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THE SEMI-WEEKLY JOURNAL
’ ATLAKTA, GA.. 5 NORTH FOMTTH ST. >
Entered at the Atlanta Postorfice as Mail Matter of
the Second Class.
JAKES B. GBAX.
President and Editor-
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SSMI-VEEKLY JOURNAL. Atlanta. Ga.
Mr. Hughes' Harangue.
Mr. Hughes' speech of acceptance Is remarkable
in one respect: it has delighted the Democrats and
disappointed the Republicans. As a keynote, it
fell like the twang of a jewsharp where a trumpet
blast was expected. They say that Roosevelt, listen
ing from a box, grinned and applauded, but we'll
wager he swore under his breath. The Old Guard
clans had foregathered for an evening of inspiration.
At a loss themselves for a campaign issue, they
were hopeful and confident that their candidate
would find one and state it stirringly. But as his
speech wore on, their optimism waned and finally
flickered out. If Mr. Hughes, who wants to be
President, cannot find the Republicans an issue,
their plight is woeful indeed.
He floundered from Mexico to Europe, from
Hyphenism to woman suffrage, from preparedness
to what he termed “unstable” prosperity; yet,
through all his thousands of words, not once did
he touch bottom or present event a passable excuse
for his candidacy. He prodded and criticised and
complained, but his lengthy oration is void of a
single constructive stroke. He wordily berated the
President, but was notably silent on what he him
self would have done had he been facing the dan
gerous problems of the past two years instead of
sitting smugly aloof. He proceeded upon tbe theory
that whatever is, is wrong; but interestingly
enough, be offered no plan for setting it aright.
That was his attitude toward the Mexican prob
lem, which the Wilson administration inherited
from a Republican predecessor.
It was his attitude toward the submarine issue,
which the Wilson administration has settled to the
credit of America and, if we are to believe dis
patches from Berlin, to the discomfiture of Prus
sian militarists.
It was his attitude on the preparedness ques
tion, which the Wilson administration has answer
ed by the most far-reaching and thoroughgoing leg
islation for national defense ever known or ever
proposed in the history of the United States.
It was his attitude on Hyphenism. which the
Wilson administration has rebuked and defied but
which now is openly enlisted for Mr. Hughes' sup
port.
On all questions of national concern, whether
of foreign or domestic moment, Mr. Hughes merely
echoed the principles which President Wilson long
ago proclaimed and which a Democratic'Congress
already has put into effect or is now bringing to
pass. What Mr. Hughes says, in vague general
ities. ought to be done, the Wilson administration
has actually performed or is carrying forward.
The fact is Mr. Hughes is a candidate without
a cause. Even so, however, the Republican bosses
who put him in the race were entitled to a better
speech thair his vapid harangue of acceptance. The
truth dawns upon them, as upon the country, that
after all Mr. Hughes is far short of his reputation.
Certainly, his New York speech was not that of a
great Judge and statesman, but rather the drawn
out plea of a pettifogging lawyer, the essay of an
«>isy-chalr critic who is strong in picking flaws but
impotent in creative ideas and constructive action.
In Wisdom and Mercy.
In commuting the sentence of Thomas Edgar
Stripling, Governor Harris has exemplified the
principles of wisdom and justice and moderation
on which this Commonwealth is founded. If ever
there was reason for executive clemency and for
the employment of that mercy which is “an at
tribute to God himself,” it was in the case of this
broken man whose one great wrongdoing in the
distant past was followed by fourteen years of a
blameless and penitent life, and by other years,
whose length cannot be reckoned, in prison suffer
ing and despair.
. Stripling's pathetic experience has been likened
aptly to that of Hugo's Jean Vai Jean. Having
escaped the convict's lot to which he was doomed
for a homicide, committed, according tp his plea,
in defense of his family's honor, he fled to another
State and began life anew. His wife and children
joined him. He worked soberly, faithfully, honX
estly, living the part of a good neighbor and a
good citizen in the town of Danville, Virginia,
where he settled. He earned the respect and con
fidence of the community, so much so that he was
made its chief of police. Then, like a lightning
stab from a cloudless sky, his past fell tragically
upon him. -
There is no thin or mawkish sentimentality in
the public conscience which has appealed for Strip
ling's freedom-since he was reimprisoned. Rather,
it has been the appeal of thoughtful human-heart
edness. convinced that the man’s life of upright
ness had atoned for his moment of impulse and
that his bitter suffering had paid full expiation.
