Mrs. Churchill & The Parlour Window

[Kat]

Mrs. Churhill at the inquest says she saw Bridget washing the parlour window about 10 am. But then she is more specific and says she saw Bridget throwing the water up there. Now, that is Bridget rinsing the window- not washing it. Bridget said she threw water up on the windows with a dipper to rinse.
Didn't Bridget say she got the dipper from the house around 10:20? Or am I not remembering this correctly?
I don't think Bridget could be rinsing windows already at 10, when she'd only started collecting her things for the washing job at 9:30, plus stopped to chat with Mary Doolan.


Mrs. Churchill
126
A. No Sir. I saw the girl later washing the windows.
Q. How much later was it she was out washing windows?
A. It might have been ten o’clock. I cant tell.
Q. Washing windows on the outside?
A. Yes Sir.
(127)
Q. How long should you say she was out there, that you saw her washing windows?
A. I cant tell. I stepped into my bed room for something, I saw her throwing water up on to the parlor window.

[diana]

Well, there's always Lizzie's testimony. She says she came downstairs at a few minutes to nine --
"Q. Where was your father when you came down Thursday morning?
A. Sitting in the sitting room in his large chair, reading the Providence Journal.
Q. Where was your mother? Do you prefer me to call her Mrs. Borden?
A. I had as soon you called her mother. She was in the dining room with a feather duster dusting.
Q. When she dusted did she wear something over her head?
A. Sometimes when she swept, but not when dusting.
Q. Where was Maggie?
A. Just come in the back door with the long pole, brush, and put the brush on the handle, and getting her pail of water; she was going to wash the windows around the house."

So she has Bridget outside scrubbing away outside around nine or shortly after.

[Kat]

Thanks a lot, Lizzie!
She also has Andrew leaving at 10.
Bridget was throwing up for 10 minutes at 9 o'clock...
Unless Bridget considers chatting with Mary "vomitting?"
A Bridget-euphemism, maybe?

Can you find where Bridget says what time she got that dipper?

[Kat]

I checked for *dipper* in the prelim and trial and I don't see where Bridget outright is asked or states what time she got the dipper from the sink near the side entry door. She is asked if she was nearly finished with the window job when she did that and she agreed. I think I had made a sort of timeline and figured on 10:20 as the time she got the dipper. But I also think it is somewhere else- I just didn't find it in her testimony. Also note the door was unhooked when she did that.

The point was being made over and over too, that Bridget was in and out of the barn getting water and didn't see anyone around.
The other point is made that Bridget never went into the parlour.
Her not going into the parlour to wash windows, and Lizzie saying she told Bridget to be sure to close the blinds (outside shutters)- makes that seem as if the parlour is suspicious. Bridget closing the blinds would leave the room in semi-darkness and she could probably not see in while closing them so since Bridget did not go in there nor mentioned closing those blinds anyway, someone may have been in there.
Now why didn't Lizzie say, when asked where Abby was, that she may have spent her time in the parlour? It's like people are pointing away from the parlour- which makes me wonder of course about the parlour.

[diana]

Bridget says she "thinks" she came in for the dipper to rinse the windows off at about 10:20. She is asked if this would be close to the end of her task and replies in the affirmative. She also says the longest part of the job was finished as it involved washing the windows, the rinsing did not take as long. (Source: Bridget's preliminary hearing testimony)

So this could jibe with Lizzie's estimate that has her starting out closer to nine. Also, although Bridget says Abby asked her to wash the windows at around nine -- Morse testified that he hears Abby tell the maid about the chore hours earlier -- at breakfast.


I was just wondering if it's possible that Lizzie's concern about the blinds in the parlor being closed stemmed from the fact that the parlor was the 'good' room and basically only used when guests came. Presumably the best furniture, the best rug, and the best draperies in the house were in there.

I remember when I took a tour of the Fall River Historical Society, the docent mentioned that the blinds were often kept closed in those days to keep the furniture and carpets from fading. Maybe Lizzie had been trained from girlhood to make sure the good parlor furnishings were saved from wear and tear and it was second nature to her to reinforce this to the help. And maybe the reason Bridget didn't go into the parlor was because Abby didn't want her tracking water in there.

Just a thought.

