The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-11-03


account which has already appeared of
Mrs. Catherine Coombes, who for the
past IS years has dressed and worked
as d man, gives but the barest outline
of a career that will surely take rank
with the two or three historic exam
pies of those of the sex who have served
in the army and navy without their
secret becoming known. But the story,
even in its baldest form, was remark
able enough to be interesting to any
woman, and it was in the hope OF
cleaning some further particulars from
the lips of the heroine herself that
wended my way yesterday afternoon
to the West Ham Workhouse, in which
the erstwhile Charley Wilson has
been unfortunately reduced to seek a
temporary shelter. The matron, to
whom, of course, L had to explain the
object of my quest, was only too ready
TO assist it, for, as she sympathetlcally
remarked, the more that could be
known of the case the better would be
the chance of securing some practical
assistance for a woman who has fought
her own battle unaided, IN her own
way, through life; and she kindly sad
she would bring Mrs. Coombes TO her
own room, where she could talk more
freely than in the womens day wards.
Dressed in the simple uniform of the
West Ham Union of blue linen, with
white apron, and cap upon her snort
iron gray hair, Mrs. CoombeS entered
hrisl1ly and aIertly, and would certainly
have been set down as not more than 0U
years of age, though she is over 63. she
is by no means tall, and in her mas
culine garb must have appeared both
short and slight. Her voice sounded
unusually deep for a woman, but, as
she explained in subsequent CONVERSE
tion she had cultivated its lowest reg
listers till she had come to use them
habitually; and she also expressed her
self with a terseness and viGor not
quite Enthusiastically feminine. She
was not disposed, at first, to speak fully
of her life, saying, modestly, that TO
some it might not seem q very edifylng
one; but by degrees, and with the help
of a leading question or two, she I'M
! folded her extraordinary history, and
as she talked it became evident that
she had enjoyed considerable educa-
tional advantages. To her possession,
in fact, of these is due the unhappy
beginning of her life. AS she explained,
she was born at AXbridSe, in Somer-
setshire, of comfortably circumstanced
parents, who sent her to the Chelten-
ham Ladies College, which, half CEN
fury ago held, as it does today a lead
| ing place among girls schools, and
While there she was far better taught
! than We're the majority of girls at that
! time 1t has been stated that her hus-
/ band was a curate, but that is not the
case. He was a schoolmaster, and
cousin of her own, considerably her
senior. Thinking that her knowledge
would be of assistance to him in teach
ing, he pressed for a very early mar
| riage. which proved disastrouSly I'M
happy one, until his efforts to live upon
her parents and his personal violence
to her compelled her not only to leave
him, but to take steps to prevent his
ever finding her again.
HOW SHE FOUND WORK.
Then it was that the problem of eX-
istence presented itself to her in its
plainest form. There were not the
| Openings for women" five and forty
years ago that there are today, and
to put it in her own words, she saw
that the choice lay between a mans
clothes and labor and restitution. She
elected the former and but for ar
accident would probably have carried
her secret to her deathbed. She sue.
ceeded in effecting an outward trans
formation in humble lodgings at a Biz
mingham coffee house. Her next steI
was to find work, and she started as {
learner in the house painting trade a;
is. a week. Her aptitude soon showed
itself, and after three weeks this mod
est remuneration was raised, until il
a few months she was able to earn e
living wage" In the earlier days o
her career she worked a great dead il
Yorkshire and bore her part in the in
ternal decorations of many of TIT
finest mansions of the landed anC
titled people there. 1 interrupted he
narrative to ask if she had never fel
afraid in these times of some gesture
or inadvertent speech that would be
tray her to her mates and he
answer showed how well she turned
the power of observation to account
81 knew l must never lapse into care
lessness,'' she said, land how little j
would take to give me away, from {
very small episode. We had had on
luncheon while we were decorating
fine house, and the gardener, thinking
to give us a treat, brought in baske
of choice apples. He was in a hurry
however, and to those at the furthe
end of the hall he threw the apples
and a young boy, sitting down, who,
suppose, HAD been in the habit 0
wearing an apron at his work, ex
tended his knees apart to make a lal
in Which to catch the fruit. Their
was an old Yorkshire foreman clos
beside him, who at once laughed a
the boy and said, 'Yon lads learnt gov
t wenches play 1 had played cricket
so 1 knew how to catch mine, but
did not forget the lesson" "Charle,
Wilson went twice to Paris on specia
jobs for his employers and had a.
exceedingly good offer on one occasion
to so to America.
Perhaps the most remarkable fact O
this Woman's business capabilities wa
her employment for over 10 years b.
the Peninsular & Oriental company. l
is with considerable pride that sh
mentions that with the exception o
the last two or three ships built. Their
is not a vessel in that stately flee
which cannot show her handiworl
She had a large share in the redecora
ton of the saloon of the Rome afte
the big alterations that were made i
her hull for her Improvement TIL
characterization Of the music saloons Q
the Victoria, the Oceana and the Ar
cadia, which are especially elaborat
and rich, was almost entirely carrie
out by her in enameling, and this,
should be added, is rather a distinc
branch of the painters craft, for, a
she says, "a ships painter may pain
a house, but a mere house painte
can't paint a ship" During her en-
gagement with the firm which did thi
work for the company, and subse
quently when the Peninsular & Orier
5 tai company did its own painting, sh
enjoyed a particularly good characte
for her punctuality in arriving at he
work in the morning.
HOW SHE TALKED WITH MEN.