The Sunday Oregonian., August 01, 1920, Magazine Section, Page 3, Image 81

THE ' SUNDAY OREGONTAN,' POIITXAXTJ. AUGUST '" 1," 1920
PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENT HAVEN FOR MISSING GIRLS
Policing the National Capital Has Given Mrs. Mma Van Winkle
the Opportunity to Demonstrate the Need for the Department
'ww ' w mi mm nw uu n iu - pt A .. -,.jwil ujl..
Mrs. Carolyn Votaw, of the District of Colombia Metropolitan 7 '
BY MARGARET CRAHON JONES.
ON THE top floor of the District j
of Columbia municipal building j
there is a long- narrow office
filled with the clatter of typewriters,
the rustle of papers, the low murmur j
of voices. At a large desk sits a
tall, handsome woman, from whom all
the activities of the room seem to
radiate. There is a certain delicate
hauteur about her features, a fasci
nating stressing of consonants when
she speake. which make her personal
ity unforgettable. She wears a smart
dark taffeta dress, with soft lace
collar and vest and trim kid walking
pumps.
She is Mrs. Mina C. Van Winkle, di
rector of the woman's bureau of the
District of Columbia metropolitan
police department, and is rated as
'detective sergeant," but she is
though of as "chief" by everybody
In the department, from the patrol
men up to the chief of police him
self. As head of the woman's bureau
Mrs. Van Winkle directs an organiza
tion which differs from all other
women's police divisions in the
United States in that it functions as
a unit. The 18 women officers take
their orders' from Mrs. Van Winkle
instead of from the chief of police,
as is the system in other jiitiea
The bureau's first claim to distinc
tion is the recognition it has received
from police departments in the larger
cities in this country and abroad de
spite a struggle against insufficient
funds and a lack of interest on the
part of the community In which it it
situated. Its second claim is its rec
ords, which have elicited commenda
tion from eminent sociologists. Its
third claim is that it shelters young
women from every part of the United
States. It has become the port of
missing girls.
Mrs. Van Winkle became director of
the bureau February 14. 1919, succeed
ing Mrs. Marion Spingarn, who had
been head of the organization since
its inception on September 15, 1918.
A wealthy woman of social training
and social instincts. Mrs. Van Winkle
chose to use her capabilities where
they were most needed. She had both
theoretical and practical experience
and had been director of a girls' re
formatory. Because of her independ
ent means she was able to use her
salary in the work of the bureau.
"The policewoman generally is con
founded in the public mind with the
police matron," Mrs. Van Winkle said
recently. "As a matter of fact their
duties are entirely different. The po
lice matron has existed for 50 years
and attends merely to the physical
wants of the women in her care. The
policewoman, on the other hand, is in
large measure responsible for the fu
ture social status of the offender
whom she arrests. The broader the
lines of her education, both general
and specialized, the more efficient and
socially valuable she becomes."
As general policewomen, the force
of the bureau functions just as the
policemen do, save that they are par-
u.eo
I.
ticularly concerned with the women 1
and girls. Their duties include the
detection and apprehension of crimin
als, sex offenders, vagrants and shop
lifters; helping the courts by furnish
ing judges and prosecutors with the
results of their investigations: caring
for the socially diseased women
through voluntary and court commit
ments to hospitals; co-operation with
the men of the police department in
securing Information, by being pres
ent with female offenders at the iden.
tification bureau and by Interviewing
anrt searching female prisoners.
The women officers patrol tkj
streets as do the men. This is espe
cially necessary because of the pres
ence in Washington of thousands of
young girls working In the govern
ment departments who are particular
ly susceptible to dangerous outside
influences through their separation
from family and friends. Here the
work of the force becomes preventive.
One protection to girls is the ob
servation work done by the women
officers while patroling the streets,
parks and railroad stations. Without
being obtrusive, they observe the
won. an or girl who makes the ac
quaintance cf men friends in publi'c
places and often prevent a second
meeting with men known to be dis
reputable. One of the chief- "beats" of the
women officers is the public dance
hall. Here again the work is largely
preventive. They see that the regula
tion stipulating the age of admission
is observed; that improper dancing 1b
prohibited: that the hall is well light
ed and ventilated, and that opportuni
ties for delinquency and vice are elim
inated. Mrs. Van Winkle has found that the
missing girl of today Is the social out
cast of tomorrow.
The bureau found that the runaway
girls and those who left home to be
married constituted a large percent
age of the "first offenders" in Wash
ington last year.
