The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-12-28
WOMEN AS CRIMINALS.
A Detectives Testimony Regard-
ing the Sexes in Crime.
There Are More Wicked Men Than wom-
en-, Yet the Women Are More Cruel
and Deliberate In Their
CrfneR.

! and Deliberate In Their
Grimes.
"While man is undoubtedly as rule
the more prominent Ii crime, woman,
on the other hand, is at once more cruel
and cunning In what she does says a
noted detective in the San Francisco
Post
From the circumstance that con-
siderable less number of women than
men are convicted of crime, the infer
ence is drawn that in woman the crimi-
nal propensities are weaker or under
better control Such a conclusion is,
| however, not borne out by the facts, for
! when crimes have been traced to women
| it has been found, in the majority of
| cases, that the guilty deeds have been
committed not only with systematic
cunning. but also with a GOODNESS and
| cruelty which have seldom been attrib-
uted to men.
There are several reasons" contin-
ued the detective, "why so few women
have been convicted of crime. Mans
natural sympathy for her often causes
him to overlook important points
against her. If there are men In this
profession who are not susceptible to a
woman's plea, l, in nay experience of
twenty-siI years, have failed to find
them.
Another thing: It is seldom consid-
cred that girls are watched more care
fully than boys, and are under greater
restraint. Neither is it taken into &C
count that older fem ales spend more of
their time at home, while males of their
own age are on the street or mingling
with persons whose habits are not always
of the best Many of the temptations to
crime come from business complications,
in which women have little or no share,
as they spend most of their time at
home with their children and female
companions. Most homicides, you
know, are the results of anger excited
when persons are away from their
homes and families, as violent quarrels
generally take place in the street or
barroom, and not in the parlor or sit
ting-roon.
Now as 70 the cruelty and delibera-
ton of the female criminal The his
murders committed by women are those
perpetrated by the administration of
poison. They show careful prepare
ton and great elaboration. In almost
every instance treachery is employed.
the victim being invited to partake of
refreshments supplied by one who is
presumed to be a friend. Murder by
the administration of poison is consid-
cred the most foul and the darkest of
have been addicted to more generally
than men in all ages and countries.
Another very remarkable fact" con-
tinued the detective, has recently been
mentioned in a London paper by the
chaplain of Clerkenwell Jail. 1t is that
some criminals are practically incura-
bic. From a table prepared by him it
was shown that during last year there
were committed to the prisons and jails
of England and Wales 1856 men and
9,764 women who had been convicted no
less than ten times previously. You see
the force of the comparison.
"a partial explanation of this strange
state of things may be found in the fact
that women are more thorough-going
in all things, good, bad or Indifferent,
than the men. They do nothing by
halves. Be the matter the construction
of a shortcake, the making of crazy
quilt or the poisoning of rival, woman
devotes all her time, knowledge and
talent to what she has in view.
Then, again, woman has less
chance of reformation than a man. The
latter can go to a strange or distant
place, raise whiskers or shave those he
had, assume a different name and COM
mence life anew. He can generally find
employment, but with the woman it is
more difficult Disguise is not SO easy,
and if she goes to different place
some one is liable to recognize her.
"A strange woman is always looked
upon with suspicion, as it is presumed
that she would prefer to live in the
town where she was brought up and
where her old acquaintances are. A
man gets credit for his enterprise II he
goes to a new country and engages in a
business for himself, but such is not the
case with a woman. If she is once dis
covered her own sex are the first to
point their fingers at her, then up their
noses, and refuse to associate with her,
the result o. which is that she becomes
hardened and callous and is again driv-
en- to crime"