The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-11-06


bosom friend, is that it all came about
through the predictions of fortune teller.
She said:
"Elmira was a beautiful girl and never
had any secrets from me. She had no lover
and no troubles, and a purer girl never
lived One day in summer, as we were sit
ting on the veranda OF this very house, a
little, drled-up, weird German came along,
and asked permission to sit down and rest.
de seemed strangely attracted by Elmira
and kept his large wild eyes constantly
fixed upon her face with a strange stare
Finally he
SAID HE WAS A FoRTUE TELLER,
and asked permission, in a very impressive
manner, 10 tell Elmiras fortune. Taking
her hand in his, no told her, TO my amaze
ment, many things which had p ssed be-
tween us and which, / am positive, were
known only to ourselves.
"'You were born unluckily, he said, and
you will bring evil upon all who love you
Those from whom you receive presents will
die The stars predict for you dreadful
end In the near future
For a moment we were nearly stunned
by the old mans words and the weird
solemnity with which they were uttered
When we recovered our composure he had
disappeared and we never saw him again.
From that day a heavy shadow seemed to
fall upon the girl. She brooded continually
upon the Germans words, and l tried in vain
to arouse her from the deep melancholy
into which she had fallen. Exactly four
weeks after the fortune teller's prediction
she was found drowned in the Niagara river
near the Cave of the Winds, and it was the
general opinion that she walked into the
rapids above the falls and had been carried
overn
Way back in the autumn of 1S43, a gen
tleman of commanding presence, hand
somely dressed and with costly diamonds.
about % years of age. came here and regis
tered at the principal hotel. He wrote the
name Daniel Webster on the hotel book.
but every one knew that he was not the
lllustrious statesman of that dag. Two
days after his arrival he crossed the river to
the Canadian side, walked into the rapids
above the Horseshoe falls and was in
stantly swept over the brink of the cata-
ract
A few days later his maugled remains
were found and an inquest held, which de-
veloped the fact that his name was Van
degger, and that he was resident of New
ton Center, the most beautiful of all the
charming suburbs Of Boston. Six years
previously he had fallen in love with a very
beautiful young lady, who was employed
as cashier in one of the aristocratic restaur-
ants of the Hub. Completely captivated
by her charming face and winning way he
married her, though she was a number of
years his Junior.
SHE WAS ESTABLISHED AS MISTRESS
of palatial homeyat Newton; her hus-
bands wealth and social position immedi-
ately secured for Mrs Vandegger an en-
trance into the select society of the modern
Athens. Five years passed away, when
disgrace overlook the young wife. She
was arrested on criminal charge, and a
Boston detective, member of the state
legislature and a7clergyman testified that
she had been a girl of VIGOROUSLY bad char
acter before her marriage. The detective
testified that he had arrested her for steal
ing watch and that she had served ten
months in prison for the crime These dis
closures stunned the husband, and without
a word to his wife he left the court room
and no one in Boston ever saw him again
A few days afterward he appeared here,
though whether he came here with the in
tention of ending his life or drifted here
aimlessly in a half stupor, no one can ever
tell.
In the early part of June, 1850, an even
ing train from New York brought the re-
mains Of a rniddie-aged man who had died
of consumption on the way A finelooking
woman of 40, with dark eyes and hair,
stood at the exit looking for some one She
turned away with a sadly disappointed
look, after scanning the face Of every
alighting passenger, and, seeking the con-
ductor, eagerly inquired for one James
Whitman. On being told that gentleman
by that name had died on the trip. she was
deeply affected, and, declaring herself his
wife, summoned an undertaken, and had the
remains removed to her hotel. She declined
all offers Of assistance and companionship
from those about her, saying she preferred
to be alone with her dead
On the following morning, though evil
IDENTIFY worn out with grief and fatigue, she
ordered carriage, and was driven to Table
Rock.
Alighting and requesting the driver to de-
liver to the proprietor Of the hotel letter
which she gave him, she walked into the
water before the man had the slightest idea
of her intention, and was swept over the
falls Her body was never recovered.
The letter which she gave the hackman en-
closed large sum OF money. and told
most romantic story Her name was Emily
Glidden, and twenty-three years before at
Williamsport, Pa, she had been married in
jest to James Wlllman, the son of a de-
ceased old man who left him $500, 900.
Whitman and Miss Ghddeu became deeply
attached to each other and were to have
been married in earnest, but the young
mans health compelled him to go abroad.
For the remainder of his life he was a
cosmopolitan. Miss Glidden in the mean
time removed with her mother to Chicago.
and never married. Whenever Whitman
landed in the country his first act was to
telegraph his old sweetheart to come to his
side until he again departed for a foreign
cline, though she never accompanied him
on his journeyings. He had just returned
from sojourn to the West Indies, whittier
he had vainly gone to stay the ravages of
the slow consumption which for years had
had been sapping his life, and was en- route
here when death overlook him. The sui
cide's letter declared that life was unbeara-
BILE without her dead lover, and expressed
the hope that her remains might be recov-
cred in time to be buried in the same grave
with his. 1t directed the hotel keeper to
apply the money inclosed to the payment of
her bill, and the expense of recovering her
body and the expenses of the funeral of
herself and Whitman. 1t also gave the adj
dress of distant male cousin of the dead
man, who subsequently inherited his large
fortune.