, and the despoiler of her virtue go
unpunished. In April of that year the penal code was amended, raising
the age of consent to sixteen years, as follows:

... Any person who takes or detains a female under sixteen years of age
for the purpose of prostitution, ... is guilty of abduction, punishable
by imprisonment for not more than five years, or by a fine of not more
than $1,000, or both.

Following closely upon this was the passage of the police matron law, in
1888, which provided for the appointment of police matrons in all cities
of more than 25,000 inhabitants, and the designating of separate houses
of detention for female delinquents. In securing this law the Woman's
Christian Temperance Union co-operated with other societies. In 1891 an
amendment to this law was secured, mainly through the efforts of Mrs.
H. K. N. Goff, of Brooklyn, making the appointment of police matrons
compulsory in the cities of New York and Brooklyn. The law as amended is
as follows:

SECTION I. The mayor of every city in this state according to the last
state or national census containing a population of 25,000 or over,
excepting the cities of New York and Brooklyn, and in the cities of New
York and Brooklyn the boards of commissioners of police of said cities
respectively, shall, within three months after the passage of this act,
designate one or more station-houses within their respective cities for
the detention and confinement of all women under arrest in said
cities....

Through the efforts of Mrs. Helen L. Bullock, of Elmira, the following
narcotic law was secured in 1889:

LAWS OF NEW YORK--CHAPTER 170.

An act to amend Section 291 of the Penal Code, relating to Children;
became a law, with the approval of the Governor, April 22, 1889.

_The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and
Assembly, do enact as follows_:

SECTION I. Section 291 of the Penal Code is hereby amended so as to read
as follows:

A person who sells, pays for, or furnishes any cigar, cigarette, or
tobacco in any of its forms to any child, actually or apparently under
the age of sixteen years, _is guilty of a misdemeanor_.

SEC. 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

In 1890 it was amended, attaching a penalty for its violation,
as follows:

AN ACT to amend Section 291 of the Penal Code, relating to Children;
approved by the Governor, May 24, 1890.

SECTION I. Section 291 of the Pe