The Washington times., 1920-04-18

Smallpox That Dis6gured Her, Did
She Become Inssne and Throw
Herself Into the Lake? Again, as
Shown by the Picture on the Left,
She May Have Hidden Under An
other Name, Worked Among the
Poor and Afflicted, and Failing to
Find the Happiness She Had Hoped
For, Fearing to Confess Failure,
Have Destroyed Herself. !
in the events of those few weeks no clew
to her death?
Jeanne De Kay left Europe on the Ital.
ian steamship Duca d'Aosta and landed in
New York December 10. She was accom-
panied by her brother John, who, after,
escorting his sister to Chicago. was to
enter the University of Virginia.
The twenty-year-old heiress and her
brother we're subjected to a searching ex-
animation by the agents of the Depart
ment of Justice who met the steamship.
This was DONE so the secret service men
said, because they believed De Kay, the
father, had been an extensive buyer of
munitions and also the author of several
radical books. But the young people gave
a satisfactory account of themselves and
were allowed to 60 on to Chicago.
Jeanne settled down with apparent en-
joyment to her work at Hull House. Early
L. ha oS phor ebo
seen to leave the house, and from that
moment all trace of her is lost. Search
Of her room revealed that besides the
clothes she wore she took none of her
personal belongings other than small
purse containing 81 and'a tooth brush.
After the girls disappearance her
brother recalled the fact that on the voy-
age to America Jeanne had become very
intimate with two Rumanian ladies'
Mrs. Ernestino Salter and her daughter
Didy. When search for them was insti-
tuted it was found that Mrs. Salter had
already returned to Rumania. Didy, who
was finally located in New York after
considerable difficulty, denied any knowl-
edge that would throw light on Jeanne
De Kay's whereabouts or the reasons for
her disappearance.
But while the police were searching for
the Salters there came into their hands
cablegram from the father OF the missing
heiress, which said among other things:
"very anxious. Jeanne confded In Ru.
manian lady. Stop"
tho nraciOuc inform qtiOu
which Mr. De Kay believed his daughter
had given away? Whom was he so anx-
ious to stop?
Curiously enough, the relatives and
closest friends of the missing girl were
not at all agreed as to whether she was
alive or dead or what had become of her.
Judge Thomas 2. Lee, of Providence.
R. l., the attorney who represents John
W. De Kay in this country and undoubt-
edly echoed his clients own belief, was
confident that the girl committed suicide.
A cousin Of Jeanne-Charles De Kay,
the distinguished New York art critic
was equally positive that she was
alive and well and was keeping out OF
sight of her own volition. shes clever.
nttIe MISS, ne sdlu, anu sue VIII
pear when she has made good at whatever
she has>set her mind on"
The brother, John d Kay, Jr., was Of the
same opinion, but he thought 1t was worry
over her facial blemishes rather than the
uiesire to demonstrate that a pampered
heiress can make her way in thes world
which impeled her to run away. "If she
had been going to kill herself she would
never have bothered to take along her
toothbrush" the young man arguel.
Mrs. Gertrude Howe Britton, a social
worker who was closely associated with
Jeanne at Hull House, was until the dis
covery of the body unable to make up her
mind whether the girl was alive or dead.
Her hope that the former was the case
was based largely on the eagerness she
constantly showed for an opportunity to
work with her hands"
Can Il be that the answer to the riddle
OF unhappy little Jeanne De Kay's fate
will some day be found in a Mexican ban
dit camp or in the secret archives Of some
Euronean Coyernment7