The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1921-11-30
Clarke woman INSANE
SAYS DOCTOR TO JURY
Former Postmistress, Charged With
Murder, Described as Being
>' "AbnOrmal" and "Peculiar"
RELATES HER EXPERIENCES
Afflicted With Everything From q
Fractured Skull to Scarlet Fever,
Declares Florida Physician

mony of eight witnesses called by
the defense in the trial Of Lena M.
r.. Clarke, charged with the killing
of r. A. Miltimore, in which the for
mer West Palm Beach post mistress
was described as "insane," cab
normal" peculiar" and as q "con-
stitutional psychopath," was con-
cluded before Judge Andrews today
and indications were that it would
be several days before the case would
be ready for the jury.
DR.. Ralph Green, former State.
health officer, one of the defense wit
nesses, testified that Miss Clarke "did
not know the difference between
right and wrong" at the time Of the
killing of Miltimore in a hotel here
and that if she were sent to an in
sane asylum "she would remain there
for the rest of her life"
With paper, written in the cell
of the defendant during the time of
his Investigations, allowed him to re-
fresh his memory, for over an hour
and a half told Of the woman's pc
tuliarities and the deductions he had
made based on his long experience
with patients suffering from mental
and nervous troubles. He recited the
stages of her early childhood, from the
age of nine months, when she learned
to walk and to talk at the age of
one year, and of blow from a well
handle which had fractured her skull
when she was but three years old;
of the diseases including scarlet
fever, dengue fever and influenza,
also nervous breakdown she had
once suffered; of an attempt made
to kidnap her at an early age; of
fireworks display which had left
her with fixed dread of fire though
it fascinated her to such an extent
that she wanted to walk straight into
it.
An abnormal fear of water had ben
peculiar to her also, all her life, he
found on investigation and the fact
that she had never been permitted
to sleep alone due to periodic at
tacks of nightmare, was spoken of by
him and testified to by her sister,
Maude on the witness stand
Of her religious beliefs he found
that "she took the best out of every
creed and religion and applied it to
her own life"
He recitcd the ideas peculiar to her
case that she imagined she had
group of enemies, always sneering at
her and sending her threatening mes
sages and otherwise, prosecuting her.
He said that such ideas of persecu-
ton would indicate in his experience
an unsound mind.
What he termed as grandiosc ideas,
the belief that she had passed through
number of lives before the one she
lived pointed to the fact that she was
unbaalnced.
In his Investigations he stated that
he had made a blood test seeking
traces Of hereditary insanity. He said
that her blood had tested pure from
any taint, but stated that her mother
had suffered from rheumatism at the
time Of her birth an done cousin had
died Of insanity.
Miss Maudc Clarke, sister of the
defendant, took the stand during the
morning session of court. She told of
her sisters gradually becoming more
and more absent-minded and Of night
mares, from which she has suffered
for long period of time, gradually
becoming more frequent. She said
that her sister had learned to read
so early that she did not know Just
at what age she had learned, but that
she was able to read and digest the
Waverly novels before the age of
four. She said that her sister stated
that it seemed as if "a gray cloud
were hanging over her all of her
llfe." She mentioned two instants of
her sisters life, one when big
theater fire had occurred at West
Palm Beach her sister spoke of hav-
ing received a message "your turn
will come next" and another incident
following her brothers death when
her sister had gone to ist on his grave
at midnight.
George w. Smith, assistant post
master under Miss Clarke at West
Palm Beach, was the first witness call
y '.