TO SAVE HER LIFE
JOURNAL READERS RAISE FUND
FOR MRS. LOWREY.
THEY SEND HER TO ARIZONA.
WIFE'S SACRIFICE AND DEVO-
TION AMPLY REPAID.
Happy to the Verge of Tears, the
Unfortunate Woman Starts on
the Long Journey in Search
of Health in More
Congenial Climate.
The following contributions were received by The Journal yesterday as a fund to send Mrs. J. A. Lowry, the self-sacrificing wife to Arizona in hope that her health may be restored.
"A Journal Reader".....................$10.00
Cash..................................................10.00
Cash..................................................10.00
Cash..................................................10.00
Cash....................................................5.00
L. S. Larimore, Calwell, Kas.........2.00
Total................................................$47.00
Last night the Journal received a check for $50 from a woman who asked that her name be kept secret.
"I hardly know what to say -- the people have been so kind to me -- I am grateful, of course -- more grateful than I can express -- it was so unexpected and so splendid -- goodby, and thank you, oh, ever so much!"
The speaker was a frail woman, too feeble to stand without assistance, and as she sat in an invalid's chair at the Union depot last night waiting for the train that was to bear her away to health and ahppiness, her expressions of gratitude for the kindness tha had made her journey possible were broken with tears. She was Mrs. M. A. Lowry, of 1106 Cherry street, just departing for Prescott, Arizona, where she hopes that the pure dry climate of that state will cure her of tuberculosis.
A WIFE'S DEVOTION.
There are doubtless few in Kansas City who have not heard the story of this unfortunate woman's sufferings: How six years ago she married a stalwart young railroad man and came to Kansas City to help him build a home; how after two bright-eyed children came to them the mother was stricken with a terrible disease which only a climatic change could cure; how just as she and her husband were on the point of starting for Arizona last winter, the man was arrested on a charge based on circumstanial evidence and thrown into an Arkansas prison; how the woman without a murmur laid her life upon the altar of her husband's honor by expending the little savings laid by for the Western journey in a futile attempt to clear the charges against him; how he went to prison, while her health faded away; how after her strength failed she sat day in and day out before the doorway of their home that she might be the first to welcome him upon his return; how finally her pathetic story reached the governor of Arkansas who ordered the husband liberated, and how last week he came home to begin anew the fight to build a home.
When Mr. Lowrey reached Kansas City last Tuesday he set about finding a place to work. At the best it is a hard proposition for a man just out of prison to find profitable employment, yet he went to work with commendable zeal. But the wife's health began to fail rapidly after the reaction of her joy at his liberation, and it became apparent that something had to be done at once.
Following an editorial in The Journal, a number of citizens sent contributions for the unfortunate family. That no time might be lost, preparations for the trip were hurried, and Mrs. Lowrey, accompanied by her husband and two little children, left on a 9 o'clock train last night for Arizona.
When a newpaper reporter called at the Lowrey home yesterday afternoon, with the money that meant so much to the stricken woman, the gift was received with unmistakable marks of appreciation and gratitude. Part of it was in silver coins, and as the reporter poured these into the lap of the invalid she was so overcome with emotion that it was many moments before she could speak. When she did find words, however, she expressed her gratitude with grace and felling that showed greatly her glad surprise at the unexpected assistance.
