I don’t care how “scandalous” a person is, no one deserves to be tarred, especially not an 18 year old young woman.
Women Tar Young Girl
Norwalk, O., Sept. 13. — Half a dozen women of Clarksfield, a small town near here, stripped and cruelly tarred the body of an 18 year old girl last night.
The girl lived with her mother and father and two sisters, one 20 years old and the other 9.
There was scandal, and several weeks ago, the women of the town demanded that the officials take the 9 year old daughter from the family.
To prevent the officials doing so, the 18 year old sister left town. She came back a few days ago.
The women of the town, which has only a population of 100, held a meeting. Six of them dressed as men and for three nights they kept a kettle of tar in the woods, and laid in wait for the girl.
Last night they stones the father’s house, and later caught the girl when she ventured out after dark. They took the girl into the woods, stripped all her clothes off, and tarred her from head to foot.
Suffering tortures, the girl got them to stop by sobbing that she would leave town for good. She and her older sister left today. The authorities say they will do nothing about the tarring. [Typical behavior for small towns, even today.]
[Source: The Day Book (Chicago, Illinois newspaper). September 13, 1912.]
