The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 12, 1896, Page 1

> tO b l"ap B the . :ke,, r " VOLUME LXXXI 12. BOTH DEAD, AN THE DAL D BY GHTER'S HAND Mrs. Sarah B. Cooper and Miss Harriet Cooper Killed by Gas. INSANITY OF THE GIRL CAUSED THE DEED. t Previous Attempts to Do the Same Thing Had Been Made by the Daughter. TRAGICAL ENDING OF TWOWELL- KNOWN LIVES. Mrs. Cooper Was Widely Worker, Philanthropist and Founder of Kinde Mrs. Sarah B. Cooper, the well-known philanthropist, and her daughter, Miss Harriet Cooper, were found dead in their bedroom at the family residence, 1902 Val- lejo street, yesterday morning. The Chinese servant found the bodies. Death was caused by asphyxiation from illuminating gas, and all the circumstan- ces indiecate that the daughter deliberately ended her hife and that of her mother while suffering from mental depression of a character hereditary with her father’s family. The aiscovery of the fact of the tragedy was made by Wong Lonie, the family ser- | vant, who had been employed by Mrs. Cooper for nearly fifteen years. When he awoke he smelled pasand traced it to the | sedroom where Mrs. and Miss Cooper 1 siept. On opening the door he found both dead, whereupon he notified the neighbors, | and the Coroner was soon informed. “I found that a will had been left,” said | Coroner Hawkius, “and I allowed the bodies to remain at the residence, as I had 8 right to do under the law.” | In a few hours Mrs. George T. Gaden, Mrs. W. E. Hale and other friends of the dead wereupon the scene. They directed the servants about the house to stow away the furniture and belongings of the room, and Mrs. Gaden refused toadmit | newspaper men until they came with a Deputy Corvner, assuming that *‘the trag- edy was a private affair and not tne busi- ness of the public.” It transpired a few hours after the tragedy that Miss Harriet Cooper bad rrobably been insane for more than a year. | It was snown to a few friends that she | once or twice attempted to kill herselfand | ber mother in a similar way. A story to l that effect was told by Dr. Sidney Worth “ | 14 vesterday, and Mrs. Cooper asked him to make the facts public should a tragedy ever occur. A wonder’ul insight into the life of the Coopers may be. obtained by reading a] 1etter of Mrs. Cooper, written to her sister in Brooklyn on November By some | strange delay the letter was not sent, but ‘ | ness and sunshine; she has been deeply de- Known as a Religious rgartens. |is constantly in my mind. God is my onl refuge. 1 place my head on his dear hear | and find my only comfort there. Some day | darling papa and_ Hatile, and tue little boys, tand sweet little Mary and myself will all be | grouped again. We shall then understand the | dreadful mysteries ot this mortal life. I wili | 8dd to this letter before I mail it. Tenderly | and affectionately, YOUR SISTER SATIE. | Your devoted mother-sister always. | I know that for over s year asrling Lattie | has had symptoms of insanity, but I wouid | rather die than see her in an_asyium. I will care for her to the last—my precious child. It is the twilight of the evening of a_loyely Sabbath dey. I have been nursing the dear one all day; have been reeding to her from Phiilips Bf 3ok’ sermons and from the précious Bibie and ‘‘Daily Needs.” She jsnow resting. She did not sieep at all lest night,. poor chg. Everybody is kind. If only the tich anc the heppy knew the good they do by ministering where sorrow and troub,e lie heavy on the heart. My poor, exhausted brein surges with ain. I have lost so much sleep that Ifeel izzy and confused. Ihayd been nursing her to-day as if she were » little child. Her one longing is to die, and to have me go with her. I tell her the dear Father, who is love, will take careof all that, and when he is ready for us he will call us. The darling has paroxyems of great suffering in her head, then she rallies ems as il health were close at haad. 0t bear me out of her sight, and I do ber. Darling sister, wearé pianning pt your urgent {uvitation and pay you the visit you so much desire us to pay this winter. I will write you in full when we de- cide. Will add a line in the morning and send the latesc news of the precious child. Tenderly, your sister, SATIE. Have just read the 23d psalm and the 14th of St. Joan. I feel greatly comforted. Good- night, dear sister. I just told Hattie that she was (iod’s dear