The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1878-11-14
A Living Mummy.

In Broadway, st. Louis, is the hous
of man named Christian II. TiepeI
who lives there with his wife and onl
daughter. The man is a shoemaker, bu
there appears little necessity for pur
suit of his trade since the family are 4
good circumstances, Tiepel being re
ported as worth from fifteen TO twent
thousand dollars. Tiepel himself, is
quiet, mild-mannered man, past middl
age, who attends TO his work, and VIII
from his own half-admissiOns, is not alto
gether the autocrat of the household
Mrs. Tiepel is a woman of perhaps six
ty years of age, of decided force o
character, and with what appears to b
singular mOnomania. The daughter
seventeen years of age, has, save to {
very few, been until lately nonentity
For the last ten years, though neither
cripple nor in danger of death, she ha
been in bed.
A reporter found Mr.. and Mrs. Tie
pei at their house. They were very
much averse to admitting him or con
versing with him, but at length the wo'
man said:
"My daughter has q fever in hel
breast. She has had IL since she was
born. She gets it from me. have it,
too. / told my husband of it before we
were married, but he does not believe
it. When my daughter was very little,
i bathed her with saltpeter water, DO
you know what that is?
"No."
"Then you don't know much"
ooh, know what it is, of course,
meant only that did not understand
your use of it,"
"Well, saltpeter water, when you are
sick as we are, makes you strong and
happy, 1t does that for three months.
Only when you are bathed in it, and it
makes you feel better, it makes whoever
is with you sick, just as you haveIbeen.
My husband was sick when bathed in
it. After three months bathing the
saltpeter water makes you feel well no
longer, but sick if you continue it.
When my daughter was seven years
old bathed her no more that way, but
put her in bed. She has been there
since. Not in bed all the time, but in
the room. The reason of this is that
the air or the sun would kill her. Some
times the blood goes to her head, | have
wrapped her in flannel to keep the blood
tight and away from her head, and have
cut off her hair and put on hood like
this. My husband does not think she
is sick, and says she should work and
60 out, and has made me great trouble
but l must endure that"
"Does your daughter think she is
iu?"
ooh, yes, she knows it,"
The visitor wanted to see the invalid,
but the old lady's concessions had
reached their limit. He next sought
for Mr.. Tiepel, but he had disappeared
totally. From the account of the police
man who had actually seen the girl,
these further facts were obtained;
The young woman was seventeen
years old in April, and has not been out
nf tba bouca cinna eho v,oo cayan Sha
lies in bed veritable mummy, witllsher
hair cut snort and her head encased in
an enormous hood. Her legs, arms and
body are wrapped in red flannel, and
she has the appearance of person
at least two hundred pounds,
though rather slight of figure. Her face,
from the longIconfinement of years, has
assumed a wonderful whiteness, but
otherwise she does not appear to be i'll.
She appears from her conversation to
possess intelligence, though she seems
patient in her situation, having proba-
bly, become impressed with her mothers
idea that should the air strike her or
the sun shed its rays upon her she would
die. She is never allowed, even when
out of bed, to sit at the table lest an un-
expected current of air should reach
her, and, part of the time, when in bed
she is kept between mattresses of feath-
ers. Mr., Tiepel was interviewed by the
officer, and stated that he thought the
course pursued by the girl all wrong
that he had combated Mrs. Tiepel's ma
mia for years, but in vain. He did not
know what to do in the matter.