Los Angeles herald., 1910-05-15
FAMOUS HOAX ON
WOMAN DETECTIVE
Irishmen Weave Mares Nest for
Female Spy from Scot
land Yard
BIG TALK ABOUT DYNAMITE
Lady in Black Finally UnmaSked,
to Amusement of Sup
posed PIotters
BIG TALK ABOUT DYNAMITE
Especial Cable to The Herald

1SC4NDOANt 4hdJ lO e1A hSAAASAAA
and Crime" confession of Sir Robert
Anderson is recalling to Irishmen
famous hoax played on lady detective
employed by Scotland Yard in the
eighties.
Spies were numerous in Ireland in
1884. They posed as engineers" on
holiday from the mines of Nevada,
men of wealth and leisure, passing
through Dublin on their way to the
continent, and they were all willing to
devote their knowledge of explosives
and their dollars to the good old
cause"
The most picturesque figure in this
moving picture was woman detective
from Scotland Yard. The story of the
hoaxing of madame was told in the
Dublin journal, Sport, of July II, 1884.
1t was then impossible to give the
names of the hoaxers, but many of
them can now be disclosed.
In May, 1884, Miss c., a prominent
member of the Ladies' Land league and
a we'll known novelist, was in London
on a holiday. Among the places she
visited was the house of commons,
where she met with Lady in Black"
who afterwards turned out to be an
emissary from Scotland Yard.
PATRIOT
The lady in black represented her
self to be of considerable wealth, and
her very heart beat in the cause of old
Ireland. This chance acquaintanceship
led to many meetings between the two.
The Lady in Black" occupied suite
of rooms in a. fashionable London hotel.
After many condolences she expressed
to Miss G. her willingness to spend
a portion of her wealth in the purchase
of such toys as clockwork internal ma
chimes and bags of nitro -glycerine for
the purpose of freeing Ireland.
She returned with the fair Nation
alist novelist to Dublin, where she was
introduced to the late James O'Con9or,
M. P. for East Wicklow (who died
few weeks ago.. The Lady in Black"
received Mr.. O'Connor among other
guests in her rooms at a leading hotel.
From her questions and answers Mr..
O'Connor became suspicious, and dur
ing her momentary absence from the
sitting room he picked out every parti-
Gle of a torn-up telegram which lay in
the CRATE.
Later, piecing it together, he found
that the friend of Ireland was no other
than a government spy. Mr.. O'Connor
resolved to play off upon the Lady in
Black" a series of "spOofs." Mysterious
messages from still more mysterious
mythical individuals were conveyed to
the Lady in Black" by Mr.. OConnor
and the services Of a medical student
in London were invoked to show the
lady "tec" that in England the game
was still alive, though securely
screened from the too inquisitive gaze
of either the chief of the criminal in
vestigation department OF any of the
satellites.
She was persuaded to see one of the
London branches" for herself, and
presented herself at the chambers of
the medical student. He told her that
to enable some dynamiter to escape he
wanted some money, and SIS was paid
to him for this purpose by the Lady
in Black"
STUDENT WATCHED
Four times the Scotland Yard lady
visited the student. After her special
reports of his reasonable goings-on he
was systematically watched by
plain-clothes officer. This officer in
cidentally got a thrashing from the
student for his interference.
The Lady in Black had mean
while expressed her ambition to be-
come a confidential carrier of dis
patches of dynamite between Dublin
and Paris or Dublin and New York.
Mr.. O'Connor introduced her to the
late Mr.. Fred Gallagher, the editor of
Sport, who was represented to be Mr..
O'Neill of the "bomb factory at Ca
lais."
The merry conspirators talked gum
powder plots by the hour; their table
talk was of the merits and demerits of
mes-imaginary-to blow up Dub
lin castle, the general postoffice, the
house Of commons and the home office.
All the Lady in Black" desired to dis
cover was who would do these things,
and when they would be done.
For July it was arranged that the
lady spy should be present at an inter-
view with young Rosa. Dublin
doctor personated young Rosa. and
part of the plot was that the lady
should at once travel to London and
attend an important meeting at the
home of the medical student
There the veil was lifted, to the de-
light of everyone except the lady spy,
whose next duty was to report to head
quarters that instead of nest of
dynamiters she had discovered a
mares nest"