A CLEVER THIEF.

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVIII, Issue 7995, 28 January 1887, Page 4

A CLEVER THIEF.

The Chicago Inter-Ocean gives the following account of a dexterous female thief arrest|ed in that oity the other day bn the charge of obtaining mtihey under false pretences : A search of hfer pfersrtU, by the matron at the station, revealed a new phase of criminal cleverness, which is as bold as it is ingenious. The young woman was arrayed in the garments of a lightning change artist, and could, without the removal of an article, change her dress into four distinct styles. When the prisoner saw that her trick was discovered, she did hot hesitate to illustrate its operation for the entertainment of hct captors. When arrested she wore a black cashmere dress, a tight bodice of the same color and material, and a hat with a wide brim. A swift displacement of hooks, eyes and buttons ; a deft adjustment of unseen fastenings here and there; a crushing squeeze of the hat, and the lady stood with a brown woollen dress with corded front bodice, and a neat little tutbfth ujion her head. Another set of manipulations, and the dress Was transformed into a gown, the turban gave place to a coif, A chaplet fell from the girdle, and the woman stood arrayed as a brown nun. Once more, presto, change, a tug of the skirt, a yank at the coif and waist, a flash of hands everywhere at once, and the nun was transformed into a young lady of aspiring fashion in brightcolored alpaca and the original wide-brimmed hat.