The Washington herald., 1911-12-10
A MONTH OF CRIME ANALYZED:
WHAT THE NEWSPAPERS SHOW

were busy in various States, and twenty
five robberies and burglaries at the point
| of the pistol were recorded. Many Of
the offenders in this regard adopted th.,
methods of the highwaymen Of old and
confronted their victims on country roads
and quiet streets of towns, hidden behind
the traditional mask and handkerchief.
Several of them robbed trains in this
fashion, going through the coaches or
sIeepers and rifiing the express and mail
cars in the traditional style familiar to
the West in frontier days.
During the period a prominent part in
he news of each day was played by
murder trials and scenes in court, in
which the guilty were brought up for
judgment and sentence for crimes COM
mitted I'm previous weeks, months, or
years. The longest time which was re-
corded as elapsing between the commits
sion of the deed of violence and the ap-
prehensiOn of its perpetrator was thirty
two years. In this case chance conver-
satiOn gave a hint of the Whereabouts
Of a murderer long given up by the au-
thorities as dead or missing, and his ap-
prehrnsion promptly resulted.
In character the murders which Cc-
CURED during the period were various.
Many we're. Of course, committed IN hot
blood and on the blind impulse OF the
moment. Others were apparently DELHI
crately planned and were most brutal In
the case of the unknown slayer who had
wiped out a family in Kansas, after sim
liar outrages in Colorado and another
State. the month before. all the victims
were hacked and mutilated with an ak.
Women and infants suffered the same
fate as the men at his hands.
Criminal Assault and Suicide.
After murder the next crime prominent
in the record was criminal assault. In
all. there were thlrty-four cases, in which
by far the larger proportion of victims
were young white girls and the majority
Of offenders negroes. Geographically di-
vided. crimes of this character showed
a marked divergence from the murder
line. Here South Carolina was the
leader with four assaults Next came
North Carolina, Alabama. and Kentucky.
which each had three; Arkansas, Geor-
gia, West Virginia, Mississippi. Illinois.
and Ohio had two each. Eight States
had one each, Missouri. Oklahoma, Kan
sas Florida, North Dakota. Indiana,
Louisiana. and the District of Columbia.
None was recorded in Massachusetts.
Maryland. or Tennessee, one Of the lead
ers in the murder column.
OF the eight-three suicides noted during
the month. eighteen were committed in
Illinois and fourteen in Pennsylvania.
many in Chicago and Philadelphia. The
other States Were far behind these two.
the next being Kentucky with six, tw"
Of which were unusually shocking in
character. in that they were Of boys less
than sixteen years old, who hanged
themselves. one of them in Jail. The
rest of the States were ranged as fol-
lows: Ohio. ;: Arkansas. Georgia. and
Maryland 4; West Virginia, South Caro-
lima. Mississippi North Carolina. Ala
lr.T,rf . L lab
and Tennessee. .; Missouri, North Da-
kOta, Florida. Indiana. and the District
Of Columbia. |: and Kansas, none. Pc
haps the most astounding suicide and
murder was a case in North Dakota.
where a woman pUrposely set fire to h"r
home and burned to death with her six
children.
Six cases OF arson were recorded in adj
ditiOn TO this North Dakota instanC".
Two occurred in West Virginia and Ons
each in Missouri, Kentucky Illinois, aud
Mississippi. There were also six success
full or attempted tranwrecks. One was
noted in Texas, not included IN the States
examined for other crimes, and the others
belonged to South Carolina. Tennessee.
Missouri, Georgia, and Arkansas. Jail
deliveries amounted to thirteen, with the
geOgr lpnical division as fellows: Georgia.
:: Delaware and Kentucky, each. >. Flor
ida Ohio. Virginia. Missouri, North Caro-
lima, and South Carolina each /
Ratio to Population.
White slavery and kidnapping were not
wanting from the list of Offenses. The
total for these two crimes was twenty
four Of which at least twenty belong
10 the first class. OF the States which
stand accused in this regard. Illinois was
the chief offender, having six cases to
with four; Kentucky and PENNSYLVANIA.
with three each, and Delaware. Iowa.
Louisiana. Alabama, and Ohio, with one
each.
Comparing the data with the popuIa-
ton of the States in which the cXamina-
ton had been pursued the total pOpu-
latOn Of the twenty-three States was
found to he 5l.I79Ol5. Delaware, Texas.
and Iowa. III Zach of which but one
crime had been noted, being left out Of
the score. In this population in orc
month 40 violent crimes had been COM
nitted, which is one in every los. .2S6 or
approximately 9.5 to the million Taking
murders alone, the total of 245 gave in
this population one in every 20S, 500. or
as to the million. On
Yearly basis this would give SIS mur-
lPrS and ll4 violent crimes, including
to the million. 1t was clear, OF
'OUrse. that the addition of the crimes
If great cities, like Chicago. Phiadel-
Dhia. Cleveland. Cincinnati. Boston, and
st. Louis, which had been as far as pos
,ible left out OF account. would make a
difference: but also II was
that Andrew D. White hal
'et the murder rate OF last year at I26
o the million.
OF one thing the casual reader had br-
ONE convinced by his experiment, how
'ver. whether or not he was enabled to
udge by it the comparative activity OF
he criminal classes, namely. that the
'ecords of crime occupied a remarkably
place and took up an as
amount Of space in the pages
If the daily newspapers in any State that
night be selected.
Seventy per cent of the gold owned
~ civilized man is coined.