text: I Irirx r~\ ik n I If 1/i \< Im J • li ur drV. I —1 i r <fr-\ \vD ry I I | I G OtywlMl wli/I I r iv I I . I \ J I L— t LU. MDUBbi 'ff/nKmB gft Brooklyn.—It was a quiet day in the police station. Brownsville was behaving itself and the matron of the station had a whole hour to talk, with only one interruption to wipe the tears from the eyes of a small, dirty boy, induce him to tell the address of his home and send him on his way under the guidance of a big, strong bluecoat. And the matron, when she talks, has a few things to tell. In fact, Mrs. Cox says, with her good Irish chuckle, that she thinks she will write a book of her experiences to make her rich after she retires from the job of matron. The “boys” have suggested it to her. The “boys” are the bluecoats, every one of whom in Brooklyn, knows Mrs. Cox and has a joke for her or a word of guying when he meets her. Duties of a Police Matron. Intoxication is the usual charge upon which the woman prisoner is committed, with occasional charges of theft, of assault, an attempted suicide and now and then a woman whose hands have committed some bigger crime, homicide or infanticide. Whatever the charge, they all pass through the station house on their way to the jail or the penitentiary, and the matron has them in. Her care. She gets them fresh from their misdemeanors and with the stain of their crimes new upon them. She is the first and often the only ministering angel they know, for it is to the task of ministering that most of the matrons, womenlike, give themselves, with more heartiness than to the technical tasks of their office. Young Girls Saved. One night two young girls were brought into the station house for intoxication, fresh, dainty girls, dressed in the finest of evening gowns, covered with long coats. It was New Year’s eve and a bitter cold night. The matron was used to the unusual, but the presence of girls such as these in her lodging house made her stop and wonder. It was only a little while before the sleep of intoxication wore off and the girls woke to the realization of their surroundings and the horror of it. Finally, they were calm enough to tell the matron how it all happened. They had been over to Manhattan to a dance with two boy friends. It was so icy cold that the escorts suggested before they crossed the bridge to take something to warm them, and they stopped in a case and drank what the men ordered for them. Unused to taking stimulants, as soon as they struck the cold air out of doors the drinks went to their heads and they knew very little else of what happened until they woke to find themselves in the police station. What had happened was that the two escorts, finding themselves burdened with girls too much intoxicated to know what was happening to them, had opened the door of a tenement house, shoved them in and left them there. The girls had fallen immediately to sleep and one of the occupants of the house stumbling over them, had reported to the police and had them taken to the station. It was a hideous night for those girls, used only to the niceties and refinements of life. When the next morning came, with its inevitable appearance at court, they pleaded not to be taken in the patrol wagon with the other prisoners and the matron secured the permission of the sergeant to take them to court herself in the car, and arranged for a private hearing before the judge. The circumstances related, the judge let them off with some strong words of admonition. Maggie a Regular Lodger. With some of the prisoners, the matron became old friends, for they almost make the station house their regular dwelling place. One of Mrs. Cox’s old-timers is an Irish woman, named Maggie, whom everybody in the station house knows. She has been a habit of station houses for 15 years, and the matrons and sergeants get so they look for her and almost miss her when she doesn’t come. She pitying as a gaunt, but by EVELYN VAUGHN. Leading Lady in “The College Widow." The best theaters. I have often wondered what thoughts pass through the minds of the audience who pay good money in the hope of receiving a genuine dramatic treat, when they see the artist and her support effectually ruin a play by this guying system. In musical comedy such a thing is a part of the fun, and we can overlook it, but when dramatic art is belittled by the frivolous conduct or indifference of actors more harm is being done than the mere disgusting of a one night’s audience. Of course, the actors and actresses do not think for a moment that the audience is aware of their smiles and guying—at least I cannot believe they would voluntarily ruin a play—yet I am quite sure that the average audience which cares to witness a high-class production has is one of the cheerful drinkers and always comes in with a swagger and a laugh. The matron will greet her with a sort of despairing smile: “Well, Maggie, are you back again?” “Sure, and ain’t you glad to see me? I keep you alive, give you something to live for.” Enlivens