SILENT WOMEN

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIII, 16 July 1929, Page 2

SILENT WOMEN

REPOSITORIES OF GREAT CRIME SECRETS LORD BYNG'S SECRETARY It lias surprised many people thai, a woman should he considered of sufficient importance to he included in the centenary photograph of the Commissioner, Assistant Commissioners, Chief Constables, and other high officials of Scotland' Yard. The woman thus singled out is Miss E. E. Drysdale, private secretary to Lord Byng, the Commissioner. He is the third Commissioner to whom she lias acted in this capacity. First there was Sir Nevil Mac-ready, then Sir William Horwood, and now the present police chief—all of them soldiers. Miss Drysdale has been described as the perfect private secretary for a great man. She is the essence of tact and discretion. It is really easier for a convict to break out of 'prison than a casual and unwanted caller to reach the presence of the Commissioner—and in spile of this the cnlfcr always goes away convinced that it is only a series of unusual happenings that has prevented him from reaching the chief. Miss Drvsdale knows all the grim secrets of 'Scotland Yard, but crimes and criminals, scandals and mysteries are things of which she never talks. If by any chance you ever find yourself 'in her pleasant little room adjoining the baronial-like apartment in which the Commissioner sits you will be struck by thei femininity of it. ' Miss Drysdale is not the only woman in a highly confidential position at Scotland Yard. There are two or three others. One, a member of one of the oldest families in the country, is concerned with the Secret Service, as Sir Wyndhain Childs always described that special branch of the service of which he was for so many years chief. There is probably no little' bit of secret history of this and other countries she does not know. To talk to her one would imagine that her sole interest in life was dogs, and one little animal in particular. British Reds will probably be annoyed to know that none of their secrets is hidden from a young and charming woman at. "The Yard." She knows all about their "cells" and "nuclei." She knows exactly how much money X receives from Moscow wliy it is paid to him, and how it gets here. They say women cannot keep secrets. The women of Scotland Yard are living refutations of this fable.