The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1893-09-30
THE STRANGEST WOMAN
AN INMATE OF THE BROOK
LYN PENiTENTiARY.
The Power OF sampson In tho Franc of
> ~ Midgot--sketch OF Her Life and
Some of Her Remarkable Feats-Litt o
Mary Ellen Holds the Record.

There Is ut present in tho Brooklyn
penitent'ary "a woman who, for extra
ordinary strength, has probably no
match in the history of the institu-
ton. This Is all the more remark
able when it i taken into account
that this woman il midget not
monster, She Is still u young woman
Of scarcely more than % years of ago.
For the last dozen years, ever since
she was mere girl, she has pas ed
in and out OF those grim portals
through scarcely pretermitted
series Of incarcerations. IL Is duo
this strange incorrigible to state
that, although her life has been
largely spent in tho company Of
criminals, she has never once. 20 far
as can be learned. been committed
for crime OF any sort She has never
been photog aphod The name by
which this famous scrap IL known
over the city is Mary Ellen. As the
product OF vicious surroundings she
is more to b, pitied, helped, and, IL
possible. saved than scorned and
stunned. She haj had many names
Her real name. as she herself and
others state. and under which she Is
now registered at tho penitentiary.
is Egan. A single member OF her
family still lives about the place.
Her father and mother are both dead.
Mary Ellen was born looking out
upon the prison and its cones. She
grew up among Q motley set OF
toughs.
| Her exploits and encounters were
| frequent and desperate. At such
times she would rather fight than eat
So greatly was she dreaded that for
fear OF infuriating her all who know
her said: IF Mary Ellen wants any
thing let her have it. /" The truth is
that Mary Ellen had vicious and
uncomfortable temper which she con-
stantly suffered to get the best of
her. Such state OF mind is rendered
almost chronic by the thought that
she has been unfortunate. has gone
from bad to worse and naturally feels
that at last nobody cares for her. She
has some good traits nevertheless.
She can be grateful for kindness
She has never committed II crime and
If brought under good influences and
got away from corner saloons she
would probably work. The following
official statements concerning her will
DO read with interest:
Alonzo Brymer, the former warden
of the Raymond street jail, said: IL
have known Mary Ellen for years.
| She is monstrously strong She is
known as the girl who bends the
bars. She is stronger than great
many men, When she first came
under my charge | had to have her
put in the black cell but | soon made
up my mind that l would try kind,
ness. did and | got along well
enough with Mary Ellen after that
The trouble is that she thinks every
body's hand is against her and that
makes her desperate.
called on Warden Hayes at the
penitentiary
| asked, "by tho name OF Mary
Ellenm
There is such W oman here"
Il would like very much to sec
her." said, "but before seeing her
would like to ask you some qucs-
tons"
The warden assented.
"Is it true that Mary Ellen, as she
is called, is the strongest woman who
has ever entered this PRISON."
That is the belief of all who are
here" replied tho warden. IL be-
'ieve that for her size she is the
strongest woman that can be pro-
duccd in this country to-day know
that sounds like very sweeping
statement, but nevertheless that is
my conviction. have had the
costody Of q good many women, from
| all parts Of the country. and have
met good many strong ones. but
mover any woman that approached
Mary Ellen in strength. Everybody
here will tell you the same thing"
Ills she not midget"
.'She is small woman, with small
hands, small feet, small bones and a
nervous organization. But every rib
IS iron every s.new whipcord, every
nerve lightning. Her grip Is wise
and tho person she clutches limp
Ginger She ha, quite a bit OF
,cencc, too, and when 1t comes to
putting up her hands, she would be
more than match for Maggie, the
boxer OF Mulberry Bend"
"Can you give me any instances Of
hor wonderful strcngthP'
There are enough OF them t. fill
book" replied the warden.
when. for cause, it is found neces-
sary to put her in the cooler it
takes two men to manage her. and
then they get roughly handled
When she once gets hold Of you she
never lets 60"
'On ono occasion" said the war
den, "a bar of iron had laid out in
the rain and had grown rusty. The
burr that at one end OF it was screwed
on thread had rustcd fast IL was
necessary to use 1t, and in order to