Great Falls tribune., 1921-11-17
The HQski1l Letter ''stssas.s zss2a
ENTER THE SHOPLIFTER

New. York City, Nov. 11.--At this
season of the year, New York de.
partment stores increase. the size OF
combat the evergrowing number of
thoughtful persons who begin their
shoplifting early. From now until after
| Christmas, shoplifting will proceed at
| a bold and furious pace. The Women's
court will be i:ept busy hearing the
cases of light fingered ladies, caught
at inopportune moments, while the
/ large Fifth Avenue stores will lose
thousands of dollars worth of goods
to others, who win successfully get
away with it.
This is always the case. The annual
depredations Of shoplifters are regard
ed as an inevitable calamity which no
mercantile establishment, however re-
sourceful, can hope to escape. And this
year the stores anticipate greater diff
ficuIties from this source than ever
before because of the new styles in
sleeves.
You may have observed that the new
feminine sleeve is a voluminous, droop-
ing. bell-shaped affair. possessing
trem endous possibilities for ladies who
are clever with their fingers. 1t is
going to be extremely easy to hide
stuff in the recesses Of a 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, glided
quickly along a counter covered with
feminine lingerie, then paused for sew
ined the texture of the silk When the
hand moved again it was in swift up
ward flight, presumably to adjust a
slight discrepancy in the owners lace
collar.
There, you see how easy it is" said
the salesgirl who had given the de-
monstration, as she removed pink
silk undergarment from her sleeve.
You didn't see me do that even though
you were watching, and think how
much simpler it would be to stuff my
sleeve in the confusion of a Christmas
crowd. That's why we've got to be so
particular and insist upon customers
keeping their arms off the counters"
A Store Detective.
The interesting information was
corroborated by one of the store de-
tectives, tall, sleekfaced individual
who SO well looked his part, that one
did not see how any shoplfter could
fail to notice and avoid him.
There's no doubt but that the new
Iifter,' he said But. of course, we're
gonna watch 'em. And then we've got
our own system. They don't get away
with as much as they used to-"
We pressed for details. by what
astute methods are shoplifters pre-
vented from running off with the
store?" we inquired.
"Oh, we get to know a lot of the
essionals by their looks, the de-
tective replied. And there's usually
somethin' about them to excite sus-
picion. One thing and another
But your system?" we persisted:
instance No..ee how wide the aisles
are in this store? That amt for
beauty and it amt for comfort. It's
because the light-fingered Lizzies. don't
like them. They prefer the narrow,
crowded aisles where they amt so
likely to be seen"
This was all the information we
could drag forth. The System" it
seemed, has secret formula which
had to be carefully guarded. If the
shoplifters once got wise to it, 1t would
be useless. To make up fer his in
ability to crafty our curiosity in this
however, our friend showed an
eager willingness to discuss other i'm
portant matters. He gave US, in elab-
crate detail, his private views on the
conference; dwelt upon
the carelessness with which the mails
were handled, and explained the most
dramatic plays in the late world series.
Finally, when he had talked himself
into a good humor and we were nearly
in state of coma, he allowed himself
to be steered gingerly back to the sub
jeet of his own secret activities.
Let me see." he said cautiously,
stroking his long jaw, ''the case of
Gabrielle Lemaire was in the news
papers, so there can't be no harm in