Station with Song. Remonstrance with her is useless, the matrons have learned her long ago. Sometimes they ask her if she isn’t ashamed to come so often to the station house, and she always makes the same answer. “No; the city’s willing for me to stay here and I’ll come as often as I like. It’s much more comfortable than home. It’s cleaner and I like the electric lights.” She has such a ready good humor and such a spirit of fun that in spite of her waywardness, Maggie is rather a favorite in the station and with the judges. After one of her last visits to the police station, Maggie pleaded penitence to the judge and promised to walk the straight and narrow path in the future if the judge would let her go. So the magistrate did give her the chance, threatening dire consequences if she appeared before him again soon. The very next night, Magistrate, the judge, and the judge, were together, and Maggie was alone. i v /j y Ural Sz "f t y WBu W WOif. A woman was brought into the station house with her usual hilarity, but gorgeously arrayed. She made no apologies for her downfall, but explained that when she went from the station house the day before she had found a letter from her sister containing $15. She took $7 of it and bought a new skirt, a new shirt waist, and an enormous brass chain; with the other $8 she went to a saloon to come out minus the money and in the custody of a policeman. Once during one of her visits to the station, Magige grew despondent. She thought of her two daughters who are placed in a Catholic home, safe from her influence, and she began to brood. She got hold of a string and decided to choke herself with it. To make the thing more effective, she called to Mrs. Cox to tell her what she was going to do. The matron was used to Maggie, however, and to threats of suicide, so she thought of the bitterest disappointment of a young actress who comes to New York with her mind enthused over the thought of studying great artists is to have her ideals shattered by the persistent “guying” which goes on in the answered carelessly: “Go ahead, Maggie, you’ve no idea how quickly we would get you out of here; get you out much quicker dead than alive, because we don’t want any dead ones around here.” Whereupon Maggie burst into one of her peals of laughter and declared it was no use committing suicide in the face of such a disgrace. discouragement. There are only a few that take the world so cheerfully under the influence of drink. Many of the cases that come under the eye of the police matron are of women who have been led to the passion for drink to drown some sorrow, and many of them women used to better ways of living. One day a frail bit of a woman — a mere girl—was brought to the station. Her husband had got out a warrant for her and wanted to have her committed to some institution. Drink had made terrible ravages in the woman’s appearance, and when the effects of the whisky began to wear off she sat in her cell clinging with her thin hands to the bars and begging pitifully for drink. Toward dawn the woman collapsed and a hurry call was sent to the hospital. The ambulance surgeon on his arrival had only time to kneel at her side and begin his work before death closed upon her. Woman’s pitiful story. While the woman lay trembling in the cell during the night, she had told her story to the woman outside the bars, of how the craving had grown upon her little by little until she lost her mother's love. At 23, she was a hopeless wreck. The closing act of the little tragedy was when the mother came from her home in the country, near New York, and insisted on seeing the place where her girl had died. The matron begged and pleaded with her not to look at the cell; that it would be something she could never forget, but the mother demanded to see it, and as soon as she looked into the bare place, fell in a hospital and an ambulance had to be called to care for her. It is sometimes offered in explanation that an actress has played a part so often that she has become mechanical, but I cannot believe that the great actress who feels the character can ever forget. We talk a great deal about the future of dramatic art in America. We read a great deal about the mushroom growth of stars who leap into popularity in a month. We listen to burning criticisms from French writers on the comparison of the highly educated and well-trained actresses of the French stage with those of America. Dramatic clubs and managers themselves talk on the need of sincerity in the young actress, who must take her art seriously, yet what more fatal blow can there be to the art of the future than having the budding actresses and actors come face to face with the distorting and slighting of art by the very idols of the stage themselves? It is a duty not only to dramatic art itself and to the devotees of the drama who seek inspiration from the fountain heads of acting but to culture and the general intelligence as well to eliminate this guying system. Actors and actresses