Eureka Reporter | 1907-05-17 | Page 7 | At Once an Infant and Grown Woman

AT ONCE AN INFANT AND ANI GROWN WOMAN perplexity IN WHICH MISS MABEL MERCER or PITTSBURG IS INVOLVED FIGHTS FOR HER FREEDOM laws laws y of Penn syliama ania place her under fathers control but in new york she Is her own mistress daring escape from institution in which she had been confined ward of H C frick involved in romantic story 9 4 new york grown woman in new york infant in pennsylvania miss mabel mercer has decided that she wants to stay in the metropolis she thinks that the laws of the em pire state give her a better chance than those of william penn penns s old state Is s long as she stays in new york she Is perfect perfectly safe from cap cal ture by her father who put her in the country home at germantown pa the other day da beca ise she wants to be independent miss mercer is just turned IS 18 here the law says that a woman of 18 is of age in pennsylvania a father is a child s guardian until she Is 21 and until then she is an infant but back of all this Is something more miss mercer had to make a sensational escape from front the home to get without the jurisdiction of the laws of the sovereign state of penn sylvania she slid three stories on a rope made of sheets met a young man in an automobile whisked away to philadelphia exchanged the fuste lution s uniform tor for a dress which she borrowed made the first train for new york and here she is now defiant but happy of prom nent pittsburg fam ly the mercers are among the be best st known people in pittsburg the ta fa ther is capt george S mercea super In of buildings in allegheny county isow now miss mercer had fin dished school and was about to take her place in society when she met young carl borntraeger a ward of henry Q C prick frick he was young good looking and he stands to inherit a for tune he ile proposed she accepted but mr frick couldn coulden t see it in the light that the oung young people did and for that matter neither did capt mercer there was a stormy scene some hot words and miss mercer stalked out of the house all right bhe said you don t have to support me I 1 can get a po on the stage it I 1 have to i her father laughed at this but the girl made good her threat she did get a place in the farl and the girl company and she came to new york to to rehearse for her part it looked as if she would succeed she was dainty winsome wl ansome extremely pretty and chic but along came papa mercer your mother is very III he said and you must come home to see her of course the girl gave in tear fully she took the train for pittsburg as she supposed hoping to see tee her dear mother before she d died le d and t to 0 beg forgiveness for running away from home there was a stop at philadel phi a we get out here said th taft father and suddenly a detective ap all feared he had been coache I 1 for his part youve you ve got to come along aloag aid the man non and it il 11 be better it if you don t make lake a scene then miss mercer realized that it had all been a trap her nother was not ill and she wasn gasn t going to pitts burg at all instead she found herself on the way to the country home an conducted by the protest ant episcopal church at germantown derman town a suburb of philadelphia before the girl could recover from her surprise and indignation she ws wes in uniform and under restraint TI at was on march 25 last right then and there she made up her mind to escape escape she did nw nf w she can snap her fingers at the laws of penn sylvania and her father too she Is of age in new york and an infant no longer here she s a woman there she s a child bo so here she proposes to remain ng her escape all this took wits and pluck miss mercer realized that she was being watched every minute she was made to scrub floors and wash dishes wait at the table and make beds things she had never done before in her life ahe scrubbed and washed and ironed until her white little hands bands were all red and sore but all the time she was waiting her chance and the young ward of mr frick was outside waiting to help her at just the proper moment this was b because miss mercer was able to smug gle a letter out to him making an ap for him and his big automo bile at just the right time nor was this the first time she had made an appointment with oung young mr borntraeger last december they ran away together this 18 year old girl and this 19 year old bc bey Y to be married but mr frick and cap tain mercer caught them before the knot was tied and miss mercer had to go home like a dutiful little daughter here however was a more serious situation she found herself practically a pals oner orter matrons watched her all the time even her clothing was taken away from her and she had to wear the uniform of a prisoner if she es it would tell all the world that she was under restraint miss mercer mercers s native wit overcame all the obstacles she heard the honk honk of the automobile lout bout in the road she hastily made a rope of sheets she forced upon the window an and of squeezed her trim little body be tween the iron bars of her window and slid in safety to the ground the automobile did the rest I 1 but let miss mercer tell the story herself I 1 have broken with my fath er forever she said emphatically with a toss of her shapely little head and no power on eaith can ever get in me under his control again I 1 in a woman here in new york evea even it if the law say a I 1 in an infant in pennsyl vania I 1 did run away from homei home I 1 want ed to go on the stage my reasons for leaving home are my own secret I 1 wont won t tell them to anybody at once my father made a search for me and