The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-05-23

Reno OF Custer massacre fame. Hi
earlier years were spent in the turmoil o
frontier life in Arizona, where he wa
FOR some time deputy sheriff and late
deputy United States marshal at Tucson
HIS efforts in enforcing the Chinese eN
clusion act on the Mexican border have
been highly commended by the Washing
ton authorities, and recognized by th,
Highbinders, who placed n price OF $4,000
years he has held n highly responsible
position with one of the largest bank pro-
tcctive associations in the United States
and as superintendent of It's secret SER
vice has established an enviable record
of success In running down bank bur
glars These. stories. are confined to hts
scenes of which are laid in Arizonasanc
New Mexico. near the Mexican border
The Last Frontier. which until recent
years was wild and lawess. and where
made his last stand)
When the justly celebrated French
student of detective lore gave to the
world the now familiar phrase of
Find the Woman thereby inferring
that there is a daughter of Eve at the
bottom of every big crime. ne voiced
sentiment which, while plausible
enough, may be set down as rather
superfluous. One might as well as
scrt that every man has mother,
anu POee us UDe ulSCOVeTeT OIL SU1rC-
llngly original truism.
Somewhere in the background there
turks the eternal feminine whose cx-
istenee spurs the thief on 20 the ap-
preparation OF other people property
or nerves the murderer's hand to deal
out death by bullet, poison or knife
blade to his victim. The professional
thug is wont to look forward eagerly
to the good time in store for him in
the company of the painted damsel
whose capricious favor he hopes to
purchase with portion of his i'll got
ten gains, while your amateur, cdu
Gated criminal, would fain win the
smiles of some siren of higher social
caste by the expenditure of that for
which he risked honor and liberty
For the colonel s lady and Judy
O'Grady are sisters under their skins! -
sings Kipling. and equally so there is
little TO choose between male maraud
ers of high and low degree.
Admitting that there. is usually
"'woman In the case' somewhere, one
seldom finds a member of the fair sex
taking an active physical part in the
commission of n carefully planned
crime on large scale. Street hold
ups with female participators are not
unknown in police records, but as a
general thing the woman merely plays
the parl OF uecoy 90 draw the VIC
tim within reach of her strong-arm
companions. During my experience
as United States marshal in Arizona
and later as nm investigator Of bank
robberies, I knew of but one case
where woman figured as an actual
''live worker 10 the extent of en-
forcing a demand for cash at the muz-
zle of n siX-shooter. She was Pearl
Hart, then girl in her teens, but pos
sessed of a dare devil courage and
recklessness worthy of member of
the Jesse James gang. Yet there was
nothing masculine In the appearance
of this extraordinary girl, nothing to
indicate the Amasonian spirit that
lurked within her slender frame. She
was OF slight build, weighing in the
neighborhood Of 100 pounds, and, clad
in the male attire she usually affected,
looked like n not particularly robust
and rather attractive boy.
tt was in the Jail at Tucson, Arizona,
that first made Pearl acquaintance
and obtained from her a confession
which laid bare the details of her row
ing and singularly romantic life. This
was Immediately after she had sprung
into notoriety by accomplishing n feat
never before performed by one of her
sex-the holding up of n stage coach
and robbing the passengers at the
point of a gun. 1t was the .culmina,
ting exploit OF her career, which had
early childhood,
Pearl Hart is native of Canada,
where her parents. honest, respecta-
BILE people in humble circumstances, re-
side today At the age of Is she made
her first pilgrimage into the outside
world, running away from her home in
Lindsay, Ont, and taking with her
Younger sister. The two, dressed as
boys, made their way by boat TO Buff
faIo, n. Y, where they worked for
while in factory where children were
employed. After the sisters had been
in Buffalo for about two months their
parents got track OF and finally recov
cred them.
But the love of rowing had become
too deeply implanted in Pearl Hart IS
restless bosom TO allow Of her leading
Il quiet and uneventful existence at
home. Two years later she again wan
dcrcd away, her sister accompanying
her as before and the pair went to
Chicago Both were dressed in boys
clothes and apparently had no trouble
in concealing their sex. They obtained
a couple of shoe-shining outfits and went
10 work as bootblacks, leading the usual
gypsy life of those picturesque little
arabs who were at that time one OF
the distinctive features of Chicago
streets. They worked first in the
south end Of the business districts and
later. as they became acquainted with
the other bootblacks. roved all over the
downtown district, seeking refuge
when night fell in the box cars out
along State street. in Wabash avenue
livery barns. in lofts or wherever they
could sneak in unD0ticed
One evening Pearl saw wagon load
of watermelons standing near the cor
ner 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
her sister were taken TO the Harrison
street police station.
After the two girls were arrested and
sentenced To BOYS school their sex
was discovered and they were sent to
tho reform school for girls Old be
yond their years by virtue Of the va
ried experiences they had passed
through. II was not 10 hc supposed that
fbcC r.oul1 tHmnly qubmii ~ tho I.tonr