Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-07-14
WOMEN AS POLICE DETECTIVES
BY FREDERIC ). mAskIN

NEW YORK. July I3.-.,vt long ago
there appeared the advertisement OF
a certain remarkable professor. who
for the sum OF 81 agreed TO tell people
the occupations best lifted to them. TO
remove all evil Influences and to re-
veal the names of their enemies. This
advertisements was carefully clipped
from the papers by "a small. dark
haired woman with hazel eyes In a
downtown Office. and pasted into a
large book which stood on tho top Of
Il roll-top desk, after which she noted
I'm address on tiny leather notebook.
NJ tch same time, in another section %;
the city. an immigrant woman who Was
proud proprietor OF a small grocer!
store, clipped the same advertisement,
from the paper and stuffed it hurIi.dly
into her handbag as her husband a.iIr
INTO the store on the way to his morn
inSs work.
month later tho immigrant woman
Was shown into the downtown uf'icc
Of the cit!'s detective headquarters
ana Introduced by tho inspector TO
MFG. isabella Goodwin. a detective, :,
snail, dark-haired woman with keen
hhHcl eyes Seated III a small straight
backed chair thc immigrant woman told
the story OF q swiudlc, the pa,hvs OF
which was not los, IN its revelation
Of ignorance AMI superstition. occa-
Si"hallN taking notes 1nd aSllin.
questions when tho thread OF tho story
became Uiiicult To follow.
The immigrant woman and her nus
hand had been ;iduittcd at Ellis Island
iiNe years before. The husband. who
was 10y trade Il marhlc-rubbcr, had Sc
cured u place in sHall town in
pennsylvania, whore he had been paiu
$40 II week. For this hc polished mar
bile under water. which. in winter,
when there Was ice, caused his feet
to crack open and bleed; ami hi, wiic
Kept house. .Nftcr year Of this they
had accumulated enough to take them
to New York. where tho husband OBJ
taincu - Job At S.5 :, week. This Was
indeed, luxurious salary. BAT instead
of increasing thcir standard OF living,
the Immigrant woman still lived as sru-
ydlly rs possible and saved money
When they had $500 III bank they
bought - grocery store while tho nus
band Sull kept on with his work The
business was profitable, and soon the
immigrant woman found She had paid
the small mortgage OF the store anu
had $@,5uo in bank. She MAS just ON
the verge Of buying chicken farm.
selling her store and moving into the
country, when III" professors allriuv
advertisement attracted her attention,
and she determined to seek his advice.
Advised Mining stocks.
For tic sum of So tho professor
removed an evil influence which Was
lowering over the Immigrant woman.
told the names of several remote pcr-
sons who We're jealous OF her. ana
advised her not 10 buy the chicken
farm! Instead, hc explained shc should
by al means invest her money ia
stocks. as The star" showed that this
would be her most successful liuc, and
he related numerous Instances of indi-
vidualS who had invested in various
stock. under his direction. who were
now riding III motor cars and sending
their children to college.
The woman had finally been con-
WINGED and she resolved to mortgage
the grocery store To obtain moro money
for Investment, so that in the end she
could surprise her husband with the
enormous returns OF her thrift. For
this money the professor presented her
w. Impressive looking documents
bearing gold seals. describing mining
stock which had never been heard Of
by any ono bu, tho professor. Then
suddenly aud iuconspicuously. tho pro-
fcSSor left town. The rest WAS up to Mrs.
isabella Goodwin, woman detective.
In order that the professor might not
learn that tho police were on the case.
Mrs Goodwin disguised herself
maid and entered the employ OF neigh
bors Of the seer. She then discovered
that the professor had employed
doctor constantly while in the city,
and finally obtained the name Of the
doctor. Here she found that the pro-
fcSSor had been suffering from cancer
Of the stomach, in which case he could
not have gotten far away His plan
would be to stick to the large cities.
where there were specialists. and
plenty Of medicine. Mrs. Goodwin OBJ
jccts TO the publication OF some of her
methods in detecting and capturing
criminal, since in her profession the
penetration of 4 disguise or makeup
and the discovery of the crook tina
he is being pursued may mean the
absolute failure of Il case, and pos
sbly cut throat.
"Profcssor" Died In Prison.
1t is. therefore. merely necessary TO
WAS apprchcnded. and subsequently
died in prison. AS for the victims Of
the swindlc. although they lost the
greater part Of their savings. they are
recovering rapidly. and arc now on the
road TO wealth again.
The majority of cases handled by
women detectives in New York deal
with petty swindles, such as the ar
rest of alleged physicians practicinE
without certificates. fortune tellcrs
mediums. small thieves, etc. which are
OF less dangerous order. For most
Of the larger crimes. dealing with
murders, thefts, blackmail. KIDNAPPING
and smuggling men are used II liz
estimated that nearly a5 per cent OF
the crimes committed in New York
are the work of foreigners. and for
this reason 1t is necessary to maintain