who have attained greatness owe something to the future of the profession they adorn. If instead of writing articles or decrying in print the anaemic condition of the dramatic art of today they would endeavor to stimulate it, American dramatic art would receive its best incentive. “The lady” was once a figure well known in all the police stations, but “the lady” is one of the figures that has passed, whose life hurried her to a pitiful end before she reached what should have been her prime. The matrons all called her “the lady,” because even in her worst days she never looked anything but the lady, was always well-dressed and never came to the police station without her well-fitting gloves carefully buttoned, though sometimes she was picked out of the gutter in an almost hopelessly deadened condition. Her story is one that might have been the thread of some of the stories one used to read in the Sunday school libraries, though it comes with much more force to hear the police matron who saw her in the last days of her degradation tell it. She had spent her girlhood in the country at her father’s home upon the Hudson, where they took city boarders in the summer time. The girl was as pretty as a picture, had been carefully reared and well educated. One summer there came the inevitables man from the city that won the heart of the country girl, and they were married and came to Brooklyn to live. All went as happy as a marriage bell for a while. There was a little girl baby after whose coming the young wife was not very strong, and the doctor ordered milk punches every day. The young woman began to like the punches and wanted two instead of one a day, then after a while she began to take the brandy without the milk and soon she found the habit fixed on her strongly. The husband bore with her and did everything that could be done, but things went from bad to worse until the habit fastened itself so that there was first a visit to the police station, and after the first a second and a third. The woman, whose life had been guarded as carefully as any girl’s, could be, who had been used in her young days to take nothing stronger than milk or sweet cider, began to become used to the walls of a cell and to bow in abject slavery to the taste of whisky. Sometimes she would plead with the matron to go and intercede with her husband and promise better things, and many a time has Mrs. Cox gone with the plea. Always it was granted and the same result would follow and “the lady” would be back in the station house crazed with drink. The baby girl grew up into a beautiful young woman, who would come after dark to visit her mother in the cell and plead with her. It was like trying to check the north wind. The passion swept down everything in its pathway. One day Mrs. Cox was sent for to come to a consumptive home, and there she found “the lady” in the last stages of the disease. She wanted to say goodbye and to offer thanks for the little kindnesses of the old days. Made Nursery of Station. One day, not long ago, a 14-year-old girl brought in a dirty little baby and said the child was lost. The baby spent the afternoon peaceably sleeping on the big quilt the matrons keep for the purpose, and about five o’clock, a man came in and asked the matron: “Have you got for me a baby?” The matron assured him that she hoped it was for him, as she was anxious to turn the infant over to someone. The baby was properly identified and the man started off with it, complacently, when the matron asked where his wife was that she had left the child uncalled for all afternoon. She had gone out, the man answered, and she had telephoned to him at his place of work over in Manhattan to call at the police station on his way home to get the babe. The man was told very plainly that the next time his wife wanted to go shopping, she was not to send her baby to the police stations as a nursery. “Shoplifter” a Puzzle. The shoplifter is often the puzzle to the matron of the Adams street station. They come in great numbers from the poor, shabby woman, who has stolen a few pairs of socks, or a little frock for her baby, whom she longs to have dressed like the babies of her well-to-do neighbors, to the woman of apparent wealth, who has secreted some seemingly useless trifle. One woman, faultlessly gowned and of undoubted culture and good breeding, who offered $500 not to be made to sleep in a cell had been arrested for taking three pairs of 69-cent gloves. She was indignant at her arrest, but she didn’t deny the theft, merely offered to pay for the gloves. That was a case out of many such that Mrs. Boylan recalls from her experiences at the Adams Street station, one of the things no one can explain. They call it kleptomania with the rich and thievery with the poor, who, at least, have the prick of necessity to lend palliation to their guilt. These are the ordinary happenings in the life of the police matron. Their days and nights are a ceaseless round of watching the intoxicated, of