The Washington times., 1919-09-14

would suffer the shame of exposure of their mother
criminal traits.
'No quarter now the slogan in the remarkable
upon the organized band of shopter which have made
the great department stores of the whole country the
scene of criminal depredaton which exceed in daring
erontery and boldness anything yet conceived by the
master writers of thrilling detective stories
The case of Mrs jones' is not an isolated infre
quent One In large cities such as Chicago Boston, Phil
adephia San Francisco or New York. there scarcely
large department store that has not in the past had
deal with hundreds of Mrs Joneses' every year.
The records of just department store In New York
located in the busy Broadway dstric-nOt the largest
store in the city by any means-show that dur
ing twelve months ending July 1, 1919, twelve
hundred cases of shopifting accurred within
its own walls, and the records further show that
at least so per cent of these cases were similar
to that of Mrs Jones' This was the store in
which the "Mrs jones' of whom we are telling to-day
detected stealing the beaded handbag
The master criminal is shrewd enough to know as he
has demonstrated that the assistant manager of the great
department store dkes for the which quoted
above be harsh the wedressed apparently respect
able who is caught stealing in his store. He knows,
too, that strange it may seem, there many
who have at all to steal who cannot resist the
temptation purlon things from the counters Of de-
partment store Scientists the world have studied
this strange aspect Of fmnniy for many years Learned
psychologists have composed weighy papers upon the
subject.
Knowing this the master criminal began to accom-
pces who were seemingly of the fashionable class
perfectly grOomed of good manners and capable of
"buffing" When they caught these expert shop
fters would play upon the sympathies of the assistant
managers or threaten them until they succeeded escap
ing with nothing than the halfhearted lecture
To-day if "BIrs Jones" detected in the act of
theft from store she would be politely
halted when about enter her limousine and drive away
with her loot Instead, she would feel heavy hand
firmly laid upon her shoulder and she would hear in firm
pitlesS tones
'COme with me, madam to the police station" That
sounds great deal different from the polite request that
"The manager would like to talk with you" And if
Mrs. Jones' becomes indignant and wants to know
''Why this prcSumptiOn-why am l spoken to in this
wayR'' the store detective who has seen her secrete
beaded bag or a blouse any of the thousands of
other things that line the department store counters will
most likely say to her something like this:
''Never mind the highbrOw stuff lady; tell it to the
cops at the station house: along II call the
patrol wagon" And Mrs jones' will go to the police
station and cry and beg as much she may.
Which is just one of the ways the department stores
are coping with the master criminal and making his cap
ture only question of time For if no leniency shown
to any one and is allowed to brng influence
bear upon the store owners day OF these appar
emily respectable women who caught stealing will
prove to be accOmplce of the master criminal and will
tell where he or of his underng chiefains may be
fOund-and arrested.
The owners Of big stores discovered some time ago.
through District Attorney Edward Swami of New York
that the startling increase in shOpng and the apparent
system with which it was being directed meant that
unknown hand had organized shOplfters through
the country with much efficiency as great nanciers
organize corporations, with board Of directors,