Daily Evening Bulletin

From Wealth, Station and Education to a Convict-Prison.

Losing Her Fortune in Speculations.

She Becomes Detective and a Common Copyist—At Last the Victim of Drink.

New York, June 17.—From behind the bars at the Blackwell's Island there comes a wail of despair from the rosy lips of a once proud St. Louis belle, but now an inmate of one of the penal institutions of the county. Less than ten years ago Nellie Florence was the pride of a class of graduates at St. Joseph's Convent, St. Louis—now she is serving a six months sentence, the penalty of being drunk and disorderly on the streets in broad daylight. Her prison alias is Nellie Bouvier, her mother's maiden name, well known as representing a grand old St. Louis family. She buried her father and mother within a year after her graduation. She was left alone in the world, but with an ample fortune and an excellent education. A prominent St. Louis real estate agent, she claims, induced her to invest in real estate, which turned out a very bad speculation.

A few years ago she made Philadelphia her home, remaining with an uncle and enjoying the frivolities at Cape May, Long Branch, Saratoga and Atlantic City. She spent her money freely, taking no thought of the future. She next appeared in this city with costly rooms at the Hotel Brunswick and a turn-out that attracted universal attention at Central Park and along the boulevards. It only required a short time to deplete her exchequer and she removed to less showy quarters in a boarding-house. Here she met the conspirators who were personating the alleged widow and heirs of the miser Lewis, of New Jersey, and who made a futile attempt to divert his million dollars from the United States, which he had bequeathed towards the extinguishment of the national debt.

This plot she exposed and she was employed by a private detective agency upon a promised reward of $1,000 in exposing the conspiracy. She now declares that all she received was $100. For two years she earned a living by copying documents for lawyers and doing detective work on a small scale. Her love for strong drink was her bane and frequently she was arrested for intoxication. Her fall has been as great as she deems her punishment severe.