The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1893-01-19
WOMEN AS CRIMINALS.
A Detectives Testimony Regard
Ing the Sexes In Crime
There Are Moro Wicked Mon Than wom-
on. Yet tho Women Arc Moro Cruel
and Deliberate In Their

en- Het tho Women Aro Moro Cruel
and Deliberate In Their
Crimes-
while man is undoubtedly as a rule
the more prominent In crime, woman,
| on the other hand, is at once more cruel
ana cunning IN what she does" says a
noted detective in the San Francisco
Post.
From the circumstance that q 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 q 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-
utcd to men.
"Fhere 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 Il
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 cure
fully than boys. and are under greater
restraint. Neither is it taken into ac-
count that older feIr ales spend more of
| their time at home, while males of their
| "a a. the n rninrlint
| 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-room.
| Nov 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
| pcrpetrated by the administration of
| poison. They show careful prepara-
/
every instance treachery is employed,
the victim being invited to partakc OF
refreshments supplied 5y one who is
| presumed to Ge friend. Murder by
tn" administration of poison is consd-
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-
| tinucd 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 $3.50 men and
9,764 women who had been convicted no
| less than ten times previously. You sec
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 shortcalse, the making of crazy
quilt or the poisoning Of rival, woman
devotes all her time, knowledge and
talent to what she has in view.
"Thcn, again, n woman has less
chance of reformation than a man. The
latter can go to a strange or distant
place, raise whislters or shave those he
had, assume 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 acquaintance are. A
man gets credit for his enterprise if he
| goes to new country and engages in a
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 Gallons and is again driv-
Ell to crime"