Thursday, December 1, 1892
San Diego Union
IDENTITY OF THE CORONADO SUICIDE AS YET NOT LEARNED.
A Possible Clue Contained in a Telegram to Coroner Stetson. Mysterious Disappearance of Her Brother –Various Theories Afloat
The coroner’s inquest was held yesterday as to the identity of Mrs. Lottie Anderson Barnard , the young woman who in the height of Monday night’s storm stood at the ocean’s edge at Hotel del Coronado and put a bullet in her brain. Several interesting facts were brought out, though the identity of the girl and the exact cause of her suicide are still unknown. The most interesting testimony was given by the chief clerk of Hotel del Coronado, who stated that on Monday morning she sent a bell boy for a vial of whisky, the boy reporting that she was very ill and almost drowned at her bath, from weakness. Previous endeavors of the housekeeper to prevail upon Mrs. Barnard to call the house physician not being successful, the clerk himself went to her room. She was in the eastern wing, and in bed. The day was dismal and cheerless, and he suggested that a fire be made in the grate, but she replied that she was perfectly comfortable; that her brother was a physician and had attended to her, and that it was not necessary to call another. She said she was afflicted with cancer of the stomach, and had been told by physicians that her case was hopeless.
Her brother, she said, was a practicing physician at Minneapolis, named Anderson, and had left her at Orange, and she was not sure whether he had gone to Los Angeles or San Francisco; but he was to have joined her at Coronado the day after her arrival. Mercer suggested that she telegraph to friends for funds, and not knowing her brother’s whereabouts, she gave the clerk the name of G. L. Allen, Hamburg, Iowa. The answer came back Tuesday, after her death from a Hamburg bank, saying her draft for $25 would be honored.
From the testimony of other witnesses it was learned that she left Coronado shortly after noon Monday. On the electric motor she asked the conductor where she could find a hardware store, and was directed to Todd & Hawley. The conductor had to lift her off the car, as she was very weak. She is not known to have called on Todd & Hawley, but she appeared at Heath’s ship chanderly and asked if pistols were kept there for sale. Heath told her she could find what she wanted at Chick’s gun store, and was shown the way. Her slow walk and nervous manner impressed Heath and Capt. Hamilton, who stood by , that she meant to use the pistol on herself. At Chick’s she asked to see a pistol, not too high priced, which she wished to give as a Christmas present to a friend. She chose an American bull-dog revolver, 44 caliber, and bought 25 cents worth of cartridges. Chick showed her how to load the weapon. She immediately returned to Coronado, taking the return car with the same conductor.
At about 6:30 that evening she inquired if any letters or telegrams had come for her, or if her brother had come, and being answered in the negative, she retired again to her room, whence she emerged three hours later with the pistol hidden in her dress and went to the terrace, where she was afterward found.
Deputy Coroner Stetson on the stand testified as to her effects, which were all contained in a small hand satchel. In the grate of her room he found a pile of ashes made from papers burned. Her handkerchiefs were of the finest linen, and marked “Lottie Anderson.” While Mr. Stetson was testifying he received the following telegram:
MT. VERNON, N.Y., Nov 30.
Coroner, San Diego:
Send description also photo suicide Miss L. A. Bernard. Answer.
HARRY M. BERNARD
It will be noticed that she is designated “Miss” in the telegram, and the name spelled “Bernard” instead of “Barnard,” as she wrote on the envelope in her room. These may be, however, only telegraphic errors.
The jury found a verdict in accordance with the facts, and the body is now being held at Johnson & Co.’s rooms awaiting instructions from relatives, if any can be found.
Various theories are entertained by those who have been examining into this most mysterious case. The allusion to her brother by Mrs. Barnard, as she termed herself, and from her apparent anxiety to receive advices from him, have led some to believe that there is more in the case than at first sight appears. Is it not possible, nay, probable, that the person to whom she referred as brother entertained a closer relation to this unfortunate woman ? they ask. If he was her brother, he would certainly have lost no time in communicating with the authorities here when the story of her rash act was made known to him. If he parted her at Orange on Thanksgiving day, he could not have got far away when the news of her suicide was flashed all over the country. The fact was published in all the cities north and must have met his eye. Why, then, did he not telegraph at once that he would be here to take charge of the remains?
It is a suspicious circumstance that nothing has been heard from this man. If he had been her lover and had wanted to rid himself of her, he could scarcely have concealed himself more effectually than he has done. It appears to be the general opinion that, however ill Mrs. Barnard may have been, she had some great trouble weighing upon her mind during the time that she was at the hotel. The absence of baggage she explained by saying that her brother had the railroad checks and forgot to turn them over to her. When coming to San Diego, her excuse given at the hotel was that she must come personally to identify her trunks, there being no checks, and, yet, on arriving on this side of the bay, she made no inquiry at the station relative to her baggage, but went at once to purchase the revolver with which she ended her existence. That she intended to do this and that her reference to her trunks was intended merely as a blind is proved by her inquiry addressed to the conductor of the train at Coronado as to where she would find a hardware store. More light will doubtless be cast upon this matter.
