Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1884-02-14
A MIND DISEASED.
Strange Story OF the Young Lady who
was Handcuffed.

was Han0CUlE60s
"Come into the sleeping car and will
show you singular case" said the con-
ductor of one Of the great express trains
that daily enter and leave the Cleveland
depot, to Leader reporter. The long,
heavy train was distributed about in sec
tions. The engine was steaming outside,
the baggage cars were being unloaded
and reilled at one end Of the long depot
and the day coaches in the center were
being emptied and loaded again. The
sleeper stood at the other end Of the
depot, and toward this the conductor led
the way. 1t was not far from the middle
of the day and none ct the berths were
made up. Near the center Of the car, in
section by herself, sat young lady Of
perhaps twenty years. She was tastily
dressed in neat gray suit, and diamond
necklace glistened at her throat Her
face was an intelligent and attractive
one, but her bright blue eyes had
meaningless look and were fixed stupidity
upon some object at the front of the
car. Her hands seemed to rest easily at
her side, and such would have
been the impression a careless OBJ
server would have carried away.
As the conductor and the reporter stood
in the aisle for moment longer than was
necessary to observe the above, however,
clanking sound was heard, and the
young lady seemed to be trying to free
her arms from something that kept them
firmly fixed to her side. Stepping little
nearer, delicate pair of steel handouts
could be plainly seen, attached to her
wrists. They were separated, however,
and to each was fastened a small but
stout chain that was firmly secured to the
seat. Behind the young lady sat gen
tleman of not over twenty-five years read
ing book. 1t was not difficult to un-
derstand, by the occasional sharp glance
that he directed toward the lady in front
OF him, that she was in his charge. OBJ
tanning the prestige of an introduction
by the conductor, the reporter solicited
of the he'gentleman the story that was con
nected with his strange errand. The gen
tleman courteously put aside his book
and asked the reporter to share his seat
lam taking her to New York, I" he
began, "where hope to secure for her
such treatment as will speedily restore
her to sanity. l need hardly tell you
that she is my wife. We were married
about two years ago in one of the rap
idly growing Western cities. This young
lady was one of the brightest and most
refined of her sex in the city. Carefully
educated at a popular school and reared
among the best influences that loving
father could spread about her, she was
at nineteen years of age as intelligent
and gentle young lady as one would
meet in lifetime. 1t was one Of the re-
grets of our honeymoon that my business
as a merchant kept me closely confined,
and, not infrequently, late into the night.
One evening on going home from the
store my wife met me with that same
meaningless stare that you observe upon
her face at present. Never having no
ticed anything in the slightest de-
gree indicative of insanity, 1 quite
naturally guessed that she was playing
joke on me, and pretended not to notice
her. All during the evening, however,
she walked about the rooms, her ewes
fixed directly before her. At last. be-
coming thoroughly alarmed, slipped
out into the hall and out the front door.
returning few moments later with
physician. He gave her one searching
look, and, then turning to me, said: 'sShe
is maniac" The physician advocated
perfect seclusion, and she was placed in
a nicely furnished and heated room by
herself. But she grew worse instead of
better, and finally became violent, and
insisted on pulling out her hair by the
roots, disfiguring her face, and tearing
her clothing in shreds. Her mind
was completely gone, and from the
time | returned home on that event
full evening she has never recognized
me or any of her many relatives
and acquaintance. When she became
violent insisted upon more careful
examination Of the cause of her sudden
dethronement of reason, and just back
of her forehead we discovered long
scar that looked as if it might have been
caused by heavy blow from some cruel
instrument. This led me to think that
possibly burglary had been committed
and, on searching through the dressing
case in our sleeping room, discovered
that all her diamonds had been stolen.
could get no clue to the strange crime,
but the story was plain. Thieves had
entered the house and struck her in
sensible with some heavy instrument.
She had been rendered unconscious and
awoke with her reason gone. The hand
cuffs on her wrists seem a cruel precau-
ton, but without them she would be
absolutely beyond control. I shall take
her to one Of the ablest physicians in the
East, and hope to return with her soon,
perfectly cured"
Hope for Dudes.