The Akron Beacon Journal from Akron, Ohio • Page 10

SUNDAY. MARCH 21. 102? WirroTT rr.xccu JounrfAL? PAGE TEN A T. society 3'larysville Nation risom 1 1 Dm 1 II II i( li i Ok wins day sr.l to fiy, I am. an experienced hand er.l I var.t a re 'Parole' Tlie Magic 7crd In Life At Reformatory Mrs.

Reilley said criminality In most cases, in heropinion, begins when the individual is still a child. "One either grows up with a moral fiber sufficient to overcome obstacles in life, or one grows up weak and easily led," she said. "The turning point from good to bad in these cases, as I have investigated them, comes in childhood. Home Conditions Often Play Part "Usually looking into the background of these girls you see that there has been a great deal or trouble of one sort or another in their family lives. "Either their parents marital tie have been broken or the parents morals have been unsatisfactory.

Perhaps the home has been situated in a section of city where social contacts have led to the girl's downfall. "Then, again, it may have been lack of money, misunderstanding at school, inability to cope with some situation as she found it in her youth lack of sex knowledge." Youth in America, Mrs. Reilley believes, sadly lack roots. Miss Netta Hill, the probation officer, put the same thing a little differently. "I find that most of these girls had no home such as you and I remember in our childhood," she said.

"Every human being needs a place to put down roots may grow as a fixture in society, Mrs. Reilley adds. "Many of these girls' only fault is the fact that they never had a real home. (Continued From Page One) honor girl. She wore a plaid dress nd anklets instead of a blue uni-f Drm.

Her records said she had tried to burn down the convent Where her parents had placed her. Peacefully, they played here now In the sunny solarium dur- log their rest hour. What strange quirk of fate had kept them from remaining at peace with the world, I wondered. Again. I stood in the shadows of the big- dramatic hall, watching a girl with the face of an angel as she sang on the platform one night in the prison entertainment hour.

Hani To Picture In Life Of Crime She sang a ballad, sweet and old- fashioned, that tugged at your heartstrings. Her blue eyes were innocent. She wore a ruffled dress, each tiny stitch done by hand in the prison sewing rooms. She might have been a debutante just stepping out to her first dance. Instead she was a woman old in crime.

"What is she in for?" I whls-, pered to Miss Nance Cusick, the record clerk. "For contributing to delln quency," replied Miss Cusick. "You know what that means." Later I saw that girl's room. It was one of the neat little chambers you can't call them cells in a long corridor In one of the cottages. Above the fancy heart-shaped pillows, piled girl-: like on the bed, hung an em-I broidered motto.

It said. "Blessed are the pure in 1 A Hand Of Bridge After Lunch For half an hour after lunch, girls at Marysville are permitted to indulge In any recreation they desire. This group chose a hand of bridge before1 returning, to the workshops. close supervision, ana a ugnt uae drawn on her, She is a poor pa- Workshops Light, Airy a a mnir pnmforts as possible are provided to make work easier for Marysville inmates. To be In a dingy factory i3 to make labor unpleasant, but to work in a place such as this i engenders little rebellion.

Note the large windows and the fancy curtains. V1 v- I x- Note To 'Escapists': Tahiti Is Scared, Too PAPEETE, Tahiti, March 23. (JP) The South seas may seem a faraway, peaceful haven to war-conscious Europe, out actually the inhabitants are as deeply disturbed over International events as people anywhere else. Diplomatic news is eagerly read and the residents of Tahiti listen to daily on current events from Paris and London. It is generally understood that in event of war, France would call all able-bodied men of suitable age to the colors, even in this distant colony.

thoto of Reporter Helen Waterhouse taken at Marysville rerormaiwy. y' 2L. oHt-i fei this place? What led to her WLa th chaoel where pres rhtly Sunday services would be sYer SK wlS comtag out portion of these girls in Marys-omMaSsville one week-a priest villa guilty, of the most terrme of state, she knows Akron's slum dia- i phr uiys aena crane. Miss Hill never recommends a parole until she feels absolutely certain, after all her investigations are made, that a girl can make good again "in society. She doesn't always guess right, of course.