A PROBABLE THEORY
What a San Diego Physician Thinks of the Suicide
For every fact brought out in the investigation of the suicide of the pretty and mysterious stranger at Hotel del Coronado tending to show that the act was done in despondency over sickness, there are dozens of circumstances pointing strongly to the theory that she may have been betrayed, ruined and deserted, and committed the act soon after the truth dawned on her. Upon this supposition a UNION reporter interviewed a prominent physician, who yesterday examined the body, and his examination entirely upsets the story she told, that she was afflicted with cancer of the stomach, and had been given up by the doctors as hopelessly ill.
“The girl was about 24 or 25 years old,” said the doctor last night. “Her face bears no trace of intense suffering, and her frame is not wasted, as would be the case if she had been so far gone with cancer as to be pronounced hopeless. But it is nonsense to say she had cancer or the stomach. Why? Because cancer rarely develops under the age of 40, and I never heard of a case under 35. Some authorities say that it is never developed under 40 years of age. All agree, also, that there is rapid wasting away.
“Now look – the first symptoms of pregnancy in certain temperaments and those of cancer of the stomach are almost identical. There is the same great pain in the stomach, with sourness and occasional vomiting. The complexion becomes sallow, exactly alike in these cases. I cannot say that the girl was enciente, but the indications, I think, point more to that and to an attempt on her part to produce a miscarriage than to long-standing disease. The sallowness of her complexion could very naturally have been made by the strong medicine necessary to effect miscarriage. Again, the dark rings under her eyes, spoken of by the Coronado pharmacist, could have been produced by violent medicine and consequent pain.
“The indications are that she has already borne a child, and was enciente when she died, but this cannot be proven without a post-mortem examination. I refuse to believe that she was afflicted with cancer of the stomach. The paroxysms of pain from cancer in its last hopeless stage are quite frequent, and it is impossible that she could have ridden three hours, as you say she did, without being attacked with intense pain, which she could not have concealed. In my opinion she shot herself in desperation over some love affair, as the cases of suicides of females of her age from ill-health are very rare, and no case is on record of a case of cancer of the stomach at her age.”
The three hour ride alluded to by the doctor, was taken a day or two after the girl arrived at Hotel del Coronado. She was noticed by Charles Stevens of the Star stables, driving a fractious horse, that threatened to run away with her. He proffered his assistance, which she accepted, and he drove with her for several hours. She stopped at Marston’s and bought a pair of gloves. Throughout the ride, Mr. Stevens says, she was pleasant and companionable, if not actually in high spirits. She certainly did not appear to be in pain, either bodily or mental. They returned to Hotel del Coronado, and Mr. Stevens gave her his card, saying that he would be glad to furnish her next time with a gentle horse. Neither this card nor the new gloves were found among her effects after her tragic taking-off .
It is learned that on first arriving in the city on Thanksgiving day, the mysterious lady come to the Hotel Brewster and inquired of the clerk if her relatives, Mr. Anderson and wife, had arrived. He told her they had not, and she replied that they had doubtless gone to Hotel del Coronado, and that she would follow them, which she did, going on the cars and ferry. She had then no baggage beyond the hand-satchel. “Mr. Anderson” is doubtless her brother, with whom she parted at Orange a day or so previous, according to her story to the clerk of Del Coronado, though she told the latter nothing of his being accompanied by a wife.
Strenuous efforts to a late hour this morning, in the city and by telegraph, failed to answer the questions of her identity, or why she should come from Detroit, or New York state, or some unknown place, to take her life at the very edge of the Pacific. A deep mystery at present hangs over every act of her mournful tragedy.
Los Angeles Times
ENDED HER TROUBLES.
Suicide of a Young Lady at the Hotel del Coronado
SAN DIEGO, Nov. 30. – [Special.] It is now thought that the woman registering at the Hotel del Coronado as Lottie Anderson Barnard, who committed suicide yesterday morning, was not suffering from cancer in her stomach, but had been ruined, and, realizing that she had been deserted as well, decided to end her troubles. She was a beautiful woman, and when arriving here on Thanksgiving day did not appear ill or unhappy. Though representing that her brother, Dr. Anderson of Minneapolis, as having parted her at Orange with the understanding that he would join her in a few days at Coronado, she is said to have inquired at the Hotel Brewster, in this city, whether Mr. and Mrs. Anderson were staying there. Her evident anxiety to trace the whereabouts of Anderson, and her distress on receiving no advices from him after going to the Hotel del Coronado, are now believed to prove that the man was not her brother, but the one who was responsible for her condition.
