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Science Explains the Failure of Chicago's
Policewomen Alongthe Very Line Where
They Were Supposed to Be Most Useful
"The women who become rulers or conquerors are noted in
history for their ruthlessness and irrational cruelty. Such
. was Tamyris, Queen of the Massagetes, who kept the
head of her defeated enemy, King Cyrus, in a bag
by her pillow." This picture of Queen
Tamyris is by A. Zick.
By Professor David Edgar Rice, Ph. D. (Columbia)
the Famous Psychologist.
THE failure of the Chicago po
Hcowomon to handle the re
'cent strikes of women there
calls attention to some of tho most
fundamental principles of the psy
chology of sex. Wo should pay heed
to the remarkahlo discoveries then
made before moro serious mistakes
occur.
, The ten policewomen were ap
pointed 'because it was believed that
they would bo moro gentle and tact
ful In handling women In the streets
and other places. It was believed
that a woman could lock up a rioting
woman Just as a mothorNwould take
a daughter home. As a matter of
fact, the policewomen used more
violence with their sex than an or
dinary policeman would .have done.
It was believed that law-breaking
women would yield more peaceably
to officers of their own sex than to
men. As a matter of fact they re
sisted the policewomen more fiercely
than if they had 'been policemen.
The policewomen wero chosen on
account of their weight and muscle.
One of them, Mrs. Anna M. Morrison,
was on accomplished heavy-weight
lifter. Two of the policewomen, Mrs.
Anna M. Louches and Mrs. Mary A.
Boyd, made themselves particularly
unpopular by their roughness.
Tho two policewomen charged into
a crowd of striking waitresses out
side Henrlcl's restaurant, on Ran
dolph street, and, after a hot fight,
arrested six of them. Tho police
women had practised the well-known
"policeman's grip" on the arm, and
they used It with excessive force and
temper on their prisoners. The
waitresses complained that "'they
treated us a lot worse than the men
cops." There was a general demand
among worklngwomen for the. aboli
tion of the policewomen.
As a result of this disturbance the
Chief of Police said that the two
women "cops" would be transferred,
and let It bo understood that tho
system of female policemen was' a
failure.
From tho Chicago case and others
which I have observed I havo come
to the conclusion that two psycho
logical rules are in operation. In the
first place tho woman Is instinctively
accustomed to seeing a man in tho
place of public power And authority
and resents seeing a woman in such
a place. It is an instinct as old as
the race, and arguments cannot re
move It. I know that many enthusi
astic suffragists even would novor
tolerate tho idea of a woman Presi
dent. In the second place, a woman put
In tho place of public power and au
thority lacks tho physical superiority
that belongs to a strong man and
that carries with it sentiments of
self-restraint and fair play that have
grown up through ageB In the physi
cally stronger and fighting sex.
Nevertheless, knowing that shef 1b
appointed to exercise physical force,
she does it, hastily and irrationally.
In such acts her. greater emotional
excitability also plays an important
part.
The moBt advanced supporters of
the emancipation movement main
tain that there is no good reason
why women may not engage in every
line of activity now open to men,
and H must bo admitted that in
many Instances they have estab
lished their claim. Perhaps the
most conspicuous of their achieve
ments has boon, the excollent service
they havo performed in connection
with juvenllo and femalo offenders.
Certainly the rigors of the criminal
law in its application to these offen
ders have been wisely and justly
tempered by the sympathetic Inter
est that only a motherly woman
knows how to give.
Theoretically the Idea of police
women for women offenders seems a
good one. Certainly a woman is in
better position than a man to under
stand another woman, and in con
flicts botween disorderly groups and
the law mutual understanding and
sympathy are helpful. What was
the element of the situation that
was overlooked, so that the thepry
broke down when an attempt was
made to put it into practical appli
cation? The police authorities are inclined
to bellovo that the explanation lies
in. the fact that the women lacked
the physical strength to back up their
authority when the necessity arose
for their making a show of force.
To remedy the defect they are plan
ning to give their policewomen a stiff
course in physical training, Including
instruction in jlu-JItsu. Undoubtedly
this is a partial explanation. Where
a fight Is imminent there is no re
straining force quite so potent as the
consciousness in both parties to tho
encounter that a decided advantage
Ilea with one side or tho other.