[Kat]

Thanks. Do you know the page number for 10:20? I searched but didn't find the time and I'd be grateful to know.

Bridget was supposedly outside vomitting for 10 to 15 minutes at 9 a.m. and then later before she started actually washing , or around the beginning of her task, she stopped to talk to Mary Doolan over the fence. Since the fence was lower closer to the street, I think this might place her towards the southwest corner of the property, nearer the street, which would equate with the sitting room windows.

I'm reminding everyone of this because I've been thinking about when Bridget threw up, missed seeing Andrew leave, gathered her stuff, and talked to Mary. (Besides working in her kitchen putting away breakfast stuff).
I've been trying to figure out why she didn't see Andrew, since Mrs. Churchill saw him around 9 am outside by the side steps. He was on the barn-side of the steps, and I thought Bridget was vomitting around the pear tree near the end of the barn, in the yard. Why didn't they see each other?
Maybe they did meet out there for some purpose before he went to town. Maybe she was not vomitting.
It just seems to me that if Bridget was sick out there the same time Andrew was out there, he might inquire after her?
Then I thought, maybe she was talking over the fence and dawdling, not vomitting.

Still, the inside parlour windows, I'd think, would be the place most wanted to be kept clean- to mirror Abby's pride in the room. Do you think maybe Abby cleaned those windows herself to keep a (possibly) clumsy Bridget from tracking mud in etc?

[Susan]

According to Emma's Inquest testimony, she had the care of the parlor.

Inquest, page 108:

Q. Did you have, yourself, any particular duty in connection with the house?
A. Some things I always did.

Q. What were they?
A. I always took charge of the parlor, my sister and I, we always took charge of the guest chamber and our own rooms.

Wasn't it the parlor door that Emma seemed concerned about cleaning the blood spots off of without asking anyone if she could?

[diana]

The 10:20 time is on page 17 of Bridget’s Prelim testimony.

I guess I sort of compressed and drew my own conclusions on her window washing timeline -- but page 14 of the Prelim. she says she went in for the dipper after she “got through washing them with the brush” and agrees that was pretty near the end of the job. Then on page 17 when she is asked if she knows how long it took her to wash the windows outside, she says” “No. I should think it was twenty minutes past ten when I got in the house”. I took this to mean that she came in for the dipper at 10:20 – but maybe she means when she finished up outside entirely? However the point is made twice that the longest part of the job is the part involving the brush – and throwing up the water with the dipper does not take much time so whether she came in for the dipper at 10:20 or was finished outside by 10:20 may be moot.

As far as Andrew leaving – could he have gone when Abby and Bridget were talking in the dining room and Lizzie was down in the cellar lavatory?

Thanks for that part about Emma and the parlor, Susan.

[Haulover]

i'm still not certain about bridget using or not using a ladder outside.

it may be another problem with terminology. but though i understand she had the pole to make the brush longer for scrubbing -- how does she stand on the ground and sling a dipper of water upward and actually reach the upper windows?

(maybe i should try it myself wednesday.)

i have some high windows too, and when i wash these about once a year -- i use an old broom with an extension -- and then the finale is the hosepipe. and all this is a very wet experience, with the whole front of the house being washed, etc.

(bridget's method sounds like piddling)

[Kat]

Susan, do you think Emma washed the inside of the parlour windows, because Bridget for some reason does not go in there?

Thanks for the page #, Diana. I think I did the same thing, which was like a reasonable time-line. However, Bridget being finished on the outside completely and coming in at 10:20, getting her inside washing stuff out and starting 1/2 of one window wouldn't take 40 minutes, I don't think- so she has unsupported time in there. I think that's why I believed, as you, that she got the dipper at 10:20, threw water, put her stuff in the barn, came in and collected her ladder and basin and rags and started on the (wrong) window by 10:40, when Andrew came to the door.

It sounds like they had a hose- I don't know why Bridget used a dipper. The questioner is funny about that. He asks something like *rinsing the windows or whatever you call it.*
It didn't even sound like *rinsing* to him. He was also wondering why she was not rubbing them dry with a cloth.

[Susan]

Susan, do you think Emma washed the inside of the parlour windows, because Bridget for some reason does not go in there?