In spite of the watchful supervision she keeps over each parole case during the months and years after the girl leaves this institution until she has worked out her parole, there are some who still fail to make the grade. But the proportion of these is very small and in most cases, when Miss Hill sees a girl slipping, she brings her back to the reformatory before another crime has been committed. In 1938 but IS paroled violators were returned to Marysville and, some of these had been at liberty for several years. There is one type of woman In Marysville that even the faith and courage of that great experimenter in prison reform, Superintendent Reilley, cannot seem touch. Even Mrs.

Reilley admits that the women who are in for contributing to delinquency those hard-faced, older women whose eyes are dull with dissipation and shifty with shame should never be at large again. Some, She Feels, Can Start Anew Their stories make one shudder with the sordid details of the young boys they have led into lives of sin, of their own daughters whom they have sold Into white slavery. They are the women who traffic in dope and marijuana, who will go back to the only life they have known for years when they do get out of here these are the ones who should be the real lifers, she believes. For Maude Lowther, the Indian girl who slew her lover's wife long ago, goaded by a passion that was too great for her; for Mrs. Edith Christman, who was driven by a soul-searing love for her husband to insane jealousy; for Velma West, that strange woman of a dual personality, Mrs.

Reilley sees hope. She sincerely believes that were these set free they might become useful citizens again. But as to the other callous-faced women, she says, "It is too bad that their sentences cannoc be longer. What can we do for them here In one short year? We know that they will go, back to their old practices." Shining Chapters In Their Conquest The subnormal prisoner, Mrs. Reilley also believes, will need supervision all the rest of her life.

"To this group we may teach manual labor, and that labor will be formed willingly and will be well done as long as it Is supervised," she said. "If the supervision is withdrawn the girl will sink back to her former state. If permitted to go back to her erstwhile mode of living, she either will become a criminal or the victim of crimin als. "This type of girl must have a i ports Mi3 Hill. "There are dairy workers, tak ers, farm workers and in all kinds cf handwork.

"They are neat, dean, attrac tive, thanks to the beauty chop prcjrram. "They have almost all gamed flesh and become stronger physi cally. The three square meals a day and they really are square meala with coffee, milk, bread and butter and cereal with prunes for breakfsist; with milk, bread. boiled beef, noodles, mashed potatoes, jello and salad for dinner, and with cocoa, bread, butter, left overs and cookies for supper these have prepared the girls for a normal and active life. Parole Reward For Atonements "To these girls parole papers will represent the reward that is theirs because of a long period of atonement spent behind these gray walls months and years, which perhaps were the only safe and well-ordered years in their whole lives.

"These are the girls who, hav ing made their msitake are being keenly aware of it, have been working at their jobs day after day, cooperating to the fullest with prison officials In an effort to come back. "They have bowed to the will of a society that demanded payment for their offenses. They are now thinking of Marysville not as the end of a misspent life, but as the beginning of a new deal. -So, heads held high, confident that they have paid the price and are fit to go on, looking right and feeling right, these girls are marching out of Marysville almost daily. They are marching out with the godspeed of Mrs.

Reilley and of her band of pioneer women pioneers in a prison reform that is astounding the state and the nation. INITIALS ON TAGS A POPULAR QUEST Akron Auto Owners Cling To Special Combinations For Plates Mavbe it's the same urge that impels little boys, to carve their names oh park benches; maybe it's vanity;" maybe It's senumenx, maybe it's simply a desire for convenience. it's all but what ever the reasoni about 500 Akron car-owners will have special license numbers or letters on their autos this year. Clergymen, politicians, businessmen, lawyers and doctors their number grows every year. Its been that way, says Secretary Earl wQ cm at- nf he Akron Auto club.

ever since 1935 when the state began issuing plates with letters as well as numbers. Before that there was a group iY low number com binations, but the letters spurred the demand for combinations with car-owners initials. Aaa For 16 Years the bureau of mo tor vehicles reserves 65,000 special numbers for the state as a wnwe. in Bjf raid this article is going to send requests from AJcron soaring oeyona uie douhu Incidentally, Wagner himself Is probably the oldest "special number" man in Akron. He has held 439 for 16 years, not that the number has any special significance Jim Corey, the republican war- horse, always gets 4u-ju jerww rmiViv.

resident of M. O'Neil has 15-JD and L.k L. Kinsey, comp troller of the company, nas w-jja. Kfplnlre a. 5-S Man Dr.

