Los Angeles herald., 1906-09-16

the waiting room, and as a matter of
course nodded to a bright. neat appear
ing young woman who sat there.
The matron left us and 1 waited, and
in the meantime watched the girl.
How She Looks
She was of about medium height and
rather fleshy. Her eyes were brown
and strangely Dawn as though from
suffering and sorrow. She wore black
black from head to foot. Her shirt
waist was black, her skirt of the same
somber material, while her dark hair
and eyes seemed only in keeping with
the woman's appearance of mourning
Who she was or what she was doing
there in the matrons room l did
know, but / watched her deft fingers
ply the needle in a mass of embroidery
and lace and her cleverneSS rather fas-
cinated me.
A moment later l was feeling awk-
ward and being introduced to the SOM
ber young woman, for / had been
Watching Mrs. Scheck, the self-con-
fessed murderess.
Tell you about myself; well, don't
see that there is much to be told" she
said.
II have been allowed to see no one
since my arrest three months ago and
l have not yet talked to any newspaper
men.
II have heard that they said some
pretty hard things about me during the
trial, but my husband was dead and
told the truth there, not for my own
protection, for my attorneys have told
me that l would have probably been
allowed to go free anyhow, but because
| thought it might be best to try and
fix everything right and tell everyone
what really happened.
Not on Earth Long
ut won't take long to tell all l know
about myself, for | haven't been on
earth very long, and while things have
happened rather rapidly in my life
this last trouble has so far over
shadowed them all that 1 can think of
nothing else.
II was born In Iowa not quite twenty
years ago. My mother and father
separated two years after my birth,
and after that l travelled about with
my mother and sister.
my mother was a nurse of eX-
perience and she made a good living
that way until she met a man whom
she thought she loved.
"At any rate they married, and from
that time OH began to realize what the
world really was. For we lived gypsy
life travelling day and night through
the hills and woods of Missouri Arkan-
sas, Iowa and Nebraska.
1T was beg for food in the day time
and sleep about a camp fire out in the
woods al night.
Strange fancies came to me then
in those wild surroundings and feared
the dark, feared the shapes and
shadows of the smoke from the camp
fire and wondered what the world was
made for and why we We're al living
on it. l have thought those same
thoughts lying in my cell over there,
with some woman of the town snoring
off drunken sleep within dozen feet
of me, and | have never found all
answer to 1t.
Her Parents Separate
"At last my mother separated from
my father. Their last quarrel was as
violent as the life had been. ] can see
my mother now, pointing across the
Missouri river to the farther bank and
my father slowly trudging toward its
shadowy forests. That was the way
they parted, and then we came to Cali
fornia.
II was II years old then, and | man
aged to get one years schooling, then
II was work for me, hard work at a
washing machine until l thought my
back would break. 1t was there that
met Joel Scheck a slender lad who
worked one of the wringing machines.
II quit work there and went to work
in box factory / spent four years
al that, making berry boxes at cents
a hundred.
What chance did l have? ! had no
education, had been reared asa gypsy
and at the time when every young girl
is budding into womanhood and hav-
ing a good time with her friends in
little entertainments / was compelled
to kick away at berry box making
machine.
Marrles at Seventeen
II married Joel Scheck when was II
years of age. lie was only a hoy and
we went TO live on San Julian street.
AT that time | went TO work at my
mothers lodging house. / did the work