Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1904-08-03

las Its Dark and Gloomy Side, But
It Has Somewhat of Com
pensation.

10 tnOSe Who believe that all womeS
re good there is no sadder spectacle
han glimpse into the interior of the
Foman's ward in the city Jail. where
he police matron holds full sway and
n spite of her better Judgment sym.
,athizes with the poor wretches under
Ter charge, says the Chicago Tribune.
The path of the police matron's life
S strewn with more thorns than roses.
She deals with the scum of society,
he dregs of the earth. The larger
part of her time is spent in their com.
partnership. truly dark and gloomy
sphere of labor. and yet not alto
gether q thankless task.
Women make queer prisoners. No
matter how low they may be, they
recognize that the matron is but carry
ing out the duties of her position. and
she comes in for only a little share of
their abuse. That is reserved for the
arresting officer
If there is anything in the old say
ing that peoples ears burn when some
one talks about them. how the police
mems ears must sizzle. All the cpl.
thets and slanderous adjectives in the
English language would be as the soft
answer which turneth away wrath
compared with the monstrous abuse
which is heaped upon the policeman
by the unfortunates. He is the one
who has brought them to disgrace and
thrust them behind prison bars Moth.
ing is too bad to be said of him.
When man is arrested he takes
his arrest philosophically, and while
not entirely devoid of the feeling of
resentment against the arresting Off
Ger, he usually knows where the blame
lies and serves his sentence in sullen
silence. But a woman feels her dis,
grace more keenly, no matter what
her station in life
For this reason a woman in Jail is
possessed Of a mania to take her own
life. She tries it in a dozen WAYS
She will tear her bed clothes into
strips and bind them around her neck
in desperate effort to strangle her
self. Again, if deprived of every pos
sible means for characterization, she
will deliberately pound her head
[
beat out her brains on the iron bars
until she falls bleeding and senseless
1t is the matron's business to pre-
vent suicide, but sometimes the pris
oner's cunning outwits the matron's
vlgllant eye, and she will take dose
of morphine which she has secured
in some unknown way, and which wa.
not detected while she was beins
searched
Several years ago woman who was
known as Big Ella committed sui
eide by putting a bullet through he
heart. How she got a revolver nobod.
ever knew. Morphine poisoning ha.
occurred several times in the jail bu
usually it was discovered in time t(
counteract the effect of the drug.
A drunken woman is usually the oc
cupant of cell in the woman's ward
Were it not for the sorrow that one
feels for her there would be somethins
almost amusing in the rawlings of a
woman who is crazed with alcohol.
There are few humorous incidents
in the woman's ward. Some time ago
a woman was sentenced to 80 days in
jail 1t happened that at the same
time man was being held as a wit
ness. He was given quarters in the
jail with the privilege of walking
around. He became acquainted with
the woman already mentioned
A warm friendship sprang up be-
tween the two and they were soon VIC
lently in love. Whenever the matron's
back was turned the man pressed his
suit with ardor. But the lovers ioy
was short lived. the matron finally
awoke to the situation, and the lover
was transferred to where the object
of his affection was out of sight.
Many of the women prisoners make
wild attempts to escape. But who can
blame a woman for wanting to escape
from her Imprisonment? No matter
how deserving of punishment, the
sight Of woman in Jail. where muir.
derers, thugs, and highwaymen are
kept, is inexpressibly pathetic Woman
was never intended for a prison cell.
She feels her degradation and humil
iation more than she cares to tell, and
sooner or later. unless carried away
by the fast pace she has been living.
she finds rest from the jeers and
taunts of the world in a suicides
grave.