The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1907-09-28
LEAH kLEscHNAs IN REAL LIFE
Girl Burglar Drama at the Bennington
Opera House Tuesday Evening


Girl Burglar Drama at the Bennington
Opera House Tuesday Evening
Untll the production of "Leh Kle.
selma" which appears at the opera
mousse Tuesday evening, the girl bur.
glar was a stranger TO the stage.
Playwrights had found fruitful sub
iects In thieves OF the male sex, from
the Spike Hennesseys OF the melo.
drama to the gentlemanly robber Of
the Rallies" sort. In Leah Kle.
selma" there is given to the theater a
woman who gained her livelihood by
the aid OF the Jimmy and the dark
lantern.
Though Leah Kleschna Is new TO the
stage, her prototypes have been, aud
are, sufficiently frequent In real life.
Histories of crime record many In.
stances I'm which women have been
burglars. TO police OF all great cities
the woman burglar Is more or less
familiar type. Leah Kleschan IL a girl
who has been brought up TO consider
thievery a calling as worthy OF pur.
suit as any other. Her training she
has had from her father. a man OF
~
ties that would have brought him sue.
cess In any walk OF life His view OF
his trade Is cpitomized In his remark
10 Leah when she hesitates TO attempt
an exploit he has planned.
The profession you're in" he says.
stands high In my estimation. Hun.
dreds of men are playing the same
game and calling II business prlnci.
pies. We fancy fellows 30 the straight
road. that's all.
with these ideas instilled IN her
from childhood aud with n nature
that inhcrlts her fathers brains and
self.reliance. Leah has become an
active. alert and attractive girl. with
a dormant moral sense. II IL upon
the awakening Of this moral sense
that the play has been built A man
who. unknown 90 himself. has been ex.
erting a good influence over her. dis
covers her In the act OF robbing him
lie ~ a believer In the Tolstoi theory
that moral suaslon. not penal seryi
tudc h the right treatment for crimi
nails. and he puts this theory into
practice by letting her go free. Ills
sympathy aud pity and his nobility OF
character rouse In the girl the instinct
| Tor good that has been slumbering In
her She gives up her old life and as
suriailuns. even to rcnouncing her
father. aud goes back To labor as a
peasant ~ her mother had That
she loves the man makes her repen
lance easier. but Leah Kleschna' n
I "a PLAY. and not an attempt To prove a
theory that H. incidental 10 the plot.
That lcah klcschna exists In real
| life b. best proven by the fact that the
PLAYWRIGHT received mis- idea for the
character from an incident reported
in "a Paris paper IN this case a girl
who had been arrested with others OF
a gang OF housrhrcakers confessed
that she had been trained by them
from childhood o. assist In their dep
relations. and was able because Of her
sea ca do much that a man could not
/ have done without exciting suspicion
| This girl figured in the news Of that
day. but was not heard Of again.
Sadie McKlnstry. or Nassar Sadie.
aa she was known among the powers
that prey. was one of the cleycrcsi
thieves whom New York detective
force was ever called on Ia cope with.
Sadic'a work was with what u called
the high heel" class. She dressed
stylishly. aud had a manner that made
Il easy 10 pass for what she represent
ID herself 60 bc-a Naasar girl A.
an early period OF her career. she D.
said Ca have b., "A waitress la q
puuEhkcepsic hotel. and to have been
discharged from there for stealing
While there she aEsimilated enough 81
the ways and manners Of the college
glrl a. be- enabled to personato one
succ.sHfully. She also got access a.
catalogues Of the college. from which
she secured the home addresses Ot the
students The mother OF Nassar
rirl. Who lived GA Madison Avenue IN
New York. received a telephone call
one evening from n young woman who
said she was n ClnEEmatc Of her dnuEh
ter'H. called home by the death Of n
relative. and then on her way back "a
| Naasar She had arrived 10 New York
too late o. catch a train for POUCH
keepsip aud was without money. hay
Ing had her purse stolen The mother
anxious 20 BE- Kind to her daughters
! friends mnocentiy invited the younr
woman TO spend the night with her
When she arrived. the impression she
made 90 favorable that " was a severe
/ shock the next morning Ia find the
Young Wuman'H ruom without an oc
rutrant. while such ailyyrWarc NJ was
in the room. and much more from the
dlnning room sidsboard. had vanished
With the visitor Nassnr Sadie worked
this game iu New York. Buffalo and
smaller cities until she became too
weli.kuown 10 continue a. She u
supposed to have died 81 pneumonia
in a hospital ln Schenectady. y. Y.
The Boston police uabbcd a woman
burglar in Ellen Emmuns, one Of
! gang that was the terror Of New I'm
| GLAND cities for several months Ellen
/ EmmunH took tn burglary. because
she was infatuated with Eddie" Do
| Ian. the leader of the gang AZ the
station. and later in court. she Used
every effort tu put the guilt on herself
aud abFolto uUlan The proof was
too strong however. and both we're
convicted Had she not stuck to The
man she loved. u n possible that she
would not have been caught She wat
mite Of 20 girl and wore boys SUI
when working her game.
a case that bears some rcaefnb
lance to the reformation Of Leah kle
selma. was that Of "a woman burglar
who 10 living now. happy and respect
ID. In one OF the cities of the middle
West This woman WIS n child OF the
New York tenemcntH. Her environ
mcnt was vicious. but she was nothini
wurHc than q tomboy until she grew
up Then she was fascinated by th'
/ exploits Of some 81 her former boz
| plnymatos. who from petty heiu
about the city had progressed 10 boldcI
burrlarioa IN the suburban towns
Their operations met with such sue