The Washington times., 1931-11-12
CAPT|VE'S MIND.
STILL PUZZLE
TOEXPERTS
There Still Is Chance Child'S
Life May Be Reclaimed;
Time Alone to Tell
By MARGARET LANE

ny N44Ah04A0S&4 LAME
There is just a chance that
little Edith Riley, just rescued
from four years alleged i'm
prisonment, starvation, an d
abuse may in time recover her
lost mind, and become like
other children.
That is the opinion Of DR.. 10
seph L. Gilbert, the psychologist
investigating her pitiful case at
Gallinger Hospital. here, who said:
ut is too early to say whether
she may have been mentally
deficient from birth. Hers is .
strange case. In all my expert
ence I have encountered moth
ing like 1t.
"Whether or not it IL true
that she was shut In q dark
closet for four years and beaten
and starved by her father and
StepmOther, aS alleged, it is
quite apparent that she Is .
child who has for years been
deprived Of all normal things
Of life-light, food, play, and
human intercourse. This would
be enough to darken the mind
Of even the healthiest child
and warp it's body as Edith
RiIey's is warped.
May Have Own World
at is possible that her mind
h entirely withdrawn from this
world and that she lives in .
dark, fantastic world inside her
own brain. Various things
point to this phenomenon, and
also to the possibility Of her
having hallucinationS that are
more real than the actual world
around her.
"Only occasionally, when you
sneak to her, do your words
seem TO penetrate her brain, and
then she gives you clean, sensi-
bIe answers. Most Of the time
she Is entirely withdrawn from
You and absorbed in something
We cannot see. Sometimes she
laughs suddenly for no apparenS
reasOn-a loud, uncanny laugh'
utterly unlike = child.
Gains q Pound . Day
"There is no doubt that il she
had continued to suffer the
kind of life she is supposed to
have lived. she would have died
Drematurely in q few years:
Now, with care, good food, and
affecti0nate treatment, she may
even recover-though it Is a re.
mote hope, StiII, she has gained
nearly q pound q day since she
was brought into the hospltaA
last Friday"
In the hospital the pitiful little
creature was lying on her COZ
with her legs drawn up and a
tiny china doll clasped in both
hands. A dozen gaudily dressed
dolls were propped against the
wall, but Edith ignored them. She
Law on her back with the rather
erubby little three-inch doll held
close in front Of her face and
stared at it with an intent, frown'
ing gaze as if it could solve the
mystery Of the strange new world
her.
Legs Like Baby's Wrist
She wore blue cotton romperS
and her legs and feet were bare
puny, helpless little legs, no thick
er than a baby's wrist, and trans
parently white. Her hands are
like a baby's, too. tiny and frail
with delicate little finger nails
and viSibly blue veins.
She never moved her eyes when
we went in and sat by her cot
Her big forehead was wrinkled
with the effort Of concentration
on the tiny doll; nothing else ex'
listed for her.
Somebody asked her If she
wanted anything. No answer. -
"WOuld you like to go out,
Edith?"
No answer.
'What is the name Of your
doll, honey"
Still no answer.
The poor little mind was with
drawn as completely as If she
were in another world.
Wants Mouth Organ
Yet she was not completely un
conscious of us. We asked her il
she would like us to go away
without moving her eyes from
the doll. she shook. her head
slightly.
''M'mm," she said.
''ShalI we come again tOmOr.
rOw?''
"M'mm."
It might have meant anything
Then:
els there anything you would
like us to bring you. Edith?"
Sudden and clear came the
answer:
"A mouth organ"
She had not looked at us O
moved. but she had heard and re
sponded, in her desire for tn
noisy little toys he may hav
longed for for years, accustomed
as she has been to loneliness ant
the dark and the silence Of a chile
who has never learned to play.
Boy Is Her Playmate
she has at least one playmat
now, in q little red-headed boy
Russell, who is In the hospita
for ear treatment and who sits OF
the end Of her cot by the hour an,
reads to her out of a nurser!
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