child—that I gave her to him before she was born, and with my first prayer when she was born. 1know he will hold her in his hand. You know Hattie's nature was all bright- spondent and sad, but says she knows not why. Iknow it is from overwork. We are both greatly overworked. Life is a battle. We must be heroes. God isour helper. Another document that throws great light on the case, revealing the mother’s fear of death, is her will, made in October. It was written by herself and runs as follows: MRS. COOPER'S WILL. SAN Fraxcisco, Cal., Oct. 9, 1896. Feeling as 1 do the great uncertainty of life, I hereby devise 1o my dear daughter all prop- erty that I possess, both real and personal. 1n PRICE FIVE CENTS. A Rear View of the Champion of Decency. day as above dated. We leave for the country to-morrow. SARAR B. COOPER. The fact that Miss Cooper was practi- cally insane was known to but few of her friends, and her mother guarded the secret with the greatest care and surren- dered her hife by continuing to sleep with the cbild whom she knew had a mania to end her life and take her mother along. The history of the previous attempts is best known to the family pnysician. It was but natural that, with the ten- acity of groundiess hope, Dr. Bidney ‘Worth, the famity physician, should have been hastily summoned to the bedside of the women who haa been his patients and his friends. It was 8 o’clock when he ar- rived—hours after the time when his skill might have thwarted the subtie agency of death, He viewed the bodies lying side by side as in sleep. But to the trained eye of the physician their quietness meant more than sleep. “Iv is over,” he said. And the friends knew that there had passed from their midst those whom they had learned to love and revere. “It is somewhere between six and eight months,” said Dr. Worth yesterday after- noon, ‘“‘since I was first cailed upon to at- tend Miss Hattie. She was suffering from melancholia, with a tendency toward sui- cide—what yon would call suicidal melan- cholia. Mrs. Cooper told me it was hereditary in her husband’s family. Her husband, as you know, committed suicide, as did two of his cousins and an uncle. ‘With Miss Hattie the tendency was very marked. She was constantly talking of taking her own life. She had absolutely no cause to be despondent. Physically she was strong and hardy. There was nothing to worry her. She had every- thing she could reasonably wish. Yet during the time I have attended her this morbid desire seemed almosi constantly with her in varying degrees. * ‘L am tired,’ she used to say; ‘I want toend it all, I want to go away and take you with me, mother.’ I warned her mother repeatedly against the danger she was running in living alone with ber daughter while she was in this condifion. Twice her daughter has attempted the act which terminated fatally last night. Ske arose from her bed on these occasions when she thought her mother sound asleep, surreptitiously she glided ioward the gas jet and was in the act of turning on the gas,when Mrs. Cooper detected her. “With difficulty Mrs. Cooper would dis- suade her daughter from her deadly pur- pose. Even after these attempts, both of which occurred during the last three months, Mrs. Cooper could not be per- suaded to place her daughter in an insti- 3 THE LATE MRS. SARAH B. COOPER. it was found on a table yesterday morning, addressed to Mrs. J. A. Skelton. 444 Hn:- cock street, Brooklyn, N. Y. It shows the deep trouble of the mother over her De& loved child’s insanity and illness, Inzn_ practicaily foreshadows the tragedy. is s follows: 8N FraNcIsco, Cal., Nov. 29, 115956;\] ¥ riing Sister Hattie: You are anxiou th '!’vunx:e Whout our precious one. She is no Letter. She complaing of great pain h;.he(r Lead—a bad symptom. I have told our physi- | 10 of the hereditary tendency. He feels that 1e case Is serious. From the first the darling 123 longed to dle. Shs rallies, but only to go back again, Shbe did not sleev at all Jast night, Oh, precious sister, only God knows the a; only of my mother's heart. I toid dear Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Gaden everything. 1 cannot mk’w others. 