The Omaha Sunday Bee Magazine Page
Whyiaial Vforkenr in theilumrBecomeDepravecl)
The Strange Mystery of Jessie McCann; the Murder of General
SigeVs Daughter, and Other Mishaps Among Women Mis-
sipnariesy Discussed by Prof. Rice, the Psychologist
zm rues J
Association'
THE mystery of the disappearance and
death recently of Miss Jessie McCann,
a social worker in the New York slums,
whose battered body was found on the Coney
Island beach, the arrest in a nearby city of a
prominent "angel of the slums" for writing
anonymous scandalous letters about her fellow
social workers, the cold-blooded' murder of one
of his parishioners by the man Schmidt last
Fall, the murder of Miss Elsie Sigel, a social
worker in Chinatown, who had become in
volved in love affairs with Chinamen theso
and many other similar instances have natural
ly suggested the question as to why social and
'charity workers go wrong.
Why should men, and especially women,
with a high sense of duty and firmly fixed
moral standards be drawn down to the level of
degradation of those they seek to help? An in
teresting analysis of this phenomenon is pre
scnted by Prof. Rice, the psychologist
Mise Elsie Sigel, the '.'Slum Angel' Who Wtu
Mysteriously Murdered in Chinatown.
Why Women Charity
Workers Go Wrong.
- By Prof. DAVID EDGAR RICE,
Ph.D., Columbia University.
THE wide discrepancy that may exist between pre
copt and practise Is never more strikingly Illus
trated than when nofflo prominent religious londor
or guardian of clvla rights or somo Individual who Is
actlvo in political or social reforms falls a victim to the
very evils which it is his duty or avowed purposo to
correct. Crimo and vice among those who cannot be
presumed to know 'bettor aro accopted as matters of
course. Dut when the samo faults ocour in persons
whoso training, occupation or habits of Hfo Justify tho
expectation of better things, our attention is challenged
and our curiosity aroused.
Tho past eevoral years have produced an unusually
large number of examples of these inconsistencies of
human conduct. Now it is a Judge of the Federal courts
who is ceavlcted of accepting bribes from parties to
suits tried berore him, in violation of the law which
through his entire life he had been trained to reverence
and support. At another time it Is a high police official,
who, 60 far from making an honest effort to suppress
vice, is found guilty of actually instigating murder in
order that his long reoord of grafting may not be
brought to light. Now It is the chief executive of a
great State whose conspicuous efforts along the lines
of political refo'rm aro brought to a sudden and iguo
sstelous halt by the charge that he hItaaeK has been
gulHy of offenses equally as serious as those which
he is endeavoring to suppress.
ur, again, it may be the honored and trusted pastor
a lasnionamo congregation who first betrays, and
A Photograph of an Opium Den in New York's Chinatown, Where Social Workers Try to Redeem Unfortunates
of
then, to hide his first offense, basely murders one of his
nock who In her lnnoconco and simple faith looks to
him for spiritual guidance and friendly help.
Although these offenses of those who "ought to know
better" surprise and shock ns raoro than Blmliar of
rensoB committed by individuals in less conspicuous
walks of life, experience shows us that they are not
exceptional, and that they spring from the same pas
sions of tho human soul.
Wo know that no vocation or lino of activity Is la.
itself a gunrantco of tho absolute Integrity of those
who are thus engaged. Tho "human side," by which, to
be more accurate, we usually -mean human frailties, is
the common possession of every man. Even those who
may be Justly classed as great may, as respeots the
ordinary virtues of humanity, fall as far below the aver
age as thoy are above it because of their special endow
stents. Milton, for example, who has endowed our
language with the finest and noblest poetry it possesses,
and who has given expression to some of the most sub
lime thoughts tho world has known, was notorious for
hia Tliene6s of speech and for his bitterness and mean
ness in disputes with his personal enemies.
In view of theso universal characteristics of human
nature, therefore, Instances of tho kind cited abovo are
Kot difficult of explanation. The expectation of per
ianal gain or the overwhelming force of passion tern
pararily dominates tho consciousness of the victim to
the exclusion of saner and worthier considerations
Tao force of good habits may make the conflict harder
and thus postpone the hour of surrender to the evil, but
tho processes and results are the same as in the case of
those with natural tendencies to crime.
Thero Is, howevor, another class of cases of very
similar character where Individuals whose Intentions
aro of the worthiest and whose training is presumably
l tho best surrender to impulses of which they them
selves must obviously be the victims and for which no
reasonable excuse can be offered. We refer to the largo
ntunber of social Workers who, while apparently de
voting themselves to benevolent work among the crim
inal and unfortunate classes, are themselves drawn
down to the level of those whom thoy have undertaken
to help to better thing. It is Important to note that
the victims of this tendency to retrogression are invari
ably women, a fact which it will be helpful to have in
m'id vhrn we como to seek an explanation of it
Attention was forcibly called to this peculiar pbe
iomenon a few years ago by the revolting murder of
BIsle Sigel, a young girj of prominent family who had
volunteered her sorvlces as a missionary for personal
work among the Chinese on the East Bide. Investiga
tlons Into her death revealed tho fact that she had be
come entangled in lovo affairs with several Chinamen
to whoso rooms she made a practise of going in her
capacity of toacher, and that her murdor was tho result
of Jealousy which eho herself had to a groat extent
encouraged.