To the stronger party this assur
ance of superior strength brings with
It a certain degree of poise and re
straint. Upon the weaker side It has
a sobering Influence that tends to
bring passion under the sway of rea
son. This Is the argument on which
the nations of the world Justify the
Increase of their armaments in the
Interests of peace, and it has its ap
plication to the situation wo are dis
cussing, Physical strength is Instinctively
associated with the male sex, just as
physical weakness is naturally re
garded, as an attribute of women.
When pitted against the bluecoats
the striking girls have an intuitive
sense of their inferiority in tho mat
tor of physical force, end, notwith
standing their resistance, they really
expect to be controlled. After tho
first strong outburst of fury has spent
Itself they aro likely to yield with
comparative complacency. With the
policewomen, on the other hand, they
feel that they are contending with
their equals in the matter of
strength. Their chances of success
ful resistance are therefore good, and
thoy keep up the fight. Resentment
at the thought that they are being
coerced by women who aro appar
ently their equals end who should
naturally bo their allies lends an
additional Impetus to their fury.
But there is yot another and moro
fundamental roason why women are
not likely to prove successful in thlB
particular field of nctlvlty. This Is
to be found In tho well-established
fact that women are physiologically
aoro.lrrltablo or oxcltablo than men.
Tnat Is to say, they respond more
readily end dlroctly to stimuli,
whether physical or psychical.
The question need not bo raised
here whether this is a mark of in
feriority or superiority. If any one
is disposed to raise the question, the
answer is that it is neither. It Is un
fortunate that tho matter of relative
superiority Is implied in almost
every discussion of differences of
the sexes, for It. is Just this Impli
cation that prompts so many femi
nists to maintain that sex differences
dp not exist at all. The fact is that
differences do exist, fundamental
and immutaSblo differences, and tho
only wlso course is to recognize tlielr
existence.
This point is so vital in the pres
ent day discussion of the woman
movemont and so much overlooked
. ,wo feo1 Justlfled In going just
a little out of our way to quoto from
a recent article by Miss Ida Tarbell,
a woman who certainly cannot be
accused of being an "old fogy" on tho
question of woman's place In modern
life:
"Doing a man's work in a man's
way almost invariably moans for a
woman self-consciousnoss, friction.
BOlf-suppressIon. It Is costly to
society and to tho individual, for it
means at least tho partial atrophy of
powers and qualities peculiar to
women and essential to tho
harmony, tho charm, and tho vigor
of society. Her differences aro her
strength. Their full growth com
pletes tho human cycle. To sup
press these differences Is to rob not
merely her individual life, but tho
WS& 1110 .'world of lts fuH ripeness.
"Thero is a grave need, In this
country particularly, of lifting tho
suffrage debate from tho narrow
lines it has followed, stripping it of
false assumptions and of impossible
claims, and centering it about a
woman more nearly typical than the
melancholy flguro.which so far has
served It Woman Is not
asked to prove her equality to man
by doing In his way tho things ho
does. She proves it by doing tho
things for which she Is fitted and
which the world needB from her."
This greater excitability or affect
ability of womon, which Is perhaps
tho characteristic by which she dif
fers most from man, is the source of
her greatest weakness as well as her
greatest strength. Womon as a
cIbbs are noted for their tact, -for
their ability to sense a situation Im
mediately and to adjust themselves
promptly to varying conditions.
Their intuitions -with respect to im
portant problems that are lncapablo
of logical analysts are more likely to
be accurate thon those of a man.
These are a few of the advantages
accruing from this heightened sus
ceptibility. On the other hand, this same qual
ity tends to a certain degree of In
stability in life and conduct
Whon woman occupies tho placo of
physical force eho Is naturally apt
to bo moro violont and cruel than
man. History contains lnnumorablo
Instances of this, from Jael In the
Bible, down to tho femalo furies of
the French Revolution and the Com
mune. Cloopatra. and Cathcrlno the
Great wore oxamplos of It. Legend
tolls us of Tamyris, Queen of tho
Massagotoa, who treacherously slow
her chivalrous opponont, Cyrus, King
of Persia, and kept his head In a bag
by her pillow as a memonto of hor
triumph.
