The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1909-03-11
PARENTAL
NEGLECT
Girls Handcuffed Together
and Taken to Grown
Point Jail Today. +,

Huddled together on an fmprovised
bed of straw and blankets in the base
ment under the residence of Joseph
Knirsch, who lives on the Ridge road.
where it crosses the Monon railroad,
near Oak Hill cemetery, Gertrude
Knirsch, aged IA; Lizzie Knirsch, aged
16, and Anna Smith. aged 16, lib Con-
dit street, were found with Robert Fos-
ter, aged 27, OF the Standard Steel Car
district. by Officers Einsele and Trate-
bas at 2:45 a. m. this morning, and
were all arrested.
These facts are made known because
it is the one case out of many in Ham
mond where girls of tender ages and
adventuresome proclivities have act
ually been apprehended in a compro-
missing positions and the incident serves
to point out the criminal neglect of
some parents and a most shocking con-
dition of affairs among a large num-
Der of young girls in Hammond.
The girls were placed under arrest,
and today the ywere taken to Crown
Point, where they will appear in the ju-
venile court before Judge W. C. Nc
Mahan in the circuit court and will
plead guilty to q shameful statutory
charge.
The Man an Incident.
Robert Foster, who happened to be
the man who was in company with the
girls on that particular evening, was
hailed before Judge william w. McMa-
han in the Hammond city court and
was fined $40 and costs and sentenced
to sixty days in jail on a statutory
charge. He is a mere incident in the
wild career of these three Hammond
girls, who, like many others of their
kind, have been walking Hammond
streets for three or four years.
The discovery reveals to the general
public condition of shocking depravi-
ty. Earlier in the evening the three
girls, with their male companion and
Mrs. Joseph Knirsch, returned from the
Standard district, where Mrs. Knirsch
became intoxicated.
In a manner which indicated the abb
sence of any sense of family pride. or
in fact. any of the higher qualities.
Gertrude Knirsch said in a jocular man.
ner: I'VE had an awful time with my
mother last night She was so drunk
that 1t was all we four could do to get
her home. She tried TO lie down on the
railroad tracks, but we made her go
home.'
Under No Restraint
After taking her drunken mother
home, the three girls and Robert Foster
went to the kennel-like place in the
basement. where they We're finally dis
covered by the officers. and arrested
The discovery of the girls retreat
was brought about by the activity OF
the police after they had been informed
by Mrs. c. L Smith, the mother of Anna
Smith, that her daughter had been
missing for three days and she had no
idea where she could be-
The officers learned that the Smith
girl had been seen in the company OF
Gertrude and Lizzie Knirsch, and last
night the officers went out to the
Knirsch residence, opposite the ceme-
terry. TO look for the girls.
AS they approached the house. they
saw the basement door open, and
thought they heard voices emanating
from under the house. They went in
and made an investigation with thir
dark lanterns
There they found the three girls and
Robert Foster The whole party was
arrested at once and taken to the po-
lice station. The story they told made
even the police officers. who are hard
ened by continual contact with Grim
inals of the lowest type. blush for the
prisoners.
Like Picnic Party.
This morning at the police station,
the girls seemed to be bright and alert
in spite of the excitement of their
experience of the night before and their
arrest by the officers.
The Smith girl is the most attrac-
tive Of the trio. She has some marks
of refinement on her face and seemed
to be much brighter than her compan-
ions. But If she was the brighter she
was also the most abandoned.
Although only little girl. she ut
tered an oath as she commanded one
of the other girls to get off her hat
She told. without any evidence Of
shame. how the cops" chased her on
several occasions and how she had TAX
en- refuge in the rear Of SALOONS in the
Standard district
She naively admitted that there were
other girls in Hammond who were Just