The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1899-04-15


under his load of crime. He is in the PEN
itentiary. Like Kipling's Bad Delilafl,
he told. The arrest Of the Others followed.
Mollie Mathes is an anomaly. Her hus-
band, one Of the leaders of the gang, is q
tall, uncouth w~csterner, daring and fear
less, of that type of yirility which has SO
great a charm for women. She is not re-
fined-could not be in the very natur of
things-but she is crafty, tactfnl and
courageous and furnished the brains for
her red handed associates.
1t is claimed that she plotted and de-
signed the murders, while her husband and
his followers executed the plans. Little is
known of her past history. To the sheriff
and jailer at Wichita, Kan, where she is
now in custody, she is known simply as
Mrs. Mollie Mathes. She is a naughty
prisoner and refuses to tell anything con-
corning the doings of the Mathes-A1good
gang, with whose members robbery seems
to have been a pastilne and murder a sci
ence.
Mollie Mathes is tail and eomely. Fer
eyes are blue and searching, shrewd and
cunning. Her whole face is that of q wo-
mar vino wills and does and is able to
make others do for her sake, even to the
extent of foulest crime.
Her personality is unique. She is mas
culine in her bravery, feminine in her love
for finery. She rode horses like a cowboy
and shot u rife like a veteran bear hunter.
She could handle a pistol better han the
best duelist in Europe, and she had ideas
about firearms which few women would
ever hage entertained. She preferred q
pistol of blue steel to one of nickel plate,
because the brighter revolver could not be
used at. night without giving a flash of
warning. She liked q pistol of single ac-
ton because there was 10 chance for q
man to slip his finger behind the trigger
guard and render the weapon powerless.
Mollie Mathes was proud of her long
black hair and vain Of her strong, supple
limbs and her small hands and feet. She,
was vain, too, Of her power over men.
Her realm was small, but never did court
iers bow more humbly at the throne of
Queen Bess than these rough men, these
outlaws, at the feet of Mollie Mathes.
She ruled by force of singleness of purpose
and superiority of mind. She was the
idol of her husband and the queen Of his
followers.
Sometimes Mollie Mathes visited her
relatives in st. Louis and Chicago. just
who these relatives are and in what sec
ton of the two cities they reside is not
known. She was too wise ever to let any
body know her whereabouts while away
from Kansas or to have scattered about
any letters or papers which might furnish
a clew.
The deeds of the Mathes-A1good gang
were brought to light by the confession of
one of the band, who is now in the Wichita
~penitentiary serving a sentence for horse
stealing. He has given to the officers ma
teriai with which they expect to prove that
in the last two years the gang has made
way with no less than four lives and stolen
hundreds of dollars. They also expect to
prove the gang guilty of the milrderof two
detectives who were sent to work up a case
against the lawless gang several years ago.
Furthermore, the detectives expect to
prove that these cronies were prompted
and directed by a woman--this same
naughty, taciturn and tactful Mollie
Mathes, who pleads innocence and poses
as a cook in spite of the fact that her
method of crime is known.
Mollie Mathes holds her tongue with as
firm a grip as she ever held the men who
were under her control. The state of Kan
sas may dry up and blow away, but she
will never confess.
ANL i