I have read in the past about women having Irish girls as servants and the general, prejudiced idea was that they were good for heavy and hard labor, but, not delicate things. Like they were too klutzy or plodding to be trusted with finer things. I'm wondering if Abby or Lizzie and Emma had some of this prejudice with Bridget and didn't want or allow her in the parlor? So, yes, I can see our Emmer cleaning the insides of those windows in the parlor.

I can think of one reason why Bridget didn't or wasn't allowed to use the hose to rinse those windows. When my brother, who is a painter, readies the exterior of a house to be painted, it gets pressure washed. Great care must be taken in older homes as the windows don't have the weather strips and such as new windows do. They are like sieves and let water squirt in all around the sashes.

[Nancie]

I think it was custom that the parlor was sacred,
even in the 50's when I was growing up, noone was
allowed to hang out in the precious front room, even our dog knew better, he would sit at the entrance and wouldn't dare go in. But I don't understand where we established that the Borden's had a HOSE?? Wouldn't Bridget have mentioned that somewhere in the window-washing ordeal?

[Allen]

I've been trying to figure out why she didn't see Andrew, since Mrs. Churchill saw him around 9 am outside by the side steps. He was on the barn-side of the steps, and I thought Bridget was vomitting around the pear tree near the end of the barn, in the yard. Why didn't they see each other?
Maybe they did meet out there for some purpose before he went to town. Maybe she was not vomitting.
It just seems to me that if Bridget was sick out there the same time Andrew was out there, he might inquire after her?
Then I thought, maybe she was talking over the fence and dawdling, not vomitting.

I would think the reason she didn't see Andrew was because she was vomiting. She may have been facing away from the house in order to vomit. If I was outside vomiting I would want to make that as private an ordeal as possible. I would not turn around to face the street if it was possible so that anyone passing by or coming out of the house could see me. If she was sick and vomiting I think that would also explain why she did not take the time to talk to Andrew as he came out, or why he didn't take the time to talk to her. I would think it would've been somewhat repugnant for him to walk up on her as she was getting sick. I've always thought that the parlor door being locked was suspicious as well. If Bridget did wash the windows in the parlor wouldn't she have had to obtain the key? Who had the key to the parlor? Was it Lizzie? Sorry I'm coming in late on this one, but I'm trying to keep up as much as I can. As for the timeline, I don't make them in any way exact when I'm trying to figure anything out unless someone said they looked at a clock to get the time, or heard the chimes. Otherwise it's all guesstimation. Even going by the chimes is guesstimation to a point. Because they guess at how long after they heard the chimes this happened or that happened and so forth.
Also on a hot day, a minute might seem longer than normal, which could throw off the times a bit. Especially if you are outside working or walking in it. I've tried guesstimating time just to see how accurate I could be. I've went for a walk, noted the time before I left, and then guessed at how long I was gone before I looked at the clock when I returned home. I'm usually off. I'm not so good at it. How many of us can judge the time accurately without a clock?

[Kat]

I think it was custom that the parlor was sacred,
even in the 50's when I was growing up, noone was
allowed to hang out in the precious front room, even our dog knew better, he would sit at the entrance and wouldn't dare go in. But I don't understand where we established that the Borden's had a HOSE?? Wouldn't Bridget have mentioned that somewhere in the window-washing ordeal?

Well, it's a good question and I always thought I had read in the testimony that they had a hose.
I just did a word search and this was all I found.
Says no hose.
Can anyone find a hose?
I'd be very interested.

Prelim
Bridget
Q. Where did you go for a dipper?
Page 185 (14)

A. In the sink.
Q. Did you go anywhereelse besides in the sink?
A. No Sir. It was when I got through washing them with the brush.
Q. To throw the water up on to them?
A. Yes Sir.
Q. You washed all the five windows with the brush before you began with the dipper?
A. Yes Sir.
Q. You did not have a hose, but used the dipper instead?
A. Yes Sir.
Q. That was pretty near the end of the job when you went after the dipper?
(15)
A. Yes Sir.
Q. You had been all around with the brush?
A. Yes Sir.

[Kat]

Susan, I appreciate your opinion on this. Does it seem like we have more depth of understanding of how Bridget might have been perceived in that household if she was not allowed in the parlour at all in case she messed it up being Irish?
And Emma and Lizzie cleaned their own windows of their bedrooms and maybe the guest room too? I hadn't thought of that.

