The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1907-03-14
BERTHA PROMPTLY TAINTED AND RoLIEI
OUT OF THE CHAIR.

BERTHA PROMPTLY tAlNIEO AMI nOAAkaO
OUT OF THE CHAIR.
tha's deportation forever beyond the
confines Of Illinois is something difi-
cult Of estimate, but it is certain that
In various asylums and prisons there
are attendants on salaries who would
make personal contributions to help
swell the possible fund.
Yet "Fainting Bertha Lebecke Is
one of the prettiest, blondest, most
delicate handed little bits Of well de-
veloped femininity that ever made a
marked success in deceiying people OF
both sexes and all conditions in public,
afterward deceiving officials Of jails,
asylums and penitentiaries until bars
and gates and frowning walls were as
cobwebs before her.
Bertha gets her name from her abil-
ity to throw a fit at any moment.
She faints in the arms Of man or
woman wearing jewelry or carrying
money and In the confusion biting the
stone from pin and swallowing 1t or
with small, supple hand taking a purse
from pocket or a watch from It's fob,
perhaps with innocent eyes and dim
pied face assisting the loser in the
search for the missing valuable.
Here is her detention record:
Asylum For the Feeble Minded,
Glenwood, Ia. Discharged.
Insane asylum, Glenwood, Ia. Dis
| charged.
Insane asylum, Nevada, Mo. Dis
charged after several escapes.
st. Bernard's asylum, Council Bluffs,
Ia. Discharged.
Indeterminate sentence at Joliet pen
itentiary.
Kankakee Qll) Asylum For the In
sane. Escaped twice.
Kankakee Qll.) Asylum For the In
sane. Returned to Joliet penitentiary.
Elgin Qll) Asylum For the Insane.
Escaped twice.
Present address, Asylum For the In
durable Insane, South Bartonville, Ill.
Cat, f steel never have held her In
jail or ,ylum. In the mightier peni-
tentiarie. she has made herself such an
uncontrolled fury by night-sleeplng
calmly all day long and resting for the
next seance-that penitentiary gates
have opened for her in the hope Of hav-
ing her maintained as-an asylum ward,
after which "Fainting Bertha" has Sc
! cured keys to asylum doors and gone
! her untrammeled way straight back to
police record which for years has
| shown her to be one Of the most re-
| markable pickpockets, diamond snatch
ers and shoplifters Of her time.
Her latest escape was from the asy-
lum at Elgin on the night Of Dec. 25.
Christmas eve she tainted in the arms
of an attendant, and In the scurrying
which followed she secured the keys
to the gates. On the night Of Christmas
she went out of the Elgin asylum, board
ed car for Aurora and from Aurora
bought railroad ticket for Peoria.
On the way to Peoria she relieved
the conductor OF $50 in bills, secreting
them in her hat. In Peoria within for
ty-eight hours she had stolen a thou
sand dollars worth Of goods from
stores. registered at three hotels under
assumed names and was in chair car
with a ticket for Omaha when the
Peoria police had followed her easy
tracks through the city. Perhaps the
broadest, most easily identified track
was that which she left in a barber
shop in the National hotel, where she
| appeared for an egg shampoo Two
eggs had been broken into her shiny
hair when Bertha promptly tainted and
rolled out of the chair. As count OF
shop equipment showed nothing miss
| ing an hour later, the barber shop was
at loss to account for her faint.
DR.. George A. Zeller, superintendent
Of the asylum at South Bartonville,
where Bertha is now, promises that it
| she faints there she will get bucket
Of cold water In the face. !,