Carl Steinke is a 5-S man and W. W. Mcintosh, the Insurance man, has a fondness for 92. Frank E. Whittemore of Akron, ma -iorltv leader) in the senate, gets a simple FW and P.

V. C. See, general manager of the Akron Transportation Rev. Dr. Noble S.

Elderkin, the Akron Ministerial mcouwn. association and pastor of the First Congregational church, has N-8-E, which stands for his initials and the number of letters in his last name. inther minister. Rev. Dr.

wil Hani Henry Huber, pastor of the First Presbyterian church, has 35-HU on his car. Mv Knight, the manufacturer, has MK-11, and Frank Rohde, the Grotto leader, has F-40-R. FP For Poulson The judiciary is represented by Common Pleas Judge C. Colopy, who gets ST-SC. Paul W.

Litchfield, president of the Goodyear Tire Rubber gets along with any old number. FP will remain on the car of Francis Poulson. former state democratic boss; WK will be on the car of William Kennedy, former democratic secretary of state; ST, which Clarence Knisley had when he was state treasurer will still be on his car although Republican Don Ebright 6f Akron is now state treasurer; MD will be on the Davey Tree Expert Co. car, BD on Mrs. Be mice Davey's and ED on Martin Davey's.

Assigned In Series belongs to Arthur Limbach. democratic state chairman, and GW to George White, former democratic governor. As usual, the motor vehicles bureau has assigned certain license series to certain districts so that law officers will know where the cars come from. Summit county's series are from A-51-A to D-E03-Z. Automobiles owned by the city are issued "gratis" tars and the Issues are ON'-l to ON-SS3 and OQ-1 to OV-P59.

Police cruisers display these ta-s cxrept'in some Cfl.s when are issued to from the "dick" list. Identifies tinn rf lch not published by the r.ictrr vehicles stage. She talks of a cultured home background, of horseback rides she used to take, of trips to Europe. Forgers are one of the bigger problems at Marysville. -More forgers have to be returned to prison breaking their parole than -any other single class.

But there has never heen a pa roled homicide case returned at Marysville. Can They Live Down Past On Release? THAT brings up the word parole. It brings up, too, the second big question. "After prison, what? "Can these girls go back to lead a normal worth-while life? Or will the shame of their past follow them? Will someone constantly be throwing it up to Catherine Smarr that she killed her husband? "Will someone remind little blonde Helen that she stole a diamond ring and therefore never more can be trusted?" "Parole" is the magic word that you hear, all up and down the corridors as you pass groups of girls at thier work. You hear it In the bake shop and the dairy and the art sewing classes and in the room where rows of women are piecing patchwork quilts of intricate design.

"I come up before the parole board I hope" And there they pause, the sentence left hanging- in mid-air. "I come up before the parole board next October but I doubt if they'll parole me, because I've been here such a short time, wish they would, though." That was Catherine Smarr. Turned Down Again In Parole Request "They put me off again and I don't understand why. I've been good at my work and I've got a place to go when I get out." That was Edith Christman speaking, as she wrapped her pats of golden butter In the dairy, pausing to whisper the bad news that the parole board had turned her down the night before. "I'm so happy, I'm so happy," a little colored girl sings as she trips through the corridors of Washington cottage.

Tve got my parole. I'm going home." "Too bad Velma is not eligible for parole." That was Mrs. Reilley. Parole wonderful word. Never again will I hear it with dull and uninterested ears.

Behind it lies the careful pon-derings of one slender dark-haired woman in this institution. Miss Netta Hill. For years Miss Hill has studied the cases of these girls who have sinned against society. For many of them she has recommended parole after long researches into their pasts and their home conditions, and into the conditions to which, they must return when free. Must Visit Slums On Parole Trail Miss Hill travels miles In her work she knows the sordid streets of every big city la the I role risk." Rut what will become of the women with normal mentality that beautiful girl with the face of an angel, those slender girls in the beauty shop, that quietly efficient Maude Lowther, little Helen who waits on table so quieuy ana Akron's Catherine smarr wnen they get out? Miss Hill answers this question with tales from her records galore, of girls who have made good in the world to which they This is a bright story, the kind of story you like to hear.

