Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1896-08-12
Mistellaneul1s &eaaimg.
CIGARETTES POISONED HER BRAIN.

Dell De Forrest Incurably Insane From
Nicotine.
New York World.
Quite frequently the story of incura-
Bile insanity arising from the cigarette
habit is chronicled.
1t is a safe prediction that more than
one cigarette fepd will read this story
who might not be in Longview a year
or two hence, if he or she would only
heed the moral of this "o'er true tale"
For more than year Dell de Forrest
(her real name is Dell Cline) amused
and startled all beholders in her whirl-
wind dance on the vaudeville stage.
1t was wonderful dance; only year
ago, and the billboards in large cities
were covered with posters announcing
it. Today Dell de Forrest is an incur
able maniac on Blackwell's island.
She came of good people and was
we'll educated, and showed no pro-
pensity for fast life for several years
after. she finished her studies. One
day she suddenly announced her pur-
pose of going on the stage. She lived
in Newark, N. j., where she met
man named Jones, whose stage name
was De Forrest. He taught her to
dance, married her, and between them
they composed the whirlwind dance.
The couple received $500 per week,
which they divided equally. 1t was
more money than Dell Cline ever
dreamed of having, and it turned her
head. She began to dissipate-wine,
late suppers and all the rest of it. In
cidentally she learned to smoke cigar
cites. The fast life jeopardized her
job, and on the entreaties of her friends,
she stopped drinking and carousing;
but stuck to her cigarettes.
MUST HAVE CIGARETTES.
1t came to such pass that she could
not sleep through the night without
her cigarette. At certain hours she
would awake, light cigarette that
she had kept at hand, take few puffs,
and then relapse into slumber. After
awhile the waking spells became more
frequent and the duration of each nap
became shorter, so that, few months
ago, she never slept more than half or
three-quarters of an hour at time.
Upon the stage she became utterly
unreliable. Frequently she would
keep performers and audience alike
waiting until she could ruin to her
dressing room and take few puffs Of
cigarette. The poison soon showed
its effects. Her brain became lethargic
and her appetite capricious, and she
grew weak. She was seized with per-
manent melancholia and seemed al
ways to be plunged into deepest gloom.
Her mind became distracted; she
could never fix her attention upon
matter for more than moment or two
at time.
At the advice of her physician she
was removed to private sanitarium
at Stamford. There she became worse
and was sent to the Amityville Insane
asylum. She had hardly been there
two days when she was seized with
the delusion that the asylum attend
ants were attempting to poison her.
From that moment the poor creatures
life has been filled with the most hor.
rible delusions that could spring from
a disordered brain.
COULD NOT EAT.
She refused to accept food, and they
had to force nourishment down her
throat. Then she became possessed OF
the delusion that DR.. Williams, the
head of the institution, was in love
with her, and after that she accepted
food from him, but no one else.
One night, while thinking of her
husband, she was seized with the icea
that he was prisoner in the room
over hers. She took slat from her
bed, stood on a chair, and pounded
the plaster overhead until she had
made big hole in the ceiling, to the
alarm of the other patients in the
ward. 1t was inadvisable to keep her
in the asylum any longer, and DR..
Williams decided to request her moth
er to remove her.
Her relatives obtained a commitment
to the insane asylum on Blackwells
island, and there, early last week,
they took her. Her removal was &C
complished with the utmost diff
ficulty. She had the delusion that
DR.. Williams was to have married her,
but had Leen kidnapped by his family.
DR.. Williams's sister and one of the
physicians of the asylum accompanied
her to Blackwell's island.
VIOLENTLY INSANE.
When they alighted from the train
at Long Island City their patient be-
came so violent that it required the
united efforts of three policemen to
overcome her. Finally, her struggles
grew fainter, and they were able to
take her to the island without further
difficulty.
In the insane asylum on Blackswell's
island, unlike private sanitariums, the
whims and depraved appetites of the
inmates are not grati6ed unless it is
absolutely necessary for the preserva-
ton of their health that it should be
done. Dell de Forrest began to cry for
cigarettes. They refused to allow her
to smoke.
She begged, pleaded, implored,
threatened, ragged and burst into floods
of profanity again and again, but they
would give her no cigarettes.
"Oh, my God !" she would cry in her
agony. MWhY won't YOU give me