The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1916-11-18
HELEN KELLER
TO Be MARRY )
License Secured Ten Da7 8 }
by Her Secretary, Sss
Denies Any Er -
gagement.
LEAVE FOR Tia ,oUTH
Blind and Deaf Girl ls Going to Her
Old Home In Montgomery,
Alabama, For a
Rest.
LEAVE FOR Th4- ,ouTH

UNITED Press Leased Wire Servtce.]
BOSTON, Noy. 1S.-Helen Keller,
one of the worlds most remarkable
women, blind and deaf and dumb. till
she was taught to speak. is to he
married soon, it was learned here
today.
Z Peter Pagan, her secretary, for
mer Boston newspaper man, applied
at city hall here ten days ago for
license to wed Miss Keller. accord
ing to City Registrar Edward NC.
Glenen. The application was denied
because Pagan insisted on absolute
secrecy until the marriage became
fact. The report was denied early
today by Fagan him self who declared
the rumor to be 'the widest thlng
I've heard of In long time. But
acQuaintances said the only reason
for secrecy was the opposition to the
match offered by Mrs. John Macy.
the woman who has been Miss Kel-
ler's teacher since early girihood.
Miss Keller, who has been blind
and deaf from the age OF nineteen
months, was born In Tuscumbia. Ala,
June "a, 1880. Her parents were
Captain Arthur II. and Kate Keller.
She was graduated from Radcliffe
college in 1904.
Miss Keller formerly was a mem
Der of the Massachusetts commission
for the blind and is now a member OF
several advisory societies for the
blind and deaf
She is the author of several books.
including "The Story Of My Life"
ssThe World I Live in,' and others.
She is contributor to various mag
miss, Miss Keller is tSirty-six. Fagan
gives his as twenty-nine. He has
been employed as her secretary less
than six months. Today Miss Keller,
her mother and Pagan, sail from
Boston at o'clock on the Savannah
line steamship City Of Augusta. The
transportation arranged for Miss kel-
Ter and her mother is to Savannah,
thence by rail to Montgomery, Ala,
Miss Keller's former residence. Fag-
ans calls for rail trip to Tampa,
Fla, after reaching Savannah.
1t was impossible to get ohc1al
confirmation of the reported marriage
today from Wrenham, where Miss
Keller is living, as her secretary;
Pagan, answered all phone calls, ana
refused to discuss the matter.
It is believed that the application
for a marriage license, which was
presented by Pagan at city hall ten
DAYS ago, was made out jointly by
Miss Keller and Fagan. Registrar
McGlenen described part of the
writing on it as something like
printing" >,
The so-called square hand writ
ing used by the blind fits this de-
scription.
At present Miss Keller is suffering
from a nervous breakdown, brought
on by her lectures and writings. All
her engagements have been cam
celled and she is going south to rest
Everybody Denies II.
wRENHAM, Mass, Nov. 18.-
Miss Helen Keller. one of the worlds
most famous women, who, it was re-
ported, was soon to marry her Sec
retary, Peter FaCan, today officially
denied the report through her COM
panion, Mrs. ArEie S. Macy.
Mrs. Keller. mother of the blind
woman, Mrs. Macy, her constant COM
panion since childhood, and Faga1
himself united in denying the report.
In a statement today Mrs. Macy
who taught Miss Keller to speai-,
said:
"The story that my pupil Of twenty
seven years is to marry her secrH-
tary or anyone else, is an abomin-
able fabrication.
81 have been with Miss Keller al
most continuously since I first saw
her in her no ne at Tuscombia, Ala,
twenty-seven years ago and during
her recent illness and mine, she has
scarcely been out of my sight.
Besides this, her mother has been
with Miss Keller ever since last June.
II she had any affection deeper than
friendship for her secretary or any
one else, we would have known OF it.
'The story that Miss Keller intends
to marry Is untrue.
Miss Keller and Mr.. Pagan both
deny the story in every particular
and Mrs. Keller and l know no foun-
dation for it."
Pagan said that despite the sratc-
ment Of the registrar of Boston that
he had made application for mar
riage license to wed Miss Keller ten
days ago. he lad never considered
srfch n thinH