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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (April 5, 1936)
Strange Witch Woman Willed Thousands, Yet IK, 1$ 1 ViiA5 rv By Gerald B. Burtnett BEHIND an eight-foot high stockade, solidly boarded and topped with double strands of barbed wire practically. Impos sible to scale, a strange old woman lived for years In the center of the city of Loa An geles. Only one door gave en trance to the property, and that was so closely fit that spying eyes of curious neighbors could not see a thing. Only at night would the door creak open. A padlock would rasp and click shut, then she was gone for several hours. Amateur sleuths followed the mysterious woman. They saw her begging on downtown streets or pawing over rubbish piles and garbage' cans. The lady next door was startled one day when the old woman approached to ask a favor. Would she buy a bit of food for a poor old soul once in a while? Blip was 79 now and it was be coming harder for her to get out. Money was put over the fence In a bucket and the food drawn back over the fence, when the neighbor agreed to the strange compact. More than a year later when there had been no calls over the fence for four days, the neighbor called the police. When they broke through the door, one of the strangest cases ever to come Into the public administrator's office was revealed. DEAD from undernourishment and exposure, the body of tho 75-year-old recluse lay on a bed made of newspapers on the front porch of the little house within the stockade. The door was BE YOUNG AT 60 Help Your I Hands hv usini Dr. HtH lowiw'i Vigor Treatment. ripma1 land medicine No. 1 for rwn No. J for women Ynu have (run! the rest; now try 'he beet- IV DnriofB own private nnwrriptinn IWt t Mltifl until ymi havf tried VIUOH. rw youni at nn IVira II (M), ilmirl Hfiuujlh M M l( ( 0 I) ixviiw fxtm HOLLOWAV MEDICAL CO. 4304 Soulh Parkway Dopt. 4B-C Chicago, II,. i mm IGUJUUNniD llUAlMINT rfl run ilown. lark rp. i(w, iuln ' IKi ynu wwh lor thaioyvrf lormtw ywiraT ou will I mat at th r ulta marW powibW with QLANNUX -a wmarkahl preparation tnai up o incrtilimita wiiliww.1 iy phy-au-iana in rtatortnt activuy to wlMini flan.ta and timulalini nrrrt fynlrr Thmimntia ol satpahn! urn fnt tn plain wrapt, poalpau! tor 12 cawh. a (.'. O I) ptit pnrMf Sat tularin fiMnnlretl WAITIN CO, Boa 4M, ttahMn D. SI. Jow. Mo. Gallbladder pi Irritations and Gall Stones wnwror r itr.ri imomrirpiiiin- Ins? my nw-it, matMolAkn, i-allstlvohnmr tnwttui'nt, l'iw' OywuTttrwhiiKl'MWt'iuMw. M B avw you tiuiidrmu ol uoimra LMDDOCK, IQI5805, Deitt SI, Kifltti Clt,Ni STOMACH DISCOMFORT? Vanr adalti who think tnv hir vm dlffxtlv OJwordVr ictnallj- bvw WoilMK t ItotiDd or Hlivitmrh Worrin Infect t'th eMIdrr-n and adult, rntrrln tb ayttfta on raw fKttnllf and frulla. Man "In"" plnt lo Wurma, atirh aa Naiiwa. Ilroaen Mlivp, Irrnttilar llnwfla. Hell j ralna. Count Apatite and Weight, Riwtal Itrhltm. t'l"t Mtomarh. Javwi'i mint flavored Vwmri'fit t ptla Hound Worma promptly. 40 million bottle aold. aisM'-i . a .r a m -i-itr ir ii .tutrn.M '-i .a ai r arvx '"flair iav aae- j i i'UKi,uaiitji' -. v. - , ,. a av . . blockaded and officers smaahed a window. They found the home to be packed solid from wall to wall and floor to celling with tin cans and wads of paper. When Investigators began to undo the papers, they found in the center of each, wrapped and re-wrapped in sheets of waste paper, coins pennies, old two-, cent pieces, nickels dozens, hun dreds, thousands' of them. As they literally dug their way through the house, they found other money, shares of valuable stocks and dividend coupons that had never been cashed. An old trunk came to light, and it it was a faded photograph Inscribed in a boyish hand. That was the only clue to the pos sibility of locating friends or relatives of the dead woman. A photographer's name and an address in a little town In the mid-West were barely decipher able, and a telegram dispatched to the chief of police there asking if they knew a "Sidney Carleton," the name Inscribed on the photo, bi ought back a response that he was a resident. ON THE settlement of the estate it developed that this man, a brother, was the only liv ing relative. He had given the picture to his sister 40 years be fore. She had been In love with a fellow in their home town, and they were to be married when the Intended groom had a change of heart and ran away. After grieving a few days the girl disappeared, also, leaving a note saying that her family would Reno Preacher Says, "Real Divorce Occurs Long Before Court Renders By Brewster Adnms