The sun., 1919-03-14
CROOKDOM'S QUEEN
IS FOUND IN TOMBS
eNIrs. james Montague Sharp
After Many Days Is Iden-
titled as Chicago May.
HAS "WHO'S WHO" RECORD
Supposed Upper West Side
Lady, Careless With Pistol,
Is Awaiting Sentence.

Lady, Careless With Pistol,
Is Awaiting Sentence.
For more than week the Tombs has
been entertaining quite unknown TO the
prison reception and entertainment COM
:Gittee one Of the most distinguished
lady crooks ever finger printed In Amer
lean cities or European capitals. She
came to the Tombs March ms Mrs.
james Montague Sharp" OF $40 West
13bth street, charged with having fired
a shot at William Avery and owning
deadly weRpon without a permit.
M-s. Sharp having no place to go while
awaiting sontence-she has confessed TO
owning the revolver and will hear the
bad news In court March 2l--was sit
ting n her cell yesterday when Keeper
Denny Murtha OF tho Tombs happened
to wander by. Denny stopped short.
We'll. II 1t amt Chicago May" cried
Denny.
Sure enough seated in the cell were
May Churchill. May Wilson. Diamond
May. May Avery and Chicago May, all
combined in the single parsonage OF Mrs.
James Montague Sharp. And Mrs. May
Churchill Wilson Diamond Chicago Avery
James Montague Sharp had been there for
days, aliases and all. and nobody realized
the prominence the Tombs had taken
on until Keeper Denny Murtha happened
20 recognize the noted. guest. The Tombs
lad thought that il was merely housing
an Upper West Side lady who recently
had had on outbreak of temper, rum
ming target and gun.
May Is Naughty in Winter.
A glance back through n turbulent
criminal record, which Is at least q quar-
ter of century long, shows that May
always has had her naughty moments
some time between late December and
early June, although just to make the
exception 10 the rule she once was ar
rested as late as July almost twelve
years ago; but that was in London, ans
perhaps the difference in climate caused
Nay then to break her long habit of
being arrested only during the social
season.
She first distinguished herself abroad
many years ago by assisting 10 liberty
from DEVILS Island, French Guiana, the
internationally notorious Eddie Guerln,
bank burglar and confidence man. who
for years after was her companion In
crime. Soon after this. or in 1896. May
arrived In the United States. whereupon
the police desk mon all over the country
began 20 FL their inkwells afresh and
order new typewriter ribbons and paper
Within the year, on Christmas Day
1895. May was arrested in Manhattan
on the charge which desk lieutenants for
some time after wrote almost automati-
cally after her name-grand larceny.
After a hearing. however, word was
written after her name which also be-
cause of Its frequent Use in Mays cases
in time almost wrote itself on the rec
ords-"discharged." The following April
she was again arrested here on the COM
plant of Samuel Williams OF the Wal
dorf. Grand larceny-dlscharged.
Abandons New York to It's Fate.
Less than month later. on May l.,
1897. Edward p. St John of the Hotel
Imperial had her arrested. Grand lar
ceny-discharged Then she left Manhat-
tan to take care of itself for while and
went to various big cities OF the country,
her life being just one grand larceny and
discharge after another discharge and
grand larceny. Usually her travelling
companion was a noted burglar or yegg-
man. All this time she was May
Churchill, but in the winter of 1S9s-1Ss9
she returned as May Wilson, and on jan
uary s, 1899, she had 50 far forgot her
New Years resolutions that she was
again arrested here-charged with grand
larceny and discharged Of grand larceny.
Wherefore, seventeen days later, the
lady, being May Churchill again by way
of variety, was arrested here for grand
larceny and discharged. Two months after
that-there being nothing IN these court
proceedings but to present oneself and be
discharged-May again did something or
other that caused Walter Bennett of the
Hotel Imperial to have her arrested on
grand larceny charge. And, believe It or
not. May wal discharged.
So she went abroad. Here the climatic
difference so worked on May that she got
mixed UP with Eddie Guerin in a safe
cracking shiudig in the offices of the
American Express Company in Paris as
late in the season as June, 1902. The
local records as to what happened to
May and Eddie are vague but there are
slightly more details at Police Headquar-
tiers about another affair of Mays, which
took place in London away out on July
20, 1907.
English Court Saw No Joke.
On that day May, aided and abetted
by the well known John Smith, took a
serious wallop at Eddie Guerin. At the
subsequent trial John Smith was SEN
fenced to life Imprisonment and May was
sent to the jug for a term of fifteen
years-the word discharged" not being
so well known in English courts as it ia
here. She served ten years of the SEN
tence and then was released, about April
20. 1917, and ordered deported from Eng
land.
Back to the land of liberty came May,
now known as May Avery, and within no
time, or on May "a, 1918, she was ar
rested here charged with having taken
part in burglary at 100 Amsterdam
avenue. Discharged.
II was on March last that May took
a wing shot at William Avery, the shot
being fired as a slight mark of protest
because stories had reached her that Bill
was lavishing attentions upon another
lady. Bill did either falling leaf" or
a tail spin when the shot was fired, and
30 escaped being hit. But his feelings
were so injured that he gave testimony
against May which was chiefly RESPONSE
BILE for her not being discharged when she
wassheld for violation Of the Sullivan law.
She answered Guilty" when arraigned
in court last week and was patiently
awaiting sentence as Mrs. Sharp yester-
day when Denny Murtha brought to light
the fact that Mrs. Sharp was a regular
'"Whos Whoer"
LEAGUE DRAFT WELCOMED.
Nations Union Approves Covenan
Submitted 10 Peace Conference.