TRADESPEOPLE TRICKED.

Shannon News, 8 July 1924, Page 4

TRADESPEOPLE TRICKED.

NOT ONCE OR TWICE. LADY AND THE BABY AGAIN SICK FRIEND-IN HOSPITAL.

The exploits of the lady and the bouncing baby are now approaching the famous, or rather, notorious, but there is no monotony in the mother s methods, for she succeeds in varying her modus operand! on each occasion. The latest ‘.‘dupes” that have come to light stamp tlie trickster as an actress of no mean calibre and of an original state of mind. On one occasion she chose' a local milliner for her victim. Entering the millinery estab- ( lishment she chatted to the proprie- j tress for some time, the lady’s nicelydressed and healthy-looking baby the chief tdfcic of convefsation. Suddenly (as usual), the lady finds that she has lost her purse. Handbag and basket are turned-out, but there is no- sign of i the missing article. There is no doubt about it--r-the’ purse is lost, and the. lady was about to visit her mother in | Mount Albert. (According to the tale she told the tailor, she lived in Mount Albert herself;) As in previous cases, the shop lady volunteers to lend her a few pence to pay the tram fares. Thankfully the lady consents to accept the loan and .is about to depart when fumbling, in her handbag for some time,.she produces' a crumpled piece of notepaper. After reading the paper through once or twice, she explains that the dear baby is not nearly as well as h e looks. In fact, the mother I has just consulted a doctor concerning I the child’s health, and the crumpled piece of paper is a - prescription that ' the doctor has'given her to take to a chemist, but now the baby will have to wait for its medicine. -Out of pity the milliner volunteers a further loan of 4/-, the price of the medicine. The usual profuse thanks follow a‘nd *the baby and its mother depart with the 5/-, which is to be refunded within a few days. It is needless to say that this is the last part taken by the principal in the little comedy.

The milliner, who pias come in contact with many forms of feminine tricksters in Australia, admits that she was completely taken in by the frank and open manner of her customer: ‘ The mother of th e baby is described as being' of dark complexion, and about 35 years of age, being smartly but not, showily, dressed, with the appearance of a visitor from the country. . A SICK FRIEND. A similar comes from Devonport. This time it is a friend in the Auckland Hospital whom the lady was about to visit when she was unfortunate enough to lose her purse. She entered . a well-known business establishment at North Shore and approaching the lady clerk, inquired if the manager was in. On receiving an answer in the negative: ‘‘Oh! I’m so sorry he’s not in, for he knows me so well and I wanted to borrow some money to go across to Auckland to visit a friend of. mine who as lying sick at the hospital.” The kind-heart-ed lady clerk falls for. trick at once, and explains that, although she cannot lend any of the firm’s money she will be pleased to advance the lady half a crown, which can be paid next * time she Even the baby smiles, and the pair depart, the customer having freely given her address. Time passes, but the lady and her baby have apparently been swallowed up, for no sign is seen of them. The lady clerk then drops a line to her customer’s supposed residence, but, the letter is returned within a few days after having passed through the dead letter office, and all hope of ever seeing the half-crown again is given up.

These, then, are the latest we have heard of the lady’s exploits, and if many more trusting shopmen are taken in it is probably that even the carryings on of babies will receive their sympathy.

“Jonah” (who caused such a stir by a letter written to the papers concerning