standing by to keep the suicide from her intention, of dressing the woman with delirium tremens, who tears her clothes to shreds in the night, of hearing over and over the stories of wretchedness and misery and depravity. News of Wisconsin Interesting Happenings in the Various Cities and Towns of the State. Want State to Suppress Nuisance. Racine. —The great state of Wisconsin is to be called upon to suppress the nuisance occasioned by a soap factory located on Mound avenue and owned by Harney Lichtenfeld. For years complaints have been made against the stench arising from this factory. Efforts have been made to suppress it, but without success. At the council meeting a resolution was passed that the attorney general shall on his own information bring action in the name of the state to enjoin a public nuisance. That the city attorney be instructed to inform the attorney general of the conditions existing and instruct him to bring action in the name of the state to enjoin the nuisance. Suit May Be Tried at Madison. Janesville. —Attorney Mack, of Milwaukee, filed a petition of prejudice in the suit of the state against the Wisconsin Telephone company in circuit court here and the case will probably be called to trial before Judge Stevens of Madison. The attorney general was here to argue before Judge Dunwiddie in chambers on the motion of defendants that none but attorneys paid by the state should take part in the suit. This motion was aimed directly at Attorney Flanders, of Milwaukee, retained by the plaintiff company making complaint. The action is for alleged discrimination of rates prohibited by law as between the cities of Beloit and Janesville. Gen. Bragg Resumes Law Practice. Fond du Lac. —Despite his age and a long period during which he has not enjoyed the health that was his for years, Gen. Edward S. Bragg, congressman, civil war general, orator and diplomat, has resumed his law practice. It was his intention to return to his old home in Fond du Lac and live a quiet life for the remainder of his career. Former clients, however, have sought his services to such an extent that he has consented to again resume his practice and he was at his desk adjusting the threads severed several years ago when he entered the diplomatic service. Saloon Men May Win Out. Superior.—It is an ordinance passed by the common council is approved by Mayor Linley, the saloonkeepers and brewers here win out by a coup over the Civic league in the matter of Sunday closing. The original ordinance was introduced ostensibly to conform with the state law which changed the time of granting the license from May 1 to July 1, but an amendment was introduced which omits any provision for revocation of license for keeping open Sunday or after 12 o’clock at night. No Confirmation by Council. Manitowoc. —The Common council has again refused to confirm the appointment of the Rev. Kruszynski as a library appointee, vice Mrs. J. S. Anderson, whose term has expired and who is now holding over pending the confirmation. By the vote the woman, who is alleged by Mayor Stolze to have made the city a beggar because of her successful efforts to secure a public library appropriation from Andrew Carnegie, will remain a member of the commission. Reelection Old Officers. Racine. —Stockholders of the big American Skein and Foundry company near here elected the same directors as last year. There was no reorganization of the corporation as was expected. The official duties of Gilbert Prentiss, general manager, who resigned some days ago, are to be divided between other officers. Many improvements are to be made. Aged Man Dies for Love. Manitowoc. —Despondent because he was told he could not marry Anna Kirch, a neighbor’s daughter, Alois Turkinsky, aged 95 years, the oldest resident of the village of Reedsville, this county, committed suicide by hanging. He leaves one son, with whom he was living, and two daughters. Many Attend Railroad Picnic. Fond du Lac. —Visitors from all parts of the state were in attendance at the picnic of the employees of the northern Wisconsin division of the Northwestern road, given in the grove in the company’s yards. Wisconsin Kreiger Verein. Manitowoc. —June 15 to 17 are the dates fixed for the annual reunion and convention of the Wisconsin Kreiger Verein, which is to assemble here next year. Girl Drowned in Lake Geneva. Beloit. —Miss Ruth McCumber, aged 25 years, daughter of C. H. McCumber, of this city, assistant state missionary of the Congregational Home Missionary society, was drowned in Lake Geneva, near Camp Collie. Improvements at Sheboygan. Sheboygan.