Women aro more likely than men
to act hastily, to form snap judg
ments, to confuso moans and ends,
and to resort to tears when logic
fails. Physically, it shows itsolf In a
greater tondoncy to spasmodic effort
and moro rapid exhaustion. Experi
ments with tho dynamometer show
that womon tend to reach tholr
maximum powor at tho first effort,
whllo men moro often only attain
tholr maximum power at tho second
or third effort
Now It Is Just these characteris
tics that disqualify womon from cop
ing successfully with situations that
pollcomon aro so often called upon
to face. The police officer need not
bo a man of excopttonal intelligence,
but qualities essential to his success
aro those of patlenco, poise and de
liberation, as well as promptness
and certainty of action. And It i"
Policewoman Anna M. Morrison
at Her Morning Exercises.
Just thoso qualltlos, on the other
hand, that naturo apparently has de
nied to womon.
Thoro is still another reason why
fomalo offenders are likely to fare
better at the hands of the regular
bluecoats than at tho hands of tho
policewomen. This is to bo found in
the instinctive respect that men, on
tho whole, have for members of the
OPPOSltO 80X. Thnrn urn (Vino nhn
asserc mat this characteristic
mon is rapidly disappearing,
this may to somo extent be true.
However, thero still are to
found manv mon whn win vi.iri
roady compliance with the rulo of
"women first" In case of shipwreck,
and there Is even an occasional man
who will give up his seat to a woman
in a crowded car. We can not to
of
and
be
BK1k3bbbbbBiHW
One of the Ten Chicago Policewomen on Duty in Her
Regulation Uniform.
readily eradicate a feeling that Is as
old as tho race Itsolf, and police
men do not differ widely from aver
age men. Even when called upon to
use force in tho suppression of dis
order caused by women, the avora'ge
policeman will use no more violence
than is necessary to accomplish his
purpose. The femalo officer, on 'the
other hand, Is not subject to such
compunctions. Tho femalo offender
Is to hor merely a violator of the
law whoso authority sho represents
and whose majesty she must vindi
cate. For these reasons, then, Chicago's
experiment seems destined to result
in failure.
The Alarming Possibility of a Wireless Wave Zone Where Ships Explode Like Bombs
PRAORDINARY dancers to life and the wireless pan llcht Inmtin At rilatnnm f,min tt..i. ... . .. ... ...... T
EXTRAORDINARY dangers to life and
g health are said to have arisen as a
result of the powerful wireless tele
graphic waves that aro now flowing un
ceasingly around the world.
Franck Duroquler, a French electrician
and wireless expert, has called attention to
somo of these dangers. He shows that
the wireless or Hertzian waves produce
large sparks between pieces of metal
placed close together. These phenomena
may occur at many places within the .in
fluence of a wireless station. The sparks
are capable of setting fire to gases and
other Inflammable material.
The disturbances are greatest at points
midway between two Important wireless
stations. Thus he' found that tho spot
where the steamship Volturno mysteri
ously burned was midway between the
stations of Clifden, Ireland, and Glace Bay,
Newfoundland; that Cardiff, Wales, where
a disastrous explosion of coal gas recently
occurred, was midway between Paris and
Clifden. and that Toulon. France, where
three French battleships have blown up,
Is midway between tho Eiffel Tower, Paris,
and Blzerta, the great wireless station on
tho Mediterranean.
William Marconi, the principal Inventor
of wireless telegraphy, has announced a
new device that appears to have an im
portant relation to these experiments. He
has invented an electric lamp that can
-bo lighted at a distanco of six miles by
the wireless current.
Mr. Marconi says that this experiment
may be the forerunner of the application
of tho wireless waves to power, lighting
and heating currents. The mere fact that
the wireless can light lamps at a distance
appears to prove tne possibility of ignit
ing inflammable substances at the same
distance.
M. Duroquler, tho French expert re
ferred to, has gone deeply Into the rea
sons why the wireless waves cause fires
and explosions. Electricians, he says, know
that the sudden discharge of an electric
spark is the source of" a radiating energy
capable of producing at a great distance
upon devices called "resonators" powerful
vibratory movements, which In turn will
produce other sparks. This phenomenon
was observed for the first time by the
famous German physicist Herts by means
oi a tmn metallic aisc placed in an iso
lated conducting fleld.
In the first place M. Duroquler points out,
they have made use of this curious prop
erty of the electric spark in England to
blow up from a distance the hull of an old
warship. The details of the operation have
been kept secret by the engineers because
it may have great importance in war ope
rations, but a similar experiment can be
carried out by any one with very simple
apparatus.
