SYDNEY MAN-WOMAN

Hokitika Guardian, 14 May 1921, Page 1

SYDNEY MAN-WOMAN

DISCOVERED AND FINED. SYDNEY, May 3. Sydney appears to have more than her fair share of strange and erratic people. Newspaper readers are always being tickled with some queer or sordid disclosure. The latest is the discovery of a man who masqueraded as a woman. Wc have many cases of women passing themselves off as men, but it is much more difficult for a mag to “get away with it.”

It appears that the detectives had been watching this man—George Augustus Roeake, 58 years of age—for a long time. They found that he had worked as a jobbing motor mechanic during the day, and was employed casually by various firms. He was then in male attire, and there was nothing extraordinary about his behaviour. But frequently in the evenings he completely disguised liimself in female attire. It would have taken an expert to detect the disguise. Roeake spent much time and money, apparently, on the make-up. He was then dressed, with meticulous care as to details, as a middle-aged woman. The black hat was a fashionahde"bit of millinery, the stockings were silk, there were earrings and plenty of powder, there was a wig, the gloved bands were encased in a muff, and the “undies” were of delicate texture and complete as to equipment.

Thus disguised, Rocake frequently went out walking at nights with various women. The detectives’ suspicions were aroused because on these excursions Rocake—who was known as Winifred Wilson—always sought dark and unfrequented places. They watched foi a long time, and finally they arrested “Winifred,” and charged him with offensive behaviour. They raided the room he had occupied in Rushcutters Bay for a year, and took away a cartload of female clothing, paints, and powders.

Rocake told the Magistrate that there was ‘‘no ulterior motive whatever behind his prank.” “Are you sane?” asked the Magistrate. “Yes, quite sane,” answered the man-woman, who stood in the dock in female attire. “I did it once a fortnight—sometimes once n, week. It was more a matter of making fun.” The man-woman was fined £2. A curious, highly-amused, and by no means silent crowd followed “her as “she” left the»Court.

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