The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1918-06-14
SHOWED Her LIFE
How City Police Captain Dealt
With Runaway Girl.
Brief Tour Sufficed to Make Her
Acquainted With New York, and
She Realized 1t Was Not All
That She Had Pictured.

That She Had Pictured.
How Minnie, tired of the prosaic life
In her little home town, ran away to
New York and how the New York POI
lice found her and returned her to her
parents-is one of the incidents de-
scribed by Zoe Beckley in an article in
the Peoples Home Journal on "New
York-the Port Of Missing Girls and
Boys" Minnie's parents had wired
the New York police, and Capt. Grant
Williams of the missing persons bu-
reau, by methods the police keep Sc
cret, had located Minnie. The rest Of
the incident gives picture of modern
police methods rarely presented to the
public.
AT half-past seven that same MORN
ing, writes Miss Beckley, Minnie Bar
NELL lying awake and worried in lit
tie room in an obscure New York hotel,
was an astonished girl when she heard
sharp ''rat-tat-tat!'" at her door and
voice saying, "It's all right, Minnie
I'm friend with a message from
home" Minnie sat up and blinked.
A short white later she was looking
into the face of stranger, mild Of
manner and kind of eye. He was the
sort of man Minnie had heard give
stereopticon lectures in her home
church many time-a man easy to
talk to. because you instinctively
frrrS cd nd fnIf ha
stand. Still-there was a certain keen,
steady look in his brown eyes.
Minnie was angry. 'Who are you,
anyhow" she flung defantly. "What
right have you to come here?"
"My name is Williams-Grant Will
liams. I'm from police headquarters"
Minnie's face flushed holly. you're
going to try to send me home!" she
cried. "Well, won't go. You can
arrest me If you like, but won't go
back. They've just sent for me out of
meanness. Well, l can be mean, too
I've shaved all I'm going to. I've never
seen anything or been anywhere or
done anything in my life but work and
slave and sit home. Now I've chance
to go with a musical show. I'm going
to play the xylophone. / can earn
good money. / won't go home! And
what are you going to do about it?''
"Well," answered Williams, rubbing
his chin, Il don't want to send you
home against your will. But your
mothers pretty sick. Suppose we have
some breakfast first, and talk it Overt
I'll wait for you downstairs"
After coffee and ham and eggs at 9
nearby restaurant, Minnie's sullen an
ger relaxed little. She found herself
telling. this man from headquarters
about her home and her work as ste
nographer at ten dollars a week, and
how tied down she was by reason OF
her mothers invalidism and her ia
TIERS sternness. And how she longe(
ito see something"
"Good!" said Williams "I'll show
| you New York"
The girls eyes widened. The cap
tain slipped away moment and wire(
| Jonas Barnell:
minnie found. Safe. Meet us a
Grand Central at p. M"
Then he started out with Minnie
They rode on street car to Battery
park; visited the aquarium; walked uI
the wondrous canyon of Broadway
saw Wall street and the stock ex
change, and Trinity church dwarfet
among the skyscrapers. They passed
the Singer tower and the Woodwork
building, the ancient post office anC
the beautiful city hail. Newspapel
row and the Bowery, dim and grim
| were pointed out--and Minnie forgo
| her appointment with the musical show
| manager.
With her unusual guide she tool
Delaney street, revealing a seethint
| tenement district the like of which sh,
| had not pictured in her widest dreams
She saw single block where more PEG
| pie lived than in her whole town. She
| saw more poverty, more evidences o.
| privatiOn and sorrow than she believed
existed in the world, let alone New
| York, the city of millionaires.
They went uptown and took dasi
| through Fifth avenue, skinned Forty
second street and glimpsed Broadway
| Minnie's defiance had melted away. Ii
| its place was the WEAKNESS of the
satisfied sightseer. She declined posi-
lively to have luncheon, saying tina
she preferred to have it on the trair
| going home with her father.
Minnie was back home before mid
night, her mothers glad tears upoI
her cheek, her shoulder warm from
her dads hard hug. She went to worl
| Monday morning as usual. Her EN-
ployer never even knew she had beer
away.
Eat an expense of exactly one dol
lar-breakfast and carfares," grinnet
Captain Williams, telling me the stor.
as we sat in his office at headquarters
Minnie Barnell was cured of Thu
| obsession that made her wretched a
home It's amazing how easily tn
human mind unkinks itself as sool
as it has the least normal outlet. Min
| ME wanted to see life New Yorl
represented life to her."