The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-07-28
QUEEN OF THIEVES
ELLEN PECK REIHNS SUPREME IN
GAMES OF CONFIDENCE.


Her Pa rticu,ar Hobby Was to Rob Dishon-
est People, and Al .t Took Wit to Guido
That Glass, She Took Pride in it-Bsr
Connection With Jay GouId's Mnnips-
lation of the Market-How She Aided in
tho Capture of . scoundrel-Now Be-
Msved to be In Retirement-Police Talk
Of Her.
New York. July 27.-"Mrs. Peck"
Tina: IS what every detective in the
country and every newspaper man whose
work inv Owed an intimate acquaintance
with the operations Of the criminal
classes calculated when II was an
nouncei a week ago that woman de-
| scribing herself as Mrs. Hanson, the
| wife of an admiral in the Danish navy
having trouble to large amount against
the United States government, had
wheedled number of credulous citizens
| OF Brooklyn out of some thousands of
dollars.
Assuming that all the allegations
! against Mrs. Hanson were true. there
was no manner of doubt in the minds
of the experts that the work was that
Of none other than Mrs. Ellen E. Peck,
who deservedly enjoys the reputation or
being by long odds the cleverest female
exponent Of the art OF confidence" that
this country has ever seen.
1t seems, however, that In this in
stance expert instinct was wrong for
once, but this de:racts nothing from the
reputation of Mrs. Peck, unless indeed
L may be accounted a blot on her record
that she failed to take advantage OF the
opportunities of which Mrs. Hanson ap
pears TO have made the most. Be that
as it may, Mrs. Peck can well afford TO
rest on her laurels. and, il report be
true, she is now blessed with a suffi-
ciency Of the rewards OF long life Of
illdoing to make further exertions on her
part unnecessary. Although she has re-
tired from the public view she can af-
ford to observe with equanimity the ex-
plots of her imitators, she is still re-
vered as the 'Dowager Queen OF Con-
fidence.''
What has made Mrs. Peck's promi-
nence in her art more remarkable than
anything else is the fact that she de-
pended for her success not on the vulgar
Establishments OF feminine charms, for
even her warmest admirers were con-
strained 70 admit that in the matter
of pulchritude she was iamentably de-
fic;ent, but in the exercise Of more than
masculine brain power and in a capacity
for convincing her victims OF her perfect
prooi:y that was little short Of marvel
Gus.
Mrs. Peck was good woman, very
good woman! Indeed. I may say that
never knew a better" So said former
Chief Of Police Byrnes when asked TO
Draw on his memory for some Of the
conspicuous exploits in the career OF
Mrs. Peck.
Understand me-" he continued, ST
don't use the term in the ordinary &C.
loquisn. When say that Ellen Peck
was a god woman I mean that she was
good in the sense that men like Johnny
Hope. the burglar ard George Wilkes,
the internatio forger, were god men
in their lines. In tina. sense don't
think that I ever knew a better woman
than Mrs. Peck
Shes in retirement now. and II Is |
just "a well for good many people |
that she is. If she had only exercised |
her talents on the side OF the law she |
would have been a credit to the COM |
mun,ty. She did so on one memorable |
occasion, when she did god service in |
assisting in the arrest Of Columbani, the |
bond robber. But I'll tell you about tina. |
later.
How Mrs. Peck first embarked on a
career OF crimeI don't know. but for A
good many years she dabbled in small |
way before an opportunity for really
herself was presented Il !
was in 1873 that she jumped into noto>
riety by sv.n1ling r. T Babhitt, the
soap manufacturer. out Of s19 600 Mr.
Bab5itt had been robbed a short time
before by some OF his employees. and
Mrs. Peck conceived the idea of repre-
senting II him that she was in posses
SON OF Information tina. would lead 20
the recovery Of a large portion Of the
p,under. Little by little. Mr.. Babhitt
permitted himself TO be led on. until ne
had spent s1e, 900 for Mrs Peck's lnfor-
nation and he found that il was use>
less
For this she was arrested and in>
i;cted, but her wits. which UP 10 that
time had been above suspicion. suddenly
deserted her. and she was adiudged 70
asylum in UNCONSTITUTIONAL
be insane and was committed to an
4 sylum in Philadelphia. While she was
there detained her counsel pursuaded
Mr.. Babbitt TO agree 10 sue her in
twill court. and as soon as that point
was settled her reason returned and she
was released and came back 70 New
York.
Her intellect was then sufficiently
powerful TO convince Samuel Pingree a
wealthy patent medicine man. that she
,ould make MS fortune in tips on Jay
Iould's operations n the stock market
pingree invested s2.7e0 in Mrs. Peck's
pointers before he discovered that his
curse on the stock market and that Of
s1r. Could We're Numerically opposite.
1T was a singular feature in Mrs.
peck's career that when she had any
,noice in the matter she selected her
-;ctims among the ranks OF the crooked
-sther than among honest men. / won't
mink there was any matter OF prin c-2la
involved in this. but L was "a .her that
ne ,ook sort OF professional delight |
Il outwitting people OF her own line
who esteemed themselves every Whit az
'harp as she was
- case in point was tia: ot John D. .
Grady. a receiver OF stolen goods. well
1rogn from the character % his wares