THE SHOP-LIFTERS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIV, Issue 304, 22 December 1903, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE SHOP-LIFTERS.

A PERMANENT NUISANCE. CONFIXED TO NO PARTICULAR CLASS. STARTLING STATEMENTS.

Cuiiouply enough, while V Southern newspapers Avcre probing into the secrets of the business of shop-lifting, the same idea occurred to an "Auckland Star" journalist, who forthwith visited the city stores in his investigations piercing the sacred precincts of the drapery stores, and navigating a perilous course between tottering-piles of fragile toys and nicely-balanced crockery, besides encountering lesser evils. The tale told by the mournful and irate shopkeepers was the same —pinpricks all the year round and auger-holes in times of stress, such as a sale or a Xmas season. A UNIVERSAL PRACTICE. It may seem an ugly commentary upon the morals of the community, more particularly the feminine part of it. but the fears of the pessimist may be somewhat soothed by the explanation that these little peculations are practised by. n, comparative few, and those few represent—according to the greater testimony—no particular section of the community. Nothing like rabid genuine kleptomania exists in a permanent form, and instances are rare. THE MANNER OF IT. Misappropriation 13 common enough, and the ways adopted by women for the concealment of goods are numerous and ingenious. Who, for instance, would have imagined that the rnucheondemned habit of dragging the skirt over the hips would be used as an aid to theft? And yet a draper solemnly assured the pressman it was so. "I've watched them," he said, "draw the skirt round with the right hand, and covertly dropping the bit of lace into the fold the dress clasp it close to the waist! Of course, when you tax them with it. it's got there by accident, and they's highly indignant!" Quite as novel a use is made of the baby in this kind of shopping. Pilfering Mother takes Dear Baby into the shop and dumps him on top of a pair of boots or a lace ruffle. When the penn'orth of hairpins is bought, Mother removes the Dear Child, together with the coveted Article, and either deposits it along with him in the '•pram." or waits till a chance conies to put it in a morn conveniert place! A persistent shopkeeper followed one c.t these patrons half a mile before she thought it safe to remove the article! Then it is a common thing for them to quietly exchange an old fur boa for a new one, while the large umbrella, the wide-mouthed bag, the comfortable cape, and the old-fashioned shawl are well-known- and every present helps in time of need. THE POOR DRAPERS. As might be expected, the drapers are the greatest victims of the pilferers, but not a vendor of small goods in the city—in any part of the colony, it seems —escapes the toll so levied. "The shopkeepers explain the matter by comparing the thieves to children, who, seeing a pretty thing, follow the instinct to steal it. That Darwin still lived. . THE PROFESSIONAL. In one large drapery establishment visited the manager stated positively that he knew there were a few professional shop-lifters who visited the stores. He went so far as to give one woman's name, and averred with much heat that j she. had stocked and re-stocked a whole ! street with stolen goods. Her method ;is to go with a little girl, and silently j select the goods displayed outside—she rarely goes within—and the girl promptly appropriates them in an unexplained manner. The remedy for this, of course, is not to display goods outside, but although there is a strong movement j proceeding in the business to jointly I abandon outside displays, it seems impossible of accomplishment, as so many appear to find it pays to risk the losses! "There are certain people," said the draper. "A gang?" "No, working quite independently. though perhaps, with an assistant. who i make a ljving out of pilfering. Oh, ye.=>, we know them, and they are. marked; but they are so smart that we cannot catch them, or if we do they are so cunning and plausible that it is impossible to get a conviction."

