The Wichita daily eagle., 1891-11-12
an ABODE OF MISERY.
A Lady Nearly Ninty Years OLD Deserted by
Relatives

old saying but is true as Gospel. The
hardest heart ever planted in a human
breast would be moved to compassion and
sympathy could the owner see the sight
that an EAGLE reporter Witnessed in the
dead hour of night last night when the
bitter cold wind was singing it's melan-
chOly song through the whitening and dy-
ing leaves of the trees that surrounded
the humble cottage that stands on the cor
ner of Texas avenue and Usage street on
the West Side.
At 12 o'clock Officer Charles Guyer OF
the West Side beat called up the EAGLE
Office and desired to meet reporter on
the Douglas avenue bridge. He was met
there, and both proceeded at once to the
cottage referred to on the corner of Texas
avenue and Usage street. A tap of the
officers fingers upon the window glass
brought forth weak response from
| within and a request for admission was
granted by weak voice, which said come
in at the back door, The back door was
reached. and when the officer opened
it he assured the reporter that he
need not fear falling over any sofas.
| lounges, center tables or anything of that
kind No poet or painter could strain a
fertile imagination to picture an abode of
misery equal to that house. Not light
was under the roof, nor nothing to make a
light, and the officer used pocketful of
matches to show the interior of the build
ing. Under their faint glimmer Mrs
Nancy Courtney was seen huddled up
under thin quilt lying on a bare chaff
mattress trying to keep herself warm. and
| ha tod hot n ell
through the cracks in the window. in a
manner that showed the indominitable
spirit within her.
On the other end of the bed was her
daughter who had come there earlier in
the night to sleep with her and keep her
company as well as to give her the benefit
OF younger and warmer blood. The old
| lady Is very near the four score and
ten milestone and a score of years
beyond the allotted age of man, having
been born in Ohio in 1904 She moved to
Indiana when The Indians still inhabited
! that state, and settled in Tippecanoe coun-
! ty. When age overlook her she made her
home with granddaughter and her hus-
band, MIR. and Mrs John Burr. They mov-
ed into one of Pat Healy's farms and left
OLD grandma" after them saying there
WAS not enough room in the house they
were moving into.
No generous hearted persons will deserE
cat in a house but in this case John Burr
and his wife left this old lady after them
and not only deserted her but
left her alone with the bare
walls without anything whatever
but the roof of the house to shelter her
! -;sL
| tention of Officer Guyer was called to her
late last evening, and out of the gener
osity of his heart he provided her with
little stove and some coal to keep the
house warm, at least. Some other kind
hearted parties gave her the quilt that
covered her and little something to eat.
The EAGLE reporter examined the
house from end to end last night and
Il was horrible to note it. With the ex-
ceptiou of the little stove and coal Officer
Guyer presented her with there was only
in the building an old coffee box, which
served for a table with an old newspaper
for a tablecloth, and not a sign or suggest
ion of adish, cup, knife, or in fact any
thing: a cheap bedstead and one chair
upon which the old lady's clothing were
lying, and that was SO little that it would
barely wad a shotgun. There was not
blind on the window and it was not
needed for there was nothing in
the house to make light, not
even a match. The old lady tod her story
to the reporter and woman like she did
not entertain any hard feeling for her
grand children notwithstanding the treat
ment they accorded her. Her daughter,
IL, Il ! 81,
ness of the old lady for she spoke in very
vigorous terms of Burr and his wife. cit
makes me hot" she said "to think how
they treated grandma after what she has
done for them during her lifetime.,' "Oh.
don't talk that way about 'em" replied
the old lady before strangers to
which the young woman replied
Il don't care they spent all
your mony and now they have deserted
you to die of starvation and cold" II
won't die yet" said the old lady cheerfully
and then she wrapped the old quilt closer
around her as another cold blast came
whistling through the cracks in the
window. In this effort to resist the blast
she pulled most of the quilt away from her
daughter unconsciously but the daughter
did no begrudge it and was apparently
willing to freeze herself in order that her
aged mother might be more comfortable.
After the young woman breaking the ice
about the grandchildren the old lady told
the reporter how she had taken a hun
dred dollars she had in the bank
which she intended no doubt for her
burial, and lent it to Burr on interest.
and which Burr has never paid her. She
also told sad story of her life to the re-
porter. and told it good-humordly Alto
gether she was in better humor than the
stoutest man in the city would be under
similar circumstances, and when both the
reporter and the officer were making their
exit from the house in the dark she wittily
remarked to them to be careful not to
strike their "shins" against anything, as
if there was anything to strike against.
The daughter who was with her Is work
ing in some private family and she
also had no money TO help her
mother along with. 1t was the
most pitiable scene a man ever wit
messed and one that would have an effect
on the most callous heart. If the good
charitable ladies of the city viii drive over
there today and see the old lady's sur
roundings, they will agree that she is al
together the worthiest object of charity
ever seen.
IL it had not been for the kindness of
Officer Guyer in providing her with a stove
and some fuel it would have been a miracle
if she could have survived the night, with
only ragged quilt 10 cover her and keep
her warm. She possibly had enough food
in the house last night 10 provide her
slim breakfast this morning, but not an
ounce more.
ASOLDMAS HURT