The 'widespread criticism of tho plan of missionary
work in vogue among the Chinese resulting from this
incident disclosed a startling and absolutely incredible
state of affairs as to the relations existing between tho
missionary workers and their pupils. It waB found that
the -work was boing carried on largely by inexperienced
girls and young women who had gone Into it as a tem
porary diversion, and that these women wore, often the
aggressive parties in tho establishment of relationships
of the most dangerous kind. The following statement
by an experienced director of social work, Miss Helen
Olark, affords an Interesting insight into tho character
istics of theso women:
"The plcturo I havo seen of young, foolish, frivolous
minded white women deliberately egging the Chinese
Bible students on to dangerous ' flirtations makes mo
shudder over the results. The ovlla of this
system are more subtle and far-reaching than even
its most bitter opponents havo over dreamed. For
years the practise of permitting American women to
. teach Chinese pupils Individually has accumulated Its
results of tragedy and sorrow. Life after life has been
blasted and homes wrecked ad libitum, and thoro has
been no restraining band. Moro than once our mission
has sheltered somo heart-broken woman, the dupe of an
Intermarriage or of an alliance that was even worse."
"Deliver me," said another prominent mission worker,
"from the women that coie hero from fashionable up
town districts from IUversldo Drive and Fifth avenue
who come here with blbleB in one hand and with tho
other stretched out in coquetry to these young China
men. If their husbands knew one-quarter of what I
could tell them things I have seen these women do,
the places thoy havo gone with these would-be Christian
convorts the divorce courts would do a lively business
for somo ttmo to come. I will tell you plainly that the
Chinese do not need conversion bo much as tho white
womon of Chinatown need it, and many of the women
missionaries need It more than tho circles of Chinese
young men whom they fawn upon as they teach from
the word of God. The Chinese men do not need -it, and
nobody knows this bettor than tho would-bo mission
arles. Hypocrites they are, in almost every instance,
I would say."
That these statements of the situation are not mere
empty exaggerations is shown by tho fact, vouched for
by the best authority, that a large number of the do
graded white women now living In the Chinese sections
found tholr way there originally under the Influence of
their misdirected missionary zeal or through their
equally morbid curiosity to Btudy social conditions In
tho slums at first hand.
'While it is manifestly unfair to put all social workers
Into the samo class without discrimination, It is never
theless true, as pointed out by the women referred to
abovo, that the ranks of social workers are recruited
largely from tho higher classes of society. This Is so
for two rcasouB first, because the young women of the
higher classes are, generally speaking, the only ones
who can find leisure for this kind of work; and, second,
because, lacking definite occupations, thoy aro tho only
ones who feel the neod of this sort of outlet tor their
natural activities, repressed as they are by the artificial
conditions of their life.
It is hard for tho ranscullno mind
to appreciate, nnd still harder ade
quately to describe, tho peculiar form
of ennui to which young women of
these classes nro subject, and which
in many cases constitutes their solo
reason for entering social work. Thn
whole subjoct, (however, has been
treated by a woman, Mrs. Hnnsson.
with so keen psychological insight
that her statement is worthy of quo
tation at considerable lengh:
"The young girl of wealth and so
cial position Is insulated from life; she
sees its deep red, its beating pulse,
its sweet surprises and sudden dis
closures from afar like a pale phan
tasmagoria, or it passes before her In
tho distorted reflections of half-for-blddcn,
fashionable rending, and she
returns every evening to her own In
ward void. Sho may live lovo ro
mances if sho wishes' to, and later,
when married, sho can, if she likes,
make up by the number of her lovo
affairs for tho lack of variety; but
that deep, healthy restoration which
the staking of one's whole being upon
another in the hour of danger brings
thnt moment of bliss when all tho
inner fountnlns gush forth and body
and soul are so glowing that they
no longer perceive external cold
theso remain hidden from her. And
yet it is these for which she pines.
"Externally sho is only permitted
.to move in prescribed forms, and
' eho feels with deadly weariness that
only prescribed feelings meet and wiL
continue to meet her, In
the weariness of their disappoint
ment many of the most promising young women revolt
from marriage, in which thoy expect only a lukewarm
affection. Precisely in those circles where no material
obstacles exist many of the prettiest and healthiest
women remain single. And when, after unenjoyed en
joyments, festivities, distinctions, proposals, etc., a con
stantly Increasing and mora suffocating depression
overspreads them when body and soul gradually lose
their resisting powers, then the pretty ones become
pious and tho healthy delicate.
"They look about them for something which can give
their idle days a purpose, tho emptiness of their exist
ence a meaning which can restore their weakened vital
energies, something which can release them from tho
Interminable society of their ego a duty, a sacrifice or
a diversion which they can clothe in theso fine names.
