The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1882-11-28
A STRAYED SHEEP.
The Sad Story Of q st. Louis
Lady Evangelist.
She Falls From Grace and Goes
to the Bad.
st b. Louis Republican.

| St Louis Republican.
Two days ago a woman, giving her name
as Mrs. Matte Saunders, came to grief 70
Chicago. She, it seems, landed some time
ago in Chicago In an embarrassed con-
ditiOn financially, and after renting rooms
on Wabash avenue, found that she was
unable to pay the rent. She left the house,
leaving the landlady in charge of her
wearing apparel, and applied at the door
of another house for admittance. The
proprietress of the institution taking com-
passion upon tine applicant, took her in
and rescued her trunk from the clutches of
the landlady by paving the rent due. The
new acquisition TO the army Of Magdalens
told the proprietor of the house, Mrs.
Little, that She had at one time been
an evangelist In the church, and her ex-
traordinary blasphemy and profanity
tended to prove the assertion. She was
quarrelsome, and soon attempted TO leave
Mrs. Little's house without compromising
Mrs. Little for the money expended in re-
deeming her trunk The result was
AQUAIREL AND A FIGHT,
in which Mrs. Saunders was knocked over
trunk and was injured SO badly that she
had TO be removed to the hospital. Ii was
thought that she would die, and she made
an ante-mOrIem statement, which appears
in the Chicago Herald thus:
"Mine has been sad downfall. But I
am Just as firm believer in my religion
now as ever, and it is not through any fault
of mine that became Magdalen. When
my funds gave ont my friends deserted me-
There was a cloud over my name at the
time, for had secured 8 divorce from my
husband only a short time before. / mar
ried him when | was eighteen, and went
with him TO Emporia, kas., where he kept
a store. His name was w. w. Page, and
he was considerably my senior in age, and
i'm other respects untitled to appreciate me.
We moved To Parsons, kas..
THENCE TO ST. LOUIS.
There he went to work for Knapp, Stout &
Co., lum Der merchants, and soon / noticed
he was paving too much attention to other
women The upshot of this course was
that obtained 4 divorce from him on the
ground of infdelity. Prior 10 this had
separated from him. and the bill was grant
ed while | was lecturing ia Kansas. This
it was that turned the pubic against me.
When my means gave out L was alone In
the world, and the frs, step downward was
as much 8 necessity as Ii was IN alter OF
temptation.
"My first bad act was done i'm ST. Louis
[ was too we'll known there TO lead that
kind of life without being detected, 50
left and went To Kansas City. The people
of the Second Baptist church In 81. Louis,
with whom l had been connected in Bible
work, helped me several times with money,
but il was dealt out sparingly and was not
enough to support me / entered notO-
rious house at Kansas City kept by Kit
Brown, and shot at her one day in quar-
rel / had 10 leave to avoid the conse-
quences, and have been in Chicago ever
since"
The physicians attending her at the Chi
cago hospital have expressed an opinion
that
SHE is INSANE.
She appears to be about q years Of age
and at the time she was injured was very
we'll dressed. She claims to have labOred
for several months with the Y. M. G. A.
of st. Louis, and knew q large number of
church. members.
Mr.. W. w. Page, deacon of the Second
Baptist church, who is, perhaps, the oldest
member of the congregation, was seen with
reference to the fallen evangelist and at
first he could not definitely locate her until
he had heard her story. Then he remark
ed that a certain lady evangelist who had
been in this city about ten years ago had
had history resembling that of the Chi
cago woman. This woman was engaged in
the mission work in this city, and was
never quite popular with the ladies whom
she encountered in her work. By many
she was regarded as insane, as she told
most remarkably stories of miraculous Wis
ions and manifestations. She was educated
and claimed to be
ToRTUNE-TELLER.
She, however, had trouble with her hus-
band, and soon the church members began
to avoid her. She, il seems, deserted two
husbands, one of whom came crying to
Mrs Page abont the matter, as the lady
who worked SO much for religion took up
the household goods and chattels and went
away with them The woman then "went
to the bad" First she secured washing
from the women Of the town. and at last BY
a gradual anl rapid decline became one Of
them She lett the city and went to Texas
where she was last heard from two years
1Ko. one, too, Was Wafiieo W nei huso@uu
at the early age Of eighteen The woman's
name was Mrs. Haas, anu che. while work
ing in this city, changed her name several
times. She was supported in her work and
received help very frequently from Mrs.
Page. 1t is supposed that Page is only
one of her aliases, chosen to mislead peo-
pie. 1t is thought that she is the woman
who has come to grief in Chicago. As il
is, however, Mrs. Haas is the only evAnge-
list ever connected with the Second Baptist
church who has fallen, and to some it
seems almost certain that Mrs. Haas and
Mrs. Matte Saunders are one and the
same perOn.
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