Governor Harris acted not only upon his own
scrutiny of the case, in which new circumstances
were brought to light, but also upon the recom
mendation of all the surviving members of the
trial jury, ten in number, the recommendation of a
great majority of the present General Assembly, a
great majority of the people of Harris county and
of tens of thousands of people throughout the State.
And he acted with wisdom and justice no less than
with mercy.
A Plea Prom the Plowshares
For a Highway Commission
Loganville. Ga., R. F. D. No. 5.
Editor The Journal: I write to indorse
your stand for a State highway commission
equal to our needs. We people in the coun
try who are in favor of good roads are get
ting tired of the way our road business is be
ing run. In many counties our money is be
'ing wasted, and we are getting little or noth
ing that we ought to be getting. This county,
Gwinnett, has changed its commission on an
average of every three years for the last ten,«
and new plans are put in each time. One
commission will buy mules and engines; the
next will change to some other way. We are .
in great need of advice and guidance from
experts in road building. Too much of our
money is being spent without results. We
don’t mind the tax, but we want it spent judi
ciously. It seems to me that this could be
done by having a State commission with ex
pert assistance. We are not going to let this
condition of affairs continue indefinitely. I
think the people are getting awfully tired of
waiting for relief. Yours truly.
W. A. BENNETT.
This letter is particularly significant in that it
reflects thoughtful opinion in the State’s rural dis
tricts. The larger towns and the richer counties
could get along without a State highway commis
sion, because they can employ competent road en
gineers and raise the funds needed for the most
efficient methods and machinery. But in the aver
age country district the need of State assistance
and supervision is imperative. It was primarily for
the benefit of those districts that the federal good
roads fund, of which Georgia's share is more than
two million dollars, was created; and it is pri
marily for the needs of those districts that the
Legislature should pass an adequate highway com
mission bill.
It is conservatively reckoned that eight thou
sand dollars a day is spent in Georgia for road im
provements; and if the State, by complying with
the terms of the new- federal law, gets its patT of
the national fund, the amount will be greatly in
creased. How much of this outlay yields due re
turns? How much is wasted through lack of skil
ful service and competent administration? If there
are available means whereby the money spent, and
•to be spent in the future, can be made to produce'
more roads and better roads, ought not the Legis
lature, as a matter of common justice and common
sense, to adopt such means?
The answer is so obvious that rhe question
seems almost idle. Yet, year after year has gone
without any serviceable legislation of the kind be
ing enacted; and now the State is in imminent
danger of losing its two million dollar part of the
federal appropriation simply for lack of a high
way commission that will meet the requirements
of the federa’ act. If this money, to which the
people of Georgia are entitled, is lost, the rural
districts will be the heaviest sufferers and the Leg
islators who obstruct the passage of an adequate
highway bill will be responsible. z
Our Loganville correspondent states the case
of the rural interests completely when he says;
“We are in need of advice and guidance
from experts tn road building. Too much of
our money is being spent without results. We
don’t mind the tax but we want it spent judi«
ciously.”
How can the rank and file of our counties get
expert advice and guidance in these matters with
out a State highway commission composed of men
who have expert knowledge on road problems?
How can road funds be spent judiciously without
the counsel of competent engineers?
A highway commission lacking these elements
could not serve the needs of the counties, partic
ularly the rural counties, and would not entitle
the State to its share of the federal appropriation.
If anyone fancies that the national Government is
going to give Georgia two million dollars without
ample assurance tKat it will be spent efficiently,
he is much deceived. Congress has safeguarded
this fund with divers requirements, the most im
portant of which is that a State, in order to be eli
gible to federal aid for road improvement, shall es
tablish a highway department which shall be a
highway department in fact and deed as well as
*in name. This department, the law stipulates,
must make all surveys, plans and specifications
which may be required. It must be able to give
the federal authorities, notably the Secretary of
Agriculture and the Secretary of the Treasury, a
satisfactory account of all road work that is pro
jected or accomplished. A commission incapable
of these duties would not be acceptable under the
terms of the national law.