1 hope every day thats change for the better will come. Hattie not been weil for a vear, but she has kept at work. So have I. We have tried to do iwd—w make the liftle ones brighter and happier. The dreadful fact of insanity in her father’s family case of the death of both my daugzhter and myself, I desire the property to go to my dear sisters, Mrs. J. A. Skilton, 444 Hancock street, Brooklyn, N. Y., and Mrs. Reese M. Rawlings, Eastlake, Tenn., whom I regard as my chil- dren (as I reared them and have cared for them always), with the following exceptions: I de- sire my faithful and devoted friends, Mrs. Wil- liam E. Hale and Mrs. GeorgeT. Gaden. to have the handsome flinstrated books on the parlor tables, My religions books I give to Rev. Dr. McLean of the Pacific Theolozical Seminary. My msnuseript 1 wish destroyed, but will leave the matter to my dear sister, Mrs. J. A, Skilton, whom I desire 10 actas administra- trix without bonds. All letiers filed away I desire destroyed. They contain nothine of in- terest or yalue to any one save myself and dsughter. Idesire my dear namesake, Sadie Hale, to have the music cabinet and whatever music she desires to select from the cabinet 1 desire Mrs. George T. Gaden and Mrs. William. E. Hale to take full charge of the little home until Mrs. Skilton srrives, anc then let Mrs. gkilton, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Gaden attend to &ll ferther details. The above is my will, written by myself this l tution where she could be safely and proper]x treated. Always she hoped and believed that the great love which existed between her daughter and herself would protect her from the influence of the fatal maniz. Her fears seemed all for her daugiter. She sought the power of argu- ment to counteract her daughter’ssuicidal tendency. “‘You have no right to take your own life,’ she would say to her unfortunate daughter ‘it was given to you by an allwise Providence, and in bim only is the right to take it away.’ At such times the argu- ment would apparently prevail, or at least mi” Hattie made no attempt to reply to it. “‘At one time we talked before her of sending her to an institution in 8an Mateo County. The idea was distressin, to Miss Hattie and also 10 Mrs. Cooper. f warned Mrs. Cooper that she was not well enough to nurse her daughter. She was The New Champagne Vintage. A truly remarkable vintage for quality as well as for naturel dryness, without being heavy, now being shipped to this marke: G H.’hnmm’l Extra g;.‘ S losing sleep nightly and her fragile con- stitution counld not hold up under it. To my advice she replied, ‘My daughter is all I have to live for. I will give my life to her, but T cannot bear to part from her.’ *'During the last four months the mania bas been increasing. Miss Hattie has spent most of hsr time in bed, although physically there was nothing the matter | with ber. She simply wanted to be left alone and quiet. J called in almost every day, though there was little to be done. I constanily warned Mrs. Cooper against the great risks of being alone with her dauehter. “ ‘Some day,” I would say, ‘you will fail to wake when she turns on the gas, or per- haps she will lay violent hands upon MISS HARRIET COOPER. busy streets the loving hands of Mrs. Cooper’s nearest iriends, Mrs. George T. | Gaden and Mrs, . ale, wife of Warden Hale, were doing the few kind offices that remain for friends to minister to their cherished dead. Tothese friends, both of whom have been the advisers and supporters of Mrs. Cooper in her labors and the sharers in her trialsand triumphs, the blow was heavy, yet neither was| wholly anprepared for the awful hapg;en— ing. As the afternoon wore on Mrs. Gaden became prostrated, but Mts. Hale maintained her vosition as temporary mistress of the abode of death with re- markable fortitude. For a time she sought to draw a veil of privacy about the tragic affair, but later, fearful lest some- thing of mystery migut attack to the death of her iriends, she consented to tell everything she knew in regard to it. “There is no mystery about this affair at all,” she declared. *Miss Hattie has been addicted to this mania for months 10 my knowledge and recently she con- fessed she had been aware of it for a year, but had striven to battle against it. *This mania is hereditary with her. Her father killed himself without an apparent reason. He was of a bright and cheerful nature always, enthusiastic in his aid of Mrs. Cooper and happy in his domestic life. One day he escorted his wife and daughter to church. They stayed to Sunday-school and when they returned he was dead. *Mrs. Cooper did not know then that