The sun., 1903-12-08
WOMAN'S LETTERS TO HERSELF
MRS. OWENS'S TALE OF A DUAL
EXISTENCE NOT BELIEVED.

ber II Afterward-Physicians Think
She Was Only Trying TO Get Attention.
UTICA, N. Y. Dec. THE remarkable
case Of Mrs. Martha Owens Of this oity,
who has been expelled as communicate
from the Tabernacle Baptist Church be-
cause she wrote letters assailng her char
acter to herself the pastor, the Rev. William
B. Wallace, and to prominent members Of
the congregation. thereby causing a rum
pus in the church society s as strange as
fiction.
The SUN has told how Mrs. Owens ex-
plains that she led -Dr. Jekyll and Mr..
Hyde" career as a result OF taking opium.
But her story is not readily accepted by
medical men and members Of the church
whose wives have been made the targets
Of some Of the woman's letters.
After Mr.. Kinsley, the handwriting ex-
pert Of New York. had accused her OF being
the author of these letters, Mrs. Owens
confessed and then said her actions were
due to her use Of Dover's powders. She
asserts that after taking one Of these powders
she is totally unconscious of her actions
for hours at a time. She maintains, also.
that when her reason has been restored
she is unaware Of what has occurred in the
interval.
Here are some Of the letters written by
Mrs. Owens to herself. The first one was
among those brought to the attention Of
the Rev. DIR. Wallace by Mrs. Owens, having
been written by her an hour after taking
a powder and received by her, addressed
in her disguised handwriting. seven hours
later. The letter follows:
Jnr kn tr <hn oh
and speak to Rev. Mr.. Wallace and others;
oh. Mrs. Owens you are an old devil! will
make you erovel at my feet for mercy. You
stay from Tabernacle Church OF peril. Don't
you be there on Thursday night. You dare
to tot ST sp down 40 Or leave the room Take warning
before too late. will make you XII yoursef
yet CHURCH MEMBER.
Here is another letter Mrs. Owens wrote
to herself:
Mrs. Owens. you are not wanted In the
Io"sS bons dare conc Dr there Friday. for You are
not wanted to help. II you knew anything
you would keep away. The lady to whom
her dog sleep on it. As that Is all it is good
for. Remember on pain Of your life you are
not wanted IL this ehuren They want YOU
disgrace to 1t. Remember this or you die
CHURCH MBMBER.
Many Of the letters written by Mrs. Owens
TO herself are unprintGble. Here Is the
only other specimen which Is not reeking
fun nGs of %s %s' Viii sSSfov y yo Oh At G,lea Or
ground % 70 pieces under the trolley car when
you were at summit Park last night. Re-
member. ! will murder you yet You think
BY all. will shoot you before month.
l. Look out for yourself
The following letter was addressed by
Il H. RAk I--x~
II you don't put that wretched Owens woman
out, and if she. sticks her nose in the doors
aRd aSddH non besr heed hi. xarnn
This is the letter Mrs. Owens wrote her
pastor, the Rev. Mr.. Wallace:
woman out Of your, church. Ny husband
she to The sn' HsIt ,hs he
d sSmssElng n .his mat matter H., t6eTeIn nI ;.
for will certainly Dc her bodily HS bern, bern
etters s'ex Mrs Ovens 9 would take Ut Il to o S church
meeting, read it to her fellow members,
then weep profusely while the women held
her hands and soothed her with assurance
that the wretch who was writing the vile
letters would soon be brought to justice,
the investigation Of her case by the church
deacons was in progress, told Mr. wallace
that at times she suspected he rse(f OF being
the person guilty Of writing the letters to
herself She found herself one night sev-
eral weeks ago in the garret Of her house
seated at a box writing one OF the letters.
Lhe was in her night dress, she explained,
and said that the cold air OF the garret
brought her to her senses.
1t is recorded that at q prayer meeting
two weeks ago Mrs Owens sat with her
arm around the waist of one OF the prominent
women of the parish and at the conclu-
sion of the service went directly home.
took a powder and then wrote herself
scathing letter and when she received 1t
through the mail in the morning hurried
with II to her pastor and with tears IN
her eyes had him read what she termed
the --latest attack by my prosecutor.
Local medical men who have studied the
facts in Mrs. Owens's case are inclined to be-
lieve that she is q prevaricator, and recent
history has been resorted to to prove that
she has the letter-writing habit It is said
that ten years ago Mrs. Owens, by anony-
nous communications, succeeded in bring
ing discredit on young woman In this city;
Physicians insist that Mrs. Owens. instead
of being the victim of double personality,
is possessed OF an overpowering desire for
sympathy. and sought TO arouse 1t among
fellow church members by these anonymous
communications Public opinion is divided
on the strange case.
rOTyNT MAT-RICE DE pPADEI.