Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-04-01

series on the House Of Detention and the 81
work OF thu Roman's BaTeas. H
The policewoman deals with the
seamy side Of life in Washington. Y
She sees human nature at its worst.
Her daily routine Is such as to make
her cynical. Yet there is no unbridgo-i
able chaSm between life ct its best and
life at its worst--as is shown by nue.
merous colorful case reports in the files,
of the Woman's Bureau. And there
can be no hard and fast rules for dealt
ing with any type of cases. Ii
Take, for instance one Of the most,
recent cases in the files:
The wife grew tired of struggling;
along on her husbands Ineager salary
She deserted him and her children and
ran away with another man, a widower
with two children Of his own. In q few
weeks he deserted her and left her with
these children on her hands.
Pen1tent, she came back to her huS-
band, asking forgiveness, and he re-
ce1yed her. Her own children needed
her. And he also, without q protest,
took the two children of the other man
and is caring for them as If they were
his own. It is too much of a burden
Tor him. The policeWomen who brought
about the reconciliation are trying to
get some Of the relatives of their father
to take them.
Real romances rarely cross the paths
Of policeWomen, although they play a
part In bringing about many marriages.
But here is noteworthy exception:
She had testified against him In
court-and as a result he was in the
District Jail.
When he saw her on the witness
stand, so he told her, he fell In love
with her. She was held in the House
OF Detention as witness In another
case.
Wrote Love Notes From Cell.
Every day. from his cell, he sent her
one or two special delivery letters.
They were fervid expressions of his love.
Almost nliterate, the man became q
poet under the inspiration of his de-
votion. The epistles are full of his
crude verses. He never chided her for
having sent him to prison.
Both had come into the police records
from Washington's underworld. He
was taxi driver, with various side
deluge of letters There is a great
bundle Of them in her folder, many un-
opened. She opened and read few Of
them TO pass the time away. For the
most part she laughed at them.
What fools men are" she remarked
10 pOllceWomen.
But she finally succumbed to the
mans pleading and this romance, car
r1ed on under the eyes of Jail guards
and policewomen, ended in marriage
when the mans term expired. Police
women have watched the outcome Of
the marriage, which took place several
years ago. Both parties apparently have
reformed They have a happy home
and two children.
Each case, according to Mrs. Nina
Van Wrinkle, must be handled according
TO its merits: Everything depends on
the personalities Of the two parties.
But there have been so many failures
that policewomen, considering the gem
orally unstable characters of their
charges, are very cautious about advoS
eating marriage as solution Of any Of
the multiple difficulties that bring wonn-
en- and girls into the hands of the law.
= Child Marriages FREQUENT.
The files. contain frequent references
to child marriages, generally with the
notation that the policewomen have ad.
viSed against it. Love affairs appear
among children in their early teens, but
usually they grow tired Of each other as
they grow older and differences in per-,
sonality come to the surface.
Many difficulties which the police
women are called upon to solve result
from misunderstanding of young people,
especially girls. by their elders. One Of
the strangest cases ever handled by the
bureau is the following:
Not many years ago a woman came
to Washington. Her death left q little
girl friendlesS and alone in the great
city.
The woman had been the wife of q
younger son Of q prominent foreign
family. For some unknown reason she
had Ned from her husband about 10
years before with this child, and both
had been diSowned by the family. Let
ters brought the reply that they re-
fused to have anything to do With her
or the child.
The girl, during her mothers wan
behring's, had led o carefree and undis-
ciplined existence. She was placed In 4
home presided over by an old lady with
strict ideas. Instantly she began to
rebel
Thought Girl Naturally Bad"
The old lady believed she was 'just
naturally bad" She thought the devil
had something to do with it. But the
pol1cewomen found no mystery In the
case when they considered the girls
behavior in the light of her past, and
she has given no more trouble since
taken from strict custody and encour-
aged to manage her own affairs.
The origin of behavior difficulties
with which policewomen must deal
often extends far into the past. Such
was the case with a girl born on a
houseboat in the Potomac, whose father
had murdered her mother and then
committed suicide when she was babN
She had been adopted by kindly people
In fact, they were probably too kind ID
her. She proved unmanageable until
the policewomen took a hand, found
her a pretty good sort after all
and had her admitted to q school,
where she has made an excellent adj
juStment, DESPITE her defective heredity.