"THE CLUTCHING HAND."
SHOP-LIFTLNG IN AUSTRALIA. (moil OTTO OWN COBKMPON»KTT.) SYDNEY, November 29. "Tho clutching band"—that is •howsome Australian cities designate tho growing practice of shop-lifting. This kind of thieving has grown alarmingly in recent years, and in some large shops the means adopted to combat it amount almost to a special service. Women arc almost always the culprits, and they show the utmost ingenuity in seizing portable goods, and hiding them about their persons. The women generally work in. pairs. One will engage the attention of the salesman or woman, and the other will very quietly and unobrusively slip some valuable article into her bag or under her garments. Some shopkeepers estimate that these women steal successfully'six times, for each time they are caught. The shop people, naturally, do not accuse customers of theft unless they are. very certain of their facts, and that this percentage of successful thefts persists, in spite of the shop detectives, who are experts in seeing articles slipped into parasols, under the voluminous folds of fashionable dresses, or even into gloves, is testimony to "tho skill of the thieves. The most difficult shop-lifters to detect, of course, are those who appear as wealthy ladies of fashion, whose languid and naughty air is sufficient to scare off any detective who is not very sure of his facts. Tho extent of the depredations suggests that there is more than mere isolated shop-lifting going on. Apparently, there are "fences" —men who purchase the ill-gotten goods. Jn some cities, Sydney and .Melbourne in particular, there is believed to be regular gangs at work. Honesjt shoppers might not credit the assertion that, in most shops they are constantly under surveillance, but let them attempt a little "rmlming" and. if they are not very skilful, thev will discover that "the clutching hand" gives employment to some extremely alert young men.
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume LII, Issue 15767, 7 December 1916, Page 11
Word Count
310"THE CLUTCHING HAND." Press, Volume LII, Issue 15767, 7 December 1916, Page 11
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