ONE of woman's great troubles is that she takes on credit too many persons who have none. This fact and her own carelessness in protecting her property are the principal reasons why women are the victims of so many robberies. For the devices of thieves for robbing women are almost always of the simplest nature; therefore a few hints as to what women should do and should not do will render futile most of the attempted robberies. The commonest and in some ways the hardest kind of a thief to guard against is the ordinary pickpocket, and the most successful pickpockets are those who operate by twos or threes. They work in theater lobbies, street cars or any place where there is likely to be a crowd.

      Some time ago a lady was leaving a theater after a matinée. In the crowd she suddenly collided with a strange man. He politely lifted his hat and apologized profusely for the incident, but made no attempt to further conversation and soon disappeared in the crowd. The lady never gave the incident another thought. When she reached home she discussed the matinée with the other members of the family and said that she would show them the program which she had in her pocketbook. On searching for it she found that both her purse, containing fifty dollars, and her watch were gone. The gentlemanly man who had jostled her in the theater crowd had merely distracted her attention while a clever confederate had gone through her pockets. In such cases it is impossible to do anything. Even if she could have recognized the man who jostled her she could not have proved that it was not an accident, and as she never knew she was being robbed of course she could not identify the real thief.

      Another woman had been shopping in crowds all day. When she got on a car she paid her fare and slipped her purse back into her pocket. She had to stand, for the car was well filled. When she got home there was a slit in her dress, evidently made by a very sharp knife, right over the pocket, and her purse was missing. She had stood in the car next to a woman wearing a long coat, and undoubtedly it was this woman who had robbed her. The thief had probably noticed the well-filled purse in a store and had followed its owner into the car. She saw into which pocket her victim had put her money, and under cover of her own long coat (which always has unusually long slit pockets) she had cut the dress and got the purse without putting her hand into the victim's pocket.

      Such methods are hard to guard against; but another common way in which women are victimized is due to their own carelessness in laying down a purse while examining merchandise in a large store. This is inexcusable, especially if another person (usually a woman) is looking at goods near by. The clever thief by carefully maneuvering her muff or shopping-bag will cover and secure the purse in nine cases out of ten and leave the store in a perfectly natural manner.

How the Resorts are Worked

THIEVES at the big summer and winter resort hotels generally work in pairs, posing as man and wife. They are always well dressed and are very pleasant persons to meet. Their most successful plan is to seek the confidence of the guests whom they intend to fleece until they become intimate enough to go to the rooms of these newly made friends. There they can easily find out where jewels and money are kept, whether in trunk, bureau drawer, purse or hand bag. Then, while the guests are away from the hotel riding, driving or bathing, it is an easy matter to slip into the rooms by means of a pass-key, go instantly to the place where the valuables are kept and take them. When the theft is discovered the thief is often the deepest sympathizer with the victim. A sure way to guard against this kind of a thief is to leave jewelry and money in the hotel safe until needed.

      The hotel bunko man and his female partner work in a different way. Last summer at one of the great Eastern seashore resorts a handsomely dressed man and his wife registered at one of the best hotels. They were apparently cultivated and refined persons. Gradually they made friends, and to these the man showed business cards and credits from a far Western city, while several large brokerage firms mailed investment literature to him regularly at the hotel. One morning his wife went in tears to one of her wealthy woman friends. She had received a telegram, she sobbingly explained, that her dear mother in their Western home town had met with a severe accident and they must return at once. Her husband had just paid their hotel bill and some expected remittances would not arrive until tomorrow. They must start at once, and could her friends between them cash a check for five hundred dollars? They could and did, receiving in return a check which came back from the bank marked, "No account here." At the same time her husband was working the same trick upon some of his man friends, and the pair departed, to the regret of their sorrowing friends, who - when the checks came back - kept right on being sorry.

      The telephone is very generally used by thieves, because they can get in direct touch with whomever they want to talk to and yet remain invisible themselves, thus making it almost impossible for you to identify the person at the other end of the wire.