—Besides spending a half million dollars in this city this summer, the Chicago & Northwestern will spend Another at the south yards. Eighty families will inhabit the new place from the start. Near Death Through Live Wire. Beloit. —Lucian Churchill, a young man, while passing along the street on the eastern part of this city, saw a wire on the walk and attempted to move it. The wire was a live wire, and Churchill was badly killed. Attempt at Rescue Cost Life. Beloit. —Prof. Henry D. Smith, general secretary of Beloit college, died at Williams Bay, Wis., as a result of attempting to rescue Miss Ruth McCumber from drowning in Lake Geneva. Looks for Large Convention. Milwaukee. —C. W. Maer, the vice president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, arrived in the city to make arrangements for the biennial convention to be held in Milwaukee in September. “We will have the largest attendance at the coming convention that we have had in years,” said Mr. Maer. “Fully 1,000 delegates will come here and I will be surprised if the convention succeeds in disposing of the business before it in fewer than three weeks.” The sessions of the convention are to be held in the Public Service building. The program will be announced within a short time. The president of the organization is John J. Hannahan, of Peoria, Ill. Fight for Reform in Kenosha. Kenosha. —At a meeting of prominent citizens of Kenosha a civic federation was organized with a view of forcing officials of the city and county to enforce the law. The association will be incorporated under the laws of the state at once and it is expected that it will take a decidedly important place in reform work in Kenosha. The new association has a charter membership of 50 and it is expected that the membership will reach several hundred within a few months. H. H. Maddock was elected president of the association and Frank Simmonds, secretary. Milwaukee $10,000,000 Richer. Milwaukee. —Assessed valuation of city property is $10,000,000 more for 1906 than it was for 1905, according to the state department of Tax Commissioner William George Bruce. This increase is $2,000,000 more than any recorded in one year heretofore, and double the growth in average years. The actual change is from $191,254,770 last year to $201,602,957. May Again Go After Dietz. Milwaukee. —A second party from Milwaukee may attempt to drag John Dietz, fighting man at the Cameron dam, from his stronghold. R. T. Graf, a former policeman, at present a private detective, has announced his intention of organizing a posse here and attempting to accomplish the thing which has hitherto resulted in dismal failures. Eau Claire Wins Convention. Wausau. —The convention of the Northern Wisconsin Modern Woodmen of America Picnic association was held here. After a hot fight between the delegates of Eau Claire and those from Rhinelander, the votes were counted and Eau Claire won by a small majority. The convention will be held there next year. Hurt While Grinding Knife. Jefferson. —While W. J. Berg was grinding one of the large shaving knives in the plant of the Copeland & Ryder company the knife slipped and struck him just above the hip, cutting a severe gash. Hopes of his recovery are entertained, but had the cut been but slightly deeper it would have immediately killed him. Champion Trout Fisherman. Menomine. —Andrew Arntson, rural mail carrier on route four from here, holds the record as the banner trout. Fisherman in Dunn county. He has caught 876 trout so far this season, and expects to reach the 1,000 mark before the close of the season. He has made a record of 1,000 or more annually for several years. To Build Big Packing Plant. Grand Rapids.—The stock has been subscribed, a site selected and articles of incorporation are now in the course of preparation for a $100,000 packing plant in this city. The capital has been practically all raised among local capitalists. Erection of the plant will be begun as soon as plans can be completed. Falls Heir to $20,000,000. Milwaukee. —Through a relative in Cincinnati, information has been received in this city that Mrs. Charlotte L. Childs, mother of Mrs. George W. Des Forges, 419 Broadway, is one of about a dozen heirs to a fortune of about $20,000,000 left by an uncle who died in England some 30 years ago. Prominent Man Killed by Train. Boscobel. —F. B. Searles, a retired lumberman, and well known in Masonic circles, was instantly killed by a passenger train here in attempting to drive across the track before the oncoming train reached the crossing. The body was terribly mangled. Convention for Appleton. Appleton.—The biennial convention of the state council of the Fraternal Reserve association will be held here September 5. Thinks Husband Is Too Gay. Milwaukee. —Mrs. Clara A. Fawcett alleges in her bill for divorce that her husband, Edward T. Fawcett, smokes cigarettes, plays cards for money, and has the habit of getting drunk frequently. Caught by Game Warden. Marinette. —Deputy Game Warden Nelson arrested Frank Strick, a magazine writer and Russell Dunn. Each paid $25 and costs for shooting deer. Many others were given. The same dose. Plant Entirely Remodeled. Grand Rapids.