HUMAN ENIGMAS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16911, 9 December 1922, Page 4

HUMAN ENIGMAS.

SOME REMARKABLE MASQUERADES. PEOPLE WHO LIVE DOUBLE Livfe. Mr John M’Connell. alias The Battling Kid,” alias “ Whisting Jack,” who for eight years has been a gain; leader and one of the “ toughest ” characters in the Quaker City. is no other than Miss Florence Gray (21), the granddaughter of a prominent retired Southern judge (says the Philadelphia correspondent of the “ Doily Dispatch.”) The astonishing disclosure, which has electrified the whole city, followed * nuneh delivered without warning by Charles Weaver, an unruly member of the gang, which broke the “ Battling Kid’s ” nose. “ Whistling Jack ” had Weaver arrested. He was tried, found guilty, and about to be sentenced to one year’s imprisonment. when he suddenly *' squealed ” on his gang leader. The girl, as John M’Connell. was the leader of Philadelphia’s “ Iron Gang,” rfnd her adventures for eight years would turn Tom Sawyer pale with envious admiration. She spent her spare time in billiard rooms ami her week-ends in gaol. She swam the Delaware River twice, did exhibition boxing, appeared with a woman in a trapeze act. and earned £lO a week during the war as engineer of both a steam and an electric crane in a munition plant. She could break hearts as well ns .jaws. Three times she. wooed and won the flowers of Philadelphia’s Fast End, only to break the engagement to a pretty giel on each occasion. Sh i was engaged “ for keeps V to twenty-two-year-old T-ettie HarrisOn, when the denouement came. Discussing the doings of mysteriou: individuals who had concealed their identity under various disguises. ° private inquiry agent in the ■“ Bir mingham Post” says:— RENOUNCED THE WORLD. “ Sometimes tlic recluse is met with —men or women who renounce the world, shut themselves up. and live an absolutely solitary life. “ There is a gentleman who has a house in Forest Hill, lionuon, who is a remarkable human enigma of the recluse type. For thirty-five years no soul but himself has entered his house. His wife, whom he passionately loved, committed suicide in her bedroom by drinking poison. No doubt it ha? affected the mind of the husband, for since that hour he has cut himself off from the. world. The secrets of that locked up house remain unfathomable. That there are weird secrets cannot be doubted, for at night the front rooms are illuminated and passers-by hear sounds of mysterious harmony, bells ringing, and a cloud of incense pours from tho open window.

“It will be recollected that much was made by the Druse claimant to the estates of the Duke oi Portland ot the alleged 4 double ’ life led by the Duke of Portland. It was said that lie passed part of his time as ‘ Mr Druse ’ and that under this name he had raised another family. ‘•There is another member of the Peerage at the present time who certainly de es lead a dual existence. He is a painfully shy man, and nothing pleases him better than t-o cast off tlie cares of his exalted station and retreat to a little flat which lie rents in London. There he becomes ‘ Mr a quiet end unassuming gentleman of leisure. He is supposed to bo something * in

the City.’ He goes out every morning at the same hour, and returns in the evening. What lie does during the day is a bit of a mystery. His rooms are always carefully locked up. Occasionally he goes back to the life of a nonentity. His relatives were worried about his habit of vanihing, and the matter was put into my hands. I was able to clear up the mystery to a certain extent.”

THE MAN WHO WAS A “ WOMAN.” The following extraordinary case was related to me by “ Cheiro,” the worldfamous seer, who vouched for its truth in every detail.

A wealthy young gentleman in London had a charming bride. But after s!u had been married about- a year she confided in her father the fact that she as greatly disturbed owing to her husband’s mysterious conduct. At intervals he would vanish, returning after two or three weeks. He gave no explanation except a vague hint that ‘‘ business had called him away? ” Eventually,, on the advice of her father (who suspected there was a “ woman in the case”), he was followed by a private detective. Ho went straight dewn to a. select suburb of London, entered a big block of flats, and let hiin***o,lo "itk a key. The detective made inquiries, and was told that a. “ Miss Smith ” lived there “ a very quiot young lady who is here at intervals. Naturally the detective thought the mystery was at an end

MANIA TO POSE AS A WOMAN. On a pretext he obtained admission to the fiat. But he only found on© occupant. “ Miss Smith ” was the lmsband who was afflicted with the rare tut baffling form of mania that compels an unfortunate victim to live both as a man and a “ woman.” The moment the husband entered the flat ho uHsumed the guise of a woman. Not only did lie dress in feminine apparel, hut did fancy work and other womanish occupations. Then the desire for male attire and life would suddenly reassert itself and he would return to his wife. Finjally he vanished altogether and when found again had engaged himself to he married to a young man who had never for a moment suspected that his “fiance” was in reality a man. Only a few days ago there was a report in the paper of a man who was charged with “disorderly conduct” in being found dressed in feminine attire. He explained that he “had to do it at times ” —meaning that when the impulse came upon him it was too strong to be resisted. History is, of course, fnH of human enigmas who have changed their sex, from “ Moll Flanders,” who fought through three campaigns, to Miss Burrows, who aa a “ man ” married three times.