'Cliffe Housemothers Irate Over Releasing of Suspected Pilferers

Three Radcliffe housemothers last night expressed surprise and annoyance that Cambridge police had released a woman and two accomplices suspected of a half year pilfering campaign in Radcliffe dormitories.

Police said they had questioned the suspects, whose names, were not available, for an hour and then released them because they carried no stolen articles--they had only a bag full of soap which they had claimed was their lunch.

The pilfering team, Radcliffe students and housemothers said, works through an elderly woman who generally wears a dark coat and a yellow scarf, and carries a shopping bag. Her routine has not changed since her activity began. She comes to a dorm and asks to go upstairs to see Anna Kris '53 on the pretext that she works for Miss Kris' doctor. Miss Kris, a resident of Briggs Hall, said last night she had never met the intruder.

Friday night, the woman entered Cabot Hall under the usual pretext, but was intercepted by Cabot Hall's housemother, Florence Garrish, who tried to detain the woman while students summoned police. The woman managed to slip away but was followed by three sophomores from 55 Garden Street, who attracted police to the suspects.