Friday, December 2, 1892
Sam Diego Union
LOVE TROUBLES DOUBTLESS KILLED HER, BUT WHO WAS SHE?
Mystery Deep as Ever Regarding Her Identity - She Quarreled With Her Companion -Her Story Contradictory, But Partially True
Facts are slowly coming to light to prove the theory that a love trouble was the cause of the dramatic suicide of Mrs. Lottie Anderson Barnard, the beautiful and mysterious stranger who came on Thanksgiving day to Hotel del Coronado. The question of her identity is still unsolved. Some little light has, however, been thrown upon her motives for committing suicide. A bell boy of the Hotel del Coronado said yesterday that he was told by Joseph E. Jones of Boston, who came to the hotel on Thanksgiving day, that the latter was a fellow passenger in the same car from Denver with the young woman. Mr. Jones said he had not mentioned the fact, as he was averse to being called to testify before the coroner’s jury. He stated that the young woman was accompanied by a well-dressed gentleman. He did not particularly notice the couple until after reaching the coast, when they attracted his attention, and that of others in the car, by high words and bitter quarreling. This they continued at intervals for some time. The quarrel ended with her asking her companion to forgive her, which she repeated several times, but he was obdurate and angry, and at length left the train. As nearly as Mr. Jones can recollect, the man left at Orange. The lady came through to San Diego. Mr. Jones saw no more of her, and thought no more of the matter until he saw her at Hotel del Coronado a day or so afterward. He said he immediately recognized her, and was sure she was the same person.
The stories told by the lady as to her identity, her companion who left her at Orange, and her baggage, are found to be full of contradictions. She told Mr. Yomer, chief clerk of Del Coronado, that her brother had been called away at Orange; that he could be found either at the Palace, San Francisco, or the Nadeau or Westminster, Los Angeles; that he sometimes stopped at one and sometimes the other. This of course contradicts her story that he was a practicing physician at Minneapolis. She spoke very familiarly of Los Angeles hotels. Regarding herself, she said her father and mother lived at Detroit, and that the man, G. L. Allen, who was telegraphed to for funds, was in charge of her finances. She mentioned his name after much hesitation, evidently only after she was convinced that she could not reach her brother by telegraph. Her baggage, she said, was carried by to National City, and that she would have to go personally to identify her trunks, but she was sure she could name every article in them. Later she spoke as if she had only one trunk, saying that it was provided with a peculiar French lock. She gave the bellboy a dollar for a trifling service, and he remonstrated, saying he “didn’t like to take so much from a sick lady.” The boy said she replied: “Take it; I’ve got plenty of money.” Yet she had barely $20 in her purse. Altogether her story was inconsistent, contradictory and mysterious.
It is worthy of remark that G. L. Allen of Hamburg, Ia., who wired her $25 the same day he received her telegram from Hotel del Coronado announcing her suicide, although three days have elapsed he is known to have received the dispatch. From this fact the authorities are inclined to believe that he is more than financially interested in the dead girl – in other words, that possibly he has sent her away. On the other hand, Mr. Jones testimony regarding her quarrel on the train strengthens the theory that her companion was her lover instead of her brother, and that he deserted her at Orange. She gave his name as Dr. W. C. or M. C. Anderson, Minneapolis, but no such name is in the directory.
So far, the only direct clue to her identity is through the man Allen in Iowa, and Deputy Coroner Stetson has accordingly telegraphed to the city marshal of Hamburg to ascertain who Allen is, and what relation he bears to the girl. Many persons, noting her familiarity with Los Angeles hotels and the
fact that she was traveling without baggage or funds, believe that she was a Californian, and that the trip to San Diego was a mere escapade. A full description of her was telegraphed to Harry J. Bernard of Mt. Vernon, N.Y., and no answer has been yet received. No inquiries have come from any other source, though the facts of the suicide are known all over the United States. In the meantime she lies on a slab in the undertaking rooms, beautiful even in death, the only undoubted fact in all the mystery being that she took her life with her own hand.
Los Angeles Times
STILL A MYSTERY
The Identity of the Coronado Suicide Not Yet Known
SAN DIEGO, Dec. 2 – By the Associated Press – The identity of the young woman giving the name of Lottie Anderson Bernard, who committed suicide at the Hotel del Coronado on Monday night, is still unknown. Inquiry has been received from Miss May Wyllie of Detroit, Mich. for a full description of the lady, she having registered at the hotel as having come from that city. An attempt is being made through the Farmers’ and Merchants’ Bank of Hamburg, Iowa, to ascertain the connection existing between the dead woman and G. L. Allen of that place, who has not answered the telegram sent to him though having previous to the death of Miss Barnard responded to her demand or money by telegraphing that a draft would be honored for her.
A key found among the girl’s effects partially fits the locked trunks which arrived at the local Santa Fe depot from Omaha via Denver about Thanksgiving day, when she made her appearance here, but permission to open was withheld until the proper authorities from the division baggage agent could be secured. This will be obtained tomorrow, when it is hoped some means of identification will be unearthed.