From the time the "first offender"
comes under the surveillance of the
bureau every possible step is taken to
prevent her becoming a second of
fender. None of this corrective work
Is provided for by law. But it is pro
vided for by woman's mother Instinct.
"Delinquency among young women
almost always is traceable to an un
happy home life," Mrs. Van Winkle
said. "There are more 'first offend
ers' who really are not bad girls at all
nowadays because the American home
is disintegrating. Homes are not made
the center of interest. Amusements
are found in commercialized places in.
Mrs. Mlna C. Van Winkle, director of
tbe women bureau of the District
of Columbia Metropolitan Police
Department, who Is knowaai the
"chief to her own subordinates as
well as the men members of the
force.
itead of la the family circle. The av
erage family does not read any more.
People buy books and do not read
them. They buy magazines and throw
them away. General unrest is caused
by the failure of the home."
Education would do much to prevent
delinquency, in Mrs. Van Winkle's
opinion, but attractive homes would
do more.
Girls under 17 years of age come
under the jurisdiction -of the juvenile
court. Cases of all girls more than 17
years old are handled by the woman's
bureau.
It is the sentiment of the bureau
that all girls under 21 years of age
should be under jurisdiction of the
juvenile court. They thus would be
removed from the influences of de
generates and criminals, while first
offenders would not be subjected to
the curiosity of police court fre
quenters. The bureau last year found homes
for 15 girls and positions for 50. A
large number were returned to their
homes. Four of the probationers were
happily married.
In determining the course to be fol
lowed In disposing of a case the of
fender is given physical and psycho
pathic examinations. Treatment va
ries according to the diagnosis. Thor
ough Investigations are made to find
out all the negative and positive facts
In a case in order to arrive at the
inner mental life of the girl so that
intelligent help can be extended.
The work of mitigating or remov
ing the causes of delinquency is di
rected by Mrs. Carolyn Votaw, a
woman of great refinement and ex
tensive experience. Frequent contact
with this woman, whose cameo face
beneath a cloud of snowy hair has
smiling eyes as well as smiling lips,
cannot fail to have a salutary effect
upon a young girl.
One of the best ways to find out
what goes on in a girl's mind is to
read her diary. So Mrs. Votaw has
the probationers, who jeport to her
at various intervals, jot down what
they do and think each day. They
answer certain questions in their dia
ries, such as "What is your dearest
wish today?" and "What made you
happiest today?" Often it is not so
much what is written as that which
is omitted that gives the key to the
girl's inner life. The diaries include
an account of all expenditures.
The bureau recently was granted
the use of the old district emergency
hospital for new quarters. Plains are
being made for concentration of all
branches of the division in this four
story building so that maximum effi.
ciency may be realized.
The headquarters will combine the
bureau itself, the house of detention
for women and girls over 17 years or
age and the home for dependent chil
dren.
On the first floor will be located
the director's office, business office.
application and complaint desk, and
Interviewing rooms. On this floor
also will be the receiving rooms for
wards of the house of detention.
shower baths, kitchen and pantry.
The second floor will be devoted to
a schoolroom, dining room, recreation
room, superintendent's room, psycho
pathic clinic, social hygiene clinic,
nurses' room and emergency rooms
for dependent or stranded women and
girls more than 17 years of age.
On the third floor will be the care
taker's bedroom, occupation and rec
reation rooms, separate rooms for
wards more than 17 years of age and
the separate section for colored
wards. The fourth floor will be given
over to the dependent children's
rooms, schoolrooms, dining room and
caretakers' bedrooms.
By this arrangement the different
classes of wards will be segregated
and the examination rooms will be
concentrated on one floor.
Mrs. Van Winkle is looking1 forward
to her work In the new building with
enthusiasm.
When asked if her optimism were
not put to a severe test by contact
with the sordid conditions which daily
are brought to her attention. Mrs.
Van Winkle replied that the results
obtained by the bureau are so encour
aging that the workers have a con
sciousness of service rendered to hu
manity. "Women doing this sort of work
must learn to drop their cares when
they leave the office," Mrs. Van
Winkle said, "But it is humanizing
work and women anywhere will find
satisfaction in doing it well."
SHAH OF PERSIA AMONG STRANGE CHESS
OPPONENTS OF WILMINGTON (DEL.) CHEMIST
Game Is Hobby That Has Led Dr. Thomas A. Norton to Take Trip on Goat-Skin Raft Down Tigris River to
Meet Strange Adversaries.
SELDOM does an American chess
player have the opportunity to
match his wits with such persons
as the Shah of Persia or the Archbish
op of Bagdad. But that is the record
of Dr. Thomas H. Norton, a well
known chemist of Wilmington, Del,
who has numbered among his oppo
nents more strange characters than
has perhaps any other chess player
In the world.
