The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1906-08-17


Rrooklyn.-It was a quiet day in
the police station. Brownsville was
behaving itself and the matron of the
station had a whole hour to talk, with
only one interruption to wipe the
tears from the eyes of a small, dirty
boy, induce him to tell the address
OF his home and send him on his way
under the guidance of big, strong
bluecoat. And the matron, when she
talks, has few things to tell. In
fact, Mrs. Cox says, with her good
Irish chuckle, that she thinks she will
write book of her experiences to
make her rich after she retires from
the job of matron. The ''boys" have
suggested it to her. The "boys" are
the bluecoats, every one of whom in
Brooklyn, knows Mrs. Cox and has a
joke for her or word of guying
when he meets her.
Duties Of Police Matron.
lntoxication is the usual charge
upon which the woman prisoner is
committed, with occasional charges
OF theft, of assault, an attempted sui
eide and now and then woman whose
hands have committed some bigger
crime, homicide or infanitcide
Whatever the charge, they all pass
through the station house on their
way to the jail or the penitentiary,
and the matron has them in her care
She gets them fresh from their mis-
demeanors and with the stain of their
crimes new upon them. She is the
first and often the only ministering
angel they know, for it is to the task
Of ministering that most of the ma
irons, womenlike, give themselves,
with more heartiness than to the
technical tasks of their office.
AS I sat in the comfortable little
apartment Of the matron, flooded with
morning sunshine, each of the homely
objects in the room, and even the pic
lures on the walls, seemed to have
something to whisper of the stories
that have been told in those rooms,
Of the depravity they have looked
upon, of the pitiable wrecks of wom-
anhood they have seen pass through
this room to the iron-barred cells be-
yond. OF some of these crippled
creatures and their stories the matron
told me. Fourteen years of the life
has not calloused her sensibilities but,
instead, sharpened her sympathies,
and for all the endless stream that
comes her way she can listen to each
OF their stories, pity them and hold
out a hand to help if they have not
gone too far to be beyond helping.
Sometimes the judicious, quick inter-
CeSsiOn of the matrOn can do a great
deal to check young offender in the
downward course; at any rate, a
kind word never hurts even the most
lowly.
Young Girls Saved.
One night two young girls were
brought into the station house for in
toxication, fresh, dainty girls,
dressed in the finest of evening gowns,
covered with long coats, 1t was New
Years eve and a bitter cold night.
The matron was used to the unusual,
but the presence of girls such as
these in her lodging house made her
stop and wonder. 1t was only a lit
tie while before the sleep of intoxica-
tion wore of and the girls woke to
the realization of their surroundings
and the horror of it. Finally, they
were calm enough to tell the matron
how it all happened They had been
over to Manhattan to a dance with
two boy friends. 1t was so icy cold
that the escorts suggested before they
crossed the bridge to take something
to warm them, and they stopped in
cafe and drank what the men or:
dered for them. Unused to taking
stimulants, as soon as they struck
the cold air out of doors the drinks
went to their heads and they knew
very little else of what happened un-
til they walked to find themselves in
the police station. What had hap
pened was that the two escorts, find
ing themselves burdened with girls
too much Intoxicated to know what
was happening to them, had opened
the door of tenement house, showed
them in and left them there. The
girls had fallen Immediately to sleep
and one of the occupants of the house
stumbling over them, had reported to.
the police and had them taken to the
station. It was a hideous night for
those girls, used only to the niceties.
and refinements of life. ~. l.. S .sS 7:
When the next morning came, with
it's inevitable appearance at court,
they pleaded mot to be taken in the"
patrol wagon with the other prisoners
and the matron secured the permits.
sion of the sergeant to take them to
court herself in the car, and arranged
for; a private hearing before. the
judge. The circumstances related,