Show SOUVECX3R FADS AND KLEPTOMANIA An American lady of good social standing and with ample means to maintain her position has recently been convicted of shoplifting in London and sentenced to three months imprisonment imprison-ment Her attorneys set up as a defense de-fense the plea of kleptomania which was swept aside by the English jury and a verdict of guilty rendered It is true that medical experts testified as to her mental condition that it was such that she was not responsible but this irresponsible condition only extended ex-tended to the one thingthat of shoplifting shop-lifting Charity not hard sense will give the lady the benefit of the doubt There is an easy and sensible explanation explan-ation of this kleptomania It is that it is the souvenir collecting fad An article ar-ticle in a recent issue of the New York Times tells of the souvenir fad In part it is as follows It was after the play and numerous theater parties were strolling into the gorgeous and flowerscented restaurant restaur-ant The lights were softened by silken shades of crimson and orange and sweet melodies from judiciously restrained re-strained orchestra enhanced the animation ani-mation of the scene This is my first visit to the W exclaimed a young woman as she sank gracefully into a seat at one of the I cosy teteatete tables I Indeed smilingly responded her male escort then we must make this a souvenir night A souvenir 1tJght interrogatively I do not quite understand Is it customary cus-tomary for the manager of this hotel to Oh no not af all interrupted the man laughing softly They do not give away anything here I meant that I would steal a souvenir for you Then perceivingthe startled look in the maidens eyes he hastily continued I see you are not one of the petty larceny faddists and I confess I am glad of it Most of my girl friends have joined the ranks of souvenir collectors and I am ashamed to tell the number of times I have committed petty thefts in i order to keep up my reputation for gallantry gal-lantry Petty thefts murmured the young woman inquiringly Yes I hae Stolen spoons oyster forks cups and saucers individual peppers pep-pers and salts boquet holders champagne cham-pagne glasses butter plates nutpicks and lots of other things on just such occasions as this simply to win a smile or a wordof approval from some pretty girl who insisted on having a souvenir or me piace Noting the shocked expression on his companions face the young man continued con-tinued Of course not being one of the faddists fad-dists you think that such pllferings are awful but what is a fellow to do when nearly all of the girls have the collecting mania The article quoted from goes on to say that it is a part of the fad scheme for the young woman who accumulates a collection of stolen souvenirs to decorate deco-rate each article with a bit of ribbon upon which Is described the place and date of the event commemorated For instance a dainty china plate might be ticketed Waldorf theater party Oct a quaint silver salt shaker Savoy Sa-voy dinner party Sept a cup and saucer neatly tied together by a pink ribbon Hotel Netherland March and a silver plated oyster fork marked Astor would recalll a delightful downtown down-town luncheon at the Astor House In the language of society this maybe may-be called a fad schem but in the language of the law it is known as stealing It is no doubt all very cute all very jolly but when the faddist is discovered in the act of putting the scheme in practice the guilty parties are terribly shocked for then it becomes plain what they have been doing It may be that the American lady just sentenced by an English court to Imprisonment for shoplifting was merely a souvenir faddist exploiting in some new and novel lines A condition of society that breeds thievery as a means of amusjng its members and relieving them from ennui is much in heed of reforming If it doesnt come from within the courts should introduce intro-duce it from without |