Chess playing is a hobby with Dr.
Norton and to indulge in it he has
traveled on a goat-skin raft down
the Tigris river, has spent several
days with the Benedictine Monks of
Monte Cassino, Italy, playing chess;
has defeated the picturesque nomad
chieftains of Persia in hot-headed
chess games, and last but not least.
has held his own with such fellow
countrymen as Dr. Harvey W. Wiley,
noted food chemist; Simon Newcomb,
the famous astronomer, and Benjamin
Fernon, head of the forestry depart
ment. Sometimes Dr. Norton and his op
ponents spoke in different tongues
and in languages unknown to one an
other. But the barrier of speech made
slight difference. Chess. Dr. Norton
explained, is a game which is played
the same the country over. No lan
guage is needed to translate the vari
ous moves of the board. The chess
men are "men without a country," and
the chessboard is the "melting pot
of nations."
At least it has proved so with Dr.
Norton.
60 and Still Playing.
He was born In Rushford. N. T.. in
1851 and is 69 years old, but he still
possesses the alertness of a man of
40. He has been playing chess since
boyhood, having first figured conspic
uously in chess circles when he was
a senior at Hamilton college. It was
then that he became champion player
of his class and used to practice with
Captain McKenzie, an international
chess celebrity of the latter half of
the nineteenth century.
With the fever in his blood Dr. Nor
ton went to Edinburg. where, shortly
after his graduation, he defeated Dr.
Cameron, who for 13 years had been
the Scotch champion. Much interest
was attached to the tournament and
the records of the games were pub
lished In the Glasgow newspapers.
After his graduation from. Hamilton
college, from which he went forth as
valedictorian and a prize man in
mathematics, chemistry and physics.
Dr. Norton studied abroad at the Uni
versities of Heidelberg and Berlin.
During his vacation periods while he
was in Europe he took long pedes
trian trips totaling more than 12,000
miles and it was upon these trips that
he met many unusual opponents.
For two whole days. Dr. Norton
played in a tournament in the Bene
dictine monastery of Monte Cassino,
Italy. He describes the scene as in
tensely dramatic, with richly-hooded
monks standing silently round the
chess board, their eyes studying every
move. The monks were special de
votees of chess, so much so that a
spacious room had been designated
for the game a room in which a J
table was the sole article of furni
ture. The monks played with such
fervor that they had no time to re
cline to easy chairs. They stood
around the board in silence.
One Game He Lost.
Yet. in spite of their intense skill,
Dr. Norton lost only one game dur
ing his visit there. That, he laugh
ingly remarked, was after a special
banquet at which the monks served
him with their richest and oldest vint
ages. '
Another two-day tournament In
which he participated was played on
horseback while he galloped through
Mesopotamia. His opponent this
time was Dr. Shepard. then the lead
ing surgeon in Turkey, who later was
a victim of typhoid while ministering
to the plague-stricken refugees after
the massacres of 1915.
All through Turkey and Persia he
Journeyed, defeating at chess the
tent-dwelling nomadic chieftians and
castle-cloistered Turkish noblemen.
Once he floated down the River
Tigris in Mesopotamia on a strangely
devised raft made from Inflated goat
skins. The trip lasted a week seven
days during which those on board
did nothing but play chess. They
were wending their watery way to
Mosul ancient Ninevah. It was at
Mosul that Dr. Norton was the guest
of the Archbishop of Bagdad and in
the Archbishop's palace he enjoyed
more than one good game with his
ecclesiastical host.
fersia was the scene of many a
chess adventure for Dr. Norton. In
1904 President Wilson sent him on a
special mission to that country, a
mission of such a delicate nature that
he doubts whether he would have
accomplished it so successfully had
he not been an expert at chess. But
it was an act of self-denial rather
than of winning that served its pur
pose then. The nobleman who had
been commissioned by the Shah to
meet Dr. Norton had heard of the
American's fame as a chess player.
He was eager to meet him on their
common ground. And. naturally, he
was more than flattered when Dr.
Norton purposely made him believe
that he could beat the American.
Massacre Doesn't Interrupt.
For two hours one fine day Dr.
Norton played chess with the British
consul at Batum, Trans-Caucasia, to
the accompaniment of rifle shots. A
massacre had begun during the game
but the clatter of the galloping Cos
sacks and the rumble and roar of the
cannon did not interrupt the battle
on the chess board.
