A FEMALE DETECTIVE.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 779, 14 June 1877, Page 3

A FEMALE DETECTIVE.

(From the/ European s£ail,*.) !; A strange,, not to say sinister, character, has. recently passed away from among the dark dens of crime, which she haunted with'unflihching persistence. This extraordinary woman was as peculiar in her ap- ; pearance as in the nature of''her; avocations. t Short, thickset, wiwi the arms 6f a prize-fighter, 'and fea-j tures which , might... be compared; to those of a bull-dog, but certainly 1 bore no resemblance to the ordinary countenance of a 'gentle woman,' - this creature could not fail to inspire a sense of repugnance .to those even who were disposed to ad mire her courage and acknowledge the utility of the services she rendered. There are hut few persons, however, who 1 were ever acquainted with the secret of her life. In Blackfriars there ~- lives an artisan, much respeeted by his neighbours, whose voice is not without influence at election times, but who is also notorious for his Republican, not to say revolutionary, views. Some years ago' his children and wife were suddenly

seized with scarlet fever. Helpless . and alone, with all his family dan--vlrwoctsljg k the father rushed wildly , about if on assistance; and when the woman, whose appearance has been but faintly described, came forward and offered her services as sick nurse, hj& at once gratefully accepted her help. She was known in the ■'- neighbourhood" as experienced nurse, and has often been recommended to poor patients' by the parish dp.ctor. The nurse subsequently'cohfessed her real character. In a word, she was a- police detective. Nursing was but a pretext!; it was an excellent excuse for admittance into, suspected house, holds, and doubtless the police had , i their .eye on this Republican.; " £The female detactive was not, as a rule, employed oh political missions. Her chief duty was to discover criminals, and those of the most low and dangerous type. For this purpose her appearance was more an advantage than otherwise. No oath was too loud, blasphemouSj or coarse for her' to utter ; there was no turn of vulgar speech, that sheignored, and she was ever ready to greet the most revolting jokes with - the heartiest' laughter. - Placing herself in relation with, the parish doctor, she volunteered to .nurse those families whose ; honesty' ; was suspected' by 'the authorities.

As a nurse she disarmed all suspicion, and did not fail to take careful note of ". all she. heard. ! Her manners were also apparantely so loose and low that but little restraint was observed in her presence, and ; reports forwarded to Scotland Yard were thus rendered all. the -more valuable: As a monthly nurse she has welcomed into the world the children of notorious criminals who were ultimately destined to become her prey ; while as a sick nurse she extracted from her half unconscious and debilitated fever patients the confession of some dark deed; and hints as to the whereabouts of con- : federates/in. crime., Such was'''the general plan of action observed by /this extraordinary woman; but this was rather a slow procesf> and at times it was necessary to fall at once upon the wrong-doer. On one occasion, for instance, the police received infor mation that there was a gang of false money makers in a certain street] but notwithstanding every effort they were, unable to acertain in which house the coiners worked, The services of the female detective were thereupon requisitioned, *and she was dispatched to the street in question to see what could be done. After walking upland down a little ■;*-• while she notiqed'a child ooming out af one of the. houses, whose face indioated a kind disposition, Seizing hastily this opportunity, the detective feigned illness, and begged to be taken indoors for a moment. Forgetful of her parent's, warning the child, in her excitement, seeing nothing but \x\ great agony,, at once, and without giving alarm, admitted the detective into the house." The sudden entrance thus obtained enabled the detective to hear the metallic; sonnds proceeding from the coiners* workshop before the latter were aware that any stranger was ; in '.tha house, were not long in discovering their danger. Before the detective had time to leave the premises the chief of the gang rushed up iaom the cellar, where|be was at work, snd in his fury hurled a ladle-full ot molten lead at her head. Fortunately the poke bonnet that she wore saved' b.er life } the burns she received were not fatal, though • they destroyed • her hair and its roots. The police arrived in time, on hearing, the alarm, to arrest eighteen coiners. The chief, who was first .aware of the surprise, was able to escape, but he subsequently captijrecl in an<J there sentenced to eighteen years' servitude in the galleys. It might have been imagined that if anything could make a woman abandon her particular, calling, it would be the loss of her hair j hut with the c[etective. it only increased her love of what she called the sport. She considered that it would now be more easy for her to dress as a boy, and in this, her favourite guise, she penetrated many a thieves' 'den. On one occasion, however, she , was discovered. A brawny thief asked her to speak, that is to say, to give the passwords and to use certain slang expressions known only ■"..'. ty the particular gapg whom she

was spying. This she was unable to do. The thief-then inquired whether anyone had seen her enter the house, and, '6ii her answering in the: negative, coolly informed her that she would never be seen to go out again. This was the signal' for execution, and, after brandishing an iron bar, he struck a terrible blow at the detective's head. She had just time, however, to dash her haad through a window-pane and spring a rattle, and the police, stationed outside,; rushed in to the rescue. They found; the detective lying insensible on the; floor, with, her skull fractured, and it has been her boast that this ad-: venture cost her 14 small pieces of bone "extracted from the wound. Still undaunted, and so long as health lasted, the detective continued on* the scent, encountering adventures; at step, always In danger, often indulging in hand-to-hand fights, and selecting indiscriminately for her foes, both men and women, proving on either her skill in the ' art of self-defence;' She constantly received subsidies from Scotland Yard, and was armed with the magic whistle, rattle, and number, given her by the authorities, and which iensnred the assistance of eveiy policeman, stranger or not, whose services she might find it necessary to call for.: ; Sickness at last subdued this turbulent spirit, and-the thieves oh the Surrey side need no longer.fear the visits of the female detective. «*