Not all shopkeepers share this view, and most say that it is the casual theft by people, "whose sense of honesty i 3 undeveloped/ One manager said that the professionals came along his way at rare interavls, and all were apparently nonresidential. He found that the chief offenders were people of nil classes, high and low, who snatched small things, for example a. lace collar, while the assistant's back wa> turned. Tie instanced a ease where a silk handkerchief was taken in such a way, and the assistant leaned over the counter and took it back oUt of the woman's bag, she not uttering : a word, or showing a sijrn of dismay! Another manager was inclined to attribute the habit mostly to the wives of j workingmen, but still another imputes j it to the wives of mechanics and other j skilled artisans higher in th«> social i scale. He agreed with the pressman j that in these cases, perhaps in all, it might be due to their possessing the desire to dress well without the legitimate means thereof. With many, of I course, it would be due to the chronic j tightness of the exchequer—or the hus-band-—but this seems by no means a rule* The draper said it was surpris- j ing to note how well-dressed were those people whom they caught. WORST AT SHOW TIMES. The general opinion is that the shopkeepers do not see one half of the thefts I that arc effected. But While the practice is admitted to be constant, it is worst at sale times, and at such show times as the Christmas season. On both occasions the shops are crowded to excess, and the possibility of supervision minimised. At such times special men are detailed to watch, the shopsi, and see that no person goes' out with any unpapered. parcel. But they get away sometimes with other people's parcels—quite by mistake, of course!; Much opportunity arises when the attfidant is away getting change, but the institution of cash railways is lessening that opporunity. It seems that a certain number make a practice of attending these sales for what they can pick up. THE* LOSS NOT ESTIMABLE. Jn Southern papers figures have been quoted to show the extent of the losses by dealers in this way, but not a firm j visited bj.tJie pressman could gi?* anj<.

thing approaching an estimate of the loss. It was not estimable, said they, but in the long run it was very, very costly, and had always to be calculated upon. DIPLOMACY. Amazed that the public heard so little of such cases, the writer asked why they did not take action in the flagrant "cases. The reply came with .1 quick laugh: "Diplomacy; and the cases are so numerous that it would cost more to prove than if we just grinned and bore it silently. Besides, it'd be bad for business to be always making a fuss—a very unproductive advertisement." Such cynicism is shocking, but there is no sentiment in business. AMONG FANCY GOODS. Of course one would expect that in places where small articles de virtu, toys, crockery, and general bric-a-brac — are sold, the peculations would be great, and visiting the different stores of the city, the commissioner verified the assumption only too well, In spite of all provisions, the thefts were marvellously numerous. "Year in and year out, good times and bad, it is the same —always the terrible leakage by pilfering. A huge crowd pours in, and what can you do? They drift about the shop, and soon disappear, and you find your sales don't balance your cash." THE TOLL OF FRUIT. In a fruit store one would think the pilfering would be chiefly the work of small boy 3, but the hungry youngster is ably seconded by his parent. The esculent cauliflower as rapidly and mysteriously as the jjile of luscious peaches dwindles before the very eyes of the vendor. Even the wideawake Celestial pays his toll, but the less keen European more so. "They come in dressed good enough to be Ministers," exclaimed one man, "but the cauliflower disappears all the same." EVEN THE BOOKSELLERS SUFFER. Among the world of books the journalistic Diogenes thought to find his lionest man, but, alas! not even there. True, books disappear infrequently enough, but the useful fountain-pen, the pocket dictionary, and such-like commodities, go the way they shouldn't. InChristmas cards the greatest pilfering is effected, and a bookseller admitted that on Christmas Eve he had to put on half a dozen men to stroll about the shop like purchasers to guard against the seeker after cheap Christmas presents. NO WORSE THAN ELSEWHERE. " But because in the hope of doing a little good this exposure of a deplorable habit has been made, let it not be imagined for a moment that Auckland is a sink of criminal iniquity, even in the classes which rio not filter through the Police Court. Far from it: the honest conclusion which tlie writer has come to since his investigations, and with a fore-knowledge of the extent of this practice in other places, is that Auckland is no worse, if not better, than our other big cities. In reality, taking into consideration the fa-ct that Auckland is the greatest city of the colony, there is comparatively less pilfering here than in any of the other cities of the colony; while it appears trifling when compared -with the condition in Melbourne and Sydney, where it amounts to a positive scourge. But it is none the less deplorable. Honesty should not be a matter of comparison.