During the winter' of 1905 and 1906
Dr. Norton was American consul at
Smyrna and from 1906 till 1904 he
occupied the same position at Chem
nitz, Saxony. It was during the lat
ter period that Dr. Norton met Capa-
blanca. the champion chess player
who was then' coming into the lime
light. Dr. Norton was one of 30
chess players selected to meet Capa
blanca at Berlin.
But his opponents have not all been
In European and Asiatic countries.
For 17 years, from 1883 to 1900, Dr.
Norton was professor of chemistry at
the University of Cincinnati. It was
during this time that he organized
and became first president of the
Mount Auburn Chess club, regarded in
its days as the most scientifically or
ganized chess society in the country.
His chemistry pupils Joined .and
among them were such men as Pro
feasor H. W. Bettman, famous prob
lem composer and vice-president of
the international "Good Companion
Chess club," and Professor William
Strunk of Cornell.
It was In Washington that Dr.
Norton played with Dr. Harvey W.
Wiley, who is as well known for his
skill at chess at the national capital
as he is for his scientific knowledge
of food values.
He has also met and played fre
quently with James F. Magee of Phil
adelphia, author of many attractive
studies in medieval chess.
His record has been from the halls
of the Alhambra to the mosques of
Stamboul, and from London and Scot
land to various cities In the United
States.
Wherever he goes he collects around
him' all the local enthusiasts on .the
subject of chess and it is the same
Wilmington as It was In London,
Persia or Dresden. His presence has
so drawn together and organized the
city's chess players that now Wil
mington ranks as one of the fore
most chess playing cities in the
United States.
. Blorphy Ranks First
The game of chess,' says Dr. Norton,
was originated in India, but it has
spread all over the world. Paul
Charles Morphy of New Orleans has
so far ranked as the best chess player
of America. Spanish blood coursed
through his veins, as his grandfather
had come to America from Madrid.
Morphy was taught to play chess
by his father when he was only ten
years old and has played with all the
chess champions of every country.
It was at the instigation of Dr.
Norton that chess players celebrate
the birthday of Paul Charles Morphy
every year on June 22. Morphy was
born in 1837 and died in 1884.
Dr. Norton Is a specialist In the in
telligence division of the chemical de
partment of the Du Pont company.
He is an expert chemist as well as an
expert chess player and has written a
number of publications on chemical
subjee s.
Self-Appraisement.
An illustrator In the west who was
once so beset with orders for work of
various sorts that he felt obliged to
enlist the aid of collaborators tells of
his interview with one applicant for
work.
After the preliminaries had been
settled the youth asked:
"And how much are you going to
pay me for working for you?"
The prospective employer smiled
and answered, TWhy. I always pay a
man what he Is worth."
Whereupon the youth reflected in
great gravity and then picked up his
hat to go. "No. sir." he said. "I can't
work that cheap."
Reason to Hope.
A couple of Irish women were talk
ing of the domestic troubles of a third.
Said one:
"Mrs. Casey takes It awful hard.
Her husband got five years but he
can get a year off for good, behavior.
"Tell her not to worry," suggested
the other. "Sure, he may not behave
himself,
OHIO TAKES LEAD IN PRODUCING MEN
WITH PRESIDENTIAL QUALIFICATIONS
Election This Year Assures Buckeye State of Having Sixth Native Son in White House, Thus Breaking
Tie With Virginia Record Is Unique. - i
THE war is supposed to be a thing
of the past and a matter upon
which onlv historians will dwelL
But, be that as it may, this fall will
bring with it renewed days of strife
and by the looks of things, the bat
tles will be confined to one state of
our glorious 48. From all appearances
this will be the Marne. Flanders and
Argonne rolled into one this coming
autumn. While millions of baseball
fans throughout the country are root
ing for their favorites it begins to
look as if Ohio has an excellent chance
to take unto itself the honor of stag
ing the next world's championship.
Cincinnati and Cleveland at this writ
ing appear to be the favorites for the
pennants in the two major leagues
and most likely will be the two cities
which will eventually battle for the
championship. But Ohio is certain of
staging an even greater battle.
Our two next presidential candi
dates are both from the Buckeye state
with the result that nothing in the
world can cheat her out of the honor
of producing the next president of the
United States. It is hard to say which
will cause more excitement Cox ver
sus Harding, or Cincinnati versus
Cleveland. A strictly Ohio world's
series will therefore bring about the
last word in frenzy.
Two Parallels Exist.