There has been much needless debate on the
personnel of the State highway commission. If
the purpose for which such a commission is needed
and the duties it will be called upon to discharge
are understood, the question of who should com
pose it is very easy to answer. Certainly, if it is
to be a commission for service instead of mere poli
tics, its members should include the heads of the
departments of engineering at the State University
and the Georgia School of Technology, the State
geologist and the chairman of the State Prison
Commission —the last named because of the essen
tial bearing of convict labor on road building.
President Matheson, of the Tech, aptly observed,
in addressing the Senate committee on this sub
ject, that it would be a great mistake "not to util
ize our expert assistance already in the State's
employment.”
' These men.” he added, “have spent many
years in the development of road work, and
logically it would seem that the State should
jump for their services.”
By settling the highway commission issue
promptly and reasonably the Legislature will give
Georgia a clear title to two million dollars of road
Improvement funds and will open the way to a
golden era of development and prosperity. But
should the Legislature fail to act promptly and
adequately on this peculiarly urgent matter, the
State will lose a priceless opportunity and the peo
ple. especially those of the rural districts, will be
done an unpardonable Injury.
Dog days at least don't have anything expected
of them.
The fact that Villa is seen in so many Mexican
towns at once may be due to the fact that he is a
candidate for something.
Hughes declares for a policy of “consistency
and firmness” toward Mexico. Does a man have
to be a Republican candidate to express a view
like that?
THE ATL ANTA SEMI-WEEKLY JOURNAL, ATLANTA, GA., FRIDAY. AUGUST +, 1916
The Farm Loan Board.
The President has lost no time in designating
the members of the Farm Loan Board which is
to supervise the new rural credits system. His
appointments strike the country as being admira
ble. Three of the men. observes the Evening Post,
were bred on the farm and are still closely in touch
with farm interests, while “the chief qualification
of each of them is expertness in one or more of
the economic and financial problems which the
Board will have tp meet.”
Herbert Quick, of West Virginia, whose in
cisive articles on current topics frequently appear
in The Journal, is an authority on all the broader
aspects of rural credits; he probably will become
the head of the Board. George W. Norris, of
Pennsylvania, was chosen because he combines
with his general fitness tor the position long expe
rience in the bond marKet; and “the success of
the system will depend much on the placing of its
bonds.” Judge Charles E- Lobdell, of Kansas,
besides being an able lawyer, has been president of
a group of banks dealing extensively irl farm
loans. William A. Smith, of lowa, now in the fed
eral Department of Agriculture, is a specialist on
farm practice.
These four men will constitute the Farm Loan
Board under whose direction twelve regional land
banks will be established. Their prompt appoint
ment makes it possible to inaugurate the rural
credits system without delay. Following the
establishment of the banks, the way will be clear
to organize farm loan associations by farmers
’wishing to obtain loans. Thus the credit facilities,
lack of which has been so heavy a handicap to
America’s agricultural progress, will soon be
supplied.
The Compulsory Education Bill
The compulsory school attendance bill recently
passed by the House of Representatives has evoked
highly favorable comment from educators who are
in touch with the State’s practical conditions and
needs. The consensus of opinion seems to be that
while the bill is markedly lenient it is capable of
accomplishing a vast deal of good and ought to be
pressed promptly to enactment.
According to reliable estimates, the proposed
law would put into the schools during the next
year or two some thirty thousand children who now
are wholly deprived of education. That is an end
worth striving for. This conservative, constructive
measure ought to be placed upon the statute books
without delay.
No Fair Man Need Hesitate
The bill before the Georgia legislature to allow the
voters an opportunity to express their preference at
the ballot box in the matter of exemptions of educa
tional endowments should get the sanction of that
body. No fair man need to hesitate to put this ques
tion before the intelligent white voters of
Wherein could be the objections? Take the voters o
Ben Hill county, for instance. We have no private
college in this county, none that is endowed by church
or Individual, and there are a great many counties in
the state in a similar position. The voters in these
counties especially can be relied upon to vote upon this
question without bias, and if a constitutional majority
vote with the friends or foes of this amendment the
real choice of the voters will have been ascertained.
Since there is no extra expense to the state in
having this measure included in the amendments to be
voted on at the next regular election, why hesitate in
putting the matter before the electorate? The Leader-
Enterprise favors the exemption clause, for the reason
that the great work done by these colleges and schools
all over the state, many of which could not be carried
on without such endowments, is an asset to Georgia
whose real value is beyond computation.
