River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1878-09-05
HEX LAST SONG.

night. Ii isn't OFTEN, ma am. there is
f night that would be suitable for YOU.
don't think there's been half dozen Thu
winter that I'd want you round if yor
was my daughter or my sister begging
/ your pardon, ma'am as the best way
can put it to you to express my meaning
aud the feeling that man has about such
things.
Ever see our books2 Mol Just look
here, if you please. just count those
pages. Will youI From there to there
We took in I'll those in December, 1876
we had in this one station two thousand
two hundred and ff'y-two men and
women. OF course, there's the usual
share of arrests. There's Mahoney, Jones
Sullivan, Pete Cartwright and Julia An.
derson, right under my tin9sr, all arrests
All drunk. But some of 'em are vagran-
eies in the winter time. You see it was
pretty cold last December, especially
nights. And then we were careful about
our officers.
Don't allow kicking, and no more
swearing at 'em than the circumstances
required These creeturs get such thin os
round among themselves. They have a
fancy for this station, maybe. | don I
know how that is We mean to be hu.
name on this corps. That's our theory.
Some of our officers have a very gentle
manly way. Not that we think it makes
much difference. tell you, madam (You
had better know it at the outset.) | don't
know what your intentions are, of course
but ladies come with so many chart
table aud curious designs, which it seems
pity to disappoint; but | tell you The
folks that get into these places are a
hopeless lot. They're folks without
chance Most of us have chance, |
reckon, in this world, some time or an
other; even them pooi devils. But by
the time they get here their chance is as
dead as John Browns body. | don't say
there's never an exception. Now there
was that creeter last night. Maybe, if
somebodyd taken her in hand several
years ago il lady with the way you
hav"--Q hope you'll excuse me ma'am,
but there is difference in lady's way.
such as think you'd have 10 be a man,
and do pretty rough mans work, like
mine, for instance, to understand so
clea' ly asyou mighty wished last light,
| will confe S, that there'd peen a lady
here. 1t did never occur to me to go
home for my wife. But nev r bring my
wife into the s'ation house.
Here's the entry.--the last one mean.
See!
:-Doherty, Ellen, February %,
| 1877. Vagrancy When get time I'm
going to count up how often that woman's
name mas been on these books But it
would take good deal OF time. It's
some years.
/ remember very we'll the first time she
came. Don't know how | happen to.
There's such q lot oil young glrls. An
pretty ones, t1o. This one wSs more than
commonly good looking--an Irish girl.
| She had a lark style and was p4ler than
most of 'em. think 1t must have been
| five years ago. 1t was the first time she'd
ever been arrested. She took on dread
| fully about it. She hadn't begun to drink
then. And what she was taken up for
/ mad never happened before. It was the
first time she said. Someways I rcmem-
Der, believed her. Seemed as il she'd
| break her heart Hadn't anv folks she
said. Her'n were dead. She cooped u
| in little heap in the corner on the floor
I that night, and sat crying all the night
| 1t wasn't till nigh morning that the other
women could get word out of her. If
| remember straight, we had an uncom-
monty rough lot OF women folks on that
night / wouldn't have put her among
EN-, but there's no other way. ] never
got quite used to that shutting up a
young thing with an old one.
Well, so she was sent to tn. house for
thirty days; and by and by she was back
again. She came of her own accord that
time. Said she coulin't get anything to
| do. Seems to me she said she waited
honest work. They do say it once in a
while. And it was pretty cold night
She came for a place to sleep. So after
that we got pretty we'll used to her; but
mostly after she began to drink aud alter
| like the rest. Itdon't take long Their
own mothers would not know 'em mostly
in three years or so; maybe, as 1T hap
pens.
Well, yes. Our rule Is; come tort
night and you 90. When one comes
steady for two weeks every night, then it
is case of vagrancy, and we eau send
'em to the almshouse. Bat Doherty, she
vas pretty careful. She grew smart
as she grew worse. If she got taken up,
it wasn't for a long rrll. Never knew
her IN the house at the logest more than
three months at time. And when she
come to lodge, she steered pretty clear OF
the law-cominG for few nights you
see, and then off again on her own ways
They're more afraid Of the almshouse
than they are Of hell, these folk.
So she got to be a pretty old customer
always come to this station. | don't
know but that was my fault. Once /
give her pair of my wife's shoes. 1t
was one January morning, twelve below
zero. She hadL I any stockings, only a
pair of old rubbersa nl her bare eet came
through onto the pavement, and it was
pretty icy. 1 suppose | might have
lost my place for it. Eh9 Cap'n! But
don't think Doherty ever told o. me.
She grew 10 be pretty tough case, Doh
erty did. And yet there was always
something liked about Doherty. You
see she used TO sing. Sometimes
they do. And once or twice I've
had chap here who could draw portraits
of the rest. Scrawl the walls al over. if
he wasn't watched. One OF the worst
cases we ever had on these books. his
name was Gallery Peter Gaffsry. Kill
ed an officer, finally, with horseshoe
| lie USsI III INK tlu HuCu bC W do
and some other language. thought II
was Dntch; but the chief heard him, and
he guessed it was Greek The fellow
used to get the rest all ranged round like
an audience. and then go att. Bat gen.
orally they talked religion. It's n ore
popular This Doherty that speak of
she had 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 60 W
from man somewhere down below.
"Dohertyl Sing US to sleep, Doherty
Sing us TO sleep"
And then Doherty from the women;
cell would hear them, through the wall
and she'd begin. Aud the fighting and
the swearing and all the horrid noise
| would quiet down: and. true enough,
think they slept. | had Newfoundland
dog that went 10 sleep when my wifi,
! played the cabinet organ Sometimes
that woman won d sing enough to make
your flesh creep. Sne'd lost all her looks
by that time. But she never sang so Ther
she was sober. And sometimes she'd strik,
up pretty thing as clean and sweet al
the hush ably my own baby hears, ma am
from my own wife's lips; Sometime
she sang "Auld Lang Synen or "aom'
Sweet Home and once that women pick
: Ell up a song called the Three Fishers.