The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1890-11-06
NATURES LATEST FREAK,
LITTLE sNEZ HAYES a PUZZLE TO
SOUTHERN DOCTORS.

neutrality-suspicious. People Say Sho
Is Bcwitched
DRESDEN, Tcnn oct 2G.-A most cX-
traordlnary phenomenon is at present
occupying the attention Of the people in
THIS nelghborhOod. Already the news
papers here have discovered the facts in
the case as far as observations could 90,
and from what has been BROUGHT To
light thus far there is now no doubt that
the little village of Greenfield. about
twenty miles from here, will become ia
nous in connection with the cXtraOrdi-
nary freak Of nature to be found there.
1T is nothing less than Il girl who ut
regular intervals elects genuine cotton
from her eyes, ears and throat, and
hitherto all attempts to solve the mvs-
terry have proved futile. ~ 'neighb0rs
were at first inclined to ut butte it to
some sort Of lcgcrdemain, ut now they
have been repeatedly conN need of the
absence OF amy trickcry, an they have
done the inevitable thing among small
communities where anything cannot be
property accounted for-that is, to as
cribe it to wtchery.
The Hayes girl, who is the subject of
| THIS strange story, Lives with her parents
| near Greenfield. Mr.. Hayes is seventy
one years OF age :lnd his wife is but Il
few years Younger. The daurhtrr's
| name is lnez Ophcia, bu, she is gcncr-
ally called TinrScy. She is Il rather
good-looking girl OF Twelve years. with
fair skin, beautiful golden Aair and
light blue cycS-a perfect specimen Of
the blonde. She is Stoutly built, though
hcr family say she is gradually losing
flesh. She has spent some time ut school
and is sharp and intelligent To a degree.
Questions from visitors du not worry
her in the least, and during the periods
when she is in possession OF her health
she Is the soul Of good nature.
EARLY yesterday morning Il party of
women and two gentlemen visited the
llayeS residence for the purpose of
ilndlng out for themselves if the story
OF the cotton was true or Il myth of
some cnterpriSnG romanciStS. On the
way to their destination several persons
whom the party encountered were
asked to direct them ON their way. In
all such cases rather dubious answers
were given, but there was an inclina-
ton diSplaycd toavo!d giving amy details
OF the knowledge possessed on the sub
Jcct. One man VIII" had seen the cotton
| plainly elected from the girls eyes adj
mltted the fact, but doubted that it was
caused by amy operation of nature.
| Tho llayeS family live in Il small,
wooden, DON-lilic house. which contains
room the three sleep. There is Il Kitchen
III the rear. Everything around the
place was neat and clean. The cir! was
lying on an old fashioned trUnu!v bed
near the fireplace. She WAS dressed in
street attire and WAS plIyfulv towing
with Il little harp and some other knick-
knackS. She appeared tn BE- in good
health and spoke cordially and ntcli-
Igently. 70 look at her. nubuHy would
- Ina, ,
girl taking an ordinary lounge after dim
lcr, Ihc visitors cunVcrScd with her
| lor Somc time and began to grow some
| Wllitt impatient, when finally Mrs. IlaSrS
| asked them to look at The girls feet.
| ihcn sad sight was revealed. Since
the poor girl became afflicted, Il few
weeks ago, her toes have curved around
towards the bottom of her feet, and all
attempts to Straghtcn thcn have
proved futile and caused her terrible
agony. They are cold us death, and SO
li1elcSS that physicians have pierced
them through and through with needles,
causing no pain. When an attrmpt is
made TO bend them back TO their natural
position, however,, the girl screams with
agony.
The woman in the party thoroughly
searched around the bed and rXaminru
the patient carefully for amy evidences
| al
o1 aSudden the girl was seized with one
of her spells, and with pilcous screams
she DeSought hermothcr to Rub harolcr'
rnD harder. at the same time grSticrlla-
tlnS violently with her left hand, with
winch she vainly tried to reach her
throat, as if to knock something away.
| lhe mother rubbed vigorously at the
glrlS throat meanwhile. This spell last
ca couple OF minutes and three min
'lleS later 1t was followed by another and
another. At the cessation of each quite
large ball of cotton was removed from
her throat. AS soon rs she began to re
cover from the proStratin& effects Of her
Spclls she smiled and talked in iuSt as
aGrceaDle q manner as she had before
| the spells made their appearance.
| 10 inquiries as to how she felt during
the Tune that she is thus so strangely
agltalrd she said her throat felt as il
somebody were sticking IL sharp Knife
INTO 1t, and the only thing which relieves
her is Il brisk rubbing Of the muscles of
he throat, which her mother ALWAYS at
tends to. Sometimes the cotton is eject
cd clean through the skin, and on one
occasion her throat was completely coy
cred with it. The sufferer ut these
periods WandcrS in Il strange manner,
and positively asserts that her bed is
surrounded by strange forms, one Of
Willcn Snc describes as II woman dress
ed IN yellow" She charges these forms
with depoSltlng the cotton around her.
n strange thing in connection with
the girl is her peculiar sense Of hearing.
rms Is IN itself very extraordinary.
PEOPLE standing by her bedside cannot
near a sound when she Wi! tell them she
hears voices at certain points, and, sure
enough, she has been correct in every
instance. She has been tested repeated
~, but has never slipped. SupcrStitiouS
| people ascribo the whole business TO the
| influence Of witchcry, but her parents,
while ridiculing this idea, cannot ac-
count for the phenomenon.
| Scores of visitors have been to see the
afflicted girl among them being many
reputable physicians. DR.. Clopton Of
Milan says she is perfectly sane, Cap
tain III. {. Roberts aScribcS the fits by
hystcria, but no one can explain away
the presence of the cotton. Mrs. llar-