[Kat]

The thing about the vomiting is more about Andrew being outside on the same side of the house around the same time as Bridget, vomitting or otherwise. I don't necessarily believe Bridget was throwing up at all. But since Bridget says she didn't see Andrew leave yet was close by his exit route seems suspicious. I'm thinking about if she was lying.

[Susan]

Susan, I appreciate your opinion on this. Does it seem like we have more depth of understanding of how Bridget might have been perceived in that household if she was not allowed in the parlour at all in case she messed it up being Irish?
And Emma and Lizzie cleaned their own windows of their bedrooms and maybe the guest room too? I hadn't thought of that.

Well, I honestly can't say for sure if that was the opinion of the Borden women or not. Bridget was told to was the windows, inside and out, yet she purposely skips the parlor. Emma is in charge of cleaning the parlor, which I guess would include the windows? Abby does the dusting in the house, this isn't even trusted to Bridget. Sorry, I'm thinking out loud here trying to figure their mindset about Bridget and cleaning and such. I keep reading about the anti-Irish sentiment of the time, how they were considered drunks, sub-human and apelike. How much of this entered into the Borden's treatment of Bridget?

According to Bridget's Trial testimony, she has nothing to do with the parlor at all, maybe they didn't think she would treat it with the reverence they did? Or was just not suited to do work in the finer rooms of the house?

Trial, page 197:

Q. Can you tell who took charge of the parlor sweeping, dusting and cleaning of it?
A. Miss Lizzie in the summer.

Q. Did you have anything to do with it?
A. No, sir.

[Kat]

What you've got me thinking too though is that Emma and Lizzie very well might have to clean their own windows.
I was thinking aloud too- in that they also were responsible for the guest room- they might resent a chore like that.
That old phrase "I don't do windows" meant something, after all. It was demeaning, wasn't it?
I wonder if Abby had to nag at them to do their own windows or if they were well-trained domestically that they cleaned them of their own volition.

[Susan]

Hmmm, your post made me wonder about them cleaning the exteriors of the second floor windows? Did they sit on the sill and hang out the window to clean them or maybe one of the guys at the farm came over to clean them a couple times a year? With the exception of the guest room, the upstairs rooms were private rooms that no one except the family got to see, maybe they were more lax about those windows?


I was just thinking about that news story from the female reporter about the state of Lizzie's bedroom, how neat and dainty it was. I'm thinking Lizzie must have a least cleaned the interior of her windows at some point, unless she twisted Emma's arm into doing them? Hmmmm.

[Kat]

The thing about the vomiting is more about Andrew being outside on the same side of the house around the same time as Bridget, vomitting or otherwise. I don't necessarily believe Bridget was throwing up at all. But since Bridget says she didn't see Andrew leave yet was close by his exit route seems suspicious. I'm thinking about if she was lying.

In the past, I didn't think a person vomited for 10 to 15 minutes, but I actually was in the position last Tuesday (a week ago) night and sort of checked the time. I figured I might as well.
Anyway, it did take 10 minutes minimum.

Everything and anything can be research, I suppose...

[Curryong]

This thread has some quite interesting debate about Bridget and the cleaning of the windows. Allen says here that the parlour was locked. Interesting chat about the prejudice of the time regarding Irish servants (clumsy dolts etc) and how they weren't trusted around delicate china in the best rooms of a house.

[irina]

Fantastic, Curryong.

I think the parlour being locked was kind of assumed. I didn't see that there was testimony to back that up. something to look for.

Bridget's window washing bothers me. It's a warm summer day and the windows are probably dusty from the unpaved streets. She scrubs the windows outside witha brush THEN goes in for a dipper to rinse! Think about it. I just washed my car with a hose on a warm day and had to re-wet surfaces because they dried and streaked. My car washing is a little like Bridget & the windows because I don't use detergent. Wet, scrub with towel, etc., rinse then towel dry. Anyway, think how thoise windows would have streaked between the scrucbbng and the dippering. I have always been surprised that Bridget didn't dry the windows with rags (paint stained dresses perhaps ) or newspaper. I'm also surprised she didn't seem to use vinegar in her wash water since Andrew seemed to have a vinegar business.