      Recently a young married woman in one of our large cities was called up on the telephone. The caller gave a name, but frankly said that he was a stranger. He explained that the husband of the young woman (who, he said, was a friend of his) was detained at an important business meeting and had asked him to call her and then bring her to a well-known hotel where the husband would join them and all would have dinner together. Without giving the matter further thought she consented, and soon an affable young man called for her in an automobile. They started toward the place where they were to meet the husband, but when they reached a lonely part of the city he robbed her, even tearing her valuable earrings from her ears, and then threw her out of the car, which dashed away at full speed. The thief knew the whereabouts of the husband, and the driver of the car was a confederate. It could all have been avoided if she had refused to go without a personal message from her husband.

      There are certain other things which women should always bear in mind when answering a telephone call. When alone in the house at night do not answer a call as to the whereabouts of your husband by saying he is gone for the evening; say rather that he is expected back soon, for the telephone caller may be a burglar who, noting the departure of the husband, telephones to learn whether or not there are any other men in the house. When a telephone caller asks, "Who is this?" give the telephone number, and let him inform you with whom he wishes to speak. He may want to take advantage of the fact that the husband is away, to attempt blackmail or create domestic distrust. If he claims to have been connected with the wrong number discontinue the conversation and hang up the receiver. The trick of claiming the wrong number is frequently tried for the purpose of starting an acquaintance which may be highly undesirable.

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NEVER FORGET THESE "NEVERS"       NEVER under any circumstances make chance acquaintances, especially while traveling.       NEVER get excited over any demonstration on the street; a person fainting on the street is a much-used ruse of pickpockets.       NEVER ask for information while on a journey except from uniformed officials of the railway or steamship company.       NEVER start out on a journey to a strange city or town without previous information about a safe place to stay overnight.       NEVER answer an advertisement in person in a strange city without first thoroughly investigating the employer or agency, and never answer it at a private room in a hotel.       NEVER lay down your pocketbook while examining goods in a store.       NEVER place your rings or jewelry to one side in a washroom. Drop them in your purse if only for ten seconds.       NEVER pin your money in a little bag on the pillow or bolster of your bed. All thieves look there first.       NEVER leave any money or jewelry in a room with a window opening on a porch.       NEVER take a servant into your home without references, and always verify the references.       NEVER display money openly on the street or in any other public place.       NEVER fail to make a loud demonstration if attacked or accosted. Publicity is what people of this type fear most.       NEVER permit any one to enter the house under the guise of gasman, inspector, etc., without showing proper credentials.       NEVER tell a stranger at your door that there is no one at home but yourself.       NEVER sign a paper of any kind for a stranger or alleged agent without a thorough investigation.       NEVER agree over the telephone to meet any one whose voice you do not recognize, or whom you know but slightly, at any place except a very public one, and then do not go alone.       NEVER take a taxicab at night with two men on the driver's box.       NEVER fail to take a careful look at the face of a person attacking you so that you can identify him later.

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When Women Themselves are to Blame

IN NUMEROUS instances women have only their own carelessness to blame for their losses of money, jewelry and other valuables. They often put temptation in the way of those who otherwise would not think of taking the things which are thus almost thrust upon them.

      A young woman had a diamond ring for which her father had paid twelve hundred dollars. One evening at a social function in the fashionable club of a near-by town she stopped to wash her hands before going to the ballroom. While doing so she removed her ring, letting it lie on the edge of the wash-basin. In her hurry and excitement over the brilliant festivities she forgot to replace her ring, and she never missed it until she arrived at her home in the other town long after midnight. I was called into the case some weeks later and my investigations caused suspicion to rest upon a porter of the club. However we had no direct evidence and the ring was never recovered.

      In another town a woman, buying a railroad ticket to a suburban station, laid her purse on the ticket-seller's shelf. Her train was almost ready to leave, and in her hurry she seized her ticket and change and rushed for the gate, leaving the purse containing about one hundred and forty dollars behind. She missed it as she was boarding her train and rushed back. The ticket seller claimed not to have seen it, and, in spite of a careful inquiry, it was never found.