- The present presidential situation
is an unusual honor to confer upon
one of the 48 commonwealths which
comprise the Union, but it Is not the
first time that it has occurred. In
1860 when the voters "were asked to
decide between four candidates. Lin
coln, Douglas, Breckinridge and Bell,
the first and the second were resi
dents of Illinois. But a more exact
parallel to the present case is to be
found in 1904, when both of the great
parties nominated New Yorkers, the
republicans naming Theodore Roose
velt and the democrats Alton B.
Parker.
The approaching election will give
to Ohio six presidents: William H.
Harrison, who resided at North Bend;
Hayes, from Fremcnt; Garfield, from
Mentor: McKinley, from Canton; Taftj
from Cincinnati, and either Harding
or Cox. This will break the tie with
Virginia and give to Ohio the undis
puted claim to the greatest number
of presidents.
But the record of Ohio is still more
interesting. - Not only ' were ' Hayes,
Garfield. McKinley and Taft her na
tive sons, but Benjamin Harrison was
born upon her soil at North Bend, and
Grant at Point Pleasant in Clermont
county. In other words Ohio bor
rowed two of her presidents from
Virginia, but in return gave two to
other states Grant to Illinois and
Benjamin Harrison to Indiana. Thus
of the nine men that have been
elected to the presidency since the
civil war, all save three Cleveland.
Roosevelt and Wilson, were born in
Ohio. So why shouldn't the natives
of her soil go into ecstacy. . They
should be proud of themselves and of
the record achieved by the Buckeye
state, and the nation as well should
be grateful to her for the leaders she
has furnished. Apparently both par
ties turn to her for presidential can
didates because they find there the
men they need, because Ohio produced
men of presidential availability.
In view of the prolific manner In
which Ohio has furnished occupants
to the highest office in the land,
something about the manner in which
other sons of Ohio besides Cox and
Harding received their high honors.
would not be amiss.
In the convention of 1893 when the
spell of James G. Blaine's leadership
was definitely shattered, it was also
notable for a political coup which
brought William McKinley of Ohio
into the foreground as a future presi
dential possibility.
McKinley Great Power.
McKinley had received scattering
votes for the presidential nomination
at Chicago in 1888. He was there as
a Sherman leader, and. following Gar
field's example of 18S0 he took the
floor to demand that nobody should
reflect on his honor by voting for
him. The lightning didn't strike him.
as it struck Garfield. Between 18S8
and 1892 he had greatly added to his
national celebrity by attaching his
name to the McKinley tariff act and
by almost carrying an Ohio congress
district ruthlessly gerrymandered
against him and by beating James E.
Campbell for the governorship in
Ohio.
McKinley was perfectly content to
see Benjamin Harrison renominated,
feeling that his own ambition could
wait. But McK-iniey was from Ohio
and perhaps therein is the reason for
what eventually happened.
McKinley .was chosen permanent
chairman of the convention, all fac
tions supporting him. On June 6, the
day before the convention met, he
gave out this statement: "I am not
In any sense a candidate. I take It
that only two names are before the
convention Harrison and Blaine."
Marcus A. Hanna, who had enlisted
in the task of making McKinley pres
ident, saw that Harrison would win.
But he also figured that McKinley
could attract votes which wouldn't
go to Blaine and that the votes of tbe
Harrison delegates from Ohio could
be shifted to McKinley. Foraker and
the anti-Harrison delegates were as
willing to vote for McKinley as for
Blaine. So with the unification of
Ohio as his point of departure, he set
out to stage a spontaneous tribute to
the presumably unsuspecting chair
man of the convention, himself a pro
nounced and loyal supporter of Har
rison.
When Senator Foraker cast 44
votes from Ohio for McKinley and
two for Harrison the chairman him
self challenged the vote and de
manded a roll call of the delegation
and had his own lone vote recorded
for Harrison. This led eventually to
Harrison's nomination.
The real result of this situation
which had In reality been planned for
the set purpose of making McKinley
an important factor in the convention
four years following had just that
effect. In the convention of 1896 the
nomination of William McKinley was
a foregone conclusion when the dele
gates came together and it went to
him on the first ballot.
VOLUNTEERS REVIVED
Ulster Forces Tajte Up Arms to
Quell Sinn Fein Raiders.
BELFAST, Ireland. The Ulster vol
unteers have been revived as a result
of the recent activity of th Sinn Fein .
in the north of Ireland and for sev
eral days the town of Rathfryland.
county Down, has been patrolled by
the Ulster forces, following destruc
tion of property in adjoining districts.
All persons suspected of Sinn Fein
tendencies have been prohibited from
entering Lisbellan, Fermanagh county
scene of recent fighting, although
seven Catholic families in the dis
trict have not been molested. t