The Washington times., 1915-12-17
WOMAN HELD FOR
POISON PEN NOTES
Flood Of Anonymous Letters
Leads to Arrest Of Miss
SamueIs, Of Goshen.

GOSHEN, N. T., Dec. r7.-Theresa
eamuels, thirty years old, unmarried
and a member OF a well-to-do and re-
Spected Hebrew family OF this village,
0As arrested hy Postoffice inspectors
S1tch and Duryea and charged with
writing the slanderous anonymous let
lefg that have so painfully affected the
lives OF many young women and their
families and friends In and around New
York for the past few months.
In certain PARTICULARS there were dis
tinct similarities In the handwriting OF
all, Of the letters. The language em-
ployed in all was practically the same
and was, except for necessary deletions,
aa follows:
Dear Madam: / write to you at
random. being an entire stranger. to
- is my husband and father Of
my twin babies. six months old. He
was forced to marry me by the irate
father with shotgun. What his OF
Tense 10 useless to relate. How can you
claim another's property?
How he evidently had the cast iron
nerve OF posing to you as single TEL
low ] cannot understand. So YOU better
drop him at once or will be after you.
He left me at the time my twins were
born, saying he was going on trip
West, and would return In six to eight
weeks. though l have never, seen or
heard anything of him since. 1t is only
recently / learned OF his whereabouts.
etc.. and will make 1t hard for you and
him both, So IL you know what Is good
for you YOU had better drop him at once
or will be after YOU. Now please re-
member he has a wife and babies.
You should find a man out before
taking such a serious step as matri-
monv."
In each case of course the signature
assumed to be that of the 'wronged
wife" of the bridegroom OF the reel
Dlent. ..-t "'
one of the letters to which Inspector
Fitch paid particular attention was in
closed in an envelope upon the back
of which was printed Private Pavilion,
Mt sinai HOSPITAL" Mr.. Fitch re-
served this for a clue while he sought
for others. He had already established
through Expert Kinsley that in all
probability all of the letters were writ
ten by the same person.
Search Turned To Goshen.
At first the writer was sought for in
the immediate vicinity of New York.
Then Mr.. Fitch learned that one woman
in this village had received three let
ters. and this fact indicated to him that
she was the especial target Of the letter
writer's venom. and that. therefore, the
letter writer probably lived in the same
village.
The long hunt, which was spurred
from time to time as letters we're re-
ceived by the wife of Assistant United
States Attorney Claude A. Thompson.
Miss Elsie Seydel and by various other
young women, led Inspector Fitch to
this village this afternoon. Here he
learned Miss Samuels had visited Mt.
Sinai Hospital in New York frequently
previous to the death there OF her
mother several weeks ago. He was told
Miss Samuels' handwriting corresponds
ed accurately to the handwriting OF the
anonymous letters. He developed other
points of his investigation In a way that
satisfied him he was justified in es-
corting Miss Samuels to the parlor OF
the Occidental Hotel here. where she
was questioned.
The result of the inquisition was that
she was placed formally under arrest
in the presence OF inspectors Fitch and
Duryea and Postmaster Charles Fitz-
patrick of Goshen. She was taken be-
fore United States Marshal Roberts and
placed in his custody to await exan1ina-
tion. her bail meanwhile being fixed at
$1,000 1t is expected here that bail will
be furnished promptly by members OF
her family.
Thought Mentally Unbalanced.
It is said of Miss SamueIs that she haI
become unbalanced mentally because OF
the grief and melancholia that seized
her after her mother, Mro. Dora Sam
uels, died.
The superintendent Of the Mt. Sina
Hospital said Mrs Samuels died in the
hospital on October s, 1915.