Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1910-02-26

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man has a mother. and pose as the
dtscoyerer Of startlingly original
truism
Somewhere In the background there
turks the eternal feminine whose ex-
isteuce spurs the thief on 20 the an
preparation of cher peoples 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 &C. look forward eagerly
20 the good time On store for him in
the company Of the painted domsel
whose capricious favor he hopes to
purchase with a portion OF his ul-got-
ten gains. while your amateur. edu-
Gated criminal would fain win the
smiles % some siren OF higher social
caste nv the expenditure of that for
which ne risked homer and liberty.
For the coloners lady and judy
O'Grady are sisters under their sl1ins,"
sings Kipl'ng. and equally so there Is
little 10 choose between male maraud-
els OF high and low degree
Admitting that there Ia usually a
woman i'm the case" somewhere. one
seldom huds 2 member OF the fair sex
taking ara active physical part I'm the
commission Of n carefully planned
crime on a large scale Street hold
ups with female participators are not
unknown iu police records. but as a
general thing the woman merely plays
the part Of decoy 60 draw the vic
tm within reach OF her strong-arm
companions. During my experience
H.NN
and later as an investigator OF bank
robberies knew OF but one case
where woman figured as an actual
live worker" 90 the extent OF en-.
forcing demand for cash al the muz.
Zle OF a six-shooter. She was Pearl
Hart. then girl In her teens but pos.
sessed OF 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 Amazonian 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 a not particularly robust
and rather attractive boy
Il was in the Jail at Tucson. Arizona.
that first made Pearls acquaintance
and obtained from her 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 a feat
never before performed by one OF her
81
and rObbing the passengers at the
point OF gun. II was the culmina-
ing exploit OF her career which had
been a stormy and eventful one from
early childhood.
Pearl Hart is a native OF Canada
where her parents. honest. respecta-
BILE people in humble. circumstances.
reside today. At the age of IS she
made her first pilgrimage into the out
side 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 Buffalo. n. Y. where they
worked for while in factory
where children We're employed After
the sisters had been in Buffalo for
about two months their parents got
track of end finally recovered them.
But the love Of rowing had become
too deeply implanted In Pearl Harris
restless bosom TO allow Of her leading
a quiet and uneventful existence at
home Two years later she again
wandered away. her sister accompany
ing her as before and the pair went
20 Chicago. Both were dressed in
boys clothes and apparently had no
trouble IN conceaing their sex They
obtained a couple OF shoe shining out
fits and went TO work as bootblacks.
Leading the usual gypsy life of those
picturesque little arabs who were at
that time one OF the distinctive fea-
lures of Chicaso streets. They worked
nrst In the south end of the business
districts and later. as they became ac-
Quainted 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