Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1884-12-27
81 a.-
THE HACKETT CASE.
Letter fromthe Husband-Account
OF the Attempted Suicide.

columns. The INTER-OCEAN Is in re-
teipt Of the following letter from Ed.
mond Hackett, husband Of the unfortun-
ate: woman who attempted suicide at
Minnewaukan on the 18th instant:
JAMESTOWN, D. T., Dec. 10.
Mr.. Hansbrough, Devils 'Lake-My
Dear Sir: ! am on my way to Minne-
wife, who attempted to take her own
life. The cause Of her act I cannot &C.
count for. I hope the people Of your
town will not Judge me w%rongfully until
they hear both sides OF the case. My
wife and I lived happy up to the time
she left her home. I cautioned those
parties not to attempt to take her out Of
the country, az she was an insane
her rational mind she viii indicate me.
They told me that she had gone to Bis
marck:. That is why I am here. I will
be in your town as soon as circumstances
will permit. Respectfully yours,
EDMOND HACKETT.
+ ACCOUNT o. THE TRAGEDY. .
sifings.
At about 8 O'Clock on the morning Of
that day there arrived at the Trafton
House a young woman scantily attired,
dark complicated with black eyes and
hair, and an excited anxiety in her man
ner and countenance strongly signifying
that all was not right. The forlorn con-
dition Of the woman awakened the SYM
pathies Of Mr.. Traitor, the landlord, and
on being questioned, said she had no
money but would like work; that she had
walked In from a house northwest Of
town, where she had left her child, a
babe i've months old, at times travelling
barefoot and carrying her shoes in her
hand because they hurt her feet. It was
soon learned that the house she had left
was that of J. G. Gibson, and T. Mahany
drove out in the forenoon and brought in
the child. The mother was delighted to
see it. During the remainder of the day
the strange woman appeared to be in
very good spirits. Toward evening she
was in the kitchen where Mrs. Trafton
and her hired help were busy getting
supper: Discovering a number of
butcher knives on the table, the woman
began fumbling among them, remark
ing that she never saw so many butcher
knives and all &C dull. Picking UP two.
of them, she began whetting one on the
other, and afterwards cut a slice of bread
for the child and ate a piece herself. She,
then approached a mirror hanging on the
wall. Mrs. Trafton was pairing potatoes
at the time, and surprising the woman
was arranging her hair, paid no atten-
ton to her. But the woman remained In
front of the glass some little time, and
when Mrs. T. casually glanced up at her,
she made the horrible discovery that the
unfortunate creature was cutting her
throat with the butcher knife she had
tried to sharpen, vigorously drawing the
blade back and forth across her barred
neck. The blood was squirting out over
the glass and the comb case beneath, COW
ering the woman's hands and the front
of her dress half way to her feet. Sum-
moning her courage, Mrs. T. sprang for
ward and snatched the knife from the
suicidal hand that held it, and rushed
into the Office to notify her husband Of
what had t%ranspired. MI. T. and several
other men ran into the kitchen, and saw
the woman standing in the doorway of
the adjoining bedroom, holding up her
hands, and exhibiting the frightful spec
tacle of her head partially severed from
her body, the blood streaming down the
front Of her clothing. She was carried
into the dining room and laid on the
floor until it should be decided what was
best to be done under the tragical cir
cumstances. A blood-bespattered en-
velope on which was written in q very
legible hand the following, was picked
up in the kitchen:
am innocent. That child Is yours. L
swear it. MRS. HAoKETT.
Let me die easy.
J. NJ. Cubbison examined the wound
and found that the wind pipe was partly
cut In two, without severing either Of
the jugular veins. However, the woman
had bled considerably, the blood settling
in great clots on her breast and clothing,
while 1t required q great struggle for
her to breathe sufficiently to maintain
life. She was subsequently removed to
a cot in the parlor, and two messengers
were dispatched for DR.. Davis, of Fort
Totten. The doctor arrived Saturday
morning, sewed up the cash at either
end and dressed the wound as we'll as
possible, but expressed little hope for the
patient. Before the arrival of the doctor,
however, the woman took a pencil and
wrote as follows:
Edmond, see what your son has done
take the baby and raise. it. Don't tell
my mother. would like to see my hus-
band, Mouse river. He can get here
with q fast horse. Your,son, Edmond, is
a scamp. This is death to part with you.
When asked why she made the attempt
on her life, she wrote: :"
I had great trouble; it drove me mad.
; Saturday evening, the Siftings relates,
Mrs. Hackett escaped from her room in
. nude condition and tried to hide in the
house of Mr.. Peterson. She was brought.
back with great difficulty. "Hers sad ex-.
perience has resulted in temporary
alteration, and she would listen to
neither reason nor persuasion, but i'm
agined they were going to kill her. In
fact this idea fastened itself on her mind
shortly after the attempt at self destruc-
ton. She would frequently ask if she was
to be "burned at the stake,'' ''where she
was to be buried" and kindred wild
questions, while at other times she ap-
peared quite rational, After she was re-