hand.
In exchange for his twenty she gives
him a ten-dollar note, a five-dollar note
four one-dollar notes and some silver
But" says the customer in a surprised
sort of way, you haven't given me the
right change"
you gave me a twenty-dollar bill. ;
says the cashier
81 beg your pardon" says the custom
err IT don't want to cheat you. only
gave you a one-dollar BILL"
Tho cashier, thrown off her guard from
this point on by the apparent honesty OF
the customer, looks In the drawer and
says she is sure 1t was a twenty-dolla1
bill. She displays it. The customer smil-
ingly admits that he is wrong after max
ing an examination of his own pockets
and says that it was natural mistake
as he intended paying with a one-dollar
bill.
Then, as with an afterthought, he re-
marks that he doesn't care for so many
small notes. He gathers up the five
dollar note, the four one-dollar notes
which are lying on the desk, and adds to
them another one-dolar note from his
own pocket, and says:
Wont you give me ten-dollars bill
for these?'
The cashier takes from the drawer
another ten-dollar bill and lays 1t on
the desk The customer making an IT.
relevant remark, Immediately places upon
this ten-dollar note the $40 in small bills
which he holds In his hands, and inter
rupts his own flow of talk to hand the
$40 back to the cashier with the remark
IT CUES you might as we'll give me
back my original twenty-dollar bill
then"
And very often the cashier does it
She sees $40 in bills coming her way and
It all seems regular. The customer, still
smiling and talking affably picks up the
ten-dollar note and the loose silver which
he had left lying on the desk, and witt
his regained twenty-dollar BILL slows u
all away in his pocket, going not toe
n t. rot xxrifh a
flow of easy and entertaining converse
ton. The getaway" is usually made
easy by the arrival of the next customer
with check.
After he has gone the cashier awal<ens
to the fact that while she has handle
out a twenty-dollar note and ten-dollar
note she has received from him only a
ten-dollar note a fve-dollar note and
Ave one-dollar notes. 1t may take her
some time to find out that she Is $40
short This is a safe swindle for the
swindler, comparatively speaking, Tor II
the fiim-flam gentleman Is discovered In
the midst Of 1t all he has to do is to
beg pardon" laugh, confess his mis-
take and make restitution.
What is known as the envelope game
takes a cool operator, and If he is caught
in the midst Of 1t, 1t Is not easy to give
the ansaction the color of a mistake.
After paying his check the customer
explains to the cashier that he wishes
to mail a twenty-dollar bill IN a letter
which he holds in his hand.
.Can YOU let me have a twenty for 2c
ones?" he asks.
The cashier usually wants the change
and agrees. The customer then counts
out-or appears to count out-20 one-dol-
lar notes and hands them to the cashier,
Getting a twenty-dollar bill in exchange
T,his twenty-dollar bill, in full view of
the cashier. the customer folds and puts
In the stamped and addressed envelope
In his hand. He seals the envelope.
The cashier has been counting the small
hills and at this juncture she looks up
and says: -
"But YOU have only given me $40.
The customer, who has turned as II to
90 Is surprised, He and the cashier
count the bills over together.
"But am sure,' says the customer
searching through his pockets in puz-
zled fashion, that I brought 70 one
dollar bills from my office But ne
admits there are only 10 there now. He
stands as IL in doubt as to what TO 40
for a moment, and then says, as II with
a sudden inspiration:
ss.Tust take this letter with the twenty
dollar bill and hold 1t until come back
with the other one-dollar bill; I'll be
back in a minute"
Then he hands the cashier the lette"
into which she has seen him put the
twenty-dollar bill, takes the 10 one-dollar
bills and departs.
After waiting for time, greater or
ct tn, hum q n