The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-07-02
But Not Till She Was All
Dressed Up in Her Broth
er'S Clothes.
WALKED CHICAG0s STREETS.
Hardships Result in Illness Her
Identity Discovered at the
Hospital.

WILMINGTON, DEL, July miss
Hettie Dickey, the pretty young blonde
who returned to her fathers house in STAN
ton yesterday, is cured of all desire to be a
man. She left her home in that little vii
lage, five miles from here, three months
ago, dressed in mans garb.
Miss Dickey explained to a reporter to-
night that she had for years wished she
were man. The impulse to see the world
as man grew upon her to such an extent
that she finally decided to leave home
She secreted a suit of her brothers clothes
in the woodshed and soon after noon on
March "a she slipped quietly into the shed
and put on the masculine attire. Then she
walked calmly out of the yard in front of
her home to the road leading to Kiamensi
station on the Baltimore and Ohio Rail-
road. 1t was then about 1:30 o'clock in
the afternoon. She followed the tracks
for three miles without meeting any one.
Then two men came in sight, and for fear
OF detection she turned aside into,a field
and made her way to Newark, where she
took the o'clock train for Baltimore.
BY this time her parents were searching
the country for her in the immediate vi
entity of their home. Reaching Balti-
more, she stopped for an hour. Then she
bought ticket to Chicago and left on the Z
o'clock train over the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad. All the money she had upon
leaving home was $50. She reached
Chicago on the night of March Is with
So 4S in the pocket of her trousers. Her
original intention was to go to Denver or
San Francisco. In both of these places
she has relatives.
Now comes the most interesting part of
her story. After her arrival in the Windy
City, she was at loss to know where to
lay her head. She was afraid to go to a
lodging-house, SO she concluded to walk
the streets rather than run the risk of
being detected. For two nights she
tramped the sidewalks before finding a
place of shelter. AT last she found big
undergrad near the lake, and there she
spent five nights among the piles of lum-
Der. What little food she ate during this
time she purchased at cheap restaurants.
In all of these cases she seated herself at
tables alongside of men. For three nights
she occupied corner in boxcar, stand
ing on side track of the Illinois Central
Railroad. One of the employees discovered
her and demanded an explanation of her
presence. She maintained her fortitude
and succeeded in escaping arrest.
She went on in this way for two weeks,
until, overcome by exhaustion, she fell ill
and was removed to Cook County Hospi-
tai. The incessant tramping and the
clumsiness OF her brothers. shoes caused
severe injuries to her feet. Upon removal
of the shoes at the hospital flesh came off
with them.
A diagnosis of her case was made by the
physician in charge. While making an
examination of her lungs he discovered
her sex. She told him her name was
Hettie Dickerson, but subsequently adj
mitted that it was Hettie Dickey and that
her home was in Stanton, Del After
listening to her narrative the doctor mott
fed her parents.
On April a. one month from the time of
her disappearance, she wrote to her mother
describing her sufferings and asking for
giveness. "If they had turned me away
from the hospital" she wrote, 81 don't
know what would become of me, for 1
surely could not live long dressed as a man.
They would not have taken me in had not
the doctor discovered that was woman.
The doctor offered me clothes that had
been worn by dead people,"
In three weeks from the time she was ad-
mitted to the hospital she had recovered
sufficiently to walk about. There was
some doubts in the Doctors mind as to her
sanity and she was ordered to appear in
court for examination.
This resulted in her transfer to the Dun
ming Insane Asylum, where she remained
until last Tuesday. Then, on an order
from her parents, she was released. Dur
ing her Incarceration at the asylum a
trunk filed with clothes arrived from her
home and upon her release she started for
Stanton.
She reached home yesterday, and with
the exception of slight feebleness she
was none the worse for her experience.
When questioned regarding their daugh-
ter's behavior Mr.. and Mrs. Dickey could
give no explanation.
| For many years Miss Dickey has taken
an active part in temperance work.
She was q devout Christian and a
firm believer in the doctrine of the
Presbyterian church until a year ago.
when she suddenly manifested belief in
the teachings of the Seventh-day Advent
lists, who were then holding meetings at
Newark. So intense has her admiration
for them become that arguments with her
parents were frequent. For this reason it
was thought that she had mysteriously
departed in order to join them.
She carried with her ON her escapade
small handsatchel, which contained two
suits of underwear, comb and brush, two
handkerchiefs, one shirt, two collars and
novel.
1t is not strange that she was not de-
tected and arrested before she reached Chi
cago. The light suit she wore fitted her
slender form perfectly, and the SLOUGH hat
that covered her head tended to strengthen