A CONTINENTAL ADVENTURESS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2051, 15 June 1893, Page 35

A CONTINENTAL ADVENTURESS.

HOW SHE SWINDLED THE NUNS.

The Police Court judges at Pan have just passed a sentence of five years' imprisonment upon a person named Madame Oddo-Mairo who for years past has been practising regular system of frauds under the cloak o religion, and making a number of dupes. The case (writes a correspondent of The Times) made a considerable stir in Pau. Little is known of tha woman's previous career except that she had two previous convictions against her for similar offences. She is 55 years of age, is of handsome appearance and engaging manner, and had travelled in Italy, and subsequently visited Geneva, Macos, and Paray-le-Monial, Boulcgae-sur-Mer, Lourdes, and Pau ; in all these places she will not soon be forgotten. Her method was to put up in the convent?, to which she appears to have been always highly recommended ; there she easily established a great reputation for piety. In one instance a priest at Ventimiglia admitted that he had given her 20,0001:. At the Convent of the Sacred Heart, at Boulogne, she made a great impression, and her benevolent character and resemblance to a wealthy dowager won for her the title of "La Comtesse " among the nuns. Her story was that her aunt, an Austrian princess, had just died, leaving her a valuable estate not far from Vienna. The interest thus aroused was increased by the production of documents and letters relating to the estate, and a lawsuit regarding it. She easily borrowed money to go to see her inheritance, and before setting out she made a will bequeathing all her possessions to the convent— a pious act which was acknowledged by the presentation of a beautifully-engrossed parchment conferring on her the title of benefactress. During her absence she used to write frequently to the convent, expatiating on the beauties of her estate. Then came tidings that a Croatian prince had bought the property for 420,000f. of which Madame Oddo-Maire was going to make over during her lifetime no less than 220,000f to the convent. She returned to Boulogne to await payment, which would take some little time. She there obtained loans without difficulty, one notary alone advancing her 24,000f on the guarantee of the Lady Superior. In anticipation of their good fortune, the members of the sisterhood began the building of a long-wanted mortuary chapel. Decamping before she was found out, the adventuress left for Pau with sufficient money, found in the usual way, to make a good impression at her new place of residence. She arrived in the guise of an invalid with a crutch— an instrument with which she was soon able to dispense by discovering miraculous powers of healing in a somewhat discredited statue of St. Expedit at the Franciscan Chapel. The crutch was preserved in the chapel as a trophy. The notoriety and sanctity thus obtained enabled her to borrow 10,000f from her landlord. She was never at a loas for a plausible story, and managed to get thousands of francs from bankers and members of the church party. Madame Oddo-Maire had, of course, visited Monte Carlo, and captured a croupier, who used to act as a confederate.

About 50 miners are leaving Greymouth for Weetport, owing to the flooding of the lower level of the Coal Pit Pleath. mine. The coal export for the week was 2924 tons, and the export of timber 124,394 ft.

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