MASQUERADE AS WOMAN

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19454, 13 October 1937, Page 2

MASQUERADE AS WOMAN

DECEPTION BY AMERICAN SIX YEARS OF MARRIAGE (Elec. Tel. Copyright—TMtod Pross Assn.) NEW YORK, Oct. 12. A flippant remark by a man from whom he sought work, "Why don't you go home and powder your nose," is stated to have inspired William Richeson, aged 26, to masquerade as a woman for 10 years. Richeson was charged to-day with disorderly conduct. The report of the probation officer said that Richeson originally was arraigned in the women's court, but his sex was not discovered until he bathed in a women's prison. The report continued: "Richeson claims that he is not abnormal, but is merely matching his wits against society. Because he was unable to find work on leaving school he decided, after the remark about powdering his nose, to enter on the masquerade. During the 10 years he posed as a woman, Richeson was employed as a nurse, a waitress, a laundress and a chorus girl. "Six years ago he 'married' a man, with whom he has lived ever since. "The husband," the report goes on to say, "is still unaware of the deception, and has not been informed of it, because he 'is madly in love with his wife and might do something desperate.'" Richeson was sentenced to 90 days' imprisonment.