, 1879-02-17
BURIED ALIVE.
A Father Locks Up His Daughter
for Disobedlence.
lfor Mind t1tycs TYny Under fmprlson.
mcnt-..fIcr Present Condition.

lior Mind GiTcs Why Under Irprlsoi1-
mcnt--.tlcr Present Condition.
sntrfat rnrrsspnnt.nee NJ Tht TrtoHnt
MENDOZA, ILL.,, Feb. IA case of cruelty a'Nl
innutnanity In being BROUGHT to light In Sec
tlon Of The country few mites south Of this
city which, Il Is TO be l,oped is without parallel
in this gencrntlon II not In this century. 1t Is
that Of n soun9 WOMAN ,natnc,l Margaret heck,
dnuqhtcr Of Peter Heck. n wealthy Gernua
farmer Of Troy Grove, who was shut ,ip IN room
oyer sixteen 7ears ago nhll kept there to this
| tlay in solitary confinement without ever having
| LIFT It. Though tile rutnnrs were botlI vagltc
md tftrnRrc, yct they wero sufficiently astounding
10 fnlucc yolr correspondent to cndcator .f
possible to rot At the larts, m,Id although Ills
purpose was attended with much difficulty a,ul
| necc.Altatcd tho interviewing Of many PERSONS
! who wcrc supposed to ho acquainted more Or
less with the circumstances III tnc rasc, lie suc-
cccicd, though the parttcs ull assumed certain
nlr OF mystery, accompanied with such gravc
shakes Of the lcad tint Tcrc EXPRESSIVE Of tllcr
| reluctance to tell what they kncw, lest they
should bc called upon to appear in court md
| testify nEainst t'crsUns with whom, they Ind
becn on terms Of intimacy and friendship for
mnny years.
tho following arc Tie facts as gathered, not only
through ncighbors, but ncas relatives Of the un-
fortunate ytcttn, hcrsclf+ As q RtepmotlIcr
figures III tho dratna It Is necessary 10 70 Into
THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE AFFAIR:
| A few Ycars nfttr Peter ReCk's arrival In this
country, and previous to hts loratiug On farm
In Troy Grove, hts wite died, leaving him seyen
children, iivc daughters nnd two tons. lie mar
rlea agatn, ard had two daughters by bis sccond
wife. The daughters of tho Irs4 wllc becoming
obnoxious to her, and ho for Tic sake
| Ut peace and uuict having to submit TO
| her will, tlleY were driven from their homes
, a1td u,adc To scek employment ulnl shelter
where best they could. Margaret, the girl in
question, hciug too young tv shift fur herself,
| was, IN order to get her away Iron llle step.
| mother'e harsh treatment taken to Peru alll
placed in school kept BY tue Sisters of charity:
Whic there she ls said 10 llaye given uruofs of
acquirnE the branches tRnRht NTH facility. mutt
to have eyInetd qtito. q taste for drawing, III
which sno cxccl1cd. When she returned lotnu
she was tic belle Of tho ncghburIood; full Vi
lifc and fun; courteous anti kind to oil, md
! possessed Of 50 beautiful voice tllc young ntd
tho old wouid often 60 70 hear MarGnret sing,
The estimation in whcs she was held by l!le
pcoote wns not calculated 10 raise her In ulp
estimation Of the stcpmotllcr, vito locked upon
witt e191sy a ~ e. na m
sisted that It would be much More in Keeping
With her position u life 10 gu out ltku her sis~
tors, u1.d nork for Oil honest living, than TO put
On such urs, which. nB size predicted, would re-
s,lt in no good. slarcarct's education did not
lit her to do mental work for outsiders, though
ahg Was willing to do nMyththg Sue could at
houlc, aud the result was that She ";a
SUBJECTED TO ALL rnE rErrr TYnANaIEs
Tint somc stcpnothers arc ab!e ant willing to
heap. The oifcnsc for which the unfortunate
Esri was inadc to pny so tear penalty 10 Thus
tlcRcribcd: Some sixteen years pgo or better
marriage took place In the vicinity, to which asl
| day md Maggie Ind for aonlc time looked for
ward with pleasure to the event, as ona to
which sl,c had been specially invited. She
dressed to so with te otl,grs, put On home prc,
to rcmatu a. iloms and takc care Of tho house:
Shc felt hurt, nntt determined tu.eo and
visit the Sisters OF Charity Ut Peru. she wrote
be uncasy about her, iett Il on t!,c table, md
starlcd oil on foot: THE Tnesdny following she
was brought buck to her home. locked into a
room, and rs tho rufnoF oni' too correctly
SHE Is THERH 10 THIS DAY,
without ever having left It SINCE. Through all
these wcarY ycurs OF solitary confinement mt O
living so,1l was permitted to sec her. s4yc two "
sisters, nor her cousin, Roman CATHOLIC priest,
could obta|n tint Privilege, no.wltllstsutt'
ine their oft-rcpcatcd iclna,ls!s. III answer to
Inquiries hY the nciel'boEs, they wcre llrst told
tllaL hlafEaEct was "t"c4' i"IeI " tnat ~
insnnc, md that, % she would war no clothea1
they were not allowed to see hcr. That stic l,o
canie insane il now bct ona H9l question Of dts
pute; but that she iSas 90 when trat c9n'ined !:
nut generally credited: It. 10 thougAt that, being
q h'gtlsp[rlted girl, sho reyoited against slrl
harsh aud Unjust treatment, alltl tint l.c
father, in his obstinate tcnaetty Of parental au
thor!ty, determined that ss'c should be tue rs
to yield. Neither waYcreu III INC detcrnilA
tio.i not to bu the frat 10 acknowledge tlit
| wrong; 60 Margarct's confinement continued
, | u,,d with nothing TO relieve tie 1nonoto1I,
but lie bara whttewasctl walls Of s''lall room
: her food passed In through square Aperture
| III tic WALL, rtnecu on sEel1t ny e"n1aci ~
pIaecu. nla not mosu spVME., ,,.,, -. a,n, H.,
into Weekh A,,u u4u.no, WV ", ~ .,"t, ,.;,;,tn ~
|