Georgia cannot hamper the education of her chil
dren, the future men .and women upon whom we rely
for developing the resources and continue the uplift
of its citizens.—The Fitzgerald Leader-Enterprise.
Quips and Quiddities
A young doctor recently took his best girl to the
opera. The curtain was late in rising and the young
lady complained of feeling faint. The doctor smiled
sweetly upon her and took something out of his vest
pocket.
‘‘Here,” he whispered, “keep this in your mouth.
Don't swallow it.”
Shyly the girl placed the object upon her tongue
and" rolled it over and over, but it would not dissolve.
She felt better, however. So she took the tablet from
her mouth and slipped it in her glove, as she was cu
rious to examine, when she got once more into the light,
this tasteless little substance which had given her
such relief.
When the happy couple were once more outside the
opera house the girl stopped under a large lamp.
“That thing you gave me made me feel ever so
much better,” she cooed, gratefully, wrestling with her
glove. Suddenly she bent over something white and
round in her palm. She looked up at his face.
"Dud-dud-Dick!” she stammered in a choking voice,
“why it’s nothing but a pearl shirt button!”
A few months ago a lady living in the Midlands
engaged a new servant, and having views on the ques
tion ’of “followers,” she expounded them to the girl
upon arrival.
“Mind you, Jane,” she said, seriously. “I will have
no loafers about the place. You quite understand?"
"Yes. ma’am," replied Jane.
Within the short period of a week, however, the
lady had grounds for suspecting that her orders had
been disobeyed, and Jane was promptly Interrogated.
“Did I not make It a stipulation of your engage
ment that no followers were to be allowed?”
“No, ma'am. You said 'loafers.' ”
"Well, you may have it that-way If you wish. You
were talking to a man for ten minutes at the area gate
last night.”
“Yes, ma’am. That’s my chap!” said Jane, unblush
ingly.
“How dare you disobey my express orders In this
way?”
“I ain’t disobeyed ’em. ma'am!” persisted Jane.
"George—that's my young man—is a baker, sure
enough, but ’e ain't a loafer. 'E s a biscuit hand, ’e is.”
* • •
The reading class was in session and the word
"furlough” occurred. Miss Jones, the teacher, asked
if any little girl or boy knew the meaning of the word.
One small hand was raised.
"Furlough means a mule,” said the child.
"Oh. no. it doesn’t,” said the teacher.
"Yes, ma'am,” insisted the little girl. "I have the
book at home that says so.”
Miss Jones told the child to bring the book to school
The next morning the child came armed with a book
and triumphantly showed a picture of an American
soldier riding a mule, under which was the caption;
"Going home on his furlough." J
A well known business man in Lawrence, Mass.,
once had a customer who contracted a debt that ran
along unpaid for a year or more, and even several let
ters failed to bring about a settlement.
One day. while glancing over the religious notices in
a loAJ paper, the business man saw something that
gave him a new idea. He went to his desk and wrote
the following note to the debtor:
"My Dear Sir—l see in the local press that you are
to deliver an address on Friday evening before the
Y. M. C. A. on ’The Sinner’s Unbalanced Account.’ I
inclose yours, as yet unbalanced, and trust that I may
have the pleasure of attending your lecture.”
MR. T. A. WILLIAMS, a Washington neurolo
gist. once delivered an address to a class
of trained nurses, pointing out the special
requirements for successfully nursing nervous pa
tients. Much of what he had to say bears so di
rectly on nursing in general, and is so applicable
by all who have to care for the sick, that I have
thought it worth while to condense for ready ref
erence some of his recommendations:
Every nurse should cultivate that fine instinct
which puts us in another's place, makes us see
with another's eyes, and so prevents us from
rudely trampling upon another’s feelings. ,
» Sh,e should know a great deal about the prepa
ration of food and especially how to make it ap
petizing as well as wholesome, and to serve it
with neatness and taste.
She should avoid such possible sources of an
noyance to her paient as wearing squeaky shoes,
sitting in a chair that squeaks, slamming doors,
whispering, walking on tip-toe.
Many patients have special dislikes. Some
of these are very trivial, but the nurse cannot be
too alert to observe them and act accordingly.