      These are not exceptional cases, nor were the women any more careless than are those who do not take reasonable precautions to protect their property. For example, any display of money on the street is an open invitation to pickpockets. So, too, is money carried in a handbag, as the bag can be easily opened by experts and the purse or cash extracted. If you are going shopping or where you will be in a crowd never wear nor carry expensive jewelry or take more money than is absolutely needed. If the money must be taken never carry it in a handbag or a chatelaine purse; these are too easily cut or snatched away in a crowd, and the thief is lost to sight before the victim has recovered from her surprise.

Schemes Often Tried in the Home

WOMEN are even more careless in these matters in their homes. Money and jewelry should never be left lying around where it will be a temptation to servants or chance callers. Form the habit of putting away your jewelry personally, and also form the habit of never keeping large sums of money or much jewelry in the house. They are both safer in the bank.

      Some time ago a young man rang the doorbell of a house and inquired if Mrs. Blank (giving the correct name) was in.

      She came to the door and he said:

      "Mrs. Blank, here's a C. O. D. package Mr. Blank ordered sent to you. It is ten dollars and he said you should pay for it."

      Mrs. Blank thought it was odd, because her husband had never done this before, but she paid for it and the youth departed. When she opened the package it contained a brick and a lot of old newspapers neatly done up. This trick is worked on women every day of the year. The only safe way to deal with it is to open the package before paying for it.

      When a package is delivered in a room it is well not to leave the room until the parcel has been examined and the messenger dismissed, as thieves use this method to gain admittance to a house to observe it and to pick up whatever may be lying around. A messenger, too, should never be allowed to depart with a package which, it is claimed, was delivered by mistake, without finding out first whether similar packages are around, as many clever robberies have been perpetrated by changing two packages, one valuable and the other made up of rubbish.

      Money and jewelry should not be left in a room opening on a porch, as most house burglaries by "second-story men occur during the dinner hour or when the room is unprotected. Another favorite careless act is to leave the door-key under the mat. Burglars are perfectly familiar with this device. Take the key with you or leave it at a neighbor's house. And if some one else is to get it be sure that the neighbor knows the person to whom to deliver it. Also never pin your money in a little bag to your pillow or bolster; every thief looks over the bed first.

When Engaging Servants Get References

ANOTHER thing, which may not be exactly carelessness, but is something akin to it, is the haphazard way in which servants are engaged. Reference should be demanded and carefully investigated, for burglars often get their information as to where valuables are kept from a confederate who has been taken into the house as a servant.

      A wealthy woman not long ago employed a girl who seemed to her to be a first-class maid. She gave every satisfaction, and the fact that she had been engaged without a reference was forgotten by her delighted mistress. The girl claimed to be engaged to a chauffeur who frequently called for her in his car. One day the mistress returned from a day in town to find the house stripped of valuables to the extent of several thousand dollars. The chauffeur had brought his car to the house and the goods had been loaded into it in plain sight of the neighbors, who never suspected that a robbery was being committed. I was asked to take up the case and finally apprehended the couple, who proved to be old offenders. The wealthy woman got back some of her valuables, but enough had been turned into money and spent to make it a very costly lesson. Another thing about which many women are very careless is admitting to their houses strangers not properly accredited. The greatest caution should be observed regarding this, and no gas inspector, telephone man, plumber, and so on, should be admitted without showing the credentials which are given to all public utility corporation representatives. Many burglaries have been committed by men representing themselves to be inspectors, linemen, and so on.

