Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-12-06
Miss NJ. ]. CuSack Gains Ac-
cess to a Convent.
A VERY SINGULAR STORY.
Is Sister Gonzalez Illegally Immured
at DixmOnt?
WHAT MISS CUSACK DISCOVERED

of Kenmare, asking THE DISPATCH to in
vestipate the case of Sister Gonzalez, of the
Ursuline Convent, who recently was placed
in Dixmont as insane. Having no desire to
be onesided or unfair, The DISPATCH
waited until yesterday, and sent a reporter
70 Dixmont to see what could be learned.
In what follows is an interview with DR..
Hutchinson and the Nun,Of Kenmare's let
ter, which runs thus:
A Case for Investigation in the Interest Of
Humanity.
To the Editor OF The Dispatch:
appeal to the public of PitUsburg Protestant
and Catholic, to call for an inquiry into the
case of the Ursuline Sister who has been sent
TO Dixmont LunaJic Asylum 1t may be asked
why /, stranger, should interfere in such
matter 1 do so for the best of reasonable
cause have known cases in which Sisters have
been sent to lunatic asylums withouteven the
knowledge of their Roman Catholic relatives
and treated most cruelty, the sole cause of their
Imprisonment being that they protested against
evil
ALJUSIoN TO THE BISHOP.
In this case there is weIl-lnown to have been
so much trouble between the Bishop and the
Sisters that, in justice to all concerned, the
strictest inquiries should be made. Surely
priests should not be allowed to be the judge
and iury in their own case. L know the horror
and terror endured by one Sister. who, though
Derfectiv sane was committed to an asylum.
know also how easily person, and above all
Sister can be represented rs insane, and how
political influence Will be used 70 nave thls
cruel punishment inflicted NJ j. CUsACK,
(The Nun of Kenmare.)
With the above letter in his possession,
DISPATCH reporter went to Dixmont, bent
on a little private investigation Of his own.
Arriving at the asylum, DR.. Hutchinson
was seen, and when the letter was shown,
and the reporter had stated his errand, the
medical gentleman said:
tUm reporter, eh? Well, I don't see
ANYTHING to make a fuss about. Sister
Gonzalez is here, of course, but she was COM
mitted bv due process of law. She is under
no more restraint than any other patient in
her condition, and is cheerful and content
ed. She realizes, in measure, what is the
matter with her. and is anxious to recover.
She passes her time sewing, quilting and
doing fancy work, and / expect her complete
recovery in few months At present she
is physically run down, so to speak, but her
health is mending, and as hef physical con-
dition improves her mental condition will
keep pace with it. She has no particular
hallucinatiop, and, while do not wish to
mix religion in the thing, l think her in
sanity WAS CduoON W AuS hASobASS az SuS
convent"
"How about seeing her?'' ventured the
reporter.
KoT SEEING ANYBODY.
srWell, her friends have been allowed to |
see her until lately, when she said that she
wished to see no more visitors, as seeing
them made her homesick. 1 then issued
orders to that effect. There is really no
basis for such a letter as Miss Cusack
writes IF Sister Gonzalez were sane and
confined here against her will, individu-
aIlv would be liable to imprisonment; and L
assure you that am not courting any such
danger Sister Gonzalez is a very quiet pa
tient, and the Nun of Kenmare will do
more harm than good by sending these let
ters to the papers to be published, because |
the patient, who is allowed to read, will see
them, and such things tend to excite her or
any other person in her condition"
Yesterday the Nun of Kenmare visited |
the Ursuline Convent accompanied by a |
Pittsburg lady, a friend of Mother Al |
phonse, the deposed Superioress. Miss |
Cusack was introduced as an English lady, |
and she says she had no trouble IN seeing |
Mother Alphonse and the Sisters who ad |
here TO her. Last night the Nun of Ken |
mare furnished the following interview of |
what she saw to a reporter of the Pittsburg |
News Agency, and it was furnished 10 all |
the morning papers. In the interview Miss /
Cusack says:
"We were shown into the rooms occupied |
bv Mother Alphonse and the other French |
sisters I did not make myself known to |
Mother Alphonse, but, as soon as she was |
informed that spoke French and was in |
sympathy with her, the reserve that might |
have been expected in communication with |
a stranger disappeared.
THE NUNS STORY.
81 was introduced to a sister who spoke |
no English at all and she told me the whole \
story of the division in the convent and |
what has come of it How the French Sisters, |
after building one of the most splendid con- |
vents in the country, were deposed is well |
known to all Pittsburgers. But it is not /
known that these same Sisters, in this nine |
teenth century and right in the midst |
of its proudest civilization, are under |
going hardships which are the re- |
finement of cruelty, and which can only |
have one end-insanity or the grave. They |
are debarred from communication with the /
balance of the household, are confined in a /
few rooms, improperly fed and clothed and |
are even denied the consolation of needle
work, so dear to every French woman's /
heart. It is not fair, perhaps, to charge that |
this restriction of liberty and deprivation of |
comfort and necessities is due to an ulterior /
purpose on the part of those in authority, /
but it looks very much that way.
Zone OF the chief objects of my visit to the
convent was to ascertain the truth concern
ing Sister Gonzalez, one of the adherents of |
Mother Alphonse, who was recently taken |
to DiAmont 1 learned that there is no
doubt of her insanity, and that Dixmont is
probably the best place for her. Mother
Alphonse distinctly declares that the re-
striction of her liberty is responsible for the |
insanity of Sister Gonzalez-in other words,
that she was driven insane. How long it /
will be before her companions join her in |
Dixmont 1 would not like to conjecture.
They cannot long endure their present con-
dition and remain sane.
"The hardships of the French Ursuline
Sisters" continued Miss Cusack, "are ag-
grsvated BY the fact that it was their money |
that built the splendid edifce that is now
their prison, and that they are eager to re-
turn to France if they can get back what |
belongs to them.
SHE MET A SISTER.
''On the way out of the convent met a |
sister of Mother Gertrude, the present
Mother Superior (there are three of the
Burns sisters in the convent, believe). L |
was surprised to have her tell me that she
disapproved Of the treatment Of the French
Sisters; that for long time she has not
spoken to the members of the faction now in
control, and is also undergoing many hard
ships 1 gathered from her talk that
Mother Gertrude was not the willing op-
pressor of the French Sisters, but was mere
" carving out the directions of her
superiOrs.
Whatever may be the facts, am going
to the bottom o. this case. What 1 shall do |