For instance, the arrangement of the food and
dishes on a tray may offend, so the nurse should
carefully observe the patient’s bxpression when
the first meals are brought.
Water trickling from a glass may annoy.
The window shade may cause an unpleasant glare
or make the room too dim.
To such patients the personal questions which
often occur during unskilful attempts at con
versation are particularly obnoxious.
So also is the handling of the patient’s belong
ings by the nurse. Who knows how many ex
aggerated sentimental memories may not be asso-
BURSTING THE OU TGROWN SHELL
BT DR. FRANK ORANE
Every advance of the human race is accom
panied with disaster. A plant can grow sweetly,
but mankind has to break something at every stage
of its progress.
Humanity is a growing organism, as an oak
tree. It is coming up from acorn to sapling, and
then to sturdy wood. «
The race grows from institution to institution.
First the family, then the tribe, then the nation,
then humanity. At every change there is a lot of
violence, passion and martyrdom. The tribes never
coagulated into the nation without fighting »
time first. And it seems the nations cannot develop
the world state, with a sense of humanity instead of
the combative sense of patriotism, without a \ast
amount of slaughter and destruction.
Getting together is the supreme task of man
kind. It cannot be accomplished except by much
killing. The path to universal brotherhoodl is b.
wav of universal hate. The prelude to the millen
nlum is wars and rumors of wars. Why, no one
k homvs
The psychological explanation of the Present
war epoch is that the world is getting too big for
its clothes. Our world-consciousness has gone be
yond our political means of expression. M e are
iiving in a world made up of nations. But nations
are an anachronism. They belong to a past age of
concerted activity. .
We have outgrown the nation idea. And we
have not yet formed a new idea wherewith
clothe ourselves. . -
Prof. Krehbiel, in a recent number of
vey, ably points out how the nation has lost its
meaning. (1) A nation is no longer a
unit; for instance, there is no natural boundary
New YORK, N. Y.. July 11.—Not long ago there
appeared the advertisement of a certain '«»*■**
able professor, who for the sum of one dollar
agreed to tell people the occupations best fitted to
them, to remove all evil influences and to reveal the
names of their enemies. This advertisement was care
fully clipped from the papers by a small, dark-haired
woman with hazel eyes in a downtown office and past
ed into a large book which stood on the top of a roll
top desk, after which she noted an address on a tiny
leather notebook. At the same time, in another section
of the city, an Immigrant woman who was the proud
proprietor of a small grocery store, clipped the same
advertisement from the paper and stuffed it hurriedly
into her handbag as her husband came into the store
on the way to his mornings work.
A month later the immigrant woman was shown into
the downtown office of the city’s detective headquarters
and introduced by the Inspector to Mrs. Isabella Good
win detective, a small, dark-haired woman with keen
hazel eyes. Seated in a small straight backed chair
the immigrant woman told the story of a swindle,
the pathos of which was not lost in its revelation of
ignorance and superstition. The woman detective sat
silent, occasionally taking notes and asking questions
when the thread of the story became difficult to fol
low. a .
The immigrant woman and her husband na“ beeji ad
mitted at Ellis Island five years before. The hus
band. who was by trade a marble rubber, had secured
a place In a small town in Pennsylvania, where he had
been paid $lO a week. . For this he polished marble un
der water, which, in winter, when there was ice, caused
his feet to crack open and bleed, and his wife kept
house. After a year of this they had accumulated
monev enough to take them to New York, where the
husband obtained a job at $25 a week. This was. in
deed, a luxurious salary, but instead of increasing their
standard of living, the immigrant woman still lived
as frugally ae possible and saved money.
When they had $1,500 in bank they bought a grocery
store, while the husband still kept on with his work.
The business was profitable, and soon the immigrant
woman found she had paid the small mortgage on the
store and had $3,500 in bank. She was on the verge of
buying a chicken farm, selling her store and moving
into the country, when the professor’s alluring ad
vertisement attracted her attention and she determined
to seek his advice.
For the sum of $25 the professor removed an evil
influence which was hovering over the immigrant wom
an, told the names of several remote persons who were
jealous of her, and advised her not to buy the chicken
farm. Instead, he explained, she should by all means
invest her money in stocks, as the stars showed that
this would be her most successful line, and he re
lated numerous instances of individuals who had in
vested in various stocks under his direction, who were
now riding in motor cars and sending their children
to college.
