The St. Louis Republic., 1900-06-10
MOB'S VICTIM TELLS
OF her RACE FOR LIFE.
Miss Pauline Hesser Who Was Beaten Chased and Almost
Denuded. Still Suffering From Nervous Shock
May Sue City for Damages

: Iieve that had stood there another second
/ | should have been killed I believe that
! mob meant to kill me
] But il Is not in the nature Of woman
! to stand still and receive injury. Either she
! viii faint OF run. | too badly fright-
ened to faint. | thought ii meant death to
| faint. and | ran. A great brawny man
. caught my skirt as I turned 10 fee ana
| tore it from my body. AT the same instant
another alan-atouj Is years old. | should
| juigs-struck me on the head The blow
l was heavy and ii felied me- Then the
crowd closed in around me and some oc
, the boidest pushed through the ring OF
women who We're closest to me and started
/ for me as il to kill me. Again terror lent
| me strength. and somehow I got up and
broke through that crowd again and ran
for dear life. the bowling. jeerins. cursinS
! crowd following me ami throwing stones
at me-.
II ran east on Calhoun street to Eleventh.
street. Then l ran south on Eleventh
| street to Geyer avenue. Then 1 ran east on
Geyer avenue towards Tenth street. As
ran several men struck me. A rcck or two
hit me in the back, but IL they hurt / did
not notice the hurt. Always there was that
| cry Of 'Scab, Damned scab. Kill the
scab" in my ears. i ran as one runs from
death and he terror greater than death.
Struck by Brawny Woman.
A great brawny woman stood in an open
| doorway on Geyer avenue with her arms
resting akimbo on her hips. Her face ex-
pressed the pleasure she felt in the scene.
had to pass her as I ran and she reached
out one of her big, bare arms 1 passed
and struck me heavy blow behind the ear
with. her fist. The blow stunned me- and
knocked my hat from my head. but I did
not fall. In second l was running again.
Then man made grab for my underS
skirt. A piece of the lace in which 1t was
trimmed came OF in his hands and he fell
behind me. / must have run very fast. !
The men seemed TO. be running as hard
as they could. but managed to keep ahead
OF them Thousand ideas flashed through
my head. but they were all about what the
! mob would do to me II they ever caught
up with me. / knew they would try to
pull off my remaining skirt. II they did Z
thought ! would let them kill me-. can
remember thinking as I ran Better death
than such shamer Then another man
grabbed at my shirt waist. II was flimsy
| stuff and tie wonder is that it did not CONG
OFF in his hands. But. fortunately. 1t held.
by this time had reached Tenth and
Geyer. On the northeast corner I saw a.
grocery store and saloon. II was the place
owned by Herman Schumacher. i ran trT
| through the side door on Tenth street. vfth<
out a moments thought The mob wan q
| little way behind me. The grocer saw thQ
mob and told me ! must not stay In hia
store. (
Il pleaded with him as I never pleade0
with any man before in all my life. I al&
most put my arms around his neck In myl
fright and frenzy. begging him not to fo-cQi
| me out into the street into the hands Of the
vicious mob. But he was obdurate. You,
| can't stay in here. lady, he said. You CAM
go out either way you want to, but YOU
must get out looked both ways. and
I saw that some Of the mob had suFrounded1I
the back door as well rs the 'front.' dooRs,
That moment was the most dreadful Of an
had found refuge for a moment but onlNI9
for a moment. / must throw myself fnt0li
the hands Of those frightful men and wom<'
en- again. 1t was no use to beg. but did
beg With tears and prayers / pleaded with
the grocer not to make me go out into tbs
mob to be destroyed by them. They wiz
kill mel Seet They want my life" cried
to him. But he said: You must get out 81,
here now. Come. don't stay any longer
Then in my desperation 1 turned to tho
little group of men who had wedged them.
selves in the front door, Won't any Of
you men stand by my side? i cried. and
prevent them from killing met Then there,
was one man spoke up-a little. young
looking man. who did not seem to be mora
Than y years Of age. I Will stand BY your
side he said. Come out with me- y
Then We two stepped into the stree2s
My protector started to speak to the mob,
but before he had uttered three words the
mob was upon me. man struck me in
the race. Il ran d8dius SkOu00p C0ISc3 anu
jeers followed me. The mob ran also. y
ran east toward Ninth and Geyer. l heard :.
my young protector behind me cry out to
the crowd. Don't hurt her. men. Remem-
Der she is a woman Then I heard him mo-
more / didn't see him again for some
minutes but 1 think he followed me az
fast as he could in the crowd and. true to
his promise, did all that one man withoue
arms could do to save me from shame
and injury.
ON the corner OF Ninth and Geyer ther6
Is a grocery store. Next to It u butchers
shop In there l ran The butcher saw me
with my hat OF and my skirt gone. my hair
hanging loose and terror In my eyes. What
10 the matter? he cried. The mob l an>.
swered gasping for breath. for my lase
strength was about >gone. The mob arc
after me- Don't you see? They say 1 am
a scabr Then 1 saw on the butchers face
that he was not the other men. He did
not waste any time words. He did not;
wait for any further explanation. Already}
the mob was surrounding his shop. Rum
through that back door and upstairs he /
cried. then you Will be safe" L ooeyeo
without a word I found the stairs on the;
ont side of the building and ran up them l
Rut the door was locked and 1 could not get i;
in. Then i sank down on the landing. my /,
strength all gene. Death has overtaken me
at last. I thought. The mob rushed into
the back yard from the street. They had
found out tndt was dtASiuPrhS =" SS~oRO
upstairs
Several men threw stones at me. Three
Girls ran I'D the steps and tried with mighe
and main to pull my remaining skirt on my
body resisted them with all the strength
I could muster They were determined and
vicious young women. They called me viie
names as they pulled at my skirt l identis
fed them later in court and they were each
given two years i'm the Reform School for
their par, in the affair. But there were men
who did as much and more. and hope the
officers will catch them
..I was struggling with the girls when
two men ran up from below and struck me
with their fists. One of the men struck
me on the ear. l am positive CT that. and
/ could identify the man who gave mo
that blow. l cannot say where the other
man hit me, and i doubt whether I Should
he able to point him out II ! saw him In .
crowd again.
Rescuer ut Last.
Then my rescuer came in the shape OF
a woman an elderly. kind-faced woman
with a great deal Of determination In her
expression. She ran upon the landing and
stood py my side. Men, stop this she
cried. IL you be men, stop hurting this
woman. You shall not touch her again.
/ will not allow q woman to be hurt o.
shamej by such hoodlums as ye are!
Her voice was loud and trembied with
her indignation Much to my astonish-