insanity was hereditary in his family. I think it was only about a year ago when she first learned that tnree of her hus- band’s relatives had committed suicide. The letter which apprised her of this fact unfortunately fell into the hands of Miss Hattie. From that moment the young woman considered herself doomed. Mrs. Cooper was grieved that her daughter should have seen this letter, but Hattie acted as her mother’s secretary and re- ceived the letter before her mother had seen it. 5 “During the last four months Hattie’s condition has been very serious aud it has weighed heavily upon her mother. She could not bear to tnink of putting her in an asylum. The hope was constantly in her mind that her daughter would re- 1 cover and be all right agam. ‘The intention to commit suicide was firmly fixed In Hattie’s mind and she al- ways said she would take her mother ™\ | with her. Twice she made actual at- \ |tempts to carry out her threat that I know of. Her mother detected her both times in the act of turning on the gas. ‘When Mrs. Cooper tried to make her de- sist in each instance a struggle ensued. 1 don’t mean to say a cruel struggle, but the daughter tr.ed to prevent her irom interfering. “A short time ago Mrs. Cooper and Hattie spenta week at my home st San Quentin. While there Hattie promised us that she would never take her mother’s life. That was when she was sane, but nightly while they were there the insane periods recurred. They seemed always to come between 1 and 4 o'clock in the morn- ing. Then Mrs. Cooper would be awake siderably longer than the younger woman. This would indicate, as I believe to be absolutely unquestionably the case, that Miss Hattie arose while her mother was in a profound sleep—more than usually profound on account of her weakness— and turned on the gas. “‘The end came sooner to the elder lady. She was constitutionally delicate and work and worry had reduced her vitality. Moreover to one asieep the effects of gas come sooner than to one who, having the senses awake, fights off perhaps involun- tarily the deadly stupor.” Dr. Worth declares that the theory he rives of the catastrophe is as certainly correct as anything can be. It was, he declares, precisely what was to be ex- you.’ But the mother's love was proof against all my advice. Sometimes the rear of approaching insanity would come upon the daughter. Once I heard her say, ‘can I be going insane?’ Itis difficult to say how much this fear may have aggra- ed her condition. “With my knowledge of the circum- stances 1, of course, was not Erntly sur- prised when I ascertainea what had oc- curred. I hastened to the residence, but both had been dead many hours; how many it was impossible to say. Both were lying as though asleep, except that Mrs. per’s jaw had dropped as though with an expiring gasp. The condition of her body showed that she had been dead con- and argue and soothe her dau hter until the force of the mania had passed away. ‘“About a month ago I persuaded Mrs. pected and in view of the family history of the girl on her father’s side would scarcely have been remarkable had the previous attempts of the young lady been unknown. 5 “Mrs. Cooper always requested me,” he sister, as tenderly as gulslble. of herdangh ter's musfortune. he dreaded having any one know of the trouble, but eventu- Coover that she shouid write and tell her | QUIET TIPS GIVEN 0UT How Some Fitzsimmons Backers Hedged on Sharkey. MORE PROOF OF THE BIG CONSPIRACY. Julian Says That Long Green Lawrence Fixed Gibbs to Appoint Earp. LYNCH WANTED NOBODY BUT THE BAD MAN. An Eastern Opinion cf the Examiner’s Referee — Long Green Tries to Bulldose a Baseball Team. Long Green Andy Lawrence, managing editor of the Examiner, true to his blacke mailing, bulldozing instincts, after having been exposed for bis unfair treatment of the Tufts-Lyons baseball team attempted to force Manager Aschner to write are- traction of the charges against him. Upon Aschner refusing to do so the managing editor informed Mr. Aschner that his team would get the worst of it hereaffer. In other words the team was to be bull- dozed by the Examiner. This episode is in keeping with a news- paper which when the citizens of Pasa« dena a few days ago declined to subscribe the money required by the Examiner for a write-up of that town published a fake dispatch to the effect that the town bad been devastated by a cyclone, thus ho-ing