For 29 Years Reno's Baptist Minister lirO you bellove in divorce?" ' J "Do you think I am Justified In taking this step?" Readers of this magazine have been writing me these questions. Folks have been asking me the same queries for more than a score of years. Scarcely a day passes but I am anxiously so licited, not only for an opinion, but for somo moral approval and support for this unfortunate un dertaking aa well. Obviously It is not an easy question to answer. I think I can sympathize with the ofllre seeker who Is asked his opinion on the Townseml Plan. I have also been asked thai. But the question conies with a lot more sincerity than most peo ple grant these divorce-seekers. Il may seem otherwise to you. but for me. so dally Importuned as to the right or wrong of this thing. I am Impressed not with Its flip pancy, but rather Its seriousness. MAHRIAGIC vows burn a deal deeper Into human hearts anil conscience thnn most news stories would tell. The papers will say: "Mrs. Dunn, prominent socialite of Park Avenue, waa divorced In Reno to day. She left Immediately by plane for New York, where It Is understood that she will marry JamM Mrown. Broadway play boy" Bounds flitting and ephemeral, does It not? Hut t happen to know that while here she suf fered such depression that her physician advised her to seek a clergyman. Strange, too, one may not be Quirks of the human mind bring Investigation of a strange "witch" of In this document, written on a never see her again. They never did and the brother bad given her up as dead years before. Eight thousand dollars worth of bonds, 600 in uncollected in terest coupons and $2,000 In small change went to the brother. Twenty-three years of begging on the streets; of gathering bits from rubbish piles and selling them to Junk dealers; of near starvation; went Into the odd sav ings bank the old woman made of her home. Ben H. Brown, public adminis trator of Loa Angeles County, thinks the stockade case the most unusual that has ever come to his attention. Brown's office takes charge of the property of persons dying in the county when no will has been executed, and In the absence of legal heirs entitled to be ap pointed administrator. Since the estates left in his care consist of everything from purely personal belongings to real estate, stocks and bonds and sometimes yachts his duties combine those of a detective, at torney, warehouseman, appraiser, able to answer both these ques tions with the same affirmation. Plenty of folks, sometimes I think even a majority, have said Brewster Adams to me: "I don't believe In dl orce, but I can see no other way out." Indeed, I had a letter from a Bishop In the south, who asked me to. call on his sister, lie was very honest, yet apparently much perplexed and. good soul, his sympathies overcame his convic tions. That's a thing which hap pens to a lot of us. "I can't believe In divorce. But I know what my sister has gone through. What she seeks Is like a release froqi hell. God knows. If there is any Justification, she has It." His wonts were so vivid I have not forgotten them. FRANKLY, 1 do not see how one can answer these ques tions for another. No man ran be 'conscience" for his brother. To do that for ourselves is a pretty big Job. Indeed. I think a lot of the world's suffering Is caused by a keen conscience which soate some strange will cases Into the office of Ben H. Brown, publio administrator for Los Angeles County, Calif. Brown, snown left, directed woman,. who lived In poverty yet left thousands. Right Is one of the odd wills that make his duties unusual. A large estate was disposed matchbox, whloh Is displayed by one of Administrator Brown's assistants. salesman and diplomat. He is charged with caring for and sell ing all the properties, if neces sary, to satisfy creditors and claimants. AN AVERAGE of forty cases per month Is handled by Brown and hia deputies with an equal number of cases where the estates are $200 or less. Right now he has BOO pieces of real estate on hand and holds $4,000, 000 worth of ' material assets which are going through the dis tribution process. Where wills are found, many strange expressions of the writer's personality are revealed. Here la one odd case handled recently: A faKiily aervant, who worked hard and saved a large sum of money, promised at least 20 per sons that they would receive all her property. Competent attor neys at different times prepared seven different wills for her and these she revised constantly. But, she never executed one of the written wills and all her money went to a distant relative, whom have, not for themselves, but