Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1892-12-26
WOMEN AS CRIMINALS.
A Detectives Testimony Regarding the
Sex-s in Crime.

while man Is undoubtedly rs rule
the more prominent IN 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
Prom 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 conclusion is.
however, not borne out by the faess. for
when crimes have been traced To women
il has been found. in the smajority of
cases, that the guilty deeds have been
committed not only with systematic
cunning, but also with n 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 my experience of
twenty-six years, have failed to find
them.
Another thing: 1t is seldom consid-
cred that girls are watched more care
fully than boys. and are under greater
restraint Neither is it taken into ac-
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,
Us 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-room.
Now as TO the cruelty and delibera-
| ton of the female criminal. The his
| tory of crime shows that most of the
! murders committed by women are those
perpetrated by the administration of
| poison. They show careful prepara-
| ton and great deliberation. In almost
every instance treachery is employed.
the victim being invited to partake of
refreshments supplied by one who is
presumed to be friend. Murder by
the administration of poison is consid-
cred the most foul and the darkest OF
all crimes, but it is the one that women
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 London paper by the
chaplain of ClerlSenwell jail. 1t is that
some criminals are practically incura-
BILE. From table prepared by him j,
was shown that during last year there
were committed to the prisons and jails
| of England and Wales $3.50 men and
0,7C4 women who had been convicted nc
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-goine
in all things, good. bad or indifferent
than the men. They do nothing by
| halves. Be the matter the construction
of shortcalle, the making of a 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 n man. The
latter can go TO strange or distant
place, raise whislSers or shave those he
had, assume different name and com
/ mcrce life anew. He can generally fint
employment, but with the woman it i:
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 anc
where her old acquaintances are.
man gets credi. for his enterprise If h,
| goes to a new country and engages in {
business for himself but such is not tn,
case with n woman. II she is once dis
| covered her own sex are the first tc
! point their fingers at her. then up theil
noses. and refuse to associate with her
the result of which is that she become,
hardened and callous and is again driv
en- 70 crime"