El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-04-24
EYES OPEN
.F0RSH0PLIFTERS
Department Store Man
ayers Turn Detectives;
Find Queer Characters.

ShOpIfting as a fine art is n
vorits study OF department store
managers. and many OF them could
give Sherlock Holmes. and ". j..
Burns cards and spades when it
comes TO the detection OF criminals
OF this particular type
In FL Paso the shoDhftlng problem
is confined principally TO persons who
steal because they need the stuff.
and kleptoman:acs. or persons who
steal because they are mentally IN
clined toward the taking o. other
peoples belongings. IS rare thing
Mexican women are the most IRE
queut offenders and many OF tlem Ce-
velop a high degree OF skill IN tne
uncommon, and present the mos az l..
ficult problem 20 the heads OF cepa4 =
ments. and the house detectives OF
the large stores
watch Knitting Bags.
knitting bags are the 0ane ot -; ~
to death when knitting bags 90 out
81 fashion" declared one department
store manager. Il sell 'em, and make
lots Of money on EN- but III De gao
when they're gone They're just one
degree worse than NUTS. because
muffs can be used only in the winter
time, and a knitting bag IS used al
one favorite trick OF the casual
shoplifter is 20 sit az the stockiIls
counter. for INSTANCE, Iooklns, 49,
silk hose Incidentally she viii drop
half a dozen pairs on the floor. and
when she Stops 70 recover the goods.
only one or two pairs VIII De re-
turned 70 the counter Ihe olneIs
find a hiding place IN some nldden
recess in the intrieac-es OF FEMININE
garb.
or the operator may lay her extra
r-ap down on q pile OF SILK waists IN
order better 10 examine an article
When she picks up the wrap. there
are several silk waists clingtnE 20 T.
and they are securely folded up II
the garment
Tn. cold weather the muff is a no
torious hiding place. Some women
supplement this by hidden pockets in
their clothing. but such persons be-
long more 70 the prof. essloaal c ..s.ss
or women who make shODliftluE their
one vocation. Near the waist line IN
the skirt is the opening Of the pocket,
which extends the length OF the dress
and has a capacity OF several YARDS
OF silk, or q dozen shirt waists WITH
out danger Of detection such no
man can sit o5sorbedly over the rib
bon counter looking over several bolts
OF ribbon. and get up with anyw mere
from SO 10 $50 worth OF ribbon
safely hid IN her pockets.
shopIifferE Gaze Around
You can usually spot a shopIfte-
OF the average caliber." said one de-
partment head. Whenever YOU see
a woman-standinc in the aisle gazing
around over the store trying 10 find
the floor walker. or any one who
looks official. IL IS usually q good
rnn 20 Hah a
siderable percentage OF them find
their way out OF the store with a lot
OF articles they have not paid for
That pilferinE is not limited 20 the
lower classes. but Is practiced 20
large extent among. the trusted pa
irons OF the establishment. Is the as
founding revelation made by another
dry goods man
Good Customer Gets BIZ.
There was one woman OF corsid-
eFaole influence WHO cssIne INTO my
store. and bought a good sized bill of
goods. she was standing before
looking glass in the course OF the al
ternoou. trying on a coat. and while
the saleswoman was away she man
aged 10 STOW away about her own be-
neigh borhood OF $50. One 81 the
other clerks noticed the act. and re-
ported IL. but the woman walked OUT Of
the store without saying a word We
didn't wish 10 embarr1ss the woman by
saying anything about Il 10 her. OF TO
her husband. so when we sent her the
bin we merely included the bill for
the boa There was never n word
said. or a question asked The boa
was paid for and an embarrassing
situation was saved The woman is
still trading with US. and her &C
count is one Of the best we have"
There was one case Of woman who
had been in town a very sho-c time
but she came with excellent refer
ences- She vas supposed to have been
high IN Red Cross work in the east nd
was an enthusiastic womau's worker
The society Of the city acce-ted her
at once. and she was the guest OF
honor az a number Of functions.
Works n New scheme.
One day the woman entered an II
Paso department store and looked
over some cloaks- She was well
dressed. but nothing that the clerk
showed her seemed 20 suit. Finally
she looked at some dresses. with the
same result Then she asked ~ the
house would return the money II she
bought a dress, and found afte~rard
That IL did not suit The cle~k said
that her money would be refunded
The woman then asked what would
happen II sne lost her bill and could
NOT prove that she had bought the
dress The clerk said that there
would probably be no difficulty about
that The woman went away without
having bought ANYTHING. But in about
two days. she called az the office 81
refunded 70 her on a dress that she
had r-nr from rha stove aerr-H ro-