The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1900-03-15

tests. She was too small and weak
and too nearly starved to resist par
ticularly, oven in words. At the hos
pital she said she had not q friend in
the world OF a relative, and IL was
here that she displayed the only thing
that seemed at all like womanly weak
ness that is known of her. She said
she wanted to he buried in the old
cemetery at Berlin Heights, country
village twentyrfour miles from Ceve-
land, where the graves Of her father
and mother are.
WAS AN OHIO sCHooLTEAcHER.
Berlin Heights is q small country
community. There was once wave
of free-thinking sentiment there, and
later the "bloomer" craze. Ann Pur-
kin had been a schoolteacher there
and was the star of the woman's
club. She donned bloomers and wore
them ever after. 1t is told that she
was married at that time and that her
husband told her she could not be his
wife and wear bloomers, too. She
chose the bloomers; and they separated
amicably. This the dead newswoman
denied, insisting that she had never
been married. She said her family
name was Perkins, but that was not
the way to spell it, and as there was
but one of her, her name must be
singular instead of plural.
All her young life in the country
sho had been writing poems and es-
says, but the editors always changed
them and thereby narrowed her soul.
So, twenty years ago, she went to
Cleveland. She was determined to
make the world hear her. She lee.
tured on dress reform and wrote more
poetry. The poetry aud some essays
she had printed in pamphlet and
sold it in the streets in her bloomer
costume. While tho novelty lasted
she did fairly we'll, but Cleveland was
not then large enough so that it offered
O permanent market, and as soon as
she had made money enough out OF
one book she would get out another.
Sales dropped of, though, and she
went to Chicago thifteen years ago to
work on n woman suffrage publication.
After remaining in Chicago six
months, sometimes lecturing and
sometimes working rs q servant, she
came back to the Cleveland streets
and newspapers. The newsboys came
to recognizing her rs judge for their
differences and advisor for their
troubles. Ono of her principles was
that when one had made money
enough for bis necessities he bould
stop and give others chance. When
she had sold a certain number of pa
pers-and she sold them rapidly be-
cause of tho attention she attracted
she would stop and go home.
WANTED TO REFORM THE WORLD.
Her mind was always full of brill
liant plans for reforming the world and
making it heaven. A lifelong vege-
tartan of the strictest sort, not using
milk or eggs, the scheme that filed
her mind during her last days was q
magazine to be devoted to vegetarian
ism. The simplicity of her mind is
shown in the fact that she was going
to call it "The Fig Leaf' and edit it
herself. In her delirium in the hos
pital she bemoaned her inability to
find backer for the magazine.
She refused to take any medicine at
the hospital, refused food and would
not even allow the hospital doctor to
take her temperature. When any one
approached her bedside she would ask
''Are you doctor?" and if the answer
was eyes" she would insist that he go
away from her. Her attitude toward
all humanity was hostile, save that
she took motherly interest in news
boys, and toward reporters showed n
disposition that was quaint mixture
OF friondliness and alteration, SO strong
was her love of all that pretended to
the guise Of literature. At the last,
before she died, tho hospital doctors
got to telling her that they were re-
porters in order to do the little that
was possible in her aid.-Chicago
Record.