I'm not sure how many people would have had hoses in that time because for a hose to work there tends to need to be pressure in the system. Water in a hose creates friction so a low pressure system makes it very inefficient.

Somewhere, I think some of Bridget's testimony, says that Andrew had a fellow from the farm wash the upper story windows once or twice a year.

I have found it odd that Bridget didn't see Andrew leave but she could have been in the barn (yes, really, in the barn) getting water or equipment. I do believe she had a migraine that day and vomited as consequence. It doesn't matter a great deal to mention this, but my personal experience with migraine vomiting is that it is projectile & completely disabling for a short period as far as the vomiting goes. There is a mental change at the time. Personally, I would be humiliated if I vomited in front of people due to a sick stomach, yet with migraine I'll just go face down wherever & not care. For me it is always just water as I can't eat with migraine. A bigger point I make though is the mental change~migraine has some similarities to epilepsy~can be overwhelming and she might not have known how long she was indisposed. Once an attack is over, at least for me, there is no residual stomach upset but during the attack it is very disabling.

It is interesting that Lizzie told Bridget to close the blinds/shutters, whatever. (I thought she had said this about the sitting room so need to look at the parlour windows again.) One could wonder if Lizzie had company in the parlour that day. Someone we don't know about. That could make sense of a number of things.

I still think it interesting that the defense didn't make use of the un-entered parlour for suspense at trial. Who knows what could have been in there, at least for the purpose of drama? For some reason they didn't.

Mrs. Churchill testified that Bridget washed windows every couple weeks, twice a month or whatever. People have long thought Abby was cruel to Bridget "making" her wash windows when she was sick. The way she did it wasn't as bad as if she had to polish each one. Where I live that kind of window washing would make calcium stains. I can't imagine it was very efficient at 92 Second Street either. Like I suggested in another place, maybe the parlour windows were unlikely to accumulate coal smoke, fly specks and whatnot inside, so maybe they were seldom washed inside.

Whole thing is curious but I sure enjoyed this thread!

[Curryong]

Yes, I agree. It is a very odd way to wash windows. Basically, just use the scrubbing brush and then throw some water at it! It seems some houses did have a sort of hose pipe arrangement working, though, as you say, you'd think there might be trouble with the water pressure.

At least Bridget didn't have to do the upper windows, balancing on a ladder. I wonder whether they had professional window cleaning services in those days, although I suppose Andrew wouldn't have wanted to pay for it! Bridget might have used vinegar in the water, who knows. Those sort of details were never really gone into at the trial. I agree that the method used would probably have left streaks.

In most houses rooms like the parlour wouldn't have been locked. In the Borden household, who knows! I've always thought that Bridget flew off to vomit straight after Lizzie sat herself at the kitchen table for breakfast at about 9am and Andrew went off to do his errands downtown immediately afterwards. I suppose, Kat notwithstanding, most people don't estimate how long it takes to vomit. It might have been ten minutes, might have been much less, as far as Bridget was concerned.

[irina]

At some point Lizzie tried to say Andrew didn't leave rill 10 or later. Not workable but she seemed to think so.

[Curryong]

Yes, that was miles too late. One day we must do a simultaneous location timetable for everyone (Lizzie and all) for that morning, based on testimony and others' observations only.

[irina]

I thought someone had made that time table. There's too much we probably will never know. Bridget vomited but where & for how long? Under the pear tree (Yummy)? Behind the barn? Lizzie had coffee and cookies for breakfast but brought her slop pail downstairs. When did she go into the cellar & for how long? How long did Bridget wash the outside windows v. inside windows?

I worked out times for everybody/everything after Andrew got home and some other activities that morning. I have a lot of faith in averaging things to get the truth. What I figured about Lizzie's morning is that there are 30 minutes un-filled, no matter what times I chose for her activities. I also favour less than ten minutes for Andrew's death & the killer cleaning up or escaping, however that went. It was just something I did for my own interest and I don't claim it's accurate.

[Curryong]

I think people over the years have done a general timetable of the household's movements several times, but not matching and coordinating each individual in the time span, and comparing. Of course, it would be virtually impossible, ---competing testimony, missing chunks of the morning no-one asked about really, and most people would have difficulty anyway in itemising every moment of their day.