finally found me in the plymouth hotel I 1 was about to se cure an art engagement to go on the stage when he appeared with another man and forcibly took me admy aw ay mcfather my father told me that my mother was tick sick in pittsburg and wanted me home inveigled into an institution we took a train for pittsburg however after the first stop when we got over the pennsylvania line the strange man who proved to be a new york detective left us I 1 became eus sus niclous at this and my suspicions were confirmed when we got off at north philadelphia when we stopped at a restaurant to eat I 1 tried to get away I 1 found that I 1 could not do this but I 1 bad a chance to write a telegram and send it out by a boy it was to my new york hotel that no one be a allowed to remove my effects without my consent from the restaurant we went to an episcopal mission on east walnut lane germantown my father left me after I 1 heard him tell the matron that I 1 was to be put at hard work I 1 had never worked before in my life I 1 had to scrub w ash iron iren and do other menial tasks I 1 made my escape last saturday the day before I 1 had tion I 1 explainer explain eu as qu ekly as boss ble that I 1 had been placed in the cou co vent against in will I 1 asked him to take me to the restaurant in north ph h ladelphia where I 1 had stopped with my father the monday previous nis he did who was hea be dont don t ask me it was young mr borntraeger mr air fricks ward however I 1 there at the restaurant went on atos mercer I 1 told the proprietor a wile of my escape u and she abe was kind enough to help me she bound up my wounds and she gaie me food she gave me a dress to take the place of that horrid uniform of the country home then I 1 sent a telegram to new york asking that money be sent me and that very night I 1 was back in my old room at the ho tel I 1 had been away just five days I 1 know that I 1 am right in what I 1 have dore A lawyer whom I 1 have consulted has assured me that ray my father has no right to force me to go with him home or any other place I 1 am fully capable of earning my owr living and of living my own life and I 1 am going to do so family Is divided I 1 am going to make every effort to get my daughter back declared captain mercer she Is incorrigible and I 1 am going to help try sister keep out of the hands of her father said her brother george A mercer a deputy coroner in pittsburg when ha he heard of this miss mercer has two other brothers one a clergyman and the other Is still at school As for yount borntraeger he isn t saying anything but some thing may happen any day at any rate when he hes s 21 and comes into the 2 which mr frick Is husband ing tor for him there may be a wedding but it will take place in new york where girls of 18 may marry without their parents consent this Is the letter miss mercer wrote to brother when she arrived here in tree free new york where girls of 18 19 are no longer infants suppose you have heard about dad putting me in some kind of a convent and also of my escape monday he put me there saturday about 12 clock daytime I 1 escaped by un screwing iron bare bars crawling over two roofs and falling by mere good luck I 1 reached new york in a halt half living condition I 1 had bad not a cent when I 1 ran away in a calico custode of blue and white check these roofs were covered with barbed wire and my arms are all covered with bandages soon as I 1 could I 1 communicated with a mr 0 reilly the thaw attorney att otney and KA all 1 0 71 A j 1 I A 4 V cdx noticed a window on the third floor front which I 1 thought I 1 could squeeze through that morning I 1 pretended that I 1 was sick and they locked me in my room at about two 0 clock one of the ma arons came into my room I 1 sprang out into the hall and turned the key in the door locking her in I 1 had nothing but the ugly uniform of the institution on and I 1 knew that it if I 1 did get out the chances were that I 1 could not get very veri far away how ever I 1 was desperate the window I 1 got out ot of opened upon the root roof ot of a porch it was protected by a sash ot of interwoven iron but I 1 managed to lift up one end tar far enough to squeeze my body through fredom at last it was a hard task and left black aad and blue marks on me that I 1 have yet but once on the roof I 1 slid down on a rope of sheets I 1 made from my bed ding to the porch below and then I 1 lost my balance and tell fell to the ground the only person who had seen my escape was a young man who was standing by his automobile across the street I 1 ax appealed pealed to him hirn tor for protea tab received advice and help from him the detective dad had with him la Is in all kinds ot of trouble lien a mur derer cannot be taken from one state to another without a warrant from the governor and too I 1 am of age in thie this state would have gone crazy I 1 am too ill to do any law fighting but have haye a good attorney to fight for or me I 1 should have been crazy had I 1 stayed in the convent much longer As it Is now I 1 have nervous prostration I 1 look terribly battered and ill I 1 have 25 to last me until I 1 start to re belve my wages this I 1 borrowed from a girl I 1 met in the other company strangers have all been so good to me la in that convent while kneeling for hours in their worship I 1 thought thoy they were fools to think a god existed or also that no hell but here on earth ex isted I 1 feel ashamed tor for their ion I 1 tell you I 1 would hava havo commit ted murder had I 1 stayed there much longer my thoughts were gerrib e in teat that six by ten room lovingly does the pluck of 0 thlu sound like an infants new ew york lorld alm iii t kajet