The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1883-12-06
LOVES YOUNG DREAM,
4 Young Girl from the Elite OF Ans
lin Society Seeks to End Her Life
with StryehnIDe.

lin society seeks TO End Her Lille
with StryehnIne.
II will do no good to mention names,
and at the earnest solicitation of
friends of the family we withhold
them. but the most of our readers in
this city have had an inkling of the
affair already, and those outside of the
city will be just as wise If we do not
give any more publicity to the sad
act than is necessary in the per-
formance of our JOURNALISTIC duty.
y young lady from one of the most
respectable families of this city, not
out of that transitory period when
glrlhood ends and womanhood begins,
Is the principal character in the sad
affair. She is about eighteen years of
age, OF tull plump form, with fair,
! clear complexion, pleasing in her con-
Versatlon and withal one of the most
attractive young ladies in Austin.
You may have seen her Walk
along the streets, perfect
lady in her demeanor, and if
so you must have been attracted by
her remarkable beauty. There are
few young ladies in this city more
comely than she.
For some time her parents have no.
ticed that she appeared sad and de-
jected, and seemed to have lost that
light-hearted jolly disposition so char
acteriStic of her, usually. She seemed
at times to be weighed down with
some great grief, and at times she
would sit in moody silence seemingly
lost in her meditation and wholly I'M
conscious of what was going on
around her. When spoken to she would
start suddenly, with a sort of bewild-
cred stare as if she had been aroused
from some startling dream. Friday
night she retired rs usual but had
not been in her bed dong when her
mother heard her moaning, and on
going to the bed found her daughter
in convulsions. She had no suspicion,
however, OF the truth, but being
greatly frightened sent to the
neighbors for assistance, They came
at once, and as the young lady contin-
ued to grow worse a servant was ids
patched for a physician. He came
with all haste in response to the call,
| and being one of the most learned and
experienced Of the city saw at a
glance that the young lady was suffer-
ing from strychnine poisoning. He told
| the mother tlat such was the trouble,
and she replied that it was impossible
as there had been none IN the house
for years, and nothing had beer eaten
during the day that could possibly
have contained such bane. The doc
tor knew he csuld not be mis-
taken, and began to administer
antidoets to counterfeit its
effect. The result was satisfactory
and the young lady's life was saved
though the drug has left her in pre-
carious condition.
After the young lady found there
was no hiding the cause of her sick
ness, she made full confession Of
what she had done, and admitted
she had taken a large dose of strych-
nine for the purpose of killing herself
and told those about her where they
would find the bottle and where she
had purchased the poison. They went
to the place and found
the empty bottle with the
label upon it. When asked why she
sought her destruction she replied
that she was in deep trouble and had
been for some time-deeper than she
could bear; life to her was burden,
and so heavy had it grown that she
could not endure it longer. She
had purchased the poison several
months ago, but had put off the dead
ly work, hoping that she might
pass through her terrible affection
to live and be happy, but it
was no use; her trouble continued to
| grow heavier and still heavier until
she could no longer live under the
load she was forced to carry. The ex-
act nature Of that terrible trouble she
refused to tell. 1t can be readily
guessed what the physician and
friends surmised it might be, and of
course an investigation in the line by
such suspicious was pursued, but they
soon found they had wronged her eff
such surmises. From word drop
ped here and there it
is gathered that some time
ago she met young man with
whom she fell passionately in love,
and the man pretended, and perhaps
did, return her passion. Hers was a
nature that when she loved the devo-
ton knew no bounds; it's object was
her only idol-the hope, the sunshine
Of her life. The young man, it seems,
met new face, and he fancied it
prettier than that of the girl who
WorsLipped at his shrine, and he was
not slow. in letting her know
he had no further use for
her smiles and cooling words.
She vowed she could not live without
him and that she would kill herself;
and in her half girl, half woman heart
she believed her own words. When
she is ten years older she will look at
men in ad,ffeIe nt light The average
young man, or old man either, thinks
more of new face than the true love
of his last conquest, and this young
man paid little heed to the girls
threats, and SO she lost her lover. To
woman of thirty that is a slight
matter; to a girl of eighteen
it is different. Her young heart gave
way, and the affair ended in the tragic
scene of Friday night. A STATES
MAN representative learned who was
her physician and interviewed the
! doctor, but with true professional
. ;.onor he refused to say word about
the affair, but said the young lady
would recover from her sickness. If
she RECEIVERS she will probably profit
by her experience and learn to forget
the young man for whom she endeaY-
ored to take her life.