Fremont County, Iowa

The Ghost of The Hotel Del Coronado
"The True Story of Kate Morgan"

by Terry Girardot, 2001;
used with permission
Chapter Four

The Newspaper Report

Tuesday, November 29, 1892
"The Daily Bee", San Diego

BLEW OUT HER BRAINS. SUICIDE OF A BEAUTIFULYOUNG WOMAN AT SAN DIEGO
Disappointed Over Not Receiving Money. After Her Death Word Came That She Could Draw All She Desired - She Was Well Dressed and Had a Good Sum in Her Purse

Between the thunderous turf on the gray sea and the brilliancy and music of a gay throng in the great parlor and long halls of the Hotel del Coronado, a woman stood alone and desperate. From her position on the stone stairs at the west end of the ocean terrace leading to the beach, the surf wrapped and re-wrapped her with its spray, and the pitiless rain fell upon her bared head and young white face. Whatever it may have been, fear or courage at the final moment, there is no one to say. All that is known of the stranger is that she arrived with no luggage but a hand satchel on the 24th and gave her name as a Mrs. L. Anderson Bernard, of Detroit. She remained in her room generally and seemed to suffer intensely.

Written by Terry Girardot, 2001;
Copyright held by Terry. All rights reserved.