The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1910-03-03
WOMEN FRENzIED
FINANCIERS GIVEN
five YEARS EACH
Girl Once Feigned Death in Or
der to Escape From Her
Many Creditors.

London, March 2.-violet Gordon
,Charlesworth and her mother have
each been sentenced to Ave years Pc
nal servitude for obtaining money
nv false ~pretenses and for fraudulently
representing that the younger woman
was heiress to a great estate.
In passing sentence the Judge re-
ferred to Violet's remarkable ingenuity,
which, properly applied, might have
won for her an honorable If not a
distinguished career.
Both prisoners collapsed in the dock
on hearing the sentence.
II was only a little more than a year
.ago tbs the press OF the entire world
was printing columns regarding the,
tragic death Of Miss Violet Gordon
Charlesworth. 1t was reported that she
had been thrown over a cliff on the
coast Of North Wales into a yawning,
sea. She was with her sister and a.
chauffeur In a swift motor car when the
accident was supposed to have hap,
pened.
"Hsadlong Into the Sea-"
The sister and chauffeur returned to
the local authorities and told in great.
detail of the accident. Miss Charles
worth's car had crashed into a retain
ing wall along the edge of the cliff and
the young woman had been hurled
headlong into the sea. A woman's hat
and handbag were found at the spot
where the accident was said to have
taken place, and the wreck of the auto
mobile was further evidence of the
tragedy.
Then there began to be doubts as to
the young woman's death. Those who.
examined the scene could not see how
1t would have been possible for the
accident to occur and II was thought
strange that the body did not come
ashore.
Suspicion was further aroused when
1T became known that Miss Charles
worth had loft unpaid debts amounting
to thousands Of dollars.
Had q Fierce Career.
Gradually her picturesque course
came to light. Her father was a re-
spectacle mechanic, but in some way
Miss Charlesworth obtained a small
amount Of money which she invested
In clothing n jewelry. Then she
bought an automobile on credit and.
with this appearance Of wealth she
succeeding in getting more credit.
She took a house in Scotland and an
other In Wiltshire, in addition to the
good sized house in North Wales, in
which the family lived. She speculated
in stocks and had a large debit ac-
count OF the books Of several firms.
While investigation was revealing
these startling truths some one saw on
a ferry boat the young woman sup
posed to be at the bottom of the sea.
Detectives from Scotland yard were put
on the case and on January II Of last
year she was found In Tobermory,
Scotland. living under an assumed
name.
Miss Charlesworth told the detectives
of her movements after the reported &C
cident. She went directly to Tobermory
and later to Oban. Scotland. She re-
NAMED hidden in a temperance hotel
until London reporters traced her. Their
she went back to Tobermory, but was
again found Her sister and a man
Joined her and the three went to Glas-
gov and then to Edinburgh.
Enormous Fortune in Fancy.
In getting credit with tradesmen and
brokers Miss Charlesworth invariably
told Of an enormous fortune she was
to inherit. After she was found and the
details OF her career were revealed 1t
was learned that she would inherit no
money from any one
Miss Charlesworth Is only rs years
old. She had a common schoo educa-
ton and no particular social advant-
ages, but early developed tastes far be-
yond the power of her family to graf
ify, so she laid her own plans to make
a position In life for herself.