The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1878-01-19

then. And what she was taken up for hal
never happened before. II was the frs
time, she said. Someways, / remember
| believed her. Seemed as II shed break
her heart. Hadn't any folks, she said
Hern were dead. She cooped up In
littl heapin the corner on the floor thAi
night, and sat crying all the night. Il
wasn't till nigh morning that the Other
women could get q word out Of her Il
/ remember straight, we bad an uncom-
monty rough lot Of women.folks on that
night. I wouldn't have put her in among
'em, but there's no other way. l never
get quite used to that-shutting up q
young thing withlan old one.
Well, so she was sent TO the house for
thirty days; and by and by she was back
again. She came OF her own accord that
time. Said she couldn't get any thing to
do. Seems to me she said she wanted hon.
est work. They dosay II once in a while,
And II was 4 pretty cold night. She came
for a place To sleep. So after that we got
pretty we'll used 10 her but mostly alter
she begun 10 drink and alter like the rest,
II don't take long. Their own mothers
would't know 'em mostly in three years
or so; less, maybe, as happens.
Well, yes. Our rule Ia: come a fort
night and you go. When one comes
steady for two weeks every night, then it
is a case OF yagrancy, and we can send EN-
TO the almshouse. But Doherty, she was
pretty careful. She grew smart as she
grew worse. II she got taken up II wasn't
Tor a long pull. Never knew her in the
house at the longest more than three
months at a time. And when she come
tn lodge, she steered pretty clear Of the
law-coming for a few nights, you zee,
and then of again on her own ways.
they're more afraid OF the alms.house than
they are Of hell, these folks.
So she got to be apretty old customer
always comes TO this station. / don't
know but that was my fault. Once !
give her a pair OF my wife's shoes. 1t
was one January morning, twelve below
zero. She hadn't any stockings, only a
pair Of old rubbers, and her bare feet
came through onto the pavement, and it
was pretty icy. Isuppose / might have
lost my place for It. Eh Cap'nH Butl
don't think Doherty ever told Of me.
She grew 10 be a pretty tough case,
Doberty did. And yet there vas always
something liked about Doherty. You
see she used to sing. Sometimes they do.
And once or twice I've had a chap here
who could draw portraits Of the rest.
Scrawl the walls all over, II he wasn't
watched. One OF the worst cases we ever
had on these books, his name was Gafrrey
Peter Gaffrey. Killed an officer
finally with a horseshoe. He used
to talk Latin when he was drunk,
and some other language. l thought il
was Dutch; but the chief heard him, and
said he guessed it was Greek. The fell
low used to get the rest all ranged round
like an audience, and then 90 at II. But
generally they talk religion. It's more
popular. This Doherty that l speak Of,
she had a beautiful voice. Time and
again I've set up here looking over the
books at dead Of night, alone along with
an officer or so, and heard the call go up
from a man somewhere down below:
"Doherty ! Sing us to sleep, Doherty !
Sing US to sleepp
And then Doherty from the women's
cell would hear them, through the wall,
and she'd begin. And the fighting and
the swearing and all the horrid noise
would quiet down; and, true enough, ]
think they slept. l had Newfoundland
dog that went to sleep when my wife
played the cabinet organ. Sometimes
that woman would sing enough to make
your lesh creep. She'd lost all her looks
by that time. But she never sang so
when abe was sober. And sometimes
she'd strike up a pretty thing as clean:
and sweet as the hush.a.by my own baby
hears, ma'am, from my own wife's lips.
Sometiiies she sang "Auld Lang Sype"
or alone, Sweet Home;;" and once that
woman picked up q song called the
"Three Fishers." Maybe you know it.
You could hear her all yer this great
building:
'For men must work, and women must weep,
And women must wcep."-
Don't you ever sing any hymns, DOH
erty?" | says to her one n%ight-more to
see what she would say, you know. But
she looked at me and made no answer, and
passed on. Doherty never quite lost her
ways, like other women, when she was
herself. Sometimes she wa quite man.
ageable and gentle in her ways. That
night she didn't sing at all. The men
kept it up, of and on, all night. as Doh.
erty in ~to.nigbt?" "Ha4n't Doherty
GOMEZ" "sing us to sleep. Doherty sing
US to sleepp
But she wouldn't open her lips; and
when morning came-it was q snowy
morning and / let her out; she tugged
n little, this way, on my sleeve, asishe
went out, and said: "Good.by, lieuten.
ant" like a lady. She didn't show her.
self again for a long while after that.
This winter she's come pretty often. In
December she come nigh her fortnight's
term; but she cleared out just in lime.