It's the story of a girl who has gone out to' marry and become a mother of fine children and a good wife in a happy home. It's the story of another paroled girl who got a job In a large department store in Cleveland, later went to New York where she now has a job as a stylist. It's the story of one girl after another who is working her way back to healthy normal living in a small but honest job. Forgiving Husbands -Ease The Struggle Miss Hill tells the story of hus bands who have forgiven and or- erotten. of neighbors who Have ceased to gossip and of employ ers who have aarea to taKe a chance and employ an ex-convict.

The parole board meets to pass on each case, with the exception of the first degree murder cases, once each year. The days of their meetings are red letter ones on the calendars on the walls of those trim little bedrooms in the cot tares. For the first degree murder cases only a governor's pardon will ever spell the word "freedom." "If girls are kept in here too long- they, become discouraged and bitter" explains Miss Hill. Of course, it's a difficult question, this "after prison, what?" Miss Hill admits. "Even college girls are havin; difficulty finding employment these days, so what do you think of the individual who has offended society and who goes out and tries to ret a job?" she asks.

"After prison, what?" is still the perplexing problem it has al ways been. Strive To Instill Lasting Lessons But somehow, the brave wom en at Marysville, struggling against public opinion for they still get letters from people ae- manding- that the girl wno nas sinned should-pay and pay and pay till the last drop are figuring out ways whereby the influence or Marysville is never lost on a paroled girl. The creed of no idleness, for instance, is so firmly instilled during the prison term that it car ries on after the girls leave this hillton reformatory. The work program has taught them gainful means of occupation. The idea that the greatest privilege in the world is that of earning one's own living is deeply ingrained in each inmate when she leaves.

"An Inmate is qualified to go to many a commercial plant to- makir. quilts. Tr.it la what tha Report Texas Deers Are Getting Lighter KEERVILLE, March 25. UP) Wild deer are becoming smaller in Texas, says Earl Sand ers of Keervuie, state regionsu game manager. Sanders weighed 1,000 deer killed in recent seasons and -said they averaged 76 pounds, dressed.

This, he says, is much lighter than deer killed a few years ago. Game experts are seeking an ex planation of the decreasing size. One theory is that the bigger bucks, are killed, leaving the smaller ones to propogate. modern I eloth OTrlng with i th enamel eurface; permanently washable, atain-proof, aaiitir e-prool. I Drop pattern.

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1 i a 11 V. V-i 1 i 10 i0 i 5 So It boils down practically to I triia thm answer to mv Guestion. "Sex and economic conditions and th ViciOUS home conditions the vicious trio." Then, why are the biggest pro r4mo all crimps Tn Yart 70 of these eirls are in on homicide charges, 44 for inanslaughter, seven for first rtmrreo nnti 19 for second decree murders. Forty per cent of the 255 are confined for crimes of vio- Ience such as maiming, shooting I a VtKin rr mrA Ollttfne'. The female of the specie iteems.

in iniiu. deadly than the male. wtiv rir women kill? Why did Mrs. Christman kill the man for whom sne nan given up everything home, children and the respect of friends? Mrs. Reuleys answer 10 mee questions at first might shock you.

Flaming Passions A Frequent Cause "Any type of woman, I Relieve, will commit a murder, if driven tut maiti. "In SDite of what some authorities say, I do not believe that only suo-norm-n people commit murders. "The crime 01 mm uci pen in one blinding flash or pas-li it- aa with Velma West. mull a.a Velma was thwarted in a great desire. To free herself rrom Donas which were closing in on her, she struck her husband in one wuu burst of anger.

"Edith Christman, unaDic m- vi man for whom she had sacrificed home and children would turn against ner anu to live with her, killed, a person she had adored so much that even to be near him and merely touch the, edge of his jacKet, but. me since, was enough. On the other hand, a sub-normal person like Martha Wise also Cm Martha killed, she said, because devils told hereto. But either class or gins, hrirht or those who are low mentally, can commit murders, Mrs. Keuiey wnevw, -pending on the aggravation and the lack of stability in their emo tional make-up.

