The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-08-27
SOME UNHEARD OF PLACES
 WHERE WOMEN HIDE THINGS

From the Philadelphia North American.
 Finding hiding places for jewels and
 valuables seems to be woman's natural
 instinct The best If Sherlock Holfnescs
 will tell you that the hooks and crann'es
 contrived by men are Scrude compared
 with those of the gentler sex
 It is not the female Raffleses who give
 the most trouble. Go into the complaint
 depa rtment of any citys detective force,
 wait there an hour and your sympathy
 will be with all who can't get away. The
 losing of many jewels lies with the ap- lsent- minded women, who are excellent hiders-so much so that they overdo II. It is a common occurrence for stylish fly gowned woman to go into the sleuin headquarters and between sobs, wall out her tale of the stolen heirlooms The de- tectives seldom say much: but trip 10 the house generally convinces them that
 the woman herself is the real robber. She had been sure that she put her treasures in her secret hiding place, a hollow cer- ner in a bedpost Instead the detectives found them, safe and sound, beneath the carpet under the bureau. Then she te- membered that the false top on the bed post was loose and fearing that burglars might come in while she asleep and discover the hollow section she those tEe other place. She argued to herself that l a burglar would have to move the bureau and her brave husband would surely be awakened by the noise.
 | One might imagine that the woman would feel a little ashamed of her own
 memory, of the trouble she had given tre sleuths or, at least, of her sly accusation
 of her maid Not bit of 1t. She pats herself on the back instead for being such a successful hider reasoning that q thief would have found 1t as difficult to dis cover the things as it was for her. l Strictly as a matter of fact, though, de- | tectives say that women go on 'secratng' things in the same old places-hollow bed posts, secret drawers of antiquated bu- reaus, old trunks without locks, etc. They
 never stop to think that a capable thief | is perfectly well aware of their vagaiies
 and that when they put valuables away they merely save an up-to-date burglar the trouble of an extended search. | As a rule, however, when robbery is reported a womans memory, and not
 some of the criminal population, is at
 fault
 | This Is not meant to assume that 'here
 are not a great many robberies in big | cities. But if all the reported .-oboerles
 were read every large town in the li,nd
 might consider itself the victim of crime wave.
 | In the majority of instances it's every
 woman her own robber. She changes hid | ing places, forgets the last and ina zines | her things are stolen.
 | Not long ago a society woman reported that s15,000 worth of diamonds had been taken from her home. They were heir looms, and she vowed that on account of
 their associations. she wouldn't take s50,- 900 for the lot The place was searcnad Thoroughly. No signs of them. Suspicion fell on the servants. But they all denied knowing anything about them.
 Of course. someb body had to be bla,ned so the butler was discharged and the lsleuths kept close on his trail for a W eek Then one day madam had guests A trip through the surrounding country in an lautomobile was planned. The cushions in the car were moved to make more room, when, To and behold, there were the jew |els. Madam remembered that she had placed them there for safe keeping, in- tended to remove them when she reached home Apologies were made to the butler and he went to work again.
 Said the complaint clerk detective ,n a. large city recently:
 'Of the reported robberies that we get to look up few turn out to be real. Often business men rob themselves for the ad- lvertising, but these cases are not nearly lso frequent those of the women vho hide not wisely but too well.
 Though some women may have novel places for hiding things. most of them re- sort to that place which has been the -av-
 orite I guess, since they were invented stockings. Time and again women conc lin here saying that they have been robbed lof money; sometimes a hundred or two dollars. and perhaps even thorsa1d. We search the town and then get a call late that night that everything is all tight. She found the money when she took off her stocking.
 T can't understand why, when they have such wad of money in stocking they never feel that weight but 1t loesn' t seem to bother them. Some come in tlere
 and almost swear that they never con 4qeal vsluables in their clothes. Then tho