Fill a glass globe with a mixture of two
parts of hydrogen and one of oxygen and
HOT
K
9
CLIFDEN
ATLANTIC
r, - v . fin
BOCHEFX3ET
olose it with a nnrnffln nine Th
plug pass two long steel needles with,
sharp and polished points, which almost
touch one another in tho interior of tho
globe. Thon connoct each of tho needles
to two long wires, which you pass to .the
earth or suspend on posts in diamotric'ally
opposite directions.
If you make this experiment on the day
of a thunderstorm or it you operato in
tho neighborhood of a wireless telegraph
station you will not have to wait long be
fore an inductive wave will produce a
spark from the ends of tho noodles, ignlto
the gases and cause the glass to blow up
with a loud explosion. It Is easy to under
stand that It a large quantity of gas wero
gathered in an enclosed space an explo
sion of tremendous violence and destine
tlveness might bo produced in this way.
The experiment of the British Admiralty
is perhaps the first one in which the Hertz
ian waves have been used intentionally
The Little Bomb That Will Explode Spon
taneously Near n Wireless Station. A
Steel Needles Leading Down to the Gas.
C Wireless Waves Coming from Di
rectly Opposite Stations at an Equal
Distance Apart.
A.
c A c
The Steamship Volturno Was Burnt Up Midway Between the Wireless Stations of Glace
Bay and Paris and a Distinguished French Electrician Argues That tho
Wireless Was the Cause.
Copyrlg-ht, 1014, by the Star Company. Great Britain RtsMs Reserved
for purposes of destruction. M. Duronuler.
however, believes that this ship was not
the first ono destryoed by electric reso
nance, and be believes that moro than one
great disaster may be attributed to this
cause.
Ho has found that the accidental repeti
tion of Hertz's experiment has become
quite common on account of tho great
number of resonators which aro now scat
tered about along the paths covered by
the electrlo wave. It Is only necessary
that this accident should occur In an In
flammable medium to produce a great dis
aster. 'An Atlantic liner may be burnt up
under a thunder cloud or within the in
fluence of a wireless telegraph station it
merely a few steel chains or a box of nails
happen to be left In the overheated air of
a coal bunker. A warship may be blown
up If some of the shells are placed close
together In a badly ventilated ammunition
magazine. To blow up a dlrlglbje balloon
It needs merely an Imperfect contact or a
narro w slit In the metallic armature of Its
covering. A disastrous explosion of gas
in a coal mine may occur if a little coal
dust separates the steel car from Its rails
In the mine.
"When the Hertslan waves meet the con
ductive bodies of these chains, shells, me
tallic frame work, rails and cars, they pro
duce by Induction alternating currents
which give rise to the dangerous spark at
places where tho bodies make an imper
ial contact.
While making experiments at an experi
mental station In Touralne, France, be
often observed that the most delicate In
struments on his receiving table wero put
out of order when the station at Rochefort
and that at the Eiffel Tower, In Paris,
were transmitting simultaneously. He found
that he could obtain an explosion of a flask
tilled with gases, as previously described,
at such tlmeB. After noting theso facts he
studied the position of his laboratory on
the map with regard to the two other wire
less stations. He found that it was at
exactly an equal distance from Rochefort
and Paris.
He then looked for other places on the
map whore Interference of waves from
powerful wireless stations might create
dangorous zones of resonance. He was
astonished to And that the middle point of
a straight line connecting the Eiffel Tower,
in Paris, and Blzerta, tho largest French,
wireless station on the North African
coast, marked exactly the site of tho naval
port of Toulon, where three French war
ships have been blown up with great loss
of life under very mysterious circum
stances. Ho then found that the mlddlo point of
a line connecting tho Eiffel Tower with
Clifden, the Important station on the Irish
coast that sends wireless messages over
tne Atlantic Ocean, was exactly over tho
coal mines of Cardiff, in Walos, which
wore recently the scene of a disastrous
and fatal explosion of coal gas.
He next observed that the middle point
of a line connecting the Eiffel Tower with
Glace Bay, the principal American wire
less station, marked the exact spot where
the steamship Volturno recently caught
fire under mysterious circumstances.
Ho recommends that persona working or
carrying on business In the vicinity of
wireless telegraph stations should avoid
keeping Inflammable or explosive mate
rials or allowing inflammable gases to toi
cumulate in cellars end other Inclosed!
places.