STARVED TO DEATH FOR FOR LOVE.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1648, 15 January 1913, Page 7

STARVED TO DEATH FOR FOR LOVE.

A' GIRL'S BROKEN ENGAGEMENT. Thiv pitiful- tragedy of a modern Ophelia was described in the' cold wordß and 1 with the gloomy formalities of a coronev's inquiry at Camberwell,'//London;, on -December, 5. Ethel Martha /Louisa Foyle, disappointed in love, her engage-' nient broken, sank into melancholia.' She spoke little; refused food, and pined and died in a private asylum. Her brother, Herbert Reginald Foylb, in the Civil Service, narrated the efforts of •the faihily : to' restore her. .-His sister lie ( described as a clever girl of'twenty-eight. 'She lived with her parents -at Colvillo House?;,Colville Terrace, Bayswuter. Some time ago, he'said, she met with, a love disappointment and her cngagonient .- ..was broken'off. She then fell into a state of melancholia; from .which, in spito of nil; her. /o#ii o.tteiiipts to rally newelf, / she couid not'recover; ; She had been such a. quiet girl that they had hopes that she Would.become,herself again, and she was sent to a. seaside,houiel Then she.was sent' to Dr. Francis ! Gilbert'-- Scott, 1 of Kingston Road,-. -$Cew/Maiden,,because she could riot take .food, and hs certified her. to be insane. . •'-,_,■ ''■■;: . ■.- .., ■'..;...;■" /. Dr..'. Scott, said the girl -came to ' hirii from a consul tin g physician in London, who had' diiignbsed ner condition as neurasthenia, which, took the form of refusing all food. She ,was artificially fed,;but her mental symptoms grow worse, and she was certified to be insane. ' "It was reported ,to me that'she had threatened/to take poison," Baid tho coroner. 'T .''.' ■■;. . "She made a lot of. loose statements," replied )Dr. Scott. While sho was with you did she attempt to destroy herself?— No.■ -.''.',- Tho last sad stag© was described by Dr. Frank .Raymond King", who 6nid. tho'girl was in a vory depressed state when she was admitted to the. asylum and would scarcely speak at all. She looked very. thin. -'She was riot violent, /but kept her teeth, tightly closed and would not , take food voluntarily. Death was due to exhaustion from melancholia, accelerated ■by refusal to take food. ■-..■>:. ' A .'verdict''in-. Accordance, with this testi. mony was returned. V . ... / '.-./--,