AMAZING CAREER

Hokitika Guardian, 7 March 1929, Page 3

AMAZING CAREER

WOMAN AS MAN. (United Press Association. —By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.) LONDON, Mitrcli 5. The:,amazing career of a woman ;who posed l -for. y«ars as an army officer, under the name ■of Captain Leslie Ivor Victor Barker was one of the leaders of the National Fascists in London, fho ran a West End restaurant, and as then employed as a reception clerk a big West' End hotel, has been revealed bj- her arrest for contempt of Court, by failing,-to- appear; at a bankruptcy examination. Tho'. .“Captain” was . taken ,to Brixton Gaol, the. men’s prison, where the secret was revealed. Apparently the sole reason for her astonishing episode, from her view, pointy was that the world’s opportunities for men were greater than for. women. She was enabled to keep her secret' by the fact that she was a fine boxer, it good companion, and acted in a manly fashion. She is tall and »;ell built, with. dark hair, H Who the “Captain” 7 is, is still a mystery. Even the solicitor, acting for her for years does not know, and was astounded at the revelation.She masqueraded for five years, and a familiar .figure.fat. the Fascist! headquarters. Boxing acquaintances say that she had served in the Foreign Legion, and was' mado a staff- officer in: -Franoe. It is helieved that she w,ent' to India in 1919, and ..sqiiqetiines ftli© spoke of her “wife.”' Latterly, the woman called at the hotel to collect her w;ages. The masquerade was ,so successful that up to-day, the woman’s real name is, known, only ,to a select few. : ;.**The Daily Herald” asserts that ope of .the ,woman’s friepds gave the reason' £or her masquerade ip the following" words: “The man' she loved died .unt(er, : unknown circumstances, and she made-'. a solemn vow. that she would take his name and live the same kind . of life as he lived.” When taken to Brixtqn Gaol she .broke Mown and stammered: “I am a woman.” The gaol authorities imme. udiately (,n: referred hereto the lyomenls > prison at Holloway.