Remarkable Exploits of Female "Males."

Manawatu Standard, Volume XL, Issue 75, 8 May 1903, Page 7

Remarkable Exploits of Female "Males."

During tha pai:t few. months interest hau on several occasions been aroused by inistanccs coming to light of wouien successfully m.isr{ue:ad:ng as -men. -Tliey have donned the liabi-imc-ntfl of the male, and, whilo .posmg as member^ of the f.tcrnc-r sex, hiivo _mixod frsey with the public. ■ The dif'gui.se is usually so good that it is only by Koiue untoward accidicnt tb.at the secrets of these daring women arc revealed. It is only ;■„ few weeks ago tint tho

.''•:ngular stoiy of a young girl oi saventsen who h >.d been JiMECiueruding as a boy van uni'olded at t!io Bristol po.ico court. TJie /.'irl, Vnoso name v,as Esther ilcE'.vivn, lived at \Yis!i:uv. near G-.asgow. and was. lot't an orphan. Having to light her own way in-tho world she resolved to do so as ;■. boy. Cutting off her li:iir ;uid doiraing a lad'jj suit she obt:. ued J-^u'LOYIMKXT AS A THOLLIOY SOY at a, colliery some thres miles from home. i'or i'our mojitlis y.ho woiked ban!, jjusliinj;l the hewvy tubs, into wbic;h the co:ii h ioKiled, along to tho pit shafts. Sbo x':.!in dis:ip2}2:;ri:-d fronii tha ncigliboiivhocd, ic.id' in &.pteiv,bei.\ l£ol, was teon in Dundee. Tiirre sj.c fbippad on. ;)u.;rcl ;•„ cos.vting Kt-c-H-uier and worked as cabin boy for ;-, Voitui-ht. Aitcix-a-ds >ho e-.nbarked on ;i vessel bound fov Ya'paraiso. ji.is:^ JicJ'hvan did the journey without anyone's suspicion} being aroused as to tho deception, hut on thu next, voyagu she took lier sex v.-;l.-; discovered when'th"cbo:ii was at Alexandria., in cousoo uenco of each .member of the crew having to pass the .doctor. Sim was brought h:.ck by tiie cr.pt:tin cf the boat as a cabin i>:is:.en!ier, although she still wore boy's clothes di;ring_tl:e return voyage. The interest excited in ha- story led to tho jrirl-sr.ilor securing a good tituutiou in Bristol at a domestic servant. jAntothe:." young female "male"' resides in vVrJes, and her caso was veiv tivr.ilur to tliat of Hiss ilcEwan. " .- SITE IS CXLV POUR-TEE" YF-V?S 0? At.il-:,

;:r.d lives at Abercaiiaid, near Z'.lerthyr Tydvil. Som3 little timo ago she ran away fi-om .lioine and donned inaseuliae attire, thinking th:-.t would ]ielp her to obtain employment niora quinck.j-. In this the judged rightly, and her "disguise proved so fuecetssful that she soon obtained employment as a collier's boy at fifteen sliiiiir.«3 a Vi'ec-k. ■ ° She might h-uva .'.till been earning her livelihood'in.this nnnnei- lu-.d not ho-r'r.iul-!;:dy':.: suspicions Ijccn- arnuscd by he'•cleanliness," with the result rh.-it she re-quest-ed her ledger to leave. This sudden turn in even'vi was too much for this up-to-date- Rosalind, and she broke down under fchs nervous t-'rain and lu;d to ha taksn lo the local infirmary. It. is .".-lid Thai-, an cxtraordinarr «ory coni-es from the North of Scotland "relative to ;i ceriain gentlemsn who is very avcll known in the business circles of a. larsjo town there-. It is whispered tlua "he" "is realty a wom:m, but no reason is adduced for her masq-jerr.dini? as a ,masi. Ghe mixes" freely in society, clresse:; faultlessly, and app-CHrs at all public functions. Her rex has lv:cn all ths more easily coneenled as s.io bus ;;■ deep voice and a decidedly manly appearance. In fact. sup: has g-hotvx \ stigft moustache. Tl;e-e pn-ticul;:^; ;:re said to bs well r.scerta'ned, and considerable curiosity c~-n----xtc-s^ round thia lady 'a. male attire. Tho idrw, of a .woman living raid working as a man in the midst of London and other iarga tov/ns for over forty-ajven voavs wo-ild )irob:ibly have been ::coutc.c!i s-s':m absnrd tlig'uD of imagination if such a tiling had been :uisrgfsted by a novelist. But once apain truth li;is ]jrovcd stronger than fiction for such was tlia li-e k'-otv of CatherineCoornhe, vrlio v.t.j; sentenced not long ago 3^aryiCbono to four months' imprisonment :or fr.u;<l. From lier own account of her life .sbo wjis married when she was sixteen, and,, after working for several years as a schoolmistrc.;^, v;m av.v.y from her husband and went to Bii-iiringluun. disguised as -i man.

