Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 March 1891 — A Queer Old Lady. [ARTICLE]

A Queer Old Lady.

Mrs. Jane McKeene, an old lady in Lewiston, Me., who was recently taken to the insane asylum, had been very eccentric for years while working in the cotton mills, and a number of stories are told of her peculiarities. At one time she had a lot of cockroaches in a box near her looms which she would feed every day. Whether they ate the food provided by their benefactress is not known, but she took good care of them and they increased in numbers, until at last the superintendent discovered them and had them removed. The old lady cried bitterly that her pets —and whoever had such pets before—were removed/ Thev say she used to drop a silver coin in the canal day, which she said went to feed her husband and boy,who were drowned at sea. Her boy’s clothes, which she carried under her arm, she never parted with. Every morning she took the bundle to her work, and each night returned with it. Previous to the time of Elizabeth the only article to assist in eating was the jackknife, which also served for sundry other purpose-