for their brethren. Again, I have noticed that peo ple have a perverse way of get ting you to approve In sympathy and then holding you responsible for their mistakes. "I wouldn't have done It If he hadn't told mo It was the right thing to do." is too frequent an alibi. The Catholic Church can an ewer it and I respect the con sistency of Its position. It be lieves that marrringe is a sacra mentthat the vow is sealed by the Church and therefore- cannot be act aside save by the Church. There can be only one .inclusion to this premise and that la, that the vows taken are Irrevocable. That la final, authoritative. But our position Is different and more difficult. We believe that love is the sacrament and that this affection must seal, li is this we recognlie and bless. We do not give, but only solemnize that which is given. It is love that binda. What shall we say when love is dead? The cement which held Is washed out and the walls crumhle. With love, faith and trust seem to be gone. This is death the only dy ingspiritual death. Shall the dead bury their dead? THE divorce has already taken place. Something beautiful has passed from between them. Something has gone out of the heart and taken faith and trust and love All the courts can do Is to separate the unessential. What ever was real has already been annulled. On the train going Kant I vis ited with a woman who had called to see me while in Reno. She spoke this truth: "I came away from Reno with my divorce. The courts have separated us: but It seems all mockery Just ta satis fy a law. Ths divorce came years she expressly desired to disin herit! Another "black sheep" son re ceived all of his mother's money when she failed to have her will properly witnessed. Fate stepped into the life of a baker, killing him in an automo bile crash . the day before his marriage. The $14,000 he had in tended to leave his bride went to distant relatives in Europe, from whom he was estranged. A LADY presented herself to file claims for services against an estate, and was ad vised she would have to present evidence of the liability for them. In a few days she returned with what she though was a written acknowledgment by the deceased. It proved to be a genuine will In which she was left the entire estate. A woman In poor circum stances borrowed money to make a trip from New Jersey to Los Angeles to Bee if a certain dead man was her long lost husband. Satisfied by her Identification she went back, stating that she did not mind the sacrifice she had to Decision ago. They only passed Judgment on an empty shell." So I do not want to say that I believe In divorce no more than I would say, "I believe in war." It rather seems that it is something that life has taken out of our hands. It happens whether, we would or no, courts or none. I would rather say that I be lieve in happy living and com panionship and going down the hill together. I think that is the way Christ taught. He held the Ideal before us as to blessed liv- j Ing. He never spoke with excep tions or In negatives. Two of the three gospels give no reservation. A Mosaic influence is apparent in thn thlr1 Hi rnthitp hiM tin the perfect standard of true happl- L ness. He gave us the beautiful to follow without legal loophole. Kor our failure, we have His forgive ness, but not His exceptions. IF I were to put one test to di vorce. It would be the need of the soul for sincerity. Folks don't have to live with each other. They do have to live with them selves. And in no narrow way. we must save our souls. Living in suspicion and without trust, for appearance and without honesty, in hypocrisy and without genuineness, not only scparntes but destroys. A front before the world and an empty house within, la soon occupied by the devils which devastate False living Is a consuming flame. I can under stand how a man would wish to salvage his soul when all else has bumed to ashes Good fortune to the lad who can say: "When evening comes I know that she will be waiting at the gate " A faith which Is much bet ter than the fear that some day "she may give him the gate." Died of Starvation make so long as she knew where he was "for sure." Claimants and heirs sometimes make undue trouble for the pub lic administrator. One will, illegi bly written had a sentence that might have read "valuable Jew elry in safe" or "valuable Jewelry in sofa." A small amount of Jew elry was found In a safe, but the heir insisted that a large sofa be torn apart and into small pieces Just to make sure nothing was overlooked. In another case, a friend of the decedent Insisted that all the property was promised to her