The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-09-20

prhysicSl condition of a girl of twenty who had =
sIrukglu With a man who had robbed and posi-.
ply assaulted her. told him that she would DO
TN,oulx be In a condition bordering on Insanity.
th fowler told me that he had such a case, but
sy'hptoms / had mentioned. Ie then told mo
Ihe young women's name and asked me to go
a6d see her. 1 have known Miss Mayo nearly
itli her life, and 1 entered upon my in Investigation
iuiiy prepared to accept her story in every do
ssii, as i know OF no young woman whom l
ut was probably Ave hours after she was
found by Mr.. Carter when ! saw her. She was
perfectly calm and collected and spoke OF her
adventure in the. most matter-of.fact way. On
nc, part Of her body was there an abrasion of the
blight rcdness whcro tho strings with which she
had been hound had lefc their marks. On tho
that could be felt after feeling for it for some
time. On one OF tho legs, above the knee, there
BY Sst tSr rSsf fn %sTk' ! Ths s RisR had h not b sssn b1 % a Ss
whore those marks werc. These were the only
evidences of n struggle.
Fowler called me aside and showed me the book
Miss Mayo had 6een reading at tho time sho
the leaves, no pointed to a passage and asked
me to read It. l did so. 1t was the description
and there bound hand d'I aud foot. the thongs
around the hands being tied to those about the
feet The woman. after having been thus bound,
Mrs. Ballard about Miss Mayo's charaoteristics
= 'U", hNu thAh. Ouu tiIIlt hkO, Luo youIk III
had been found walking in her sleep. She had
come downstirs to the room, where her alleged
She wore only a night dress and over her arm
she she carried a dress skirt: The Ballads had
her room and put her to bed. / also learned
that none OF the money which was In the house
whom the Billiards. went to church was missing.
had been ransaeked by the alleged robber. about
$40. Every dollar was found.
" Learning these facts, ana some others. l was
forced to the conclusion that the story told by
Miss Mayo was a creation of her own fancy, but
highly sensitive nature. a hard student, with an
overworkcd mind greatly impressed, may be,
BY the story she had read Of the wSman in tho
form Of hysteria, or insanity. or whatever you
may choose to call It. Cases something like this
walker.
the course OF the conversation l asked her II
she remembered what she thought she was do
in her sleep. She said she dreamed that a dress
skirt needed to be minded. and that she had
taken it and gone Downstairs to sew it on the
sewing machine. Then | asked her:
Don't you believe the time will come when
you will recall this assault, as you now recall
that dream and remember 1t only as a horrid
"She seemed astonisbed at my question and
actualities and that there could, possibly be no
mistake about them. Then l told her how Mrs.
B ,s11d I'd Il, 70 bs ss,isty IN h ss S STn M ,nsTsd~ %,s , had
hAAeA h~ ASASOhL 1890 'NS 1870
and had succeeded SO well that after she had
done the tying she was unable to help herself.
Even this could not shake her belief In her
own story. and this makes her case the most pc
culiar on record. SO, far rs / know. Two weeks
have passed now since the alleged assault. The
girl is perfectly rational on all other subjects
On this one. however,. her mind is in the same
condition IL was on Sept. s.. There is no record
ed case in which the Authorization has lasted sc
long. This shows . most serious mental con
dition."
Miss Mayo is now at her fathers house. After
celebrating over the matter for some time TIT
school trustees of Wilmington decided 1t would
young teacher. The decision was conveyed tc
her in . delicate manner, because the trustees
had sympathy for her. When she learned o.
the decision Miss Mayo burst into tears, OK
m
"oh. I wish he bad killed me. 1t would have
been better than ID iB."
Miss Mayo 's father. who was seen by TEE Sur
his daughter imagined the assault. He cannot
understand, however, what 1t was that SO upse
her mind. A Boston physician. who has become
30 much interested in the case that he has beer
here to make q personal Investigation of II. hai
offered this ( planatton after learning the storI
of the girls l!fs and her temperament:
gtrl is. motherless:n he said, and I'll,
been beset wiih difficulties. Her mind Is over
active. When not studying she is thinking o
herself. and comparing her lot with that o.
other girls. This brooding has excited q desir
for sympatfy-a not unusual form OF hystcria
Alone that Sunday morning, with the story o
an unhappy woman fresh In her mind. her de
sire for syf apathy overcame her reason. and sh'
herself in the condition OF the woman who eI
cited her sympathy"