The Coroner has a dispatch from Mt. Vernon, N.Y., requesting a description of the woman, and signed Harry M. Bernard. An inquest was held today, at which evidence was elicited tending to support the theory of despair because of her desertion by her betrayer. Her evident illness is attributed to medicines taken with the purpose of effecting a miscarriage, though this has not been fully demonstrated, no post mortem examination having been authorized.
San Francisco Chronicle
CORONADO’S PUZZLE
Peculiar Actions of Miss Barnard
New Facts Developed at the Inquest
Theories That a Man Is Indirectly Concerned in the Suicide Case
Special Dispatch to the Chronicle.
SAN DIEGO, November 30. – The inquest upon the remains of the woman who committed suicide at the ocean’s edge at Coronado beach on Monday night, was held today and resulted in a verdict of suicide. The verdict was undoubtedly correct, but fails utterly to give satisfaction to the public mind since the identity of the woman is not positively fixed, and the cause of the suicide is left enveloped in mystery. Public opinion is to the effect that the contradictory stories told by the victim of her own unwillingness to face the world were not true, and that a man is connected to the story somewhere.
The most interesting testimony was given by the chief clerk of the hotel, who stated that on Monday morning she sent a bellboy to her room with a vial of whisky, the boy reporting that she was very ill, and had almost drowned herself while in her bath through weakness. The previous endeavors of the housekeeper to induce Mrs. Barnard to call the house physician proving unsuccessful, the clerk himself went to her room. She told him that her brother was a physician and had attended her, and that it was not necessary to call another. She also said she was afflicted with cancer of the stomach and had been told that her case was hopeless. Her brother was a practicing physician at Minneapolis named Anderson and had left her at Orange. He had gone to Los Angeles or San Francisco, but he was to have joined her at the Coronado on the day after her arrival and had taken the checks for her baggage.
It was suggested that she telegraph to her friends for funds, and not knowing her brother’s whereabouts she gave the name of G. L. Allen of Hamburg, Ia. An answer came on the Tuesday after her death from the Hamburg Bank stating that her draft for $25 would be honored. She left the Coronado at noon on Monday. She asked the conductor where she could find a hardware store and was directed to one. The conductor had to lift her off the car, as she was very weak. Her walk and nervous manner attracted attention. She asked to see a pistol not too high priced, which she wished to give as a Christmas present to a friend. She chose an American bulldog, 44 caliber, and bought 25 cents’ worth of cartridges.
She immediately returned to the Coronado, taking a return car with the same conductor. At about 6:30 o’clock that evening she inquired if any letters or telegrams had come for her or if her brother had come, and being answered in the negative she retired again to her room, whence she emerged three hours later with the pistol hidden in her dress and passed on to the terrace, where her body was afterward found.
Deputy Coroner Stetson testified concerning her effects, which were all contained in a small hand satchel. In the grate of her room was found the remnants of a large number of papers which had been burned. Her handkerchiefs were of the finest linen and one was marked “Lottie Anderson.” While Mr. Stetson was testifying he received the following telegram:
MT. VERNON, November 30. – Coroner, San Diego, Cal. Send description, also photograph of the suicide, Miss L. A. Bernard.
HARRY BERNARD
It will be noticed that she is designated “Miss” in the telegram and the name is spelled “Bernard” instead of Barnard, as she wrote it. These may, however, be only telegraphic errors. Various theories are entertained by those who have been examining into this most mysterious case. The allusion to her brother by Mrs. Barnard, as she called herself, and her apparent anxiety to receive advice from him have led some to believe that there is more to the case than what at first appears.
Is it not possible, nay, probable, that the person to whom she referred as brother entertained a closer relation to this unfortunate woman ? they ask. If he was her brother, he would certainly have lost no time in communicating with the authorities here when the story of her rash act was made known to him. If he parted her at Orange on Thanksgiving day, he could not have got far away when the news of her suicide was flashed all over the country. The fact was published in all the cities north and must have met his eye. Why, then, did he not telegraph at once that he would be here to take charge of the remains?
It is a suspicious circumstance that nothing has been heard from this man. If he had been her lover and had wanted to rid himself of her, he could scarcely have concealed himself more effectually than he has done. It appears to be the general opinion that, however ill Mrs. Barnard may have been, she had some great trouble weighing upon her mind during the time that she was at the hotel.
When arriving at San Diego on Monday her excuse given at the hotel was that she must come personally to identify her trunks, there being no checks, and yet on reaching this side of the bay she made no outcry about her baggage, but departed to purchase a revolver, with which she ended her existence.
A physician who has seen the body gives voice to the opinion that the woman was not suffering from cancer of the stomach. No baggage is in the city that can be identified as hers, and more light on the matter is anxiously awaited.
