THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



237 



was great danger that the whole family 

 would eventually becoiue insane, and I try- 

 ing to allay any such delusion. Apparently 

 I succeeded, but little skep came to me as I 

 tjssed on my pillow and tried lo think what 

 course to pursue. It would not answer to go 

 away to the fairs and leave her alone. I 

 must either give up going to the fairs, or 

 take her back to the asylum while I was 

 away, or else take her with me. I decided 

 upou the latter course, thinking that the 

 trip might do her eood. In the morning 

 she felt much better, and I told her of my 

 decision, and she agreed to go, something 

 that she had before declined to do. Then 

 she said that she believed that she would go 

 out driving as she had not been out in sev- 

 eral days and it might do her goad. I went 

 down town to get a woman to come and stay 

 with the girls while we were away at the 

 fairs, and while there I saw my wife and 

 little Fern driving along. I went out and 

 spoke to them and asked if there was any- 

 thing that they wanted, and Fern sat there 

 looking so sweet and happy in a little new 

 dress and she said, " I am going to have 

 some candy." I said, "That's nice." And 

 she smiled, and I thought what a sweet. 

 aweel, happy little body she is. It was the 

 last time I ever saw her alive. Her mother 

 went to a drug store and bought a bottle of 

 chloroform, drove outside of the city limits, 

 saturated a handkerchief with the deadly 

 fluid and applied it to the child's face, hold- 

 ing it there until life was extinct. Then she 

 laid her under some bushes and drove back 

 for Ivy. ( )f course we inquired for Fern, 

 bat she said that she had left her at a neigh- 

 bor's where she often went to play with an- 

 other little girl. She drove away with Ivy to 

 the outskirts of the city where she attempted 

 to destroy her life with a revolver, tiring 

 three shots, one passing through the right 

 breast, one striking her in the small of the 

 back, and one in the side of the face, knock- 

 ing out two teeth, passing through the 

 tongue and striking the back of the throat. 

 Ivy's screams and the pistol shots attracted 

 a man who came on the run and took the re- 

 volver away. 



The unfortunate mother was taken to the 

 jail, and Ivy brought home and her wounds 

 dressed. At present she is doing nicely and 

 there is every hope that she may recover. 

 Searching parties started out and soon re- 

 tamed with the dead body of poor, dear 

 little Fern. 



The sight of my poor wife is the most 

 heart rending of anything that can be 

 imagined. In one sense she is rational, 

 that is, she realizes fully what she has done, 

 and her grief is something beyond descrip- 

 tion. That alone is enough to destroy her 

 reason, and in her weakened mental and 

 nervous condition I see no hope for her re- 

 covery. In all probability she will pass the 

 remainder of her days behind asylum doors, 

 and the fewer those days the better for all. 

 She tells me that it wa-^ the fear that we 

 were all in danger of being sent to the 

 asylum that impelled her to the awful deed. 

 She intended to kill us all and then destroy 

 herself. She says there was an impulse to 

 do this that she was powerless to resist: she 

 struggled with all her strength, bui something 

 forced her on and on and compelled her to do 

 the awful deed. Then she will burst out 

 crying, " My poor little girl, my poor little 

 Fern, how could I, how could I! Oh, if I 

 only had her sweet little face back here be- 

 side me." But we all know that the poor 

 woman was not responsible for her act. She 

 passes hours on her knees in prayer, then 

 she will toss on her couch in a frenzy of 

 grief, then she may pass hours in a dazed 

 condition in which she practically feels and 

 realizes nothing. 



I had a note book full of notes taken at 

 the convention, besides numerous little 

 items picked up from the numerous friends 

 that were present, and I also intended to 

 give my readers my impressions of Niagara 

 falls, in short, to make this issue a bright 

 and sparkling number, but you must excuse 

 me — my heart is too sad. 



I may say that I am going to the fairs just 

 the same, that is, if Ivy continues to im- 

 prove. It is my only hope— to keep myself 

 busy. Then there are others dependent up- 

 on me and I shall not begin now to do what 

 I never did before— shirk my duty. I expect 

 to go right on printing the Review, but I 

 must ask the friends to be indulgent once 

 more while I am fitting my back to this 

 great burden. 