I thought Lizzie didn't have any breakfast. She may have swallowed a cup of coffee and she did later testify she may have had a muffin, but Bridget didn't actually see her imbibing anything. Lizzie had disappeared by the time Bridget came back from being sick.

Mrs Churchill saw Andrew hesitating on the back steps as if perhaps he didn't want to go out. Perhaps he'd gone around the back and caught a glimpse of Bridget throwing up. That would put anyone off, let alone an elderly gentleman who wasn't feeling the best himself!

I can't remember Lizzie bringing a slop pail down, only Andrew? Bridget took much longer over the outside windows than the inner, but of course that timespan incorporates the chat with the Kelly maid which may have gone on for much longer than Bridget cared to impart in court!

Bridget seems to have thought that Andrew came back at about 10:40am which does agree somewhat with Mrs Doctor Kelly's estimate. I suppose if you gave ten minutes to Andrew's activities before he snoozed and a few more for Bridget departing upstairs, that would take it to 10:54 or thereabouts, so about ten to fifteen minutes clearing-up time.

[irina]

Bridget's outdoor window washing would have taken longer because she went to the barn for water several times, and for the brush, handle, etc. Then into the house for the dipper. Back to the barn for water. Etc. I'm surprised she washed the inside windows in such a seemingly short time.

What I did has to to with the fact that for instance if fair goers are asked the weight of a prize bull displayed for the purpose, the aggregate of the crowd averaged will be very close to correct. So I thought MAYBE the same thing could be done on a smaller scale with time. For my own purposes I thought I learned some things.

I assigned what I thought were reasonable times to certain stated tasks/activities of that morning both for Lizzie and after Andrew's return. For Lizzie I did it once by assigning the same time to each task. Ten minutes or what. Added all those and subtracted from elapsed time. 30 minutes left over. I did it again trying to guess reasonable amounts of time for each task and did the same thing. I still came up with 30 minutes left over. I found that spooky. I tried it several other ways and always came out that way. I know what you are thinking...

I don't know if any of this has any validity. In reality I could do all her activities but grab the computer midway through the morning and lose an hour. She read a magazine and journal. She spent time in her room and could have been distracted by something. Maybe read a chapter in a book. The way Knowlton grilled her on the morning's activities I thought there was a chance to figure out something. I think there is less of a chance for Bridget's activities. That she thinks she vomited for ten minutes tells me she experienced a pretty severe bout of feeling unwell. Andrew is pretty good because there is testimony from others. We know Dr. Kelly's wife's clock was 5 minutes slow, but she was outside the family for example.

[Curryong]

You are very meticulous in your calculations of Lizzie's morning, irina! Well done, you!
In modern life it's very easy to get distracted isn't it? You turn on the TV to see the news, there are a couple of intriguing items on and seemingly, within the twinkling of an eye, twenty minutes has gone, or you snatch a half an hour on the computer in an afternoon and it can easily turn into an hour!

In Lizzie's day possibly not so easy. However, people who are a bit depressed tend to sleep a lot. Lizzie could have had a nap, she could have been turning out her underwear drawer, could have been reading. However, if she was in her room for any length of time from about 9:30am to 10am, then she would, I believe, have heard something even if it was just muffled scuffling, coming from the guest room. If Abby had a chance to scream that would surely have been heard. The photos of the B and B show rooms almost a hair's breadth apart. Yes, you do know what I am going to say!

[irina]

I thought of all kinds of things in my method. It is absolutely impossible to know how long anything took and if she did something~in the cellar?~that we don't know about, but the repeated 30 minute discrepancy freaked me out. That's probably how long it would have taken...uh....you know...and clean up. There may be a huge flaw in what I was trying to do. Math isn't my area of expertise.

I had tried this in another old mystery to establish a time of death. More information was known in that case. I averaged time estimates with and without one report that was an out-lier~~so far out of norm it could be completely wrong, or completely right. I was pleased with my findings on that one which can be checked up better than August 4 at 92 Second.

