Disguised As Men

In the month of April, 1838, Mr. 'homas, an attorney of Mauchester, was seated alone in his office, when a lient was showu in. She came, she aid, to obtaiu a divorce from her hus)and, who was a master bricklayer, dong an excellent business. She cornilained that lie drank heavily and vh u ander the influence of liquor vonk! beat hor severely. This ill treatment she bore patiently until lie finally ofused to give her money for house;eeping expenses, whereuponshe sought i separation. When more elosely questioned, the woman unfolded to the ears of the asonished lawyer the following remarkable story: Tlie master bricklayer had at birth )een relegated to the feminine portion of hnmanity, hut being early disgusted with the restricted life of girlhood he donned naaseuline attire and apprentieed hiniself to a bricklayer. (The personal pronouns are apt to get a little mixed in such descriptions, so I will adhere to the maseuline. ) He showed in unusual knack in his chosen trade and soon became his own master He was a handsome young fellow, and many maidens feil in love with the dashing young mechanic, and he finally chose and married the woman who became Mr. Thomas' cliënt. Upon investigatiou this astonishing story was found to be strictly true. The jricklayer had acted as special constable for Manchester and had oocupied other essentially maseuline positions in the community, always beiug on hand when riots or any other danger threatened. The trae sex of this esteemed oifcizen had never been suspeoted during the 25 years he liad worn the disguise until domestie differences caused his partner to reveal the secret. Thereisawell authenticated instance on record of a girl who adopted maseuline apparel when she was 3 years of age, or rather, to be more accurate, her father dressed her as a boy that, she might the better dance at public, houses. She continued in this disguise for 40 years without being discovered. To come down to modern times, the writer, though unable to mention names and localities, as one of the parties concerned is still living, knows of a striking example pertinent to the subject. But fivo short years have been told since the final scène in this drama of real life was enaoted. But to begin at the beginning: There were two sisters, educated and refined ladies, left orphaned and woll nigh penniless. Both of them were beauties, one tall, dark and courageous, the other blond, small and gentle. The eider girl made up her mind to adopt a bold course. She took the little money thev nossessed and rented and stocked a little store in a distant city, where they were unknown; theu, taking her sister, they stole quietly away. In their new home they represented themselves as man and wife, did well in business and were universally respected. Years passed. The gentleman (?) saved money, took up a pursuit more congenial to his tastes and became one of the most prominent men (?) in the city. The couple bought a beautiful home on Blank avenue, entertained and were entertained by the best society in the place. Everybody said: "What a handsome couple, she so delicately beautiful with her golden hair, he so stately and dark. ' ' One afternoon, when the lady was "at home" to her frieuds and was surrounded by a laughing, chattering group, she saw, approaching across the room, with his eyes fixed upon her face, one of the best known physicians of the city. The man 's face was so grave that it startled her, and her heart began to beat heavily with a foreboding of evil to come. The doctor came up hastily, and without the usual formal greeting spoke to her in a low, excited voice: "Mr. feil dead of heart disease in his office about an hour ago. Only one of the clerks attended him, when I was called in. If you wish to preserve the secret, you had better come at once. " The doctor was not one who believed in breaking bad news gradimlly, but it were better he had adopted less abrupt measures in that instance, for the poor little lady was entirely overeóme, and shrieking out, "What shall I do?" she feil at his feet in a faint. Well, the story was hushed up and came to the ears of only a few people, bnt it is a true story just the same. Such instances abound. There is today in one of the great cities of these United States a prominent professional man who is a disguised woman. He is a well to do bachelor and is considered a very desirable parti by matchmaking mammas and marriageable daughters. To attempt to enumérate the cases o! women who have temporarily assumec masculine disguise wonld be a hopeless taak. Even such instances as are on reco#d, doubtless representing a very smal; percentage of the real oceurrences in this line, would fill volumes. This imnatural feniinine attitude tovard life, arising from many causes, is a matter of psychologicaL interest. We hear a great deal lately about the "abnormal woman, "but the term "abnormal" is relative and should be applied with much discretion, Or it wil become meaningless. It wonld perhaps be hardly accurate to use the word to describe even the class of women represented in this paper, but they may be truly said to have led most abnonnal lives and may in consequence be of much interest to the student of the "weakcr sex. "