Daily Kennebec journal., 1908-11-28
ELEANOR MERR0W
C0WPER TR|ESSU|C|DE,
Ia|ented Actress and P|ay-writer Makes
ALL Arrangements, Notifies Friends
And Then Shoots Herself;

| New York, Nov. E.-Using a pillow
to mufiie the report of her revolver.
| Mrs. Cleaner Merrow Cowper, a tall
ented actress, SHOT herself in the head
today in her apartments at st. Regis
! hotel. The explosion of the cartridge
| was not heard, but Mrs. Cowper was
rendered unconscious and was SLOWLY
| dying when found. Before making the
attempt at self-destruction Mrs. Cow
per wrote number of letters-one to
i, her lawyer, another to the coroner, a
third to an undertaken and fourth
to John Hood. friend who lived near
the st. Regis. In the letters she ap-
priSed these four persons OF her inten-
ton to commit suicide.
About the moment Mrs. Cowper pull
ed the trigger of the revolver, the let
ter addressed to John Hood was de-
livered. Mr. Hood glanced through the
first few lines. grabbed his coat and
hat and ran with all speed to the St
Regis hotel. He was brcathless when
he told the clerk of Tie letter he had
received. The clerk got Il pass-key and
hurried to the room of Mrs. Cowper,
accompanied Ly Mr. Hood and a maid
employed in the hotel. They found Mrs
still over her head and the revolver
clutched in her hand. The bed clothing
was stained crimson.
Three physicians were quickly sum-
moned and the police were notified
The doctors do not believe Mrs. CoWper
can live. She would nave died within
an houl. or so If the letter to Mr.. Hood
lad not been delivered sooner appar-
~, i,,to
made careful preparations to end her
life Besides writing Il letter TO her
lawyer. County Judge :. Is. Royce of
Middlatown, n. Y. to take charge OF
her body she ordered an undertaken
to prepare her body for burial and she
painstalSingiy wrote a brief autobiog-
rapily Her hand had not trembled in
the least in writing any of these let
tcrs. as is evidenced ythe good pen
manship.
The bogr2 phical sketch says that
she was born in England and that she
came to this country at the age Of
three months. Her maiden name was
Eleanor Merrow. Her stage career be-
gan in Boston in a production called
Youth" Mrs. katherine Clemmons
Gould appeared in the play also. Mrs.
ductions she appeared in. She was un
der the management of Charles Froh
nan ami later Daniel Frohman. She
played with Julia Marlowe and then
went with Fannie Davenport, who took
a deep interest in her.
Mrs. Cowper wrote four plays, which
were produced on broadway. They
were Dairy Farm" an Love- "a
CT
hearsal" Mrs Cowper does not give
the date Gf her marriage, referring
briefly to the fact that her husband,
Archibald Cowper, was an actor and
that he died three years ago. Practi-
cally her only home life, she wrote.
was when she lived on the farm of
James H. Wallack, at Middletown, N
Y. MIR. Wallack, who was &c years old,
colIaborated with her in a number of
plays
Last April Mr. Wallack committed
suicide which seems to have made
deep impression on Mrs. Cowper. He
shot himself in the right temple. Mrs.
Cowper tried to kill herself in the same
manner today.
Judge Royce of MiddletoWn. on re
ceivirg the letter from Mrs. CoWpef
that she intended to Kill herself. ar
rived at the hotel to find the police Ill
charge of the dying woman
Judge Royce said that Mrs. CoWrer
autobiography was correct He added
that before Mr. Wallacll committed
suicide he wrote to Mrs. Cowper that
he WAS so old that he was hardly able
to care for himself and that she could
get along without his aid. In the letter
Mrs. Cowper wrote to Judge Royce sne
asked him to notify her parents I'm
New Hampshire OF her death and TO
take charge of the body. She asked
that her body be cremated. In her let
ter to the coroner, Mrs. Cowper salo
that she regretted having to bring the
,-4.l into dfsrenllte" by kllling herSeI