The woman had finally been convinced, and she re
solved to mortgage the grocery store to obtain more
money for investment so that in the end she could
surprise her husband with the enormous returns of
her thrift. For this money the professor presented
her with impressive looking documents bearing gold
seals, desezibing mining stock which had never been
heard of by anyone but the professor. Then suddenly
and inconspicuously the professor left town. The rest
was up to Mrs. Isabella Goodwin, woman detective.
In order that the professor might not learn that
the police were on the case, Mrs. Goodwin disguised
herself as a maid and entered the employ of neighbors
of the seer. She then discovered that the professor
had employed a doctor constantly while in the city,
and finally obtained the name of the doctor. Here she
found that the professor had been suffering from can
cer of the stomach, in which case he could not have
gotten far away. His plan would be to stick to the
large cities, where there were specialists and plenty
of medicine. Mrs. Goodwin objects to the publication
of some of her methods in detecting and capturing a
criminal, since in her profession the penetration of a
disguise or makeup and the discovery or the crook
that he is being pursued may mean the absolute fail
ure of a .case and possibly a cut throat. It is. there
fore, merely necessary to say that a week later the
professor was apprehended and subsequently died in
prison. As for the victims of the swindle, although
they lost the greater part of their savings, they are re
covering rapidlj’ and are now on the road to wealth
again.
Mrs. Goodwin considers this one of the most inter
esting cases in her career on the New York detective
SICK ROOM HINTS
BY H. ADDINGTON BKUCB.
WOMEN DE TECTIVES
BT HIDXIIC I. MAIXIM. - •“*
ciated with the patient’s possessions?
Remember that self-assertiveness is most un
tranquillizing, and the attitude of condescension
to one’s work is more obnoxious still.
Any appearance of strenuousness must bo
avoided; unusual incidents should appear to be
taken as they come, and should not be punctuat
ed by astonishment or perturbation.
For example, a nurse sometimes wishes to see
the doctor alone, sometimes she does not. An
anxious patient will at once notice a difference in
the routine, and may conjure up all sorts of ter
rors in consequence of a nurse leaving the room
to speak to the doctor upoh his departure. .
Hence the nurse should make a practice of *
always leaving the room along with the doctor
at the conclusion of his visit.
The nurse, too, muSt think of little comforts,
such as a relay of hot towels for which the pa- >
tient may not think of asking, a pad under the
back, the right p’acing of a light, etc.
What is read aloud to a patient must be select
ed with great discrimination. Ask the doctor’s ad
vice as to books or other reading matter that
should be avoided.
Be particularly careful neither by word nor act
to intensify the patient’s nervousness and anxiety
about the outcome of the illness.
These hints by no means embody the whole
philosophy of successful nursing. But their ob
servance may mean the difference between success
and failure, and will certainly do much to rob
the sick-room of its terrors.
Therefore it will not be amiss to clip out this
list of recommendations and keep it available for
use when illness is in the home.
(Copyright, 1916, by H. A. Bruce.) i
between the United States and Canada, between
Germany and Russia, etc. (2) A nation is no
longer a racial unit; Great Britain and the United
States are substantially the same race. (3) It is no
longer a unit in language; see Austria and Switzer
land. (4) Nor a religious unit. (5) Nor an
economic or commercial unit, since trade is world
wide.
A nation is not a personality; it is a beehive.
He shows indeed that nationalism is no more
nor less than a religion. It exists simply because
we believe it to exist. We believe this because our
fathers believed it, and we have not yet learned a
better faith. Its basis is tradition, lack of imagina
tion, and lack of vision.
A singular evidence of our crass stupidity is an
incident that occurred recently in New York. A
radical preacher burned the American flag, along
with those of other nations, to symbolize the
supremacy of the international idea. His act was
not wrong; it was worse; it was foolish. Because r
I hold the state supreme above the claims of my
family I don’t need to kick my sister nor insult my
mother. And I can follow humanity and still love
and reverence my country.
Yet here is the one big idea that can relieve
the world of the curse of war, the idea of humanity
as above the nation, and not one newspaper or mag
azine of general circulation that I know of is en
thusiastically recommending it; all are in the
blind welter of nationalism, and the only man to
make the big Idea lurid before the public is an
enthusiast who shocks and offends our sensibilities.
