The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1902-12-17
4 STRANGE CASE.
The une@- sto:y CT Young Lady
Who Steals Diamonds.
Is SHE A THIEF OR A MANIAC?

Sea- Seems to BE Drawn by diamonds
as the Needle so the Pole
and Steals Nothing
Else.
The Augusta correspondent If The
State says d mystery that 0utriya]s
the rc!ioTeSt OF the metropolitan puz-
ZleS is nne in which the Georgia sea-
port city. Savannah, is puzzled to I'M
GerStand. in which u pretty girl Of
some ~ years has won the S0ubriquet
OF the Queen Of Diamonds. from the
fact that she seems to be possessed OF
a kleptomania, ana cnly on the sub
ject Of this most valuable Jewels.
Naughty of manner. in the bright
est pUSSible Of moods ana gay of
speech, with absolutely no thought OF
the jmmensity Of the crime with
which she is charged. except for an
occasional expression Of doubtful sor-
row at the fact that she has been cap
tured and her name placed before the
public in the manner it has. Mamie de
Christ occupies lonely cell in the
Chatham county Jail. Sne receives
occasionally Il visitor from among the
seJ with which she used TO mingle and
reheaTSeS the story Of riSdeedS that
would make the strongest man blush
with shame.
The arrest Of Miss DeChrist in At
lanta last week was OF most SenSa-
tiunal nature and has continually
since thcn kept Savannah agog with
the excitement Of wonder impellcd by
wondering whatneXt, and the entire
State filed with interest as to the
possibility of an unexpected turn in
| the case. New York in all its history
has never produced a drama of a more
startling nature than the exploit OF
Mamie DeCtrist last July, and the
connecting subsequent events, when
she appeared repeatedly at the jewel
~ stores Of TheuS Bros. and \. S.
Desbullions and succeeded in robbing
them by most marvellous nerve, Of
watches Of high value, diamond
brooches and rings Of various prices.
Imagination does not picture cooler
scene, which was her salvation.
throughout her transactions, that the
stylisnly dressed, pretty, petite bru-
nette who enters the jewelry stores
with an air that fitted to a nicely
with the stories which she told. At
the store Of Theus Bros. she was Miss
Williams, the niece Of Mr.. J. P. Viii
liams, Savannah millionaire, and at
the other establishment she was Miss
Blum, 4 niece of Capt. Henry Blum,
president Of the Germania bank.
At the one place She presented
note Scribbled On society stationery
from Mrs. Williams asking that she
be shown a lot OF jewelry from which
to choose pieces to be taken to Mrs.
Williams that she herself might make
selections, and at the other she dis
played a similar note purporting to be
from the wife Of the wealthy banker.
At neither store could The jewelers. do
enough for the relative Of either Of
these ladies and really insisted on her
taking more haubleS than she had
chosen from the cases. They were
sorry when this smooth female whom
they had never seen before and whose
identity was as vague to them as that
Of foreigner except for the penciled
note when she would not take more
than $4,000 worth Of jewels. and that
they did not have more valuable
trnkets for her to bear away to her
imaginary auntS.
Young DesboullionS asked when the
woman left who she was and was told
she was Miss Williams. Then it
dawncd upon him that there was no
such person and d search was inStitu-
tel, bat the woman was not found.
As 4 matter Of fact she was living in
fiat on the same block where her
victims did business the whole time.
\ craze for having her name appear
in print was her undoing. She went
to Atlanta and stopped at the Kim
ball house For the purpose of letting
| her friends see that she was being re-
ceived by the top Of society she wrote
story to the Savannah Morning
News telling all about a swell we'd
ding at which she was present as an
attendant. 10 make the story more
graphic she told Of pair OF horses
running away hitched to a carriage in
which were two attendants. the names
used being the most prominent fami
lies in the State, and the couple being
killed. The whtlc story was filled
with well known Georgia names. but
with strange initials, the signature to
the story being Mrs. G. W. Will
liams." The affair was investigated
and found by the authorities to be en-
tirely imaginary, the dramatiS per-
Sonae being without existence.
On reading the story the solicitor
general deducted that Miss DeChrist
was the Diamond Queen" by COM
parison of the writing in the letter to
The News and the note left at the
jewelrv store. She was arrested in
Atlanta and confessed. She was taken
back to Savannah. where SHE told
endless conflicting stories which led to
the popular opinion that she was in
sane and caused the issuing of writ
o. lu1acy at the inStigatiOn OF her
mother. Mamie DeChriSt was born Of
humble parentagc in that part OF Sa-
vannah known as Thundcrbolt. but
now she denies her mother.
Was Fired Into.
\ partY of State c0nStableS left
picne1S Thursday to search for stills
and mCOnShinerS in the mountains