The Washington times., 1905-04-23
ASYLUM REFUGEE
LEAVES NO CLUE
Hope of Catching Mrs. Bur-
roughs Abandoned.
ESCAPE CHARGED TO MOTHER
She Paid Frequent Visits to Institu-
tion and Had Conversations
With Daughter.

Detectives and police detailed yester-
day to look out for Mrs. Marcia M.
Burroughs, who escaped from st. Eliz-
abeth's Asylum for the Insane, have
no clue as to her whereabouts at
o'clock this morning.
1t is their belief that the woman who
gave the police and jail officials no end
of trouble about a year ago has left the
jurisdiction. and the authorities have
practically abandoned hope Of captur-
ing her.
A circumstance tending to confirm the
theory that Mrs. Martha Burroughs,
mother of the alleged insane woman.
played part in the escape, is the fact
that she Is missing from her boarding
house on street northwest. She had
been stopping there since she was re-
leased from Jail after Assistant District
Attorney Ralph Given abandoned the
charge of refusing to pay board bills
against her.
Paid Numerous Visits.
Since the daughters Incarceration in
the hospital for the insane Mrs. Martha
Burroughs has visited St. Elizabeth's on
numerous occasions. The two invari-
ably walked eff TO a secluded spot or a
se..slestered nook where they talked in
low tones and looked out of the corners
Of their eyes to see If anyone was
watching or listening. Now that the in
mate OF the institution has disappeared,
it has dawned upon the guards and at
tendants that the two concocted plan
of escape during one OF the mother s
visits
The daughter was fully dressed at the
time OF her escape. In addition to wear
ing her large picture hat and her street
clothes while walking on the verdant
sward in front of the hospital. she had
purse in which there was sufficient
money to defray her expenses to some
town or CRY within fifty miles of Wash
ington and also pay for half dozen
meals
closed cab said to have been en-
gagged by a woman about Mrs. Martha
Burroughs age, was seen IL the vicinity
Of the south wall of The asylum, sc ne
time before the guards discovered that
their charge had made her escape
Inmate Displays Shrewdness.
1t IS believed that the mother ard
daughter agreed upon the day OF the
delivery, and by her shrewdness The
young woman succeeded in getting per-
mfssior. to walk in the hospital sra,ir ds.
She seemed anxious to get cut Of the
institution until about a week agu wfIen
there was a complete change. She WAS
| profuse in her thanks for small fsrors
and kindnesses shown her ~ ,he at
TCnd9nfS q tn he. rod
This is said to have been done 10 throw
avert suspicion.
The woman who escaped earned fo1
herself while in the custody of the 10.
cal authorities the unenviable title OF
the worst woman that a Washington
policeman ever put his hands on" She
and her mother were sent to Jail tc
| await a jury trial because they stood
mute when -arraigned before Judge
kimbah in the Police Court on charges
| of falling to pay board bills. In jai
| they made life miserable for the ward.
en-. guards, and the other prisoners
there.
Had Brains of the Two.
Marcia had the brains of the two
paradoXical as it may seem. She con-
trived all the schemes and controlled
her parents every movement
Because OF their queer actions the
two were examined by DR.. Shute the jail
physician. The mother seemed as much
mentally unbalanced as her offspring
when the two were together, and DR..
Shute thought they were beth insane.
He was little doubtful of the mother
however, because her actions were iden-
rfeai with those of her daughter. The
two We're separated.
The mother was found to be In full
possession of her mental faculties, but
the daughter, who is believed to have
been siIaIaming insanity all along in or
der to defeat the ends of justice. con-
tinued her strange conduct, and DR..
Shute reported that she was of unsound
mind. She was sent to st. Elizabeth S
about eight months ago.