Still, perhaps that is the way. You remember
Walter Pater’s word: “The path to perfection lies
through a series of disgusts.”
(Copyright, 1916, by Frank Crane.)
force, perhaps because of its human element*. For, de-|
spite her facility in handing people over to the law,
Mrs. Goodwin is a humanitarian. Twenty years ago
she herself felt the pinoh of adversity when she was
left with four children to support. She secured a po
sition as police matron, but her natural ability for
detective work was soon evidenced and she was given
her first case. In New York it is Illegal to gamble
on horse races. Os course, there are races, and it is
well known that individuals bet on them, but no
organized booking and gambling is permitted. Hence
when It became known at headquarters that a number
of women were meeting in the back room of a liquor
store for the purpose of placing money on the races,
a woman detective was required to get the evidence.
Mrs. Goodwin became a regular member of the meet
ings, where no one suspected her profession, and finally
turned the whole establishment over to the police.
The majority of cases handled by women detectives
in New York deal with petty swindles, such as the
arrest of alleged physicians practicing without certifi
cates, fortune tellers, mediums, small thieves, etc.,
which are of a less dangerous order. For most of
the larger crimes, dealing with murders, thefts, black
mail, kidnapping and smuggling men are used. It is
estimated that nearly ninety-five per cent of the crimes
committed In New York are the work of foreigners, y
and for this reason it Is necessary to maintain men
of several nationalities on the detective staff. For ex
ample, almost every kidnapping case is perpetrated
by Italians against their own people in this country,
so that it is necessary to have an Italian detective
handle the affair. If a German is the principal factor
in a case, then a German detective covers It, and the
same Is true of Spaniards, Norwegians, Swedes and
every other nationality. Women are employed to ob
tain evidence Tn offices, boarding houses and apart
ments, but when there is grave and apparent danger
connected with the case it is given to a man.
Thus when a $25,000 robbery occurred one day and
Mrs. Goodwin was called to cover the case, she was
agreeably surprised, since it was her ambition to work
on bigger things. A bank clerk and a messenger, car
rying a bag containing $25,000 in a taxicab, were at
tacked and the money taken away from them. A
glimpse of a disappearing taxicab speeding In the other
direction w*as the only clue turned In at detective head- (
quarters. The detective authorities, however, had oc
casion to suspect two men of the theft—men who were
already well known and much desired at headquarters ,
for various other crimes. It was also Known that these
men frequented a boarding house in a downtown street,
where they planned their crimes with two women of
equally desperate character. It became Mrs. Good
win's task, therefore, to gain access to this boarding
house and to secure evidence that these men had com
mitted the taxicab crime.
Dressed In untidy clothes, with her hair screwed In
a knot and speaking with an unmistakable Irish brogue,
she obtained employment in the boarding house as a
maid. Seeing in the new maid nothing but a slovenly,
good-natured Irish woman of Incredible stupidity, the
women in the case allowed her to enter their room,
run errands for them, and otherwise gain all the nec
essary evidence to convict the four of them. The de
tective came out of this house, however, with a well
developed case of nerves, since It was inhabited by
crooks of the most dangerous sort, who. If they had
once suspected her mission, wrould have immediately
killed her. Afraid to sleep at night when her disguise
might be discovered. Mrs. Goodwin kept awake by
drinking great quantities of black coffee and relieved
the nervous tedium by planning where to send her
daughter to school. f
For her valuable assistance In this case she was
made detective sergeant, and her future as a woman
detective was assured. She can-probably tell you more
about the underworld than any other woman in New
York, with all its horrors, its peculiar social strata and
its occasional elements of pathos. There is one popu
lar fallacy, which the New York detective force would
fain correct, and that is the assertion as to there being
honor among thieves. They do not believe that there
is a single crook who will not turn state’s evidence
aga'nst another to save himself.
There are now’ five women detectives on the New
York detective staff, and they have had exceptionally
few failures. The profession is gradually widening
for women. The only difficulty in securing the femi
nine force lies in the fact that It takes a woman of
stony forbearance and an unusual appreciation of the
public good not to fee! sorry for the average crook
and let him go. with several suggestions for leading i
a better and a nobler life.
