The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-05-08

ID EARL HART, the only woman
Il bandit who ever held up a stage
coach In this country, is now
keeping little cigar store in Kansas
City, and her customers do not know
that the quiet, modest appearing little
woman who waits on and chats with
them was on time as desperate
a character as ever a Deadwood Dick
Of them all. She is living down a past
colored with high lights and replete
with experiences that rarely come to
a woman.
Not many years ago Pearl Hart,
dressed as boy, was shining shoes in
the down town district Of Chicago. Her
sister, a year younger than herself,
was with her. These two young girls,
then in their early teens, slept in the
box cars out along State street, in the
Wabash avenue livery barns, in lofts,
or wherever they could sneak in I'm
noticed. In Chicago Pearl was arrested
for the first time. It was here she
was first sentenced for crime Still
her history during the time she was
here has always remained until now a
blank.
This notorious young woman first
sprang into public attention in May,
1880 WIlcn size H6lQ uD the ATIOD0.
AFiZ., stage. Until recently, when she
was paroled, she has been serving time
IN the penitentiary at Yuma, Ariz She
confessed her crime to Francis Reno,
and at the same time gave to him the
history or her strange career.
Dressed in Mems Clothes.
Pearl Hart is little woman. and
dressed in male attire, she appeared
very small. At the time of her arrest
after the stage holdup she tipped the
scales at 101 pounds, but even though
she was small she had the nerve of an
old outlaw, and was all daredevil. At
first she was naturally a tramp. When
she was thirteen years of age she ran
away from her home in Lindsay, Ont.
taking. with her her sister. The two.
dressed as boys, made their way by
boat to Buffalo. N. Y, where they
worked for a while in factory where
children were employed. After the sis
tiers had been in Buffalo for about two
months their parents got track of and
finally recovered them.
Two years later the two girls again
ran away from home. That time they
came to Chicago. Pearl, the elder Of
| the two, had the features Of boy, and,
dressed as she was in boy clothes, was
enabled to conceal her sex. The two
sisters went to work as bootblacks.
1u6y WOEk0Q IlTSL III the south END or
the business district, and later, as they
became acquainted with the other boot
blacks, Foved all over the downtown
district.
One evening Pearl Hart saw a wagon
| load Of watermelons standing near the
corner of State and Harrison streets
Several of the melons had been taken
from the wagon, and were piled upon
the sidewalk. When no one was look
/ ing she stole one of the melons and ran
down Harrison street with the heavy
load. Before she had gone a block a
policeman caught her, and both she and
street police station.
Climbed From the Window.
After the two girls were arrested
| and sentenced to a boys school their
sex was discovered, and they were sent
to the reform school for girls. Pearl
was only a young girl but she had been
rowing too long to content herself with
life at the school. She and her sister
had been locked up for almost three
months and We're apparently unusually
tractable. Then one morning the ma
iron awoke to find them gone. The two
girls had made rope of two sheets
and a night gown and had lowered
themselves from window.
Pearls sister climbed down first and
without accident. Pearl followed, but
being the heavier Of the two she got
a fall that knocked out her breath. In
stead Of tying the nightgown at the low