The post. [volume] (Middleburg, Snyder County, Pa.) 1864-1883, 1877-05-03
The Queen Of Shop.Lliters.

Among the females now domiciled
at the city's expense iu the work
house on Black wells Island is Mar
tha Hargreaves, whose name has
figured prominently 10 some Of the
great crimes committed in the city.
She is widely known to the detective
police as having been for many
years one,of the most expert thieves
tha. has ever operated here. Her
history is one Of strange adventures
and vicissitudes. During the last
fifteen years she has operated as a
confidence woman, shop-lifter, pick
pocket, 'qneor-shover, forger's as
sistant and fence for thieves. Her
skill in the dark aud various ways
Of crimo made her great favorite
among the big professionals Of tho
Eighth and Fifteenth Wards where
she reigoed like quocn. Dan No
Bile, the Lord boud robbor, who is
serving long sentence iu an Austri-
an prison Dutch Heinrich, tho
Aliens, and Sharkey, the fugitive
murderer, trusted her with their se-
crets. She Is the wife Of Phil Har-
greavcs, who was mixed up 10 o
iracas with the late George II i'll, oth-
erwise 'Cooly Keys She came to
New York from Liverpool with Hers
zreaves 10 1861, and soon afterwards
turned to shop lifting and pocket;
picking. As q shop>lIIter she had
great success She made many u
rich haul from the dry goods and
millinery stores along Broadw ay,
hardly one of which she had not visi-
ted. With ready conversational pow
ers aud good address she found IL
easy to begulo dull or careless sales-
man, and almost always purloined
somc valuable article without dotcc-
tion. 1t is thought that she hos
mads over two hundred thousan d
dollars 10 her time, but she spent all
her -go,ten gains for drink. She has
Frequently been known to give some
valuable articles, worth four or fve
hundred dollars, for u glass of liquor.
In 1872 the men who committed the
two million dollar bond forgeries ip
this city trusted her with two hun
drcd and fifty thousand dollars Of
forged Chicago and North hwestern
Railroad bonds TO take to London
aud deliScr to Walter Sheridan, alias
Ralston. She sailed in tho steamer
Adriatic. aud Roberts AMI Gleason,
who are now in Ludlow street jail,
were present at her departure. Rob-
erts was arrested on the wharf by
Detective McDougall, under the ha-
titual criminnls oct. THO arrest was
the first made uudcr the act. Mar
thu delivered the bonds to Sheridan
10 London, and he gave them 10 II
noted American burglar for safe keep
ing until he found an opportunity to
put them on tho British market.
Chapman hal to 60 out Of the way
very suddenly, and he gave the bond,
to the caro- of man who kept no.
tel 10 London which was resor,ed /,
by American fugitives. This mat
aflerward said that the police mad,
q visit to the hotel and that no burn
cd tho bonds. Sheridan, to whou
Martha was sent, is under convic.
ton for forgery, and is in the Tomb
awaiting sentence. Martha was ar
rested by officer Maher of the Ed
dridgc street police few days ago
while helple'sly intoxicated 10 the
street. Judge WandelI sent her tc
tho Island for ten days. She say
that her maiden name is Walsh, ant
that she is fifty years Of age. ant
was born in Ireland. She talks will
a strong Cockney accent. Tho thieves
discarded her when They found thu
she was too old TO be OF any furthe
service to them in their operations.