The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-07-08
A WOMAN HORSE THEY.

A WOMAN HORSE THIEF.
For Four Years she Was q Successful
Bandit Chief. hut Now Attends 10 Her
HOusework and paints-A Strange Ca.
rccr.
Correspondence Of the Globe-Democrat.
Santa Fe. N. NJ. July Sit may be
true. as that very learned man. Herr
Strindberg. asserts. that a woman can
not. by reason Of mental inferiority.
make as good a cup of coffee as man
can, but when II comes to stealing
horses she has proved that her mental
qualities are quite the equal of his. or
all the women whom I'm de steele degen-
eracy. or love of adventure. or need OF
extracting living from the world.
has driven into this form of activity,
the one with the most checkered career
Is Mrs. Helen Scott, Of Southern New
Mexico. For four years this woman
was one Of the leading spirits in gang
of ex-cowboys. who had become horse
thieves They ranged all over South
ern New Mexico and Arizona. and
slipped over the line into Old Mexico
whenever the sheriffs and deputy mar
shals were too warm on their track.
They captured more horses. disposed OF
them to better advantage and eluded
the officers of the law more SUCCESSFULLY
than any other band Of horse-thieves
in the southwest. One of the men.
after they We're finally captured, pri-
vately declared that much Of their sue
cess was due to the wariness and as
tuteness Of Mrs. Scott's counsels and
methods. She dressed all that time in
mems clothes, and nobody would have
guessed from her appearance that she
was anything but a slender. handsome
boy. Her companions all knew her sex,
and among them and the sheriffs who
chased her for four years she was
known as Curly Hank Holder-short-
ened usually to Curly Hank. For her
hair, unlike that Of the Montana woman.
did not need the curling iron to keep
1t in waves and curls all over her head.
Mrs. Scott had been a wife and the
mother Of four children before she took
to outlawry. During her married life
she had lived in Texas. where existence
for her had been as patient. uneventful
and dutiful as 1t Is for thousands Of
other wives and mothers. When her
husband died she took her children to
Ell Paso and struggled along, earning
q living for them as best she could.
Then one day she put them to board
with poor woman and disappeared.
For four years afterward she would ap-
pear once in two or three months, make
them short visit, pay for their board
In advance. buy clothes for them. make
them presents, and then sink into the
unknown again. But the battle Of wits
between outlaws and sheriffs however
long 1t may last. Is bound in time to be
won by the sheriffs. And so at last Mrs.
Scott and her cowboy band were cap
tured In Dona Ana county. N. NJ, and
taken to Las Cruces for trial.
Mrs. Scott's case aroused much SYM
pathy. for her face was refined and at.
tractive. her manner modest and her
speech that Of an educated, cultured
woman. And, of course, lawyers and
Judge and jury and everybody else in
the community were much impressed by
her refined, womanly appearance. Her
|
her favor that was possible and she was
found not guilty.
After the trial was over Mrs. Scott, in
conversation: frequently admitted her
connection with the rse-thieyes.
Asked how she came to adopt such a
life, she replied: II had to make a liy-
Ing for my children. and was tired OF
struggling along In the hand-to-mouth
sort OF way. / tried my very best, and
all could do was to get them barely
enough to eat and wear ! wanted to
do more than that, and this was the
only way / could see of accomplishing
anything else"
There may have been truth in what
she said. but 1t certainly was not the
whole truth. A part thereof is that she
was deeply In love with the leader of
the banda 6-foot specimen of cow
boy skill and daring. 1t was probably
q case In which love said come" and
the woman obeyed. He did not get Off
as easily as did she. for the Jury found
MIN guilty. But while he was waiting
TO be taken to the penitentiary he es-
caped from the county jail, as every
one believed, by her contrivance and
heip' ana was found concealed in her
| room. He was retaken and is now sery-
ing his time in the territorial penl-
tentiary. Her evident connection with
MS escape was winked at, because of
the favorable impression she had made
and the general belief that she had
given up horse-stealing for good and in
Tended to earn an honest living Her
eldest children are adopted into good
families and the other two were placed
In an orphan asylum. A small sum OF
money was collected to tide her over
immediate difficulties. and chance was
given her to try her hand at house.
work. She has done 30 In a good MANY
households Of that region, and there Is
consensus Of opinion among those
households that Mrs. Scott's talents do
not lie In the domain of cooking and
house-cleaping. She is too likely "a
forget the weekly washing while ab.
sorbed In the attempt to paint her mis-.
tress' portrait. and to let the Dime,
burn while she embroiders a sofa cush.
lon for the parlor. For In Mrs. Scott,
education. 40 sometimes happened
twenty years ago. the accomplishment,
were not as much neglected as were
some other things, and her return tc
responsibility and opportunity has re-
vived the desire not to get rusty.
Relief In Six llours.
Distressing Kidney and Bladder d,s
eases relieved In six hours by the "Nav