The Washington herald., 1914-01-09
~ MARY p. lGuLLErr.

COPYRIGHT. MAJ
One Of the cieverest department store
Detectives In America 10 . girl only
twenty-one years old. She seems to have
only an Unborn love of cat<hing THIEF.
but also the Unborn ability to do II; two
things which somehow don't always 80
together.
When she was only fifteen years Old.
Amelia de SAINTS got position az one
Of the girl cashiers who sit in their wire
cages in New York department stores
and make change nine hours day.
She was 80 alert and SO quick thar
she not only did her own work, put
found time to look around and see some
Of the things that were going on In the
crowd which surged up and down the
aisles below her.
One day when she was gazing with her
sharp young eyes at the shifting figures
In that crowd, she saw q woman stun a
pair Of stockings into her mum and
casually stroll on to the door. With
thrill of excitement little Amelia realised
that she had detected a shoplifter In the
very act of stealing. and on she new 10
ind a store detective. Her warning came
in time and the thief was caught.
From that day the girl cashier was
simply a little eagle up there In her
eyrie This catching Of INSIDERS seemed
to fascinate her and she did II so often
that one day the great mogul himself.
the superintendent Of the store. came
around and smiled approvingiy at her.
She says she hadn't realized that his
high mightiness even knew she was on
earth, much less that he was aware OF
her record as discourager OF stealing
So when he asked her how she would
like to be store detective she almost col
lapsed with establishment mingled with
v,rt ND MI Unuld
precisely these emotions over an invita-
ton to become a detective. But we're not
all made alike. and what would have
been a blow to most of US was a bright
boon to little Miss de Saints.
Has Caught 500 Thieves.
She was sixteen by that time and small
for her age But she put up her hair.
let down heDskirts. and tried to make up
in industry and ambition what she lacked
in age and dimensions. That she has
succeeded Is proved by her record. In
five years she has become one Of the
cleyerest, as well as one of the most fear
less, of store detectives In one year
she caught over 500 thieves.
Seven out Of ten OF these shoplifters,
she says. are women. But she does not
insist that this Is proof Of women's
greater depravity. but merely of the fact
that they are more exposed to this par
ticular form Of temptation and that. ow-
ing to their way of dressing, II Is easier
for them to conceal their loot
According to Miss de Saints. the pres
ent fashion Of voluminous NUTS Is as
welcome to the shoplifting sorority as IL
1t had been invented for their particular
benefit. She tells of two women she
caught with $500 worth Of plumber con-
cealed in their NUNS. They had no less
than tnirteen vaiusoie waists. oozeh
pede.
Miss de Saints spends most of her time
in the waist and the millinery depart-
ments, since those are the happy hunting
grounds of the shoplifter. Waists at $50
each are all too common in these ex-
trayagant DAYS. while imported ones at
SIS are not scarce. The present fashion.
moreover. DEGREES that waists shall be
little more than airy nothings-in all save
that Of big NUNS has made plenty Of