Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 March 1894 — They Loved Well. [ARTICLE]

They Loved Well.

The strangest test of will power and endurance ever made was in Mexico, the characters being a Mexican woman and an American man. They were lovers, and the girl’s parents refused their consent to the union, insisting that she should marry a wealthy Mexican suitor. At the suggestion of the girl they agreed to die together, and to test the strength and endurance of each other’s love they choose a means of suicide unlike any ever dreamed of before. Food and fruit were placed on a table in the center of a room, occupied by both, the girl having escaped from her home, but being unwilling to elope with her lover. It was agreed that they should starve to death with plenty before them, and should either succumb to nature and partake of the food—then both were, released from the bond of death—but there should be an everlasting separation. For twelve days they endured the pangs of hunger without a murmur or a thought of wavering from their purpose to die together. The twelfth day the father of the girl. discovered her whereabouts, and, breaking the door, they were carried out, too faint to stand alone. It took them several days to recover their strength, and when they did they were married. This is a true statement, and the American is living with his Mexican wife to-day.