[Curryong]

The times can be out with virtually all of the witnesses, of course. The man who phoned the police from a paint shop on that morning looked up at their clock on the wall and it was miles out. Mrs Dr Kelly was five minutes out in her estimation because of an incorrect clock, Mrs Churchill just guessed at the time of her shopping expedition but was fairly on-the-ball. Bridget heard the town clock at 11am (hope the timekeepers there were accurate) but couldn't estimate how much time passed afterwards. I've always wondered, because of that, whether Bridget was having a bit of a snooze, fully dressed on the bed.

[irina]

Part of Einstein's work on light had to do with time. Before Einstein time was kind of made up from place to place. No wonder many cities continued to have sundials even if they were largely decorative. We think of people in those days being very punctual, on time and hard working. I have an idea sunrise and sunset were the most important times.

Bridget also said at one point she was tidying her room, not lying across the bed. My opinion is if she had sick headache (migraine) so bad she had vomited earlier, that she would have been in a somewhat dazed state and attempting to deal with pain. Even so I find he somewhat contradictory comments troubling. Even if she didn't want to tell the world she has such severe headaches, she could have simply gone back to her not feeling well that morning and needing to lie down.

I will also make a small note for what it's worth that medical science now recognises the menstrual migraine in younger women. 75% of people with migraine are women. Women living together in homes, dorms or whatever tend to synchronize their cycles. That's some biological thing nobody understands. So it was Lizzie's time of the month and could also have been Bridget's time or beginning of it. We might further estimate this by Bridget having a severe headache that day. Consider if Bridget had said to Lizzie, "Forget the fabric sale for I have the curse and I'm cramping real bad and must lie down a bit before I fix dinner, and for sure I'll go to bed this afternoon." Something specific like that could have further narrowed time for Lizzie. Bridget was never put on the spot to have to come up with terms like flea bites and monthly sickness and she wasn't going to be volunteering that kind of information. For what it's worth.

[Curryong]

That is very true about women's menstrual cycles. I read somewhere, however, that the Prosecution was told that Lizzie's period finished on the Wednesday. I remember that statement quite clearly and it had obviously come from Lizzie via Bowen. The mystery of the rags in the pail suddenly appearing in the cellar wash room remains. Bridget swore that she had never seen them before. She had washed on the Monday, of course. Surely Lizzie wouldn't have kept such things in her bedroom for a day or two, in the height of summer? Poor Bridget was supposed to wash them and Emma's cloths also, when she was home.

Bridget did try to tell the truth to the best of her ability, but she was very frightened probably and she naturally put the best face possible on her activities when she was giving testimony. She may well have thought to herself "I have to find a new job. Lying on my bed in the middle of the day and dozing away doesn't sound so good. I'll leave that out." I suppose most domestic servants, even ones in very kindly households, were trained to carry on regardless--headaches, periods, raging toothache, included. I'll always remember reading the story of Alice Liddell, the original Alice in 'Alice in Wonderland'. In later life she was a proud, rather snobbish woman. She became irritated when she saw a very young servant struggling with shutters in her home. However, the girl had terrible chillblains on her fingers and so Alice, having noticed them, sent her to get ointment from the housekeeper.

[irina]

It's only recently that workers are allowed to shirk in the US. When I worked regular jobs there were practically no excused absences. This was in the 1970s. My grandfather worked even when he had the 1918 flu. People didn't dare take time off. I am always amazed and infuriated by how it's done now. You go to a busy market and half the check stands are closing down when you go to check out. It's time for breaks, etc. When I worked we had to service customers or patients (in a hospital) even if we were on break. I'm a Libertarian so I don't care what other folks do as long as it doesn't inconvenience/affect me. I refuse to wait in long lines anywhere.

Humanity will never reach any medium ground. When I worked we were worked hard. Today nobody cares and they get away with it. With the lack of jobs in this country I have thought they should have a platoon of part time workers who serve customers when everyone else is on break.

One thing I do approve of is the idea gaining traction that people actively, contagiously ill with this and that should stay home. I'm OK with inconvenience for that.

People in Bridget's day were worked half to death and that isn't OK either. Since I especially understand Bridget suffering with migraine and being alone to fend for herself, it takes on an extra dimension that she wanted to leave the Bordens. The times were harsh, hours long and "Irish Ned Not Apply" signs abounded, yet she wanted to leave a fairly easy job that paid good plus, room and board, laundry facilities, close to downtown and friends, etc. Hmmmmm........?