The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-03-18
KILLED HER FRIEND.
A YOUNG LADY FROM SAVANNAH
KILLED IN BOSTON, MASS.
The Murder Was Committed by An.
other Young Lady, Suffering from
Melancholia, Due to Overwork.

other Young Lady, Suffering iron
Melancholia, Due to Overwork.
Suffering from m%elancholia, due t
overwork, Miss Ruth Chamberlil
Weed, Of Philadelphia, shot and kill
ed Miss Elizabeth Bailey Hardee, O
No. PA Gwinneth street, East Savan
nah, Georgia, and then committed
suicide at the Laurens School 70,
Girls in the Fenway district. TIL,
bodies Of the two women were founc
by Mrs. Page, the matron Of tn,
school. the Laurens School was es
tablished last fall by Miss Harde,
and Miss Weed. On October 1, tn,
day school opened, Miss Weed broke
down as a result Of overwork and a.
a result was committed to a sanitari
UNI to be treated for nervous prostra,
ton.
Tuesday night Miss Weed escaped
from the s%anitarium and made hel
way to the school. She appeared tc
be badly deranged mentally. A
fruitless attempt was made to com
municate with the authorities of the
sanitarium, and at length Miss Har.
dee succeeded in getting Miss Weed
to 60 to bed in Miss Hardee's cham.
Der On the third floor of the school,
building.
Both women were awakened by
Mrs. Page and notified that they must
get up If they were to catch the 7.5O
train, on which Miss Weed was to be
taken to West Newton. Mrs. Page
left them and a few moments later
the shooting occurred. Mrs. Page
thinks the mention of returning to
the sanitarium must have excited
and angered Miss Weed and induced
the shooting.
From the nature Of the wounds
Medical Examiner Stedman decided
that Miss Weed had committed suici-
de by shooting herself through the
right temple after having shot Miss
Hardee through the base of the brain.
Both women were about 80 years old
and they had been intimate since
their graduation from Wellesley Col
lege. Miss Hardee received her d.
ploma in 1894, while Miss Weed re-
ceived hers a year later Miss Har-
dee was an instructor of mathemat-
les in Wellesley in 1899 and 1900,
and last year taught school in YER
mont.
Miss Weed also had been teaching
in various sections of the county.
Last summer the two women decided
to open a boarding school for girls
on Audubon road, in the Fenway
district, October /, the day upon
which the Laurens School, as they call
ed it, was opened, Miss Weed broke
down as a result Of overwork and
was taken to a sanitarium In West
Newton, where she had since been
under treatment. While at the san
itarium Miss Weed had been subject
to severe attacks of melancholia. Es-
Gaping the other night, she made her
way to Laurens School, where Miss
Hardee volunteered to care for her
during the night.
Miss Weed behaved in a >sculiar
manner, according to the teachers,
wandering aimlessly about the school
building and occasionally making a
strange or incoherent remark. AT
length Miss Hardee persuaded Miss
Weed to retire, and the demented' wo-
man followed her to her own cham
Der on the third floor Of the school.
When Mrs. Page, the matron OF the
school, went to Miss Hardee's room
the next morning she was shocked TO
find both women dead.
The pupils at the school, about ~
In number, are the daughters OF
wealthy parents from all sections OF
the country.
Miss Hardee, in addition to school
work, had taken a great interest IN
settlement work in the city, and es-
pecially among the Itlians in the
north end. During her college caree,
she was prominent in many branches
and extremely popular. Miss Weeds
work since leaving college has been
confined almost entirely to teaching
While in the sanitarium at West
Newton she was frequently subject
to extreme paroxysms of weeping
but never appeared to bear any AMI
mostly to any of her friends.