Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1886-04-17
A o DEArH.

CLARA ROOTS DEATH.
The Detailed Verdict of the Cor
oner's Jury.
The Valley City Alliance contains the
following report Of the remarkable find
ing of the coroner's jury in the case Of
Miss Clara A. Root, the young lady
teacher who killed herself at that place
recently:
The said jurors, upon their oaths, do
say that from certain letters and other
writings of the deceased introduced in
evidence before them, and from the ties.
timony Of various persons who have tes-
tilted before them in this inquest, that
on Or about the 18th day of March, 1886,
the deceased believed herself to be preg-
nant, as a result of illicit sexual inter-
course with n Allyn Warner, and that
she then and there actually had and suf-
fered from the nausea that is common
in the earlier stages Of pregnancy ; that
the autopsy made in this behalf upon
the body of the deceased, revealed no
evidence Of pregnancy at the date men
toned or at any time, but that the de.
ceased may, in fact. have then and there
been pregnant, as. upon said autopsy,
tho contents of the uterus were not sub.
jected to q microscopic examination
that the statements of the deceased in
her said letters, and orally to persons,
whose testimony is before us, corroborat-
ed by the fact. as shown by the testi-
mony, that said Allyn Warner visited
the deceased not unfrequently at her
private rooms-render it morally certain
that said Warner had had illicit sexual
intercourse with her and had promised
to marry her, although the deceased no
where charges said Warner with tech.
nical seduction, or the causing her to
yield because of promised marriage.
That until the deceased had an inter.
view with her brother. Herbert Root,
at her residence in the house of L. Ed
Dawson, on the night of March "a, 1886,
she believed that Allyn Warner would
redeem his promise aud marry her, and
that she did not entirely lose all hope
Of his doing so, until her final interview
with Warner at the house of Rev. Sims,
on the last day of her life, March Is,
1856, when she remarked to the witness,
Mrs. Sims, that she thought 'it was set
tied" meaning that Warner would not
marry her.
That the last twenty-four hours of the
life of the deceased, beginning with her
interview with her brother on the night
Of March "a, 1886. were for her a long
agony Of grief and despair, but that just
what took place Mt said interview is
known to only said Herbert Root, who
has a vital interest in rendering such an
account ~ shall seem best to screen him
from the moral guilt of his sisters death.
That the closing hours Of the life of
the deceased, as directly shown by, and
lc%gitimately inferred from all evidence
before lis, lei as follows:
On March "a, about 6 o'clock in the
evening, she ate supper with Mr.. and
Mrs. Davssen, t their house /, Was
cheerful at this meal, and ate with more
than ordinary appetite, assigning as a
reason for it that she had taken a good
walk and been benefited by the exer-
else. Shortly after supper she retired
to her own room in the Dawson house,
and remained there cheerful and tran
qull, so far rs shown. until about 10
o'clock the same evening, when her
brother, Herbert Root, visited her, and
they had the interview above men
toned. In her letter to Mrs. DAWSON,
written the next day, and referring to
this interview, the deceased writes:
"Brother was not cross to me the night
I left your house." This, like the other
statements-not mere matters Of opin-
ion-made by the deceased in anticipa-
ton Of death, is probably true. The oh.
iect of Herbert Root in visiting his sister
that night, was probably to induce her
to cooperate with him in supervising q
scandal. Hence he used mildness and
persuasion in so far as compatible with
his object. He had been informed,
whether by Amasa Peake, as the de-
ceased states, or by some other person
that the deceased had made a confession
to Mrs. Sims, involving the good name
Of herself and Allyn Warner and he
felt that the proposed marriage between
the two would be virtually q confession
Of guilt, and he probably found that as q
confession had been made to one, the
details might easily leak out through
another confession or by a betrayal Of
trust. In this dilemma lie could see
but one way out, and that wa to pro-
cure from her a written disavowaf OF
Warmers guilt and have her leave the
city, he making the mental reservation
that with her written, and apparently
deliberate, disavowal in hand, and her
self far away, it would be easy to treat
any contrary statement that might leak
out. as born under the influence Of some
temporary insane delusion. Besides, he
re0xOne0 that the ne0n1e vOnld tho moro