SHOPLIFTING.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXIX, Issue 9648, 3 July 1919, Page 3

SHOPLIFTING.

AS PRACTISED IN NEW YOKK

< "Regardless of whether it was due to ' the psychological eifect of the war, or '; to "the belief thivt in wartime tho vigU--1 ance' of th? stcjros anil the a.u.th.f.rlt'ics is relabel," said the head of a greal New ? Q rk dvapory house, "it is a fad that- losises from theft of merchandise last year reached the largest figures yel ' riecu. Since the stores have, organisec to combat this evil, however, and have had in their efforts more complete co operation of the various department! and courts that have to do with th< capture, prosecution, and punishmeni of offenders, there has been a raarkec change for tho better. "To me, one of the most peculiar "things about shoplifting is that th< bulk of it is done by women who oughi to know better and who could well afford to pay for the articles they, take, It has been my experience to find thai comparatively little stealing of merchandise is done by young girls, and less still by men. Unless a man is so drunk that he does not know what lie h doing, or unless he is a drug addict and will do anything to get money with which to. buy his favourite 'dope,' he is not likely to bother, the stores much. "When a man .does set out' to 'trim' a'store, however^he' does hot fool with the kind of stuff that women steal. He oes in for the bigger things. One of s£v . most ambitious attempts at shopthe - I have ever heard of took place lifting, Hore several years ago. In this in this t 'n was caught as he left the case a rat. ' "ig a sizeable marble figure store "carry!*., 'der. He had come into over his shoii» ing a cap, which he tin? store weal* xsket before entering stuffed into his pv "c these things are the department whe* -"o one knows all sold. In a big store v 1 a bareheaded the other employees, anu r>.n for one. man is very apt to be takv 'ow swung Consequently, when this felK ' walked the statue on his shoulder ana >bably out those who saw him prt, <ivthought he was taking it to the dfe. .*■. orv department. If his cap had no. worked partly out of his pocket, _and it ■ ib had not been seen by a detective, he would easily/have got away with his swag. . , "One of the most interesting instances of near-successful shoplifting I have ever seen concerned our jewellery department. It was a variation of the old substitution game, but it was so elaborately camouflaged that it nearly worked A man came up to a jewellery counter one day and asked to be shown some expensive diamond rings, as ne had just become engaged. He looked at some, selected one, and asked that " be set aside for a few days. "This was done, and several days later he returned to the store with a friend of his who was supposed to be* a diamond expert). The friend examined the stone under a jeweller's glass, and pronounced it a fine one. The prospective customer again asked that the ring be set aside for a few days, this time in order to let his fiancee pass an opinion on it.' The clerk again agreed. "Not long afterward the man camt back with a woman, who he said was his fiancee. She looked the ring over and appeared to be very much disappointed with it. In a dejected manner the man apparently returned it to the clerk, but actually palmed it and turned over a paste substitute. He was a little awkward in his manipulation however, and the cterk went;, over the top at once He vaulted the counter and made after the thief. When the latter cot to the door he threw the nng,on the Soor, and as the clerk stopped to recover it the thief disappeared. In tlie meantime the woman had also made herself scarce. The prompt action of the clerk saved the store tho loss of a 400-dollar ring. "Most of the things that women steal, on the other hand, are apt to be trinkets or other articles of small value. Handkerchiefs and gloves are favourites with amateur shoplifters, and cheap jewellery, likewise tempts them. Waists are also apt to disappear it a sharp lookout is not kept. Of late years silk underwear has developed the habit of leaving the store unpaid for. A rainy day often brings about the loss of several umbrellas, especially it' a shower comes up during the day. and catches the shoppers unprepared. "Millinery also suffers more or less, particularly wh'en sales are on. A woman will try on a new hat that she picks uo from a counter and leave her old one* there while she goes to a mirror to get the effect. X she. is dishonestly inclined, and if the clerk does not stay with her—which is not always possible when a special sale is on—she is likely to walk right on out. Thetts of this kind are .difficult to.detect, once tho clerk has been eliminated, but it is nothing out of the ordinary for a woman to buy a hew hat, wear it, and have her old one sent home "The amount of. shoplifting done seems to. vary with the season. The stores suffer most, of course, during the holiday period, when the crowds are "reatest and the clerks the busiest. This°is also the time when tho younger persons aye tempted most, but, as I ! have said before, the bulk of the amateur stealing is done by women old enough to know better. Very few of the shoplifters I come m contact with are really too poor to pay for the things they take, and m the excuses they offer—most of which would. make a man laugh under other circumstances —a clerk or the store is always more at fault than the culprit. One of the most frequent excuses we hear is that the accused person 'could not stay there all day to be waited on,' and, therefore, she helped herselr.