Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1893-01-19
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


There Are More Wicked Men Than wom-
en-, Yet the Women Are More Cruel
and Deliberate in Their
'While man is undoubtedly as a rule
the more prominent IN crime, woman,
on the other3iand; Is at once more cruel
and cunning IN what she does" says q
noted detective in the San Francisco
Post -
from the circumstance that a 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 facts. for
when crimes have been traced to women
it has been found, in the ajority of
cases, that the guilty deeds have been
committed not only with systematic
cunning, but also with . coolness 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. II there are men in this
profession who are not susceptible to q
woman's plea, 1, in my experience of
twenty-six 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 sac-
count that older fera ales spend more Of
their time at home, while males of their
own age are on the street or minglmg
with persons whose ha bits 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-room-
Nov as 10 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 a London paper by the
chaplain of Clerkenwen Jail. 1t is that
some criminals are practically incura-
BILE. From a table prepared by him it
was shown that dnring last year there
were committed to the prisons and jails
of England and Wales $3.50 men and
9, 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 a crazy
quilt or the poisoning of rival, woman
QeVOIeS all nSr tlI1es knOWIeORe anu
talent to what she has in view.
''Then, again, woman has less
chance of reformation than man. The
latter can go to a strange or distant
place, raise whiskers or shave those he
had, assume diferent- 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 a 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 if he
goes to a new country and engages in
business for himself, but such is not the
case with 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 of which is that she becomes
hardened and callous and is again driv-
en- to crime"