The Washington times., 1919-01-31
WORKED "A YEARS
WITHOUT ANY PAY
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has been with the Washington po-
lice department since October last.
my first visit to the Greers was
to buy q cake and give the place a
casual inspection" Mrs. Van Wrinkle
testified. "We had been getting re-
ports on the house, and / wanted to
determine whether an investigation
should be made.
"AIrs. Greer seemed to be on guard.
She was suspicious Of me. She treat
ed me rudely and felt she thought
! was an investigator, for she got me
out OF the place as quickly as possi-
bic. 7 at least expected the courtesy
usually shown a customer"
Tells Of Other Visits.
The investigator told of subsequent
visits to the Greer bakery after little
Agnes Dunn, one OF the orphans there,
had run away and found refuge In
the home OF a neighbor.
"Agnes Dunn furnished us with the
names and ages Of the other eight
children in the Greer home" Mrs
Van Wrinkle said. I'VE had been
warned that the Greers would try
and put something over, but we were
prepared.
"On our fourth visit-ths labor in
children were in the room when We
entered.
Eve saw Mr.. and Mrs. Greer quiet
ly whisper TO the children, and they
disappeared one by one.
'TWe demanded the children whose
names and ages had been furnished
as. Grudgingly they were brought in.
''As we asked how old he or she
was, Mr.. or Mrs Greer would whts-
per: Say sixteen years
AT that time we had only the child
labor charge against the Greers.
Children Appeared Afraid.
1T was hard to convince the chill
dreu that we were their friends.
After much talking they admitted
they were thirteen or fourteen years
of age"
An inspection of the sleeping quar-
ters was made. The orphans were
quartered in an annex at the rear of
the Greer home, the witness said.
THE boys room was wretchedly
dirty-jUst plain filth. I never saw
a worse condition in my life" Mrs.
Van Wrinkle declared.
Just here I viii tell about the en-
trance to the boys room
ITO reach il, We had to go up a
perpendicular ladder and climb
through a trap. I found it rather
difficult, being a woman, to make the
ascent, and I was forced to get as
sistance.
No Heat In winter.
I'VE found the place in a terrible
condition. There was no stove or
heat IN the. place, and we were told
there had been none there during the
entire winter. The weather at that
time was bitterly cold"
The girls room, the witness rela-
ted, showed some Improvement over
that occupied by the boys. There were
and nothing had been done toward
putting in others, she said.
The mattresses were so filthy that
we did not wish to touch them" she
said.
Askeu by Attorney George Barse in
what condition she found the children,
Mrs. Van Wrinkle said:
Their shoes were unlaced; their |
stockings were torn and hanging |
down; the girls wore cheap one-pieee |
gingham dresses and the boys wore |
suits made OF very poor material.
sDirfy-Very Dirty"
"AlI Of the children were dirty
very dirty.
The bodies Of those little orphans
looked as if they had never been
washed; their hair looked as if it had
never been combed."
Counsel for the defense challenged
the statement of Mrs. Van Wrinkle
that the children '1Ooked as If they
had never been washed"
1T takes a woman to know those
things," Mrs. Van WinI1Ie told him.
There's a difference between a
fresh coat of dirt that children show
some hours after being washed" she
continued. Then there's a condition
that makes you know they have not
been washed for a long time.
"In this case, those children were
covered with an old, dirty crust"
Counsel argued with the witness
for some time, seeking to have her
amend her statement. She finally de- /
clared that:
"I feel that those children had never
been decentIy cleaned while they were
in that house"
Asked IL they did not appear to be
healthy and well fed. she replied:
They were so dirty ] couldn't tell