St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-03-17
A NIGHT AT THE STATION,
1t Was Passed Comfortably Amid
UnDIeaSant AssOcjatiOns

Unpleasant Associations.
No sooner had the door closed after
the matron than Miss Morris dried her
tears and INDUCED in prolonged fit of
laughter. 1t was not an attack of hys-
terics. The reason of the merriment
was this:
l, Mamie Morris, and my friend had
only been playing practical joke. 1t
had succeeded better than we had an
ticipated. No money had been stolen,
so it was no wonder that the thief could
not be found. We came from st. Paul
so as to have convenient starting
point. Miss Brooks and myself
had arranged and carefully rehearsed
he plan which had succeeded in doing
what l desired. that is giving me a
chance to spend night in the station
house and see by actual experience how
women are treated who are brought
there and may or may not be guilty of
the Offenses charged. Miss Brooks and
myself are simply two clerks who see
the practical side of life every day in
the week and know that women who
troubles and temptations in their way,
and l had a curiosity to know how
women were treated who had stepped
aside from the path of responsibility or
perhaps were unjustly accused of some
offenSe. OF course the matron's room
and her protection was not the
ordinary cell. but 1 was hopeful
of framing some excuse in order to visit
the cells, and, being sort of prisoner
myself. l would be apt to get at the
plain, unvarnised facts. made up my
mind to stay awake all night, and in
about five minutes my mood had sub
ctr 10 Of nh T,>
lieu of reading the Bible. perched on
the radiator by the window and watched
the patrol wagon come rafting over the
pavement, deposit its load, and hurry
away. In the distance l could hear the
tinkle of the street car bells as they
passed along Washington avenue.
Just below the window an cleo
trio lamp threw grotesQue lights
and shades on the adjoining
buildings. From the Office below came
subdued hum of the talk and laughter
with which the officers beguiled the
time. firing of looking out the window,
l slid Off the radiator and looked over
the contents of the matron's table:
tried the rose water and glycerine on
my complexion, tangled some rick-rack
the matron's slippers when / caught
sight of little account book. Itproved
| to be the matrOn's register of cases.
On the first page was the following
affirmation:
II, the police matron, pledge myself
to honor God in the keeping of the re-
cords and all that do.
MRS. S. E. PAINE.n
Out of the eight or ten cases recorded
l noted that three women had been de-
tanned over night and released, so I
CIR 1cf l,ny h0n,
Ii the proportion throughout the wear
holds the same, my idea of finding how
they were treated was more reasonable
than L knew. My study of the record
was interrupted by the screams and
cries of
A CRAZY WOMAN
who had been brought in the patrol. In
few moments the matron came in.
fearing that l had been frightened. The
woman kept screaming and pounding
the bars of her cell, keeping everybody
! awake.
"Her case reminds me of those pos
sessed of an evil spirit, which the Bible
tells about" said the matron. al sup
pose hell is full of just such beings.
What terrible place it must be-"
l wanted to quote portions of DIR.
Simmons sermon of the previous Sun
day, showing that the notion of people
being possessed by evil spirits is an
exploded relic OF barbarism, but was
afraid the matron wouldn't like it,
After trying moral snaslon and ff finding
it of no account, the officers put straps
on the woman and removed her to
another portion of the Jail, so that the
rest of the night passed in comparative
quiet. "Don't you want to come out
and see where the women are kept"
said the matron.
That was exactly what I stayed there
for and j0yfully accepted her Invitation.