The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-10-28
AGEDSISTERSIN
PACT TO DIE IN
BELOVEDVEN
Two Brooklyn Women Be-
lieved to Be Victims of
Pride and Poverty.
BROKEN VASE WARNS
FRIEND OF THEIR END

On tho heels OF despatch from
Rome received yesterday afternoon
telling OF the suicide In Venice OF twy
elderly women IN a poor lodging house
Information came 10 TIE SuS last night
revealing a story OF poverty, pride and
a determination on the part OF the two
women to live as long as the little
money they had lasted and then to kill
themselves in Venice. the spot they
loved best.
The two women were Mrs. Julia r.
Mckay and her sister, Miss Jennie
Royael. They formerly lived at SO
Hawthorne street. Brooklyn. according
to THE SUNS informant William A.
Schacht OF POI broadway. Manhattan.
He had known the women for many
years. and two years ago when the. left
for Italy they told him that they In
tended to live as long as their diminish
ing funds would permit and then would
end their lives.
II feel sure that these .adles are the
ones who ended their lives in Venice be-
cause Of the initials on the ring Of one OF
them. II. l.. NJ. TO J. T.. r., which we're
the initials ~ Mrs Mckay before her
marriage" Mr.. Schacht said. They were
about the age that these women In Venice
were according to the despatch. The fact
that they had told me Of their intention
Of ending their lives II an added assur-
ance
Death Not Unexpected.
Cautiously enough I had been been ex-
pecting any day to hear OF their death.
Before they went away they sold the fur
nishings In their Brooklyn home, at 3e
Hawthorne street, II I remember and gave
their fathers books TO Yale University.
OF all their possessions, the most cher
ished was small vase, which they gave
70 me. saying that would probably never
see them again and that they would like
to have me keep this 10 remember
them by.
About two weeks ago this vase broke
one afternoon toward dusk 1t flashed
through my mind then that something
might have happened to those sisters. -
MIR. Schacht went on to say that Mira
Mckay and her sister. Miss Royael, came
of one of the oldest and best known
DIbbhlNu IhiulIltS. IntG rather was the
superintendent or cashier of bank In
Manhattan. Mrs Mckay married when
she was Young. and her husband and
father died about the same time
There was very little money left and
the women We're the last two survivors
OF the family. They were too proud to
ask for financial aid. and although they
| had many friends who were anxious. to
be OF assistance they did not feel tina;
he. nffar 10,
knew that the sisters would refuse IT,
| Two years ago they took stock OF their
| affairs. They had travelled abroad and
| learned that living was cheapest in the
| Italian cities, so they planned to go where
they could live longest and live only as
I long as their funds held out.
Friends of Prof. Goodyear.
Mr.. Schacht said that they were friends
OF Prof William Henry Goodyear OF the
| Brooklyn Institute. Prof. Goodyear said
last night that he remembered Mrs. Nc
Kay and Miss Roysel very we'll. They
were very nice people, he said. He re-
members when they left Brooklyn two
| years ago TO go abroad.
| He had heard about them from time
to time and the last word OF their where
sbouts 40 reach him was that they were
| In Florence last June. As far as he knows
they had no living relatives
Another Of their former friends was a
Mrs. Lowell who lived with her husba nd
on Prospect place. Brooklyn. Mr.. |Schecht
could not recall the number.
The Rome despatch yesterday said that
the women found dead In Venice were
living In a lodging house. They had
taken pains 10 conceal their identity and
had only 30 cents. on the table was a
note addressed to the American Consul
reading:
I'VE are American citizens and Prot
estants. win you kindly give us buria
as privately as possible"
A vial OF prussic acid was beside them
A hat found In the room bore n label OF
a department store in Brooklyn.
In the room were some pictures of
morbid character and some clippings. On,
of the pictures was "A Lonely Grave" anC
| another THE Tomb" clipping wal
entitled "a Death Bed" another "Wher'
Are the Graves Where the Dead Mer
Slept Hundred Years AgoT'