A Fair Adventuress.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLIV, Issue 25, 22 June 1910, Page 61

A Fair Adventuress.

in'ELY EXPERIENCES IN WELLINGTON. HOW PEOPLE WERE DUPED. Only a few months have elapsed since a' certain woman’s daring exploits startled the community, and one would have thought that the lesson she taught would have been quite enough to have put people on their guard. But this is not so (says the “New Zealand Times”). Another woman is at present “operating” in Wellington, and is making a big bid to outshine her in cunning and duplicity. This new adventuress works on different lines. Some of the loading drapery establishments, firstclass hotels, and prominent business men, particularly commercial travellers, in Wellington, have succumbed to her wiles, while others have narrowly escaped through receiving timely warning. The story of her transactions has its humorous side. Disliked New Zealanders. To begin with, a week or two ago this person called upon a well-known professional business woman in Wellington and handed her a card which made her out to be the wife of a Hawke’s Bay station owner. “My husband told me to come to Wellington,” she said. ’Tie has just bought me a new motor-car, and wants me to learn to drive it. I have a lovely place in Napier,” she added; and she invited the business lady to visit her there. “Can you ride?” she queried, and on receiving an answer in the affirmative, she said she would lend her her best hunter if the business woman would visit Napier. The impostor also stated that she was going to Christchurch to bring back her little boy who was staying there, and next year she was going to England for a twelve months’ holiday. She confessed to a dislike for New Zealanders in general, and would be glad to go Home. Quite taken in by the story, which was told in a most plausible manner, goods were supplied to the value of £4 2/-. Shortly afterwards the deception was found out, and a hunt for the fair deceiver was commenced. “She wants whipping out of the town,” remarked the tradeswoman when recounting the episode. “If I had not found out as early as I did, she might have robbed me of pounds; She is still in Wellington, and I have threatened her to such an extent with police proceedings that I have just got a chance of getting ray money back, and she has already sent me £l.”

’Don’t Make a Fuss.” One of the assistants who was sent out to collect the £4 2/ from the impostor, told the following story.:—“ I went, to the hotel,” she said, “accompanied by my employer. The person we had come to seek was sitting on a lounge in the hall. She came across to us and extended her hand in welcome. My employer said she had been ringing up several people and could not find out who her customer really was, but it was quite evident she was not the person she had represented herself to be. ‘ How dare you come in here and make a fuss before the waiters?’ was the rejoinder. 4 You will hear more about this. 1 have been to my solicitors, and they have told tne to give you back the goods.’ With this the woman went up to her room Smd my employer left me to see the result. When the woman returned she said that my employer had acted disgracefully in coming to the horel and making a fuss. I replied that she had made an appointment and had failed to keep it, and my employer had then become suspicious. She said she would go out and get the money, and would return in about ten minutes. I waited from two o’clock until seven, but she did not return. I went back to my employer and we thought that she might be slipping off in the southern boat. We went down to the wharf, and there she was, sure enough, talking to a handsome commercial traveller. I called her to one side and asked her what she meant to do, and my employer threatened to have her arrested if she attempted to go away by the boat. She replic d that she was only seeing a very dear friend away. We walked with her to a quiet part of the wharf, and made her take ott a quantity of the valuables she had procured by false pretences. ‘Do trust me until to-morrow,’ she said, crying, ‘and don’t make a fnss here,’ but we did not listen to her entreaties. We had heard them before. We have not

had her in our place since then, but 1 constantly see her in town, and 1 know she hag swindled others.” The Handsome Commercial. The reporter’s next step was to hunt up the handsome commercial traveller who had been seen on the wharf with the woman on the night of the “ stripping” incident. The traveller admitted having first met the fair one in Napier. The next he saw of her was on Lambton Quay a few days ago. She wished to make an appointment with him, but could not. The following day she telephoned to his office several times, but on each occasion he was out. Her next move was to send him a letter asking for £2. He did not reply, and she sent a special messenger to his private home again, asking for money. The result was that he promised to meet her at the Southern boat. The sequel was the appearance of the two persons previously referred to, and the commercial traveller then became aware of her character. Up to then he believed her to be the person she represented herself to be. He is quite satisfied now' that she is a bold adventuress. A Haul of £6. The Wellington representative of a large Southern firm recounted his experiences. A few months ago, he said, he was staying at a leading Wellington hotel, and a reputable citizen introduced him to the person in question, who was staying at another hot'el not very far away. Later in the day he received a telephone message from the woman. She said that a friend of hers from Napier—a nurse—had just arrived and was to go to Christchurch in charge of an infant, and she needed £3. The nurse would be met at Christchurch by her employer, and the money would at once 'be returned. The imposter excused herself for not lending the money to the nurse by saying she was short of cash at the moment. The man suspected nothing, willingly lent the sum, and is still waiting for its return! He did not find out the deceit for some little time, and meanwhile he was responsible for an engineer employed by his firm being swindled for a similar amount. It happened thus. After the introduction of the woman to the engineer, she called at the hotel at an hour when she knew that her first victim would not be in. The engineer received her, and she confided to him that she had called to see Mr. to borrow £3, as she had overdrawn her account' at the bank. The engineer fell into the trap, and immediately accommodated her, to his subsequent great annoyance. An Inegnious Fraud. The woman worked a clever swindle on a leading city drapery house some two or three months ago. She telephoned from Masterton and gave the name she had consistently used with all her frauds. She wanted certain goods, including an opera cloak, forwarded to Masterton on approval. This was done, and the firm was again informed through the telephone that some of the goods would be retained and the remainder sent back. At the same time the money for the things kept would be posted. The goods have not -yet been received by the firm in question, nor the money. Inquiries were set on foot, and she was traced to Napier. She was sued there for the amount of the purchase, and the money was not forthcoming. She was held for the debt by the police for a day or two and released on the petition of the firm, when it was realised that the money could not be obtained. The value of the goods obtained amounted to about £lO. Well Known in Napier. In the course of his inquiries the reporter came to the conclusion that this woman for twelve months or more had been travelling between Wellington and Napier. So venturesome did she become in the latter place that she had to quit it hastily. The doors of all the principal hotuls there are closed to her. At Hastings, too, she practised her “trade,” and that town also became too hot for her. It is reported that Masterton received some of her attentions, and that Christchurch has been treated in a similar manner.