Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1871-09-01
fAs Re.saIs CRnaSss. or LS.as..

xAe be1lote CFt0t1ais 81 Lonaen,
Nearly 1000 female criminals are al
large with ticketstof leave. The ma
tority live In London. A very large
proportion consists Of hardened offend.
ers. More, than one Is q, murderess.
Women who have been sentenced to
death fol. murder. and whose sentence
Is afterward commuted into penal ser.
vitude for life, are not, as Is commonly
supposed, removed forever from the
scene Of their criminal exploits. After
having served q term Of twelve years,
and conducted herself to the satisfac-
ton Of the prison authorities. the con-
victed murderess easily obtains her
ticket-ofleave, and becomes q free
woman again. In one Of the Western
and most fashionable districts Of Lon
don many hundreds Of domestic SER
wants are ticket-of.leave women. Sew
eral OF them have run through the en-
tire scale of crime, from petty larceny
up to burglary and murder. Their
employers engage them with . full
knowledge Of their antecedents.
Strange to say, the worst criminals
are not unfrequently transformed Into
extremely good domestic servants.
During the past five years some be-
nevolent ladies have voluntarily de-
voted themselves to car for and, II
possible, to reclaim the lowest and
most degraded class Of female convicts.
For this purpose they resolved to form
q society called the Discharged Fe-
male Prisoners Aid" The object Of
this Society Is to supply a home to re-
leased convlcts, to assist those to earn
an honest livelihood who have given
proofs Of amendment, and to furnish
employment to all the released female
prisoners who will comply with very
easy conditions, and who will work
for their maintenance. Several OF
these establishments have been found
cd In various districts of London.
A forewoman who, after serving q
long term of penal s%ervltude, had given
tokens Of amendment, presides over
and directs the workers. Her conduct
may be meritorlous, but her ways are
rough. She told us how, on the morn.
Ing Of our visit, she had effectually
cleared the f%urnace-flue of SCOT BY put
ting gunpowder In the CRATE and ignl-
ting It. The workers are Of all ages,
and slatternly In attire, and they have
the appearance Of those who have
fallen 20 low as TO have ceased to care
how they look. Most Of them have
bloated and blotched faces, which I'M
mlstakably betray q passion for spirit
uous liquors. All have an extraordt-
nary similarity Of expression. They
have an animal look in their eyes. A
heaviness of feature Is common to them
all. Their resemblance to the squaws
of the savages, whom the writer OF
these lines has Q g between the Rocky
Mountains and the Pacific, strongly
impressed him. One gray-halred and
bareheaded old woman, who skunk
about with downcast eyes, wat the ex-
net counterpart Of an aged and help
less souaw who once excited his COM
passion In the heart Of the great Amer
lean Desert.
If the faces Of these women were
dyed a copper color, and II they were
dressed In the nondescript garments Of
a female Pluto or Shoshone Indian,
they would pass for genuine savages.
In reality they are not much better.
Very few can read or write. OF relig-
ion and morality they may. have
learned something In prison, but at
the best their ideas on these subjects
are very hazy. Their only divinity Is
the policeman. II they can evade his
clutches, or beguile him by some tale
Of deceit, they are perfectly satisfied.
70 ask them to abstain from commit
ting murder or robbery either because
the crime Is q Sin or 10 a breach OF tho
law, Is to appeal to sentiments which.
are dormant or non.existent. They
can be tanned by kindness, like the
lower animals. When the ladies, who
are striving to civilizs these ~outcasts,
speak to them about religion, they
sometimes receive strange answers.
The Bible narratives affect them as In
teresting stories, much In the same
way that a book Of fairy tales i'm
presses a child. Such n remark rs the
following Is a sample Of what occurs
at the readings which these ladies give
daily. A new conner, who had not
even heard that there was such a sacred
book as the Bible, interrupted the
reader and said. II don't wish to offend
you. Miss, but I don't believe a word
Of that" The subject was the account
of Elijah.
The saddest and most d%isheartening
part of the case Is, that the difficulty
of reforming the younger women Is
almost superhuman.r The reconvic-
lions Of females are much more numer-
GUS than those Of males. Moreover,
the women profess to enjoy thoroughly
the wild career Of crime. After con-
Quoting themselves with perfect pro-
priety for a year or a longer period, a.
domestic servants, they will suddenly
leave their places and resume their old
habits, or, In their own slang, "have
a fly." One of them being remon-
strated with for her conduct, replied
with emphasis, "Oh, Miss, but there's
a great deal Of life In It." Planning
and performing robbery Is as exciting
and agreeable to these women as a
picnic party or q ball is to fashionable
young ladies. Just as the sensible
young lady ceases to care for parties
as she grows older and takes pleasure
In more useful pursuits than the vain
chase after pleasure, 80 does the elderly
female convict frequently lose her
liking for the excitement Of crime,
and becomes q model domestic servant.
Experience proves that the percentage
Of those permanently reclaimed, that
Ia ten per cent, IL drawn almost ex-
clusively from the old offenders. The
young girl, II reasoned with, replies
that when older she will try to DO
good, but that she Is determined to
"have her fling" meantime. This 10
a female version Of the wild oats the
DRY, which, when practioed by young
men Of fortune, lie not unfrequently
accepted as thoroughly sound and sat
Ia IA nfnru Tnnloa nof1n Na,ss