The Meeker herald. [volume] (Meeker, Colo.) 1885-current, 1893-09-23
THE STRANG EST WOMAN
AN INMATE OF THE BROOK
LYN PENITENTIARY,
Tie Power of sampson In tn. Frame of
hidSet-sketch OF Her Life and
some OF Her Remarkable Feats-Little
Iary Ellen Holds the Record.

strehSth' mas probably -.
match in the history of the institu-
ton, This is all the more remark
able when it is taken into account
That this woman is Il midget not n
monster. She is still young woman
OF scarcely more than % years of age.
For the last dozen years. ever since
she was mere girl, she has passed
In and out OF those grim portals
through scarcely pretermitted
series OF incarcerations. 1t is due
this strange incorrigible to state
that, although her life has been
largely spent in the company of
criminals, she has never once, so far
as can be learned, been committed
for crime of any sort She has never
been photographed. The name by
which this famous scrap is known
over the city is Mary Ellen. As the
product of vicious surroundings she
is more to be- pitied, helped, and. if
possible, saved than scorned and
stunned. She ha. had many names.
Her real name, as she herself and
others state, and under which she is
now registered at the 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 scenes. She
grew up among 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 knew
her said: '.lf Mary Ellen wants any
thing let her have it" The truth is
that Mary Ellen had a 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 a crime and
If brought under good influences and
got away from corner saloons sho
would probably work. The following
official statements concerning her will
be 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. l did and got along well
enough with Mary Ellen after that
The trouble is that she thinks every
body's hand is ngain-t hor and eiau
makes her desperate"
called on Warden Hayes at the
psnitentiary.
ais there woman here, warden
! asked, "by the name of Mary
Elem"
There is such W oman here
II would like very much to sec
her." said, "but before seeing her
would like to ask you some ques-
tons
The warden asscntcd.
"Is it true that Mary Ellen, rs she
is called, is the strongest woman who
has ever entered this prison."
That is the belief of all who are
here replied the warden. 81 be-
lieve 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 good many women, from
all parts of the country, and have
met II good many strong ones, but
never any woman that approached
Mary Ellen in strength. Everybody
here will tell you the same thing"
as she not u midget"
..She is q small woman, with small
hands, small feet, small bones and II
nervous organization. But every rib
is iron, every sinew whipcord, every
nerve lightning. Her grip is wise
and the person she clutches limp
Ginger. She has quite bit of
science, too, and when it 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
her wonderful strength"
There are enough of them to fill
a book" replied the warden.
when, for cause, it is found neccs-
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
neves lets go"
"On one 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 rusted fast 1t was
necessary to use it, and in order to
do so it was found necessary to re-
move the burr.
1--WE called in some of the strong
Scst men in the penitentiary, one after
another, but none of them could re-
move the burr. At last some one
suggested that we call in Mary
Ellen. The suggestion was greeted
with derisive laughter, but the
laughter didn't last long. Mary
Ellen, when she was sent for to play
the monkey-wrench act, came at
once 1t was the only time she ever
did come when she was sent for.
She smiled scornfully at those stand
ing around, laid her small hand upon
the rusty burr, and. with quick
turn of the wrist, moved it and then