to injure the people of Pasadena by scaring immigration and capital away from it. 1t has been ascertained that between 6 and 8 o’clock of the evening of the fight a tip was given out to a few favored indi- viduals to the effect that Sharkey would be awarded the victory, right or wrong, and that Fitzsimmons would be done up, not by Sharkey, but by the decision. Those who were so fortunate as to receive the tip hurried to Harry Corbett’s pool- rooms and placed their money on Sharkey 80 that they might hedge out of the bet. ‘The tip proved to be correct. Peop'e are now asking why was Sharkey kept #h bour in the dressing-room, and why the press reporters and many physi- cians among the spectators were not al- lowed to examine him? It is argued that if Sharkey were fouled the sooner the physicians and others were allowed to inspect the injury the better it would be for Sharkey, as there would then be no doubt whatever osto the foul. If this course bad been pursued no one would have enjoined the stake money, and there would have been no dispute in the eourts. Attorney Kowalsky said to-day that he had ten or eleven witnesses to prove tle existence of the conspiracy and the fact that Earp had been chosen as a suitable tool to do their bidding. He added that | the evidence would be stronger and more direct than any that had yet been offered in court. Julian said to a CArL reporter that the witnesses would show the connection of Long Green Lawrence with conspiracy, and the fact that it was he who had in- duced Gibbs to secure the appointment of Bodyguard Earp as referee. It will be shown also by the best of evi- dence that Dan Lynch told the sporting editor of one of the newspapers before the tight that the Sharkey crowd would ob- ject to every referee that might be named by the Fitzsimmons people, and that they would have a referee of th2ir own choos- ing appointed by the ciub. The following named gentlemen were proposed to Lynch as suitable material out of which a referee might be chosen: Hiram Cook, Lem Fuida, Eddie Graney, Robert McArthur, W. W. Naughton, Al Herford and Billy Jordan. Each of these gentlemen is well known and hasa good reputation for honesty and integrity. But that was not the kind of a referee that Lynch and Long Green wanted. They had Earp up theiwr sleeve and were determined to play him for all he was worth. Concerning the fight and the moral to be deduced from it, Hugh Keough hasthe following to say in ihe New Orleans Item: Boxing has been killed on the coast at the outset of its second boom. It was hoped that when the promoters of the game were granted a measure of license after a long period of en- forced idleness they would avoid the mistakes that closed San Francisco to the glove men four ye agd. But they haven’t. The same grasping greed, the same old meretrcious spirit and the same old subversion of homesty to serve celfish ends; the same unscrupulous grafters who ran a sick man to his death against Dal Hawkins merely because there NEW TO-DAY. THE PRIZE KANSAS (ary By the (OTICURA ECZEMA REMEDIES ‘Wecks 0ld was badly at~ said, “in case anything Lappened to her | alky wrote the letter which has baen piven through her daughter to make this heredi- et e - to the press and the Coroner. This sister tary tendency public. Tt was nght and | and one in the South are her nearest just to her that it should be so.”” | relatives. Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll is ¥ her cousin, and the most - alfectionate —_— i KNOWN TO FRIENDS. Mrs. Gaden and Mrs. Hale Tell of Previous Attempts. Before the news of the awful tragedy was being whispsred in horror about the relations existed between them, though their views were o greatly opposed. *Miss Hattie was never religious in the Continued on Second Page. OQux baby when throe flicted with Eczema. Her head, arms, neck, Himbs and nearly every joint In her body was raw an bleeding when we concluded to iry CUTICURA REMEDIES. We with CUTICURA (oint~ ment) and CUTICURA SOAP, and the first application we could sce a change. After we had sed them one week some of the sores had healed entirely, and ceased to spread. In less than a ‘month, she was free from scalcs and blemishes, and to-day has as lovely skin ¥ chilld. She was shown at the Grange Fair, and took & premiam as the prettiest buby, %, & MRS. PARK, 1609 Belleview Ave., Kan. Oltys Bold everywhere. Dzva & Cuzx.Conr., Bostony