Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-10
Midnight Murders
Or 10 P. M. Crime
pecial Correspondence Of the Star.

Special Correspondence Of the Star.
LONDON, February % 1907
r one is murdered In England the event,
appears, is most likely to happen be-
tween the hours Of 10 pm. and mid
night. This is no attempt at prophecy, but
the logical deduction from an official report
Just issued Of the criminal statistics OF
England and Wales. The chances are great
est, too, that one who is fated to meet a
violent death at the hands OF fellow crea-
ture will receive his or her quietus on a
Saturday night. 1t does not need any great
amount Of psychological research to account
for this. The last day In the week is paw
day and generally half holiday among the
poorer classes 1t is then that the most
liquor is consumed and evil passions in
named by drink, lead to brawls and blood.
shed.
But the fact shown by the statistics,
that thursdays average Of bloody deeds Ia
second only to Saturdays may quite pos
sibly indicate that this day Is the more pop
ular among the fashionable assassins Great
murders-those involving prominent people,
seldom are committed on a Saturday night,
out IN q majority OF cases, 1t appears, on
a Thursday.
There are only fourteen hours during the
whole week that one may rest practically
immune from the assassn's knife and that
time Is between and o'clock every morn
Ing. The statistics show that very few
murders indeed are perpetrated during that
period.
Throughout the morning one may feel
comparatively safe, but from noon life is in
increasing jeopardy up to midnight, when
the chances begin to return in favor of your
being allowed to enjoy another day. The
climax Of the whole week, as stated is
| reached Saturday night Fortunately MUIR
'derers respect the Sabbath, at least they
| then appear to rest. for the fewest number
of crimes are reported on a Sunday
The greatest majority OF persons MURDER
ed are women. An examination of criminal
records for twenty years back shows that
men have murdered women in the greatest
| number Of instances through jealousy and
drink. Women are driven to commit MUIR
der chiefly through extreme poverty, and
their victims are mostly children.
That the nervous age in which we live Ia
resulting in a large and steady increase in
suicides is generally known, but the fact
| as shown In the report that three men COM
prising. That self-destruction should be
| mainly a masculine accomplishment gives
| ample opportunity for the psychological stu
| dent to theorize. In this connection it Is
| interesting to note that suicide is almost
the only offense in which there appears to
be steady increase. The general move-
ment of crime is to decrease.
| Fifty-nine per cent of murderers are be-
| tween twenty-one and forty years old, and
| most Of them, as already stated, are men.
The largest number of persons sentenced to
death in any one year q ice 1885 was forty
| one in 1903. In 1901 there were 4, 1S3 habit
| ual criminals at large; in 1905 the number
| was 4,035.
Under the heading motor cors" the Of
lenses against the highways act were near
ly twice as many in 1905 as In the previous
| year-6,777 against $3.50.