and a will was hidden in the resi dence. It was necessary to almost dismantle the house in the search. During It, the claimant appeared several times and stated that she had visions. The wilt would be found In the motor of a phono graph; behind a section of wall paper; or buried at various places In the yard. No will was ever dis covered despite her psychic aid. WILLS are found In the most unusual places and on the most curious materials. Some of the writing materials used have KNOW - DON'T GUESS DR. FRANK McCOY Druglesa Phrttdao McOOT BLDO., 1181 W. SIXTH ST. LOS ANQBLES MUTUAL 1277 OAKLAND OLwDOoart 3836 SAN DIEOO FRanklln 7424 Arw you one who ia ailing and letting day after day slip byl Each day you wait allowing your atrkneaa to develop, you ara making the job harder not only (or your doctor, but or yourtelf. Don t wait until aomething T'hitt you with a bans " Find oat what ! wrong yon can't afford to gueaa. Tha following two-day lamination procedure la in omitted for tout approval and comparison: FIRST DAT OF EXAMINATION Consultation History, Rjrmptomi, Blood Pressure, Pulse Rate and Respiratory Rate taken by the diagnostician. K Barium Meal and Fluoroscopic ami nation of the structure and filling tint of tha atomaeh. 3 Laboratory test: (a) Complete Blood Count (red fell, white cell and differen tial count with hemoglobin determination). (b) Complete Chemical and Mi croscopic I'rinalysis. 4 Hearing Test Fluoroscopic examination of the Intestinal tract. ' X-ray of the Colon when filled by barium meal. X-ray pictnrea of any part of the bftdr as indicated hy abnormali ties found during the fluoroscopic eiamtnatton or aa indicated from the history or ynipiotnt snrh as chest, slnns, hed. spine, pelvic region or any joint such as shoub der, knee. hip. wrist or any bona structure. Ocular examination by an optnnv' etril with explanation and recom mendations. r'xaminatlon of month, teeth and gums with Interpretation of den tal X-rays and recommendations. l.aKorati'rx Tett ; ot of the f Kw int iet are tiia.ie as requested by the examining doctors. .tri-r.d ing upon hitory and symptoms or phtiral findings, acme of which Tre routine CONCLUSION Written dietetic Instructions .re tvade for you following rr consultation The examination ran usually be completed Is two davs unl. i--required bca.e of pathological delay. 7 1 " lon" time Is THE TOTAL COST OF THE EXAMINATION IS US Monthly payment ,ar D ,rrag.-d for any service Consultations without char or obligation been window shades, backs of cir cular letters, handbills, bible fly leaves and a scrap of paper sewed into a blanket The rung of a step ladder and the side of an ordinary match box have been utilized for last wills and testaments. A PHYSICIAN, seized by a heart attack and recogniz ing the short period he had left, wrote his in Spanish on a pre scription blank. Notebooks, call ing cards and memo books have been called into play and one will was written in shorthand. A big warehouse that is care fully guarded protects the fur " nishings and. other personal be longings of the estates in Brown's care. One recent estate had a large California desert turtle as a "movable asset." He was carted off to the warehouse and the guard swears that among several hundred odd sofas that are on hand, the turtle pl.-.ked out the one under which he used to sleep at home and went right to It. During the winter months he dis appeared entirely and It is as sumed that he is hibernating in his favorite domicile. LONG BEA0H TeL 6177S SAN BERNARDINO TL 20268 Electrocardfographia examination of the heart. fl. Full Set Dental X raya. T. Temperature Readings. S. Flnnrosrople observations of tha emptying time of the stomach. . Fluoroscopic examination of the eheat with particular reference to the heart and lungs. 10. Complete physical examination in eluding the chest, heart and lungs andomen, pelvic organs, extremi ties and spinal column. 11. Examination of the ears nose and " iransiimmina tton of the acces.ory naoal ainiue. SECOND DAT OF EXAMINATION 7. Basal M-taholie te.t to determln glandular function. (1 Schillings Hemogram. (2) Blood Sedimentation Time. (3 tUmd rhml,,rT D'termtoa- (4) Icterus Indeg. (5) Wasaerman Reaction. () Kidney Function Test. (7) Sputum Kxaminatfon (8) Gaatric Analyaia. (9) Fecal Analysis. (10) Smear from flnmi. (11) Examination of any exudates. !lr ?J' Vmt "amlnatfona of the kidney or gall bladder, using a special dyea when indicated. 9. Temperature Readings 10. Summation and diaenosU with explanation of th- nndmgi to you oy the diagnostician. 11. Consultation with advice as to diet and treatment. , PAGE F0UR-B
