Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-11-15
ENTER THE SHOPLIFTER.
4y Frederic J. Iiaskin

New York City. Nov. 14--At this
season Of the year. New York depart
ment stores increase the size OF their
detective forces in order to combat
the cvergrowing number Of thoughtful
persons who begin their shoplifiing
early. From now until after Christ
INNS, shopliftlng Will proceed at bold
and furious pace. The Women's Court
viii be kept busy hearing the cases
Of llght-hngered ladies, caught at In
opporfune moments. while the large
Fifth avenue stores Will lose thou
sands Of dollars worth of goods 10
others, who viii successfully get away
with II.
This il a1waye the case. The annual
fieprpdatIons Of shoplifters are regard
ed as an inevitable calamity which
no mercantile establishment, how
ever resourceful, can hope 10 escape.
And this year the stores anticipate
greater difficulties froru this source
than ever before, because OF the new
styles in sleeves.
You may have observed That the
/ rev feminine sleeve is a voluminous
dropping, Dell- shaped affair. possess
ing tremendous possibilities for ladies
who are clever with their fingers. II
is going TO be extremely cary TO hide
stuff in the recesses OF sleeve which
trails obligingly all over the counter
when the wearer puts her hand down
We saw it done only the other day
a plump. agile hand, accompanied by
one of these dangling sleeves, glidet
quickly along a counter covered will
feminine lingerie. then paused for
several seconds while the fingers ex
amined the texture of the silk. WheI
the hand moved agaih II was in swif
upward flight. presumably 10 adjus
la slight discrepancy in the owner
lace collar
"There. you sec how easy II is." sail
tho salesgirl who had given the dem
onstration, as she removed a pinl
silk undergarment from her sleeve
You didn't see me do that eve
though you were watching, and thin
row much simpler it would be TO stui
. my sleeve in the confusion of Christ
mas crowd That's why we've &c
TO be so particular and insist upo
customers keeping their arms Off tn
: counters"
a Store Detective.
Tho interesting informa tion was COZ
, roborated by one Of the store detes
/, tives, tall, sleek-faced individua
, who SO well looked his part that or
! cid not soc how any shoplifter cou
!, fail TO notice and avoid him.
There's no doubf but that the ne
as. oil Of tf,f
!, litter" he said. "But, of cours
: we're gonna watch EN-. And tins
we've got our own system. Th'
don't get away with as much as tn
y uved to-"
!, We pressed for details. by wh
astute methods are shoplifters pr
vented from running off with q
., store?" We inquired.
"Oh, we get to know a lot Of q
= professionals by their looks" the d
: tective replied. And there's usual
somethin. about them to excite sJi
= plcion. One thing and another
But your SYSTEM" we persisted.
well, there's the store aisles,
:. instance. Notice how wide the aisI
:. are I'm this store? That amt (
! beauty and it ain't for comfort. ]
because the light fin sered Lizzics dor
q like them. They prefer the narro
o crowded aisies where they amt
- likely to be seem
This was all the information '
= could drag forth. The system
. seemed, was a secret formula, whi
- had to be carefully guarded. Il I
!, shoplifters once got wise to It,
would be useless. To make up I
his inability to crafty our curios
in this respect, however, our frie
showed an eager Willingness to 4
euss other important matters.
gave us. in elaborate detail, his p
vate views on the Disarmament CO
ference; dwelt upon the careIes5n,
with which the mails were handl
and explained the most drama
Tlays in the late world series. F'ina
when he had talked himself into
good humor and We We're nearly in
state of coma, he allowed himself
be steered gingerly back TO the ST
iect of mis- own secret activities.
Let me see he said cautious
stroking his long Jaw, the case