The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-01-30
Able Raider
ROutSTheOry
OfWeakSeX
Sixteen Men Bluffed by
Woman in Drive
on Gamblin.
JAN. 80. 1894
BY GRETTA PALMER,
Times Special Writer

NEW YORK, Jan. 30. - There
IN have been race wars, class wars
and nations wars. but. as far as
historians tell US. there has never
been a wholesale war between the
sexes Perhaps il Is a lucky thing
for the men that this is so.
We have it one excellent author
ity that he'll hath no fury sufficient
for comparison and that a woman
scorned can make a mug Of Satan.
But there are other emotional situa-
lions besides that of frustrated love
which can turn a woman into a
rather terrifying opponent to an
unarmed man.
Recently, il seems, a Mrs. Charles
Cover, of Caterville. Ill, raided a
gambling house. Mrs. Cover, de-
scribed by the newspaper accounts
as "a quiet church worker" had got
wind of the fact that her married
son was patronizing the place.
Cowed Sixteen. Men
Without stopping to take of her
apron" the report states, "she went
there. she said, pretended she had
pistol, lined sixteen men against
the wall, tore up all the cards,
wrecked the alleged gambling equip
ment. gathered up all the money
she could find and departed, tax
ing her son with her" The money,
she explained, was to cover her sons
losses at the tables.
Now, this is as neat a piece Of
single-handed work as stands to the
credit of many a mobster serving
time in Jail. It was done with
speed, dispatch and a talent for
bluff which might have made Mrs.
Cover a real force as a poker player
If she had not been a member Of
the opposing camp.
II carries the mind, inevitably, to
the exploits of Carrie Nation, whose
appearance brought more terror to
saloon keepers than a posse of
police.
A woman who has declared war
out of principle is a thoroughly dan
gerouS opponent. Her ruthlesSneSs
can wreak a most splendid havoc
without causing her a qualm.
George Bernard Shaw, was per-
hapS, the first dramatic to sense the
helpleSSnesS of the toughest man
when confronted by a woman with
a really strong will In one Of his
plays the cannibal tribes of a re-
mote and primitive country are COM
pletely cowed by the masterful
tactics of an Englishwoman who
had had practice in dominating her
family and the village curate for
some years.
Male Fanatics Are Weaker
There are plenty of men fanatics
in the world at all times, but to-
days lot seem to be the victims Of a
certain shrinking Self-consciousneSS.
They cOnfine their efforts to preach
ing against the evils they deplore
from pulpits completely surrounded
by listeners who already agree with
them. They write letters of indig-
nation to the newspapers and to
their congressman, and they march
in large parades.
But there are few men alive who
could overcome their shynesS at
making an exhibition of themselves
completely enough to perform the
feat for which Mrs. Cover did not
even remove her apron. They would
notify the sheriff and feel that they
had done everything that the most
intense antipathy to gambling re-
quired.
A woman convinced Of the worth
Of her cause is no mean instrument
of destruction. Set a thousand OF
them on the warpath under the
leadership of a clubwoman from the
Oranges and we would bet on them
to dispense the Foreign Legion.