After serving tv.-o years on a P. and 0. liner im captain's cook, slie became accpiaimtcd v/itli a maid in the service of a titled Utdv. AXD UYEB -\\TTH HER FOR FOURTEEN YEARS. tit Huddersfi'e'd'. Ou Ticaraig of hey husbimd's deutli she returned to London, rosumsd n.n.'.o aU-ire. ;u)d -iras emj>loved in the Army ana Navy Stores: she then s«i-ved for iifteen years as ;i painter xud (Iccovator on P. and 0. s-teamevs in the Albert Docks. Lately, however, ill-luck seems to_ have dogged the footsteps of this e:ctrao'.'diuary womiin, juid several accidents brouglit. a, period of i!l-hcaltli. Ono _ kind-hearted individu;J sent tlio '"poor i'eiloV to a convalescent home at Bcxhill-on-Sox. But things went from bad to worse, and at length she sought refuge in tlio casual ward, and there, on account of her dread at the ordeal of tho bath, she revealed her secret to the authorities.

Tho beautiful daughter of a, Boston millionaire recently achieved a wonderful feafc of mule impersonation, which war, only m-:u!o known to her friends alter her death on tho steamer Oittn. di Torino as it was en'ci-insr New York Harbour early in October, 1901. It was at Milan that sho met Josephine Boriani in the art school, and beforn long the two girls became so attached to one another that Miss Hall assumed masculine nttii'o and MISS BORIAXI POSED AS HER WIFE. Miss Hal! affected all the sports.and habits of tho stronger sex. In Paris and London sho tcs known as Count Cassini, aiid could smoke and drink, and rode to hounds. She frequently -unreel a-n- played golf whilst in Falkland. A Xnv York lad1- recently died who for thorty years had successfully passed as a man. Sho lived to tho ago of sixty, and ib was not until her death; that her secret v.\is discovered, and thousands of people wei-e amazed to learn that, tho late "Mr" Murray Hall, the well-known citizen and Tammany politician, was a woman. Even her adopted daughter grow ui> without fiticliiiGT out her "fathers " secret, and, incredible as it seems, this strange character had married twico and to aiL intents and purposes lived happily with each wife. "Mi:" Murray Hall had hosts of friends and' was a member of the Ivoquois Club, besides being

A VEIIY ENERGETIC WORKER AT ALL JvLEOTJONS. in (.lie Democratic cause. She w;>.s 1-lid principal partner in a jn'ospei-ous inteUi- : «enca office, and -when slie died left £12,000 Her deathbed-explanation of her strange mode of life was liliat she -was born poor, raid passed as a man in order to earu more money:. Thoro is a farm seine few miles from tlra C:r.y of Oswcgo., nea.r tlie onsiern end of Lake Ontario, where for more than forty years past Dr. Mary Walker has lived the life of an able-bodied, active mar.. Her disgaiKo was discovered some j-ears a-ffo, bub she does nob mind, and is p'articiviairly ]u-ou,d of her achievements. She can ride, plough, shoot, si ml fish with any man in vho district, besides being an inveterate smoker.

''Doesn't it give you ;•„ ten-hlo fcoii:-^ v.'lien you vuii over a, m;m':" thsy v-A^-llSK). i-iiituviHt. "If. givu« me a pvcliy . viiivj'u' .jolt sometimes-."