The Wichita daily eagle., 1903-08-19

be broken off short when the police doc
tor examined her mouth.
Once she had effected entrance into
fat, she collected and carried off with the
greatest thoroughness everything she Se-
garded worth taking. Sometimes she PAID
several visits to the same fat. and then
she would literally carry everything
away except the furqiture.
She used to wrop up the stolen proper
" in an ample piece of cloth. which she
carried slung over one shoulder in the
way peculiar to this country Then she
would watch her opportunity when the
corridor and staircase were deserted, and
so leave the house without exciting any
notice. Altogether the mass of her spoils
was so great that it at first appeared
incredible that a single one-armed wom-
an could possibly have carried away so
much When she once got clear OF the
house. however. she often took a cab and
so drove home in triumph with the stol-
en- property This was proved TO have
been done in mapy cases.
To take one instance. a newly-married
couple named Hupka suffered severely
from her depredations. While they were
away on their honeymoon Francisco
Machalek broken open the fat they had
just furnished and carried off everything
of any value including all the clothes,
linen, boots and shoes. Even Frau Hup-
kas bridal dress was taken, together
with all the wedding presents and the
poor brides dowry
The rapidity With which FRANCESCA
went abou ther work is well shown in
the following case. A certain Frau Bar
bara Sladik crossed the passage from her
fat TO that of a neighbor in order to
return a book she had borrowed, and
meanwhile left her own door OPEN AS
ill-luck would have it Machalek happened
to be on the staircase at the moment
and observed this.
She at once entered through the open
door and set to work When Frau Sladik
returned to her room-according 10 her
own account after a lapse Of only one
minute-she found a locked chest broken
open, the jewels and money it had con-
tained gone, and the thief already dis
appeared.
When. as sometimes happened. she was
caught in the act by the inhabitants Of
the house she broke into, she either con-
fessed her guilt at once and offered to
restore the stolen property. Or else took
advantage of the persons surprise TO
shove them on one side and escape ar
rest by flight.
Some of this wopans reats Of daring
are almost incredible. once she discov-
cred by cautious inquiries that a tene-
ment house fat on the fourth story was
for the moment unoccupied. She has
tened up the stairway, but her set of
false keys would not open the door. Then
she noticed through the window of cor
ridor that opened on the court that one
of the windows to the fiat, about four
feet from the corridor window and right
angles to it, was open.
Very few able-bodied men would care
To. take a leap across that chasm from
window to window, but this one-armed
woman did it without a moments hesita-
ton.
Then pushing open the window she en-
tered, opened several boxes and took what
she fancied. She returned to the corri-
dor by the same hazardous route and
slipped out of the house.
1t would have not ben known how this
burglary was committed had not slater
on a neighboring roof been fascinated
witness to the return leap.
On another occasion Machalek discov-
cred q fiat the occupants Of which were
in the country. Her keys would not ad-
nit her. so she slipped into an adjoining
fat, which was empty and at night she
opened a window, dropped down rpon
a narrow ledge, the width Of a mans
hand and worked along it to window
of the other fiat, holding to the almost
smooth wall with one hand.
Then she noiselessly broke the window
by means of a STICKY cloth pasted over it
and entered Having collected large
bag of valuables she threw it over her
shoulder. holding it in her teeth, and
returned to the ledge to the other fiat.