Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1938-11-27
Po|icewomen's Misery Traps
Doctor With Cure-ANs
Cupt. Mi||iken's Aides
Get Their Man in
Numerous Cases

If it was just minor ailment
his fee was Is cents.
For that he'd give his patient" a
little. round frame containing a
picture of himself and add to it
this little advice:
"Just press this over the place
that hurts you. You'll feel all right
then"
But if the ailment were diagnosed
as of a more serious nature. say,
cancer or tuberculosis, that called
for more treatment-and a larger
fee.
The doctor" would shake his head
and say, You are powerful sick,
but I can cure you"
Then, reaching for bottle of
medicine and handing it to the pa
tient he would remark that the
additional cost would be so cents
With that other treatment and
this" he'd say, you can't help
but get we'll"
Treated Spirit and Flesh.
The doctor was no halfway in
dividual He treated the spirit as
we'll as the flesh in an evangelistic
tent in the Southeast, and he made
money both ways. From the crowds
that attended his meetings a size
able portion of Washington's colored
population must have been ill, physi-
cally or spiritually.
The doctors success proved his
undoing. Police noticed the crowds
attending his meetings and, skep-
teal, thought something mighty
funny" was going on.
The doctor was blissfully unaware
of the curiosity he had aroused in
the policemen. Nor did he pay close
attention to colored woman patient
who appeared before him one day
with a misery" in her head. The
doctor gave her one of his efficacious
pictures. The next day another
woman came to him with misery"
in her stomach. She got the cure
all-the picture, plus a bottle of
medicine-for which she paid IS
cents.
The next time the doctor saw his
"patients' was when they confront
ed him in court. They were quite
we'll then and turned out to be two
members of Washington's efficient
corps of policewomen.
Secured Evidence Secretly.
They were assigned to the case
when the precinct police reported
the strange "goings-on" under the
revivalist-doctor's tent. Working UNI
dercover as the policewomen fire.
quently do, they obtained enough
evidence to convict the doctor" and
send him to Jail.
This is only one of many instances
where Washington's policewomen
have assumed disarming role to
get their man" or as it some times
is, to get their woman. They handle
a wide variety of cases. fake medical
practitioners, shoplifting, Grant
boys and girls, domestic relations,
and what is their greatest pain in
the neck, fortune tellers.
Washington has % policewomen
and there is enough work and more,
too, to keep them all busy, accord
ing to Capt. Rhoda j. Milliken, di-
rector of the Women's Bureau.
And their experiences-Capt. Mil
liken laughed as she related some of
them and told how they are some
times called by such uncomplimen-
tary-and naccurate-names as "a
f1atfoot." In sense such uncompli-
mentary names are mark of dis
tinction, as they indicate that the
bureau is established as a regular
part of the police department.
Capt. Milliken's rank is that of a
police captain. In the bureau there
is one officer, Mrs. c. A. Clarke, who
holds the rank of precinct detective,
the only instance IN the history of
the department that a woman has
attained this rating. Mrs. Clarke
has become a specialist in detecting
shoplifters and is in charge of a
two woman squad assigned to shop
lifting cases.
Assume Different Roles.
Assuming different guises when
the occasion demands is regarded by
Washington's policewomen as
routine part of their work. Some
times they're successful, sometimes
they aren't
Capt. Milliken recalled one occa-
sion when she tried as devotee of
spiritualism to trap shrewd fortune
teller. Now fortune telling isn't
banned in the District of Columbia
but there Is heavy license fee i'm
posed in order to discourage it.
Many try to get by without paying
the $3.50 annual fee.
Capt. Milliken had information