The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1921-12-16
"THE BOOZE MAN.

This is the story Of the greatest Of
tragedies--the tragedy of a little
child which has been made the subject
OF the following editorial by a great
newspaper:
At five Agnes Catnrine Hughes
was progidy Today. at six. she is
crushed flower
A year ago she could speak three
languages, could sing beautifully and
could dance ike fairy spirit
/ Now she is a mute. and paraIyzed.
/ Her tragic transformation is laid
to eleven words: There's a boyle
man in that room and he'll catch you
/ The words were spoken by a
thoughtless woman; spoken in the
same thoughtless way that many an
adult speaks to brighten little chill
dren
The child, who was highly strung
and extremely sensitive, was at first
merely scared-then became hyster-
ical.
| After a few days a numbing pa
ralysis began to creep along the
muscles of her body; finally it affect
ed her tongue and her last spoken
words were "Bogie man..
/ Agnes parents. Mr. and Mrs. J. F.
Hughes, Of 6sS Evergreen Avenue,
Mil1viIIe. Pa, have almost frenziedly
spent their money to undo the havoc
wrought by the eleven senseless
words. All without avail
| Finally they have appealed to the
healing profession Of the country for
aid Hzr5reds Of physicians have
an1wered, Offering aid
Meanwhile little Agnes is being
aared for in hospital where a dozen
doctors are giving their best to cure
her. while they sift the suggestions
that have flooded in upon the grief
stricken parents.
/ and these twelve men, wise in the
ways Of little children, sent out this
warning to parelts, aunts. uncles.
| brothers. sisters and people every
where Never frignten a little child
/ In substantiation of this advice
there is added these commanding
words Of warning from one of the
worlds greatest physicians. Dr. Rich
ard G. Rows, director Of the Neuro-
Psychiatric Hospital of London, who
says that child frightened into ST
1ence or obedience by threats of the
''bogic man. may pay the penalty
years later in insanity. Dr. Rowe
/ told OF such case while he was at
Bloomingale Hospital at White Plains,
N. Y, during the centennial celebra-
ticl of the founding of the institu-
/ ton.
This case shows the result pro
/ dGced by the development of domi-
nant emotional tendency during early
childhood in girl who had been nor
NAL until her fifth year.. DR. Rows
told his audience, which included psy-
chiatrists, nerve specialists and 9TH
ers interested IN the work at Bloom
/ ingdale.
Until her fifth year this girl had
been fond Of her mother, took great
pleasure in her toys and was a sweet,
/ Iovable, normal child. Then from
new nurse she endured much bad
Il treatment. This nurse was meeting
/ cIandestinely man and these meet
1 ings usually occurred while she and
the child were out Of doors. In order to-
keep the child from telling of these
meetings the nurse told her that the
sbogie man would steal her away il
/ she did tell Sometimes also the
nurse would leave the child alone in a
cemetery while she slipped away with
i her sweetheart. During much OF
this period the child VISA separated
I from her mother
L AT the end OF two years the little
child was changed creature She
I could not enjoy her toys, she grew
increasingly difficult to manage.
More than thirty years afterward
the same girl grown to womanhood
4 had a mental breakdown. She told
4 me that after the experience with the
nurse she never was the same, never
felt ike other girls or women
q This condition was started and con-
4 firmed by the repetition of the nurses
'bogie, and the separation from her
mother. Her free development was
interfered with. The germ of this
1 wolnants serious breakdown unmis-
II S-,1.Y.- 80 I.;g5 - Lo, S;f4t, -. .;xr+t,