"In the cutting anu iuauuu16 1 4, iirrriamer how they always seem to have a knife or a gun handy where they can just rearh out their hands and get it, she commented. Seldom Leaders In Gang Crimes Gang crime is another thing, however. Take a girl like Helen Harman, Chicago's "Tiger Woman" who is here in Marysville because she escaped the fate of thnu mpn who accompanied her on a Cleveland holdup murder. They perished in tne cnair oui their Moll is alive to ponder her crime. Helen is anything but a Moll in looks today however, a quiet, efficient little person In the beauty shop washing hair.

of low mentality are usually the ones to get into gang murders." Mrs. Reilley explame XOU Will JWlite mrav U9rfr in cans' crimes. ijr if VrvcViie out. They so-called "helpers. I Kvf Next consider the forgers.

They run second the hri- ton in inn norrria.i in fart thev are really the brightest and smartest of aa the rflmlnflll. i Ttio rm four school teachers in Marysvl-Je toaay, semenwa fnTff nA ors trained nurse. One woman nm taugr.i icri ,4 years. I a rea4r of tlim. She write 'rpally good jU which tbn rlrl enact en th9 the next.

She Pays Penance In Chanel Service A slender figure in overaus roo from her knees to greet me. She ija.d been waxing the floor. T-Vi ruao a-nri CJllm Of holy place seemed to enshroud the girl, the altar which she had so carefully dusted and decked with flowers, the chairs she had carefully set in their places. "She is Verna Watters," said Miss Cusick. "She Is a mother and a grandmother.

Her husband and her little grandson come frequently to see her." "Why is she here?" "Verna Watters stabbed the man who was her lover. She is in for life. She is 'the" guardian of this chapel." I thought of the flippant answer one of the matrons had given' me when I asked the question, what made these women turn to crime. "Men," she said laconically. Later, others at Marysville tried to answer my question.

"Sex is at the bottom of two-' thirds of the crimes or more," they said. 1 Sex This includes the illicit love of a girl like Maude Lowther, which led to murder. It embraces jealousy and thwarted love such as inspired Edith Christman to slay her hus-' It takes in rape and street-: tralking such as in Virginia L3rawdy's case. It may include perverted pas-I sion, such as they tried to attri-I bute to Velma West. It includes the hero worship of a girl like Helen Harman for 1 the gangsters and thugs who led her into her crime.

And it includes the true love of one woman for one man, as in the case of Ruth. Ruth was one of the chief as- sistants to Miss Gauchey, head of the hospital. Ruth, who comes of a good family, had eloped with a penniless youth ere she got '1 through school. Too proud to ad- mit to her wealthy parents that her husband could not support her as they had done, Ruth began to steal. She stole luxuries, such as she had known before her marriage.

She wanted her mother to think that her husband, whom she I loved, was buying these nice things for her. Misf ortune Wait3 In Primrose Path "Sex is at the bottom of two-1 thirds of the crimes here," said Mis Cusick. And Mrs. Marguerite Reilley, the big-hearted superintendent, en-: largred on it Mils way: "You recall Longfellow's poem: 'Standing with reluctant feet Where the brook and river meet? ls that these girls' feet were not winctAnt. Thev clunked headlong into the current and the train- 1 1 4 -i youth did not equip them to breast that current, so mey nit me wmn- j.

v. love with one man and drift down the primrose path with him. "Or, lr Jes attracuve, wiry tach themselves to a gang and FOR ALL New 1939 patterns Tiles, florals and all-overs Sun-tested Values to 18c! Sold with er without borders, a yon wish. OVER 30-in. Plastics Tapestries Florals Conventional Forestries Plaids Sun-tested i without border.

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ICaO). 7 ATT? 7. H' near iJ 2-IIULe CCD i to (0 5oc pt. 23c i-pt. Pint and mi I i jjimuiiuuiiuiiim in il iw- I ''But sex, in one or another of its aspects, is at the bottom of most ever-thLig here." There are other factors, of course.

Elderly Inmates Pi lake Quills lnmtM ftt who ars el lcrly prt llht Jofci tu'ch ss women in this f.hoto ar Colr.g..