—The plant of the Grand Rapids Pulp and Paper company has been almost entirely remodeled at a great expense, with a view to doubling the former capacity of the mill. With the completion of the improvements, this mill takes a place among the big producers on the Wisconsin river. Runaway Results Fatally. Oscoda. —Emil H. Kuske, a drayman injured in a runaway, died from his injuries. He was about 35 years old. NEWS OF WISCONSIN HAPPENINGS OF INTEREST IN THE VARIOUS TOWNS. HORTICULTURAL MEETING Baraboo Will Entertain the State Society on August 29—Good Display of Fruits to Be a Chief Feature. Baraboo. —Baraboo will entertain the Wisconsin State Horticultural society on August 29. During the 14 years that have elapsed since the last meeting Baraboo has become one of the leading orchard and small fruit centers of the state. Only one day will be devoted to the programme. The leading topic will be the adaptation of our native plants to the improvement of home grounds. To those who care to stay several interesting and instructive side trips are available. The pansy fields of William Toole and the grounds and packing sheds of the Great Northern nursery are near at hand. Racine Lake Shore Parks. Racine. —Members of the finance and lake shore protection committees of the council have decided to purchase and put in 250 cords of stone and brush, and to build a double row of piles from the end of Seventh street into the lake, this row being 200 feet long. It is contemplated, too, to build a 1,000 foot pier into the lake at the south city limits. If these plans materialize, the long-cherished project of parks on the lake shore may be made a reality. Charged with Forgery. Portage.—William Collins, of Westfield, is under arrest here on a charge of forgery. He was the traveling representative of a Grand Rapids, Mich., marble concern, and is accused of making fictitious contracts. Sheriff Kennedy arrived from Michigan and Collins refuses to return without requisition papers. Killed His Little Daughter. Menominee. William Esler, of Downsville, killed his seven-year-old daughter by striking her over the head with a gallon jug. When arrested, he said he had killed the child because her mother did not want her. Before killing the child, Esler chased his wife with an ax. Differ Over Primary Petitions. Manitowoc. —Despondent because he was Secretary of State Houser that primary nominating petitions are confidential, and not open to inspection. County Clerk Ed Schafland declares that the petitions are a matter of public record and as such accessible at all times. Death of Watertown’s First Mayor. Watertown. Theodore Prentiss died, aged 88. He served as Watertown’s first mayor and was a member of the first state constitutional convention. Invention, which assembled in 1847, and a member of the assembly of 1860-1861. A widow and three sons survive. Child Drank Chloral. Kenosha. —Margaret Hoppe, a two-year-old girl, while playing about her home found a two-ounce bottle of chloral and drank more than half of the contents. She was unconscious for more than four hours, but it is thought she will survive. Saved From Electrocution. Green Bay.—Lying on the ground and grappling with a charged wire, Raymond Dewitt, a Western Union messenger, was saved from electrocution by Charles Dennis, chief engineer on the steamer Hart. The boy received a severe shock. Drowned in Pike Lake. Boyd.—W. J. Icksteadt, one of the leading merchants of this place and well known throughout northern Wisconsin, drowned while fishing in Pike Lake, eight miles north of here. Mr. Icksteadt leaves a widow and three children. Drowned in Elkhart Lake. Echhart Lake. —William Diehl, of Sheboygan, drowned in Elkhart lake. He was employed by the H. C. Prange company as manager in the clothing department. He leaves a wife and one child. Two Drowned at Milwaukee. Milwaukee. —Irene Carroll, of Milwaukee, perished while swimming in the Milwaukee river and Gregory Walsh fell into the stream and perished in the business district. Mormon Preacher Drowned. La Crosse. —The Rev. Aaron W. Jackson, of Ogden, Utah, one of the pastors of the Mormor church here, drowned while bathing in the Black river on the north side. Spencer to Have Waterworks. Spencer. —A proposition to bond the town for $3,500 to extend the waterworks was carried by a vote of 99 to 31. Drowns in Rock River. Janesville.— Twelve-year-old Edward C. Knight was swept out into deep water while swimming, by the wake of a passing steamer, and drowned. His companions, a few feet away, did not know of his death and he was not missed until they were dressing. Will Sue Lumber Company. Rice Lake —J. Rogich, shot by Dietz’s son, will sue the lumber company for damages, claiming it was not the county that instigated the latest raid. Menominie School Expenses. Menominie. —This city has spent $51,610.60 for school purposes in the last year. Of this amount $34,376.77 was paid for teachers’ wages. The total enrollment of students was 1,358, and the amount paid for tuition by nonresident pupils was $8,478.88. Drowned in Milwaukee River. Milwaukee. —Edwin Hammel, aged 11 years, drowned in the Milwaukee river near the cement mills. He was unable to swim and waded out beyond his depth. 