"Their womanly instincts, so long warped, repressed
and cheated, waken in their original strength. The
instincts of motherhood, which consist in bearing, en
during, waiting, helping, sympathizing, and which have
never gained freo outlet and expansion because their
owners had lost faith In motherhood In their own cases,
are now turned to others. They feel personally and
strongly In their own bodies tho tortures of starving
mothers, suffering children and unemployed fathers,
the whole misery of the poor and the robbed. And they
yearn to help, out of a wild desire which is really to
help themselves, to find peace, to get relief from pain
which they, reflecting on the suffering around them,
feel as if In tho body of the child they do not bear."
It is, then, in theso powerful natural impulses of tho
woman that wo aro to find tho key to her weakness as
well as her greatness. With the maternal Instinct
atrong within her, tho woman, however normal and
sane sho may be, Is in a condition of unstable equilib
rium, and It Is largely a matter of chanco In which
direction she is likely to incline. It a strong and worthy
love comes into her life, the Impulse finds its natural
outlet in a happy married life.
If, on the other hand, the real soul mate falls to
Marriage of a White Woman Slum Missionary
to a Chinaman.
appear at the psychological moment and these Impulses
must be repressed, they grow In strength liko a spring
that is gradually compressed until a point is finally
reached where the tension is too strong to be con
trolled. In earlier times the cloisters afforded a safe
retreat for the young woman who had reached this
critical stago. To-day the only alternatives seem to be
oithor an unworthy and scandalous alliance, which is
soon repented of In sorrow, or some form of social
service.
In the latter case the outcome again Is problematical.
Women who aro endowed with a high order of intelli
gence and a strong sense of the direct and practical,
and who go Into their work under proper restrictions
and guidance, 'become a strong and permanent force for
social betterment a Jane Addams or a Katherlne
Dement Davis.
But too often, unfortunately, this saving common
sense and wholesome guidance aro lacking, tho broader
view Is lost, and, as in the case of the teachers of
Chinamen, the Interests become wholly Individual and
personal. The woman unwittingly places herself In a
compromising position from which there Is no escape
except through open acknowledgment of her shame or
through a mysterious and sudden disappearance.
Love Is a Poison; If ou Can Be Vaccinated for It
O
.NE noted French physician, Dr.
Mourlco do Floury, has discov
ered that love is a poison, and
another, Jules Cheron, has prepared a
eerum for tho cure of It.
Dr. do Floury, who is a noted spe
cialist on mental and nervous dis
eases, in n now" book says that lovo
is a form of intoxication to be classed
with alcoholism and tho use of mor
phine, cocaine and other nerve poisons.
Dr. Floury says:
?The state of being in love, wheth
er passionately or plntonically but
especially plntonically, rest assured
of that with its delusion, blindness,
blundering and melancholy, is, beyond
any doubt, a condition of mental poi
soning quite comparable with the
other intoxicants called voluntary.
. . . It Is a poison, and acts like
a poison."
Dr. do Fleury's firm opinion Is that
sentimental love is decidedly of the
name order as the voluntary Intoxi
cations described by doctors. And
further and this is glad news that
love is one of the mildest of these
poisons, and that Its noxious aclon is
most easily repressed. This is the or
der in which ho places their danger:
1. Alcohol.
2. Opium and haschlscb.
3. Morphine, cocaine, ether
4. Tobacco.
5. Love.
"To be morbidly in love," saya Dr.
Fleury, "means that the 'subject' can
not live away from the person be
loved, suffers In absence, and is at
each parting more in love thanlbefore.
more intoxicated than ever."
Dr. Fleury took such victims nnd
experimented with them. He applied
the process of demonstration which is
used in the natural sciences. He
traced the curve of love fever as tho
curvo of typhoid is traced. He made
a chart, or temperature 6heet, check
ed the subject's nervous condition and
bo was able to see exactly how badly
the victim was suffering.
One patient was hopelessly, madly
in love. Ho tried a Journey, but
turned back. His will was not bis
own. It wquld not act.
Dr. Fleury prescribed a treatment
of isolation and special tonics for the
nervous system .according to their
chart variations.
The patient hesitated for ten days,
and then, after "a frightful scene," he
yielded. Dr. Floury sent him to n
hydropathic establishment, and be got
the patient to sign an agreement not
to leave the house without leave.
Dr. Fleury also had the co-operation
of the woman in the case.
"As morphine is given in doses," he
says, "so I dosed this man. The first
week he went to sec the woman every
other day, the second week he saw
her twice, the third on her' reception
day at 5 o'clock, only in the presence
of others. Then, without warning, I
stopped his going out and kept him
as though in prison, until his cure
was complete.
"At first it was terrible. He cried,
struggled, reproached me furiously,
declared he would apply to the police
and have me shut up in my turn for
violation of liberty. He implored,
wept, tried nil sorts of tricks, suffered
a thousand torments.
"He tried cunning, protested that
that he was cured, but I was firm,
being convinced that suicide would be
the end of the affair if I failed. At
the end of five weeks he was again
calm and 6et to work. After two
months he was completely cured."
Dr. Fleury is convinced that these
"love intoxications" can be cured as
morphino-manla Is cured by separa
tion, humanely graduated, by electri
cal treatment, and by the scrum of
his colleague. Dr. Jules Cheron.
CODyrlKht, 1914, by the Star Company, Great Britain Rights Reserved.