The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-10-08
4 SCALPER'S TICKET
PRODUCES A TRAGEDY

| CHICAGO, Sept. 17.-Because her
hair and eyes were dark, because, in
her ignorance of the ways of railroads,
she attempted to travel on a. scalp
er's ticket" which had been originally
sold to a blonde, and because an In
human train conductor elected her
from his train at a. water tank on a
Southwestern desert and left her to
wander for days through the cactus
and sagebrush and sand, Mrs. Emma
Johnson. of 1868 Drexel boulevard, is
dead.
Driven mad by the terrors of her lone
wanderings, she died raving maniac
in the insane ward at Dunning Hos
pital. Never, from the time she was
found stumbling along beneath the
breiling sun and identified by letters
and papers carried, did her reason re-
turn.
Not for an instant in the last weeks
Of her life, when she, alternately cow
cred In terror and raved in delirium,
was there raised from her mind the
horror which had been stamped there
by the terrors of the wilderness.
There is ITO Let sign on the door
of the little artists studio at 1868
Drexel boulevard, Mrs. Johnson's old
home. Neighbors, who for years have
known and loved the two women who
worked within the place, Miss Marie
Dahl and Mrs. Johnson, wondered
short time ago when they saw but Miss
Dahl there alone, but hesitated to ask
questions When they noticed the sign
placed on the door and found Miss
Dahl had dropped from their life, they
wondered still more. Investigations
revealed a strange story of Damon
and Pythias friendship seldom met
with among women. Back of the clos
ed shutters lies the story of the TWEEN
ty-year companionship which was end
ed by the inhumanity of railroad
conductor.
For years Miss Marie Dahl, artist
and photographer, and Mrs. Emma
Johnson, her companion and assistant,
conducted the studio which was the
Mecca for fond and doting mothers and
their precocious offspring from all
parts of the city.
Unable to go through the daily
routine alone. Miss Dahl has sold out
the belongings held in common be-
tween the two women, and has gone
to seek rest and peace among new
scenes and friends. To the general
public the closed shutters mean little
or nothing, but over those who knew
the women and their lifelong devo-
tion TO each other the tragedy they
represent has thrown pail of deepest
grief.
For years Miss Dahl and Mrs. John
son had been closely associated. Each
possessed the artistic temperament,
and it was this which drew them to-
gether soon after Mrs. Johnson became
a widow. Their paintings are known to
every artist in the city, and their later
work, photography, especially pictures
of children, made them equally famous.
For years they worked together, no
p1l4asure being complete unless shared.
: Then came a day of parting-for a
brief time. it was thought by both,
Mrs. johnson, with health impaired
through close application to work,
went West in search of rest. She went
to the ranch of Miss Dahl's brother in
Oklahoma.
Letters came telling of her recovery,
and then one day she started for home.
The trip was to be made on a ticket
provided by friends.
The ticket was what is known to
travellers as a '.scalpers' ticket That
is, it had been paid for by the original
purchaser, whose Identification was
plainly marked upon it, and then re-
sold to friends of Mrs. Johnson. The
original purchaser was a blonde. Mrs.
johnson was not. She was unused to
travel, and did not know there was
danger of her ticket being taken up.
She had paid her money for it and
thought that sufficed.
The train was speeding along through
the cactus wastes, the last station
hours behind, before the conductor
picked up Mrs. Johnson's ticket. He
looked at the description on the back
and then at Mrs. Johnson. He told
her they did not tally, and she must
either pay another fare or get off. She
had not enough money, and the in
human conductor dropped her at