      Umbrella menders, tinkers, agents, peddlers and other itinerants should not be allowed to enter the house nor loiter around the yard on any pretext whatever. Thousands of these "floaters" are "locaters" for house prowlers, porch climbers or burglars. Their real object is to learn what they can about the plan of the house, the door fastenings, where the silver is kept and the easiest way in and out. If you are not interested in what these men have to offer dismiss them at once, and see that they leave the premises. If you have any business to transact do it at the door or on the porch. Another old trick, but one that is still effective, is for a man or boy to call and ask for one or more suits of your husband's clothes, saying he has just been sent to take them to the cleaner or presser. By this means good clothes are obtained and sold to the second-hand dealers.

Traps for the Business Woman

IN A LARGE Eastern newspaper some time ago there appeared a most attractive advertisement for a business woman or a girl with office experience to become the manager of the local office of a large Western manufacturing establishment. Of course there were hundreds of applicants, and one of the first questions asked of each was whether she had a bank account and how much, or if she was known to the officials of any bank. The reason given for such questioning was that some financial responsibility was necessary on the part of a woman who was to take charge of such large affairs. Those who were unable to answer in the affirmative were politely dismissed. One young woman told the agent that she had five hundred dollars in bank, and, after a day or so of hesitation, she was accepted for the position. An office was engaged, the agent insisted that the lease be drawn up in her name, and then she was asked to indorse a draft for five hundred dollars to obtain ready money to open the office and furnish it. She did so and the agent got the money and promptly disappeared from town. I was called into the case and found that he had worked the same scheme with five other young women, locating the "offices" in different parts of the city. The man was punished, but the victims got back practically nothing, besides having leases for useless offices on their hands.

      Never sign any contract or agreement of any kind without first thoroughly investigating it. A great many women having their own bank accounts have been duped by signing a seemingly harmless agreement. In reality the victim, through a clever contrivance of a specially prepared sheet of paper, has signed her name to a blank check. The swindler learns in advance in which bank she carries her account, and often by observation, when she is at the teller's window, he can gain a pretty accurate idea of the amount of her balance. The first intimation the victim has of the swindle is when her book is balanced and she finds a much smaller sum to her credit, and gets, among the returned checks, one which she does not recall having issued.

When Women Travel Alone

MANY women traveling alone are victims of scoundrels. When on a journey be very careful of your conversations with any one you meet on the trains or steamships, and trust only the uniformed officials of the company for information about your journey. A thief may pose as an official, but he will not be in uniform. No woman should permit attentions or form intimacies with a polite stranger unless he first proves his identity, and even then she should be guarded, for credentials are easily obtained by the professional crook. If a stranger does a woman a favor she should simply thank him and let that end it.

      When traveling a woman should always arrive at her destination during the daytime, and if alone or her friends fail to meet her she should apply only to the station matron for assistance. A girl should not go to a strange city without previous information about a safe place to remain overnight, and she should carry with her, hidden from sight, sufficient funds to meet every emergency.

      Girls are told to beware of boys and young men, but the real menace while traveling is the middle-aged or elderly man, whom they more readily trust. In the same way they are warned against gaudily dressed women, whereas the real female" crook" is quiet both in dress and manner and has a matronly appearance which readily deceives even more astute observers than an unsuspecting girl.

Some Other Baits for Women

EVERY one likes to get something for noth- ing, and this trait is just as strong in women as in men. No one knows this better than the professional crook and he plays upon this human weakness to the utmost. Therefore every woman should carefully investigate every "good thing" that is offered her.

      Not long ago an attractive advertisement in some of the papers of the biggest city of the Middle West declared that a fifty-dollar tailor- made suit could be secured for twenty dollars on the installment plan. The idea was that a number of women should club together and pay one dollar a week apiece for twenty weeks. By getting the suits in quantity, the advertisement read, they could be supplied for the lower figure. The promoter was able to form several clubs. Then he explained that it was necessary to pay one dollar a week for ten weeks to cover the initial cost of the goods, this ten dollars to apply on the twenty dollars which the suits were to cost. After that they could go to a big tailoring firm and have their suits made. The plan worked well from the promoter's point of view, for at the close of the tenth week he disappeared, taking all the money with him.