STEALING TO LIVE

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 110, 12 May 1930, Page 7

STEALING TO LIVE

WOMEN SHOPLIFTERS

MANY WELL DRESSED

AETFUL DEVICES

The recent scntenco o£ an American woman, Mrs. Ruth St. Clair, to life imprisonment following her fourth conviction on a charge of shoplifting has drawn public attention to a crime that is commonly dealt with (says the " New York Times")- This form of larceny i is old and its technique has not greatly ; altered. But the offender has changed. The well-dressed shoplifter has come to take the place of the shabby, habitual thief of the older days. There are two kinds of shoplifters — the occasional or "opportunity 3' thief. and the professional who. practices; shoplifting for a livelihood. _ Most of i them are women, and the majority arc under' thirty. Not easily distinguish-; able from the mass of shoppers, they , make their way unmolested in and out of the stores, their manner assured, and their hands deft. SOLD TO "FENCES." The store detectives know some of them, to be sure—and the knowledge leads to arrests and convictions. It did, for example, dn the case of the shoplifter who had learned to hide fur coats beneath her skirts and to "walk from the knees'idown." She was not seen to take them, and she might have got away if she had not' already been on the ; store detective's black book. The shoplifter may specialise in fur coats, cheap jewellery, lingerie, or dresses. She disposes of her treasure -at "fences" —stores : that deal in stolen goods. THE THEFT OF TAPESTKIES. One case of shoplifting involved the disappearance of tapestries from several Fifth avenue stores. There were complaints that seats and backs of chairs worth as much as 1200 dollars i were continually being lost-^-cut out j with a razor. In one of the establish-! ments chair after chair was ruined. ■ No culprit was found. The detective: hung a tapestry worth 1100 dollars on ; the wall/ No one appeared. For four i days he watched. On .the -fourth.'day a man in. a loose, tan coat came in. Since he fitted the description of one j suspected as the thief, the detective watched him. Quick as a flash, the thief whipped the tapestry off the wall, put it under his coat, folded his arms in front of him, so as to keep it in place, and, started to walk out. Immediately he was arrested, found guilty of all the tapestry thefts, and sent to prison for three years. ' ' . '.- Stories of the coups of professional • shoplifters are legion.' Working in seasons' as well regulated as those. <of the hunter, they concentrate their j efforts during the Christmas and Eas- j ter rushes,: when stores are-thronged j and aisles are so crowded that their j manipulations can go unnoticed. At j such times iv the larger stores, four or five are caught in a day.. Losses are minimised, however, by squads of detectives, varying in number from half a dozen in smaller shops to one hundred in one very large department . store. IN THE STORES.- " j The shoplifter 'takes advautagc of the crowds when she can, and in.ffie great Broadway stores about Thirtyfourth street there are nearly always vast numbers of people at the counters. Here, too, the thief need be less luxuriously dressed than in the more exclusive shops along Fit fch. avenue. Perhaps she does a little pocket-pick-ing on the'side. Again the crowd favours her. A favourite victim is the stopper from out of town, who is likely to be carrying more money than the woman who has a charge account. In the "Rogues Gallery" of, store thieves —a collection of photographs furnished to all member organisations by the Stores' Mutual Protective Association— ther,e are pictures of 850 men and women who have at some time been convicted as shoplifters, pickpockets, impostors, or bad cheque pass- . «rs. ' ■ ■ ' ■■• Amateur shoplifters are 'usually, well-.to-do women, who, although they do •not need to follow their illicit pursuits, cannot resist the temptation of getting something for nothing. They steal to gratify their own fancy or to give presents to friends. They nevey sell their spoil. Perhaps a woman, having received au allowance from her husband, has gambled it away at bridge, and must yet be able to give some other account of how she has spent the money. She goes to a department store and steals lingerie,' hosiery, cheap jewellery, and dresses. Slipping her bdoty into her handbag, or by means of. a slit skirt h\%o her bloomers, she leaves the stoic. It has been estimated that 80 per cent, of the shoplifters are "opportunity;" thieves. The rest are professional. STEALING JOB THE THRILL. Young women often steal for-adven-ture. Recently two girls were caught in a large Fifth Avenue shop. Since they were members of prominent families arid residents of expensive apartment hotels, they were asked why they had taken the merchandise. "We've always had everything we wanted," one of them explained. "It's been so dull. There's been no effort. So we thought we'd like to have to work for something." A young boarding school pupil was discovered with stolen silk stockings and crepe de chine underwear in her possession. "Why had she taken' these articles? From 'her account it was found that her father, disapproving of the luxurious tastes of the younger generation, had refused to give his daughter such pretty trifles as she desired. Jewellery stores are so well guarded and have so few customers at a time, that their losses from., shoplifting are negligible.' Rings are attached to a concealed metal bar and locked into the tray, only to be released by the pressure of a button. In one of the largest jewellery establishments the inventory last year revealed a deficiency of merely one silver dessert spoon. The greatest risk such stores run is from "pennyweighting," the substitution of an imitation or of an article of inferior quality for the actual object for sale. ' ' ' FALSE BUYERS. Often a legitimate customer tells her , name and address in a voice loud enough to be heard by a neighbour, who the next day returns and at another counter charges merchandise to that account. Since bills are not rendered until the end of the month, tlia. impostors may have thirty days in which to pursue their activities unimpeded. Sometimes they take articles charged • to the account of a friend or acquaint- j anee or of some one whose habits and . address they know.' A discharged maid .. often makes use of her knowledge of . her late mistress's accounts. Impostors are really only another type of > shoplifter. The' phrase, "charge and take," is responsible for more losses than almost any other, it is said. Practically every store permits its customers to take goods •worth as much as 10 dollars if the customer signs her name and says she has Tin account. ,