30 YEARS AS A MAN

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 283, 24 August 1920, Page 6

30 YEARS AS A MAN

v WOMAN'S EEMAEKABLE MASQUEHADE AS A WIDOWEE. A 6trange story that, probably never will be explained, is revived by the deajh in Leeds Infirmary /of Dora Hanson, a German woman, who for over thirty years successfully masqueraded as a man, UntU two years'ago she was known as Ferdinand Hansen, and worked in Leeds for many years as a photo. grapTier's canvasser. Then she had a paralytic seizure while shopping in the town, and was-.,taken to .the infirmary, where tho secret of her sex,, so long guarded, was discovered. From that time until she died Dora remained an inmato of that institution. Sho was free of speech on all but ono subject. If asked for the reason of her masquerade her wrath was at once and sho could never be persuaded to discuss it. Her secret has apparently died with' her.

Previously she had declared that she was a Danish widower, with expectations of inheriting a fortune from a sister in Hamburg. By this story and the promise of a share of tho mbney, she lived for seven years as a lodger with a widow on the outskirts of the, city. When Dora's secret was discovered the landlady estimated that she'was out of pooket on her account to ,tho extent of ever iC3OOO. "Ferdinand's" deftness with the needle "he" explained away by saying that "his wife" had been a milliner.

One decidedly masculine trait in the woman was her fondness for smoking